Introducing creative writing to the blog

Student Minds introduces creative writing to the blog.

- Hannah Vile

Here, at Student Minds, we believe that no one should be alone in their mental health struggles and encourage everyone to talk, or write, about what they are experiencing. We are a safe space for people to share their stories and are so thankful for the countless posts that have been written for us by people sharing their advice, tips, and experiences with mental health. It has been a true indicator of the strength in people, as well as the power of writing. 

Now we would like to open the Student Minds Blog up to creative writing. 

From my own experience, I have found creative writing to be an incredibly helpful tool in working through hard times. When I finished university, I found myself in a difficult place. Feelings of self-doubt and worry about life that had been building for a few months seemed to amalgamate when I moved back home. It was the combination of finishing university, moving back home, a recent breakup and difficulty finding a job that seemed to solidify the negative thoughts in my mind. When you’re surrounded by so many endings, and then move into a stagnant period in your life such as living at home during a pandemic, it’s hard to move forward and not downwards. 

After a period of consistently feeling down, I wanted a project to distract myself and so I turned to creative writing and wrote a fictional story for my sister. Creative writing was a great way of losing myself in a whole different world. It was nice to write something adventurous, funny, and irrelevant to my life. I know journaling and blogging are also useful and great ways of expressing your emotions, but at the time non-fiction writing seemed a little close to giving more attention to the negative voice in my mind, so I opted for creative writing instead. Whilst it was originally a project to distract myself, by completing a creative activity that I enjoyed and that was entirely for myself, it acted as a reminder that I was still a capable person and had a lot to give to the world. 

Creative writing deserves a place on the Student Minds Blog and so we would like to open it for you to send in your stories and poems you’ve written for your mental health. 

We will accept short stories up to 1000 words and poems up to 30 lines for now, one story or poem per submission. You are also welcomed to contribute your creative work as part of a usual blog post, we would love to hear stories behind a particular piece. We also ask that the content and language used is in keeping with the blog guidelines. More info on this can be found on the write for the blog page. 

We are so excited for this new chapter of the Student Minds Blog and look forward to reading your creative work! 

To find out more about writing and submitting a blog or creative writing piece for us, please see our page write for the blog or email blog@studentminds.org.uk. If you have any questions, please get in touch by email. 

I’m Hannah and I have recently graduated from Exeter university with a degree in English. My time at university taught me that there isn’t enough awareness and support for young people with mental health difficulties. I am excited to be working with a platform that supports students and enables their voices to be heard.