Creating and Unlocking
New Worlds
Written and Photographed by Hope, March 20, 2025
Josie Munday
Even though I myself have written about other people, writing - or in this story, creative writing - is not my passion because I cannot keep a creative story cohesive.
​
But there is someone who I know that is drawn to creative writing.
“It's amazing to be the one who creates a story, character or a plot line and brings that to life.”
​
Besides her love for buying clothes, drinking coffee, sleeping and watching Seinfeld, senior English major Josie Munday has always loved reading. Her love for reading actually sparked her interest towards becoming an English major where she would start writing.
​
Before Munday figured out what she wanted to indepthly work on, her vision was originally to be a journalism major. But one particular summer day on her drive home from work, she had a thought that had changed her plan. ​​
“I had a really vivid picture of a character that I wanted to write a story about and that she was gonna be an assassin,” Munday said. “I wrote that, and said, ‘ I can't do journalism now. I have to write creatively.’”
That was the start of her creative writing journey where she wrote her first novel.
After she wrote it, she ended up sharing why she loved writing. The main reason is because she can create the character and choose how to end the story.
But at the same time when she writes the stories, her characters end up taking over and kind of lead her on how to end the story.
Munday has written at least three novels and has even helped edit a professor’s work at Union University.
Christine Bailey, professor of English, wrote a book called “Burning Little Lies,” which is about four classmates who are directly linked to the murder of another student. The only thing that anyone knows is that the girl who was murdered had been found dead at the edge of the river with a blue flower placed on her eyes. All of them are lying, but one person did it, the question is, who?
This book that Munday helped edit wasn’t just a cool read with a plot twist, but it gave her a feel of the process of what happens after writing as well .
“Just being a part of the process to help get it out there was really cool,” Munday said. “It’s such an opportunity to have because it gives you some of those experiences towards what you’re going to possibly do in the future.”
Besides helping with editing and having a signed copy of Bailey’s book, Munday has shared that she has had Bailey as a professor multiple times now. One class involved Munday working on her senior thesis; another class was a novel writing class.
“In my first book, I found the character and had a vague idea of the plot, but I just wrote and it just went wherever it went. That's how I've always been with all of the books I've written,” Munday said.​
Like everyone, Munday ran into challenges, but that is what has helped her. She shared that her biggest struggle is consistency because it feels like when she tries making her work perfect, she can never achieve it.
Munday recalled when she finished her first novel, she was so happy - which makes sense, I usually am proud of something that I would work hard on. That happiness of finishing that book was good and all, until it made Munday struggle with making the book from good to excellent.
“I struggle with actually putting in the work unless it’s required for class,” Munday said. “I would say either consistency or making sure my work is perfect. It never feels perfect.”
With this constant feeling, it tends to also stop her from going back to the book and then editing because she knows that writing will always need work.
Even though that might stop her from time to time, these
struggles have helped make Munday a stronger writer. Being at school also helped.
“It's definitely pushed me to remember why I came here,” Munday said. “It's definitely pushed me to actually put effort in.”
Munday ended up sharing that her minor journalism, which had a class in it, also pushed her in different ways within the writing realm.
When considering the semester I took of this class, I remembered how the writing in that class also pushed me. Just like Munday, we both had been pushed to do pieces such as news writing, sports writing, etc., which gave us opportunities to learn something new.
Where this class pushed her outside of her comfort zone, she also had a novel class prior.
In the novel writing class, Munday brought to the table something she had written, and Bailey helped her by editing that. Bailey not only helped Munday, but Munday also expressed how she has been inspired by Bailey’s writing.
“It’s really inspirational to see how this great writer, who made this amazing book that I helped create, is helping me make my work the best it can be,” Munday said. “She's creating art, and she's also helping me do the same thing.”
All this talk of creating stories started to make me wonder how she wrote her own books. Munday revealed that her process didn’t have many steps. Now, where other authors make lists and start with characters making the plots, Munday does it differently.
“We are always told to write for the audience. Kind of like using your own voice, but you have to kind of anticipate who you're writing to,” Munday said. “I've always struggled with that, so it's definitely challenged me.”
With this semester being her last before she walks down that stage, Munday could see herself continuing to develop her skill and writing novels, short stories and eventually try to get her work from there.
Now, even though she doesn’t have a huge process on how she writes, at the very end, she ends up having little notes.his could be anything from how the stories are about to go to what the characters look like. It helps her out because she will write but sometimes forget how something was created.
Right now, Munday does have an idea for the future as well as a dream, which go hand in hand.
“My dream job would be to be a successful writer,” Munday said. “I hope to work at a publishing house, somewhere where I can work with either writing or editing, maybe journalism of some sort. But I definitely want to self publish my own books as well in the future."​
Munday is in fact on her way to that dream. With her experience of writing three books in her back pocket, Munday has her fourth book on the way.
In order to not reveal too much of it, I will try my best not to write about it. This new project 0f Munday’s could theoretically become a series in itself. This whole theme falls under the theme of Alice in Wonderland, where a modern girl gets sucked into that world and has to fulfill a very specific role. This girl doesn’t know exactly who this role is or even that she has to fulfill a role.
What Munday disclosed about her story is that she is turning a childhood character and putting a bit of a darker turn on to it.
While Munday said this is her favorite book she has ever attempted to write, she brought up that her second favorite book was the first one she wrote: first, because it started off her creative writing, and second, because it was tied to “The Little Mermaid” as a dark twist on the fairytale.
I am starting to sense she likes to put a turn on beloved fairy tales, which is so interesting to me. I wonder if she would continue writing fairy tales with a twist to them.
From the start to now, this passion for storytelling has grown and has led her to many achievements, such as creating multiple books to create a unique twist on familiar worlds. This has shown her passion and her creativity that some might not have.
“Creative writing is such a cool major because, like, there's so much art out there, which is so cool,” Munday said. “But it's amazing to be the one who creates a story or a character or a plot line and actually brings that to life.”