Paper Hearts Workshop

This section starts with the semi-annual "Round Robin" story ("The Romantic Pull of Office Supplies") by students in the Take 5. I wrote a sentence, someone else added a sentence, etc. I think the moral of the story is that staplers are the most romantic Valentine's Day gift, and you'd better enjoy that tomato.

Sponsored by the Madonna University Library and Writing Center, the Paper Hearts Workshop ran from 11-5 p.m. Thursday, February 9, in the southwest corner of the Take 5. We drew a higher number of writers than usual this year. One reason may have been the creative Valentine's Day-themed prompts our Writing Center tutors found, such as:

* You are a detective who has closed every case but one, a serial murderer who has taunted you all your career. After retiring, you start to suspect your significant other.

* A zombie apocalypse.breaks out due to your gross incompetence and you realize you are the only non-zombie left. You see the crush you have pined over slowly turning. What do you do?

* Your main character wakes up and it's a perfectly normal day. However, when he or she calls their significant other, they discover their name is not in their phone. They soon discover that their loved one no longer exists. Everyone seems to think your character is crazy since they have absolutely no idea who this loved one is. What happens next?

You'll see in the following pages the sense of fun our students brought to their writing. One purpose of the Paper Hearts Workshop is to make writing and research less scary and more approachable.

Frances FitzGerald, editor