A few months before COVID-19 wreaked havoc around the world, Sam Korsmoe (photo), the founder of the Saigon Writers Club, was officially “a writer.”  This is what he could honestly answer when people asked him, “So, what do you do for a living?”

There are a lot of people who do some writing or have written and published a few things, but to declare ‘I am a writer’ with conviction is different.  Sam was a journalist for many years and he knew several people who had full careers as journalists.  Few to none of them ever called themselves “writers” because being a journalist or writing as part of your job is somehow not the same thing. To be “a writer,” it seems you have to be named John Grisham, Stephen King, or JK Rowling and if you’re not then somehow you can’t call yourself a writer.

Sam called BS on this idea.

Back then, he could legitimately call himself a writer because he was working on a book full time. However, the idea that being “a writer” should be reserved for a select few always bothered him. To be clear, not everyone who writes can actually write well (even if they call themselves writers) and many who have to write for their job have a hard time reaching mediocrity, especially when it comes to creative writing. This is because writing is tough. But that doesn’t mean a person who is willing to listen, work hard, practice, share, experiment, and practice some more and more can’t be a writer. They can, especially when they have wanted to do so for many years and have a good story inside of them that needs telling. Sam believed this was possible so he started up the Saigon Writers Club to test this idea out.

Guess what?  He was right. 

Anyone can be a writer if they put the work in.  Sam developed a 10-session creative writing curriculum that covers all the mechanics of fiction writing such as character development, setting, narrative, dialogue, voice, scene development, plot, and so on. The end goal for the students was completion of their very own short story. Some students already had a story idea burning inside of them.  Others were totally winging it.  Each week, they shared ideas, characters, word choices, and short and long sentences and in the end told some compelling stories.  Writers write, and that’s what they did.

In December 2022, the Saigon Writers Club completed its 5th creative writing class. It has published three anthologies (Rainy Season 2021, Dry Season 2022, and Rainy Season 2022). That’s three published anthologies over five separate creative writing classes in less than two years.  And now we have a website as well as a newsletter. Not a bad start!

The short stories from the writers of the Saigon Writers Club accomplish what good fiction is supposed to do.  Spark the imagination.  Paint a picture. Narrate a compelling voice for the soul.  Make you think.  Make you cry.  Make you remember.  And make you believe.

Thanks for reading our story and please consider joining one of our classes. We are ready to work with you and help you become a published author.