Gloria Liang

Richard Montgomery High School

Creative writing means many things to me—it’s my default fun fact, the activity that keeps me up at midnight, and the consequence of asking “Why can’t I also write something similar?” after reading Rick Riordan’s books. Now, creative writing is something I can’t imagine myself without.

As someone who’s been in many fandoms, my writing is inherently connected to the media I consume and the communities around them. Anything and everything—the latest fantasy book, a sentimental manga, or a thrilling lore-filled game—sparks ideas. You’ll often find me chatting with a friend about something new I’ve read and how its ideas could be spun into a new story. I’m always collecting interesting motifs (even from the stories I dislike!) to knit together into a new poem or narrative. Like all other writers, I combine these ideas with my own experiences to create something that is greater than the sum of its parts.

I tend to gravitate toward fantasy stories because the presence of magic and whimsy allows for easier explorations of my favorite themes. These include humanity and mortality, the passage of time, and what we impose onto the natural world. Nature’s behaviors may not have a deep meaning, but we see ourselves reflected in them nonetheless. Through this, I’ve come to understand more about myself, people, and the world around us.

Runners-Up

Hannah Han

Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School

The act of writing, to me, is an intimate form of human understanding. I write, not just because it’s entertaining, but because I have too much imagination and made too many memories, so sometimes I have to let it out. I don’t have a specific pattern or theme to my writing—just whatever catches my attention and inspires me. Creativity often comes in the blink of an eye, and writing is the only time where I am able to fully capture it all. So when I write, I find my words to be one big love letter to humanity. It is through characters in the stories I’ve read that taught me about identity, death, and love in an environment that was too scared to talk about such things. It is through words of poetry, novels, and screenplays that allowed me to appreciate the present and to observe the beauty of humanity and human nature itself. And most importantly, it was the stroke of a pen that gave me the privilege of experiencing magic in a reality where there is none.

Niharika Wadehra

Watkins Mill High School

Wonderland…that’s what I think of writing. A land of freedom and creativity, where there are endless possibilities to the elements you add. The way writing can simply branch out to something that you never expected is mesmerizing and when your story comes together, the feeling, OH it’s unexplainable—merely exhilarating. My writing incorporates the freedom of this land to the best of its ability. From extravagant descriptions to untamed plot twists, the writing world is more beautiful than it seems.

To me, writing is a pure catharsis. It develops a portal from the real world, filled with stress to one filled with peace and love. My inspiration to write comes from books I have read, music, historical events, or the appalling fantasies my mind comes up with. Writing is like dew on the flowers, following a rainy morning or ointment on one’s wounds. My stories and poems focus on genuine emotions. Often stemming from my own emotions, I write to connect. I hope that my writing can connect with my readers and they can forge a world of their own, using my writing as a medium. As I go on my way again to Wonderland, I dream that the Red String holds you, me, and writing together, forever.