End of the Semester!!

It is the second to last week of the semester, and since next week is finals week, today will be the Susquehanna FUSE chapter's last meeting of Fall 2013.  The semester has been an extremely eventful one for our wonderful, not-so-tiny club of undergraduate student editors.  We have reviewed several journals, discussed several more together as a group, hosted ice cream socials, tea parties, book swaps--the list goes on and on.  But the best thing about any college club worth its budget, ESPECIALLY FUSE, is that the events are going to keep on coming.  Next semester is sure to bring with it even more collections of undergraduate writing to read and review, many more creative and fun fundraising events, and even more excuses to just escape homework for a while and hang out with some like-minded peers every week.  Here's to a good semester, and another to come!

Fresh Yarn

Hello Writers, Readers, Editors and other blog viewers.  Today I would like to show all of you the joy of an emerging genre.  Though it may not seem like it, Personal Essays are on the rise.

What is a Personal Essay?
It s a piece of writing  that addresses a given topic from the perspective of the writer.  The theme and main ideas are supported by examples from the writer's own life.  The piece usually gives the reader some idea of the writer's abilities and personality.

Here is one website in particular, that allows you to explore over seven years of personal essay submissions.  Deciding to read a set of personal essays allows a reader to uncover something special, written by numerous, otherwise unknown authors.  Although some are of a higher standard than others, my examination of the website enlightened me on how interesting the authors are as people and not simply as writers.   http://www.freshyarn.com

Although Fresh Yarn is currently on a hiatus from accepting new essays, their archives provide for some excellent reading.  Maybe the essays will inspire your own personal essays!
Happy Reading!

Book Swap!

This week, SU FUSE has been in the lower level of the Degenstein Campus Center doing a BOOK SWAP, featuring such classics as the above, as well as popular titles like Twilight and Artemis Fowl.  The Book Swap is actually an incredible idea that was thought up as a way to do some fundraising for the club, all at the same time as promoting FUSE ideals (namely books, and reading, and stuff like that). 

The way the swap works is that anyone can come and trade a book of their own, and a $1 donation, and swap that for one of the fabulous titles available at the FUSE table.  Don't have any books your willing to donate to the cause?  No worries!  For the still incredibly low and incredibly reasonable price of $2, anyone can buy any of the books at the table.

I had the pleasure of manning the table for a while today, and it was pretty cool.  I leafed through a few books while I sat, and most of them seemed really interesting.  Definitely a cool idea to do some raising of the funds!  Go FUSE!

Homecoming at Susquehanna

Here's to a Successful Homecoming.  Though the sky was bleak and the air was chilly, the members of Fuse Susquehanna showed their commitment and dedication by bundling up, bringing their umbrellas and marching in the Susquehanna Homecoming Parade.  The members displayed their smiles as they ventured down University Avenue with their float, which was made a reality through the combined effort off each member.

The members of Fuse working hard and efficiently to put the finishing touches on the float last week.

 More eager faces, cutting leaves and getting to know each other.

With Homecoming behind us, Fuse Susquehanna will be looking to interview authors for your reading enjoyment.  Some members will be getting their Fuse Conference contracts signed in anticipation of exciting events to come.  Stay tuned for future updates!  

Homecoming Float Under Construction

This coming weekend is Homecoming weekend at Susquehanna University!  There's going to be a football game, a parade, a carnival, and a dance!  It is all very exciting.  In preparation for this, SU FUSE has been talking about making a float and participating in the Homecoming parade.  Last Saturday, at the club advisor's house (the wonderful Catherine Dent), several FUSE members who stayed on campus or nearby for Fall Break got together and started working on it!

This is the kind of thing that members of FUSE here at SU seem to excel at doing: giving up valuable time (like a Saturday, especially during a break) to get together and be hard at work for the club.  

These are some great pics of some of our members just having a good time and working on this float together.  Homecoming weekend is going to be a blast, and because of cool guys and gals like these FUSE will get to have an awesome, flashy presence for everyone else to see.  Great way to create awareness of our club and generate a greater presence on campus!  FUSE rocks, can't wait to see the float this Saturday!

Plot Scenario Generator

Writers block can be unpredictable, annoying and just downright frustrating.

Have you ever felt like this?

Sometimes all we need is a pinch of inspiration to begin a short story or other work.  For Fiction in particular, we've found the perfect website to get you started on your next project.  I'd like to introduce you to the Plot Scenario Generator.   

This website is pretty self-explanatory, generating two random lines of vague plot, which you as the reader use and alter to make your own original story.  For example, the first line might be "The story begins when your protagonist gets lost," and the second line might say "Another Character is a pharmacist who thinks s/he is doing his/her duty."  From those simple lines, you can make a story of any fashion.  If you are struggling with what to write about, this website will give you a small push in the right direction.  

If you dislike the scenarios the generator displays, it is no problem at all; you can continue to refresh it until you find a couple of lines that suit you.  The Plot Scenario Generator might not be the answer for everyone, but if you find yourself in a moment of writers block, or you're just curious about what to write next, this website is worth checking out.  Simply follow the link below.

http://www.archetypewriting.com/muse/generators/plot.htm

Happy Writing!

Plan to Attend the National FUSE Conference

NOVEMBER 7-8, 2013.  This year's host institution is beautiful Davidson college, home of Libertas. 

For more information, go to: www.fuse-national.com.

FUSE Conferences and Bookless Libraries

Present FUSE members are happy FUSE members.

Last Wednesday, September 25th, was FUSE fourth meeting of the year!  In the blink of an eye a month goes by!

In case you missed out, there's plenty going on to hear about.  We chit chatted about our role in the homecoming parade designing a float to represent our club in the march with the theme of SU Serve!  It's pretty exciting, and plenty of members are going to be helping either with designing and creating the float, or simply showing up to support each other and show some school spirit!

In other news, there is a much-anticipated SU National Conference coming up!  This conference was started right here by the Susquehanna FUSE branch, and we are really excited to keep the tradition going strong.  There are going to be administrators and FUSE members from tons of different colleges coming together to share ideas, give presentations, read papers, and just have a great time.  It is a fantastic opportunity to enjoy being a part of the undergraduate world of editing and publishing, as well as an awesome chance to get some experience with presenting to throw on that all-important resume!

Aside from that, a fellow member brought up a really interesting topic during the end-of-club-mingling that goes on, and I thought I should bring it up because it really is interesting and very relevant to anyone concerned with the future of the book world.  On September 14th, the nation's first completely digital, "bookless" library opened its doors in San Antonio, Texas.  A bookless library.  This is a big deal for a variety of reasons.  For one, it is an unfortunate sign that our nation is moving away from the lovely hardcovers and paperbacks that we have all cherished for so long.  However, the idea is not all bad, in fact there is plenty good about this event.  The fact is that this library is going to be a huge resource for their community.  Local residents can come in and browse a significant collection of digital books, easily search through them to find exactly what they want, and read them either on one of the library's large touch-screen tables, or download a copy onto their own e-reader to take home with them.  This means less lost books for libraries, and a far simpler experience for people who were once forced to navigate through shelf after shelf of books they did not want to read.

I am definitely a fan of real, paper books, but with the recent trend of states closing libraries it is certainly nice to see that there is a viable option for transitioning the idea of libraries into the digital age.

Give this article a read to learn more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/bookless-all-digital-library-opens-in-texas/

I Write Like...

Greetings readers and writers, here's something cool.

There is frequent talk of who inspires you as a writer.  We've all contemplated it, and we've all discussed it.  Sometimes it just seems redundant.   For just a few minutes, forget your inspirations and put aside your favorite authors.  Stop getting hung up on who you write like, but start looking at who writes like you?

With this simple URL, you can discover who writes like you.  Maybe you'll realize that your favorite author has influenced you more than you thought.  Perhaps you'll find an a new love for a new author.  You like your writing, therefore you might like writing similar to yours.  The possibilities are endless!
Simply follow this link, http://iwl.me/ and you will travel to 'I Write Like.'  Once there, all you have to do is paste a few paragraphs of your writing, click 'Analyze' and poof!  The website finds an author who writes like you.

It is seriously fun!  You can can analyze different pieces of writing, and potentially find several different authors who write like you!

First Meeting 9/4

            The first meeting for Fuse Susquehanna went extremely well.  Many veterans as well as new faces filled the room with excitement and enthusiasm for the new semester. 

            Many important aspects of Fuse Susquehanna were discussed.  We hope to further our repertoire of author interviews as well as broaden our reviews.  With so many members ready to participate, we will have no problem doing this.  

            Our budget for the semester is currently five thousand dollars, but we will be brainstorming fundraising ideas.  We would like to see as many members as possible attend conferences at other schools.   

SU FUSE Ice Cream Social

Question: What could delicious Blue Bunny Bordeaux Cherry Chocolate PREMIUM ice cream possibly have to do with a super cool forum for undergraduate student editors like SU FUSE?

Answer: It was my favorite flavor at their super cool Ice Cream Social!

Wednesday, August 28^th, 2013, FUSE, as well as other fantastic clubs at SU like SU Slam, Shakespeare Club, Lit Club, Poetry Club, and Screenwriting Club got together with both returning and new students to get their mingle on with some delicious frozen goodness. This event was interesting and awesome to be at for a plethora of reasons, but here are my big two:

1. It was a great way for these clubs to touch base with both preexisting members and anyone else who might be interested, and
2. The Writer's House where it was located was literally overflowing with people of like interests and a love for the art of words.
   
   

Just look at all those beautiful, word-loving faces.

It was an awesome time, despite the legendary downpour I had to trek through to make it.  After I showed up I was graciously lead to the table of ice cream and told to help myself.  Then, cone in hand, I got some face time with both several writing majors I have known for years, and several who I had never seen before. Plus I got to hear about at least two clubs I didn't know existed on campus before I got there!  Everyone had fun, enjoyed their ice cream, and I'm sure these clubs will all be getting plenty of attendance at their future meetings because of it.

And seriously, Bordeaux Cherry Chocolate PREMIUM ice cream. So good.