As an Editor-in-Chief for an Odyssey community, I don't get to do as much writing as I would like. When I do, its usually hurried and not my best work. For this week, I wanted to take some time to start something I hope will continue with all of my fellow EICs and celebrate a member of the Birmingham Southern Team!
Hannah Scofield has been writing for Odyssey since before I took on the leadership role. She is super easy to work with, always positive, and has a great way with words that sparks conversation in our community. I wanted to pull back the curtain a little and give her a chance to tell me and anyone who wants to listen a little about her and her writing. So I texted her late one night asking to just have her answer a few questions. As always, she was willing and excited to do so. Thanks Hannah!
1. What made you interested in writing for Odyssey?
Well, in High School I wrote all the time on WordPress. I wanted to start my own jewelry business, so started a blog for that at 13...then got hooked. I then wanted to blog for stories, so I started another WordPress site for fairy tales and retold them satirically with dolls (Yes, High School was great...). After using several blogs and writing for some shady site where international companies paid writers only about $2 per 900 word article, High School ended. Before starting college, I knew I wanted to write for a magazine at BSC if possible. Jada Cato is a theatre student and we had a class together last spring She told me she had stalked my blogs and read my writing. So in return, I stalked her blogs and found a post she had written for the Odyssey. It was thrilling to realize there was an online publication here at BSC! It was after
2. What are you most interested in writing about?
For prose, science fiction, children's stories, and fairy tales. Honestly, if a story is written well and has an important meaning that is what matters most. For online writing it's so important to communicate and connect with people with that ideas that actually mean something. Maybe special needs or just someone's Thanksgiving recipe--something important to someone else and that means at least one person enjoys it.
3. Who or what is your biggest inspiration?
Biggest inspiration perhaps Orson Welles! And honestly this is kind of embarrassing, but Glenn Beck. I find it intriguing that he made his way up from being an alcoholic to a famous controversial talk show host and writer.
Yes, definitely! Everyone says this but for what's it worth I want to be a published award winning novelist as well as winning awards in screenwriting and maybe journalism...it would be a dream to just get a short story published in a magazine or even writer for Mental Floss to start off. But being famous is a dream, but rather a lustful one. The Lord has plans for me and they're better than I can even imagine.
5. What do you hope to gain from your experience as part of the Odyssey team?
Writing experience and a voice. John Archibald came and spoke to our journalism class a few days ago. He's a local reporter. What he told our class was as soon as you are able, develop a brand for yourself. He said sell yourself with what you write. The Odyssey isn't just something fun, or a resume stuffer. It's honestly developing and sharing a sort of dialect in constant chattering in the media. It's really quite exciting.
I hope to be able to spotlight all of the great content creators on the team in the weeks to come! Thanks again for all you do Hannah!
