Senior Meghan Savilia’s participation and debut into creative writing through Creative Writing Club has helped her notice her joy for writing, gain more confidence, and has led her to achieve things she would not have done without the club.
Savilia first joined Mr. Mike Mainuli’s Creative Writing Club at the beginning of her junior year in September of 2024 after he advised her she would be a good fit for the club.
“He asked me very nicely if I would like to go to a meeting, and he said that I would be good for the club. So I did just that. I went to a meeting. And I never left,” Savilia said.
Savilia was also encouraged by her mother, Lisa Savilia, to join Creative Writing Club, especially since she came from a family of established and accomplished writers.
“Her maternal grandmother was a high school English teacher. Her uncle is a published writer who works in the field of religious studies at the collegiate level, and her father was the editor for Law Review at Suffolk University in 2001,” Lisa Savilia said.
Savilia quickly integrated herself into the club and felt the comfort and opportunity that the club offered for her.
“Creative Writing is definitely a calm atmosphere. And it always has been. They welcomed me with open arms, and that was really great and nice,” Savilia said.
As the year went on, Savilia worked hard on her writing, with the added encouragement from Mainuli, and soon enough was given the opportunity to take over the club as its President.
“I participated most in the club and I was there every day and I came prepared. I entered a competition to get published, and Mr. Mainuli and I made a plan where if I won the competition, I would become President because I would be the first published President in the Creative Writing Club,” Savilia said.
The competition Savilia had written for to get published and to become Creative Writing Club President was one called Fight or Flight, which was presented by the organization Young Writers USA.
“The competition that I wrote for was called Fight or Flight, and you could write an original story based off of a real thing that was happening. So I chose a criminal case from a long, long time ago, 1900s, early 1900s, of a man getting wrongfully accused of killing two women on an island,” Savilia said.
After months of waiting since submitting her response, Savilia received a certificate in the mail confirming that she had won the competition and would become a published author.
“I was shocked, because it took really long to get an answer. I was looking in my mail, like, where’s my certificate? And I almost lost all hope,” Savilia said.
Savilia’s accomplishment brought joy to her biggest supporters both at home and in the English Department at Norwood High School.
“We were completely impressed that Meghan won a creative writing contest and that her story was going to be published,” said Lisa Savilia.
“We like to leave the book out on our coffee table for all to see. We also hope that she continues to develop her talent and possibly get another one of her stories published in college,” Lisa Savilia said.
Savilia’s publication has also brought pride and admiration from the English department at Norwood High School.
“I bought the book and I paraded it around Norwood High to all the English teachers. And I am actually now printed in the English Department Heads Office as a published author,” Savilia said.
As Savilia looks back at both of the accomplishments she received, one being becoming Creative Writing Club President and the other becoming a published author, she recognises how much Creative Writing Club has made an impact on her passion for writing.
(Emanuelly Silva)
“I’d say it’s helped my creativity and writing more often, but I wouldn’t say it necessarily changed my style of writing. I’ve always kept the same style. I just am writing more now. And I have a more liking to writing. I feel drawn to writing more than I did before,” Savilia said.
Now that Savilia has found and honed in her beloved passion for creative writing, she has a new project underway regarding the Monthly Creative Writing Club Prompts that have been hosted on the Mustang Gazette.
“The prompts are a really good connection between us and the Mustang Gazette because we have similar values, like students reading and getting exposure through Norwood High’s opportunities. The Google form was just a thought with not only me, but others in the creative writing club on how to get more attention to our club and get people to know us better,” Savilia said.
Each month, starting back in January of 2026, Savilia, along with other creative writing club members, come up with a creative writing prompt for each month and post a google form on the Mustang Gazette website for students to fill out and show off their creative writing skills and work to others.
“We think of the month that we’re going to publish it and we try to go by a theme. So our February prompt is surrounded by love because of Valentine’s Day and our January prompt was kind of the same with the New Year’s prompt,” Savilia said.
Savilia hopes that through more exposure and connection, like the one with the Mustang Gazette, Creative Writing Club can get more attention and inspire more people to expand their creative writing skills.
“I really hope we get a lot more love around our club and we get more members. I also would really love it if we either make an Instagram account and better market ourselves, or make a connection with multiple different writing and creative clubs,” Savilia said.
Savilia hopes that Creative Writing Club and the work she conducts within it inspires more people to write and to explore their hidden talents and passion, just like she did when she joined the club.
“I’d say never stop writing and it’s better to say less than more and overcompensate. I think you don’t have to say a lot to mean something when you say it. And I think it’s very important to be yourself even when you’re writing,” Savilia said.
