Independent Study leads to Online Literary Magazine

Fledgling Literary Magazine is the brainchild of senior Bloomsburg University English major Sean Williams, who created the magazine as part of a Spring 2015 independent study under the direction of poet and creative writing professor Jerry Wemple.

According to Williams, the goal of the project is "to create an online workshopping experience for young/ aspiring writers, to provide a safe, no-cost, no-judgment outlet for them to publish their creative writing, and to give visitors of the site resources with which to improve their writing."

Williams, who studies English and creative writing with minors in professional writing and French, describes the process that led to Fledgling Literary Magazine as follows:

"To complete this independent study, I basically divided the project into two halves this semester. I devoted the first half of the semester to website creation--creating the elements, organizing, writing the content for pages, etc. The second half was devoted to publishing content and spreading visibility. That meant advertising on social media, spreading the word to different audiences, and actually having content up for people to see."

While he encourages participants to permit online publication of their work, Williams says, "I also welcome the opportunity to just read the pieces writers send me so that I can give feedback to them to the best of my ability. Sometimes the best thing a writer can do is ask someone to look at the piece with fresh eyes. I do that for no charge."

Visitors to the site can read published pieces and offer constructive criticism via moderated comments. Williams also offers writing tips, prompts, and links to external resources.