The National Day on Writing event will be hosted by the English and College Preparatory Departments on Oct. 22 in the Student Center on San Jacinto College Central Campus.

In its fourth year, the event aims to teach students how pertinent it is to learn and develop writing skills.

Different writing exercises are offered at participating booths where activities range from writing thank you cards to creating fortune cookie strips.

“Our never-ending stories are also popular,” Joy Pasini, English professor said. “We provide the first sentence of the story, and each student who sits down at the laptop adds sentences so that students who participate in the event end up collectively writing a story.”

Though it is a national event, it operates on a community level as reflected in this year’s hashtag, #writemycommunity.

Volunteers from both departments and some from other fields organize the event.

“There is a synergy that occurs when groups of people, engaged in common activities share, their thoughts in writing,” College Preparatory professor Karen Boyce said.

Boyce brought the idea to the attention of San Jacinto College in 2010. The National Day on Writing is endorsed by the National Council of Teachers of English, of which Boyce is a member.

“The idea of a nation-wide celebration of writing captured my imagination, and I approached some of my colleagues in the Faculty Fiction Writers’ group at San Jac about the possibility of launching an event on campus,” Boyce said. “I was encouraged to move forward with my plans, and the National Day on Writing event at San Jacinto College was born.”

Pasini has volunteered for the event since 2012 when she came to San Jac. She said the purpose behind the event involves showcasing the enjoyment discovered through writing.

“The idea is that even if people don’t think of themselves as writers or think of writing as one of their favorite activities, people write every day for many reasons,” Pasini said. “The event helps people to consider the importance of the writing that they do in their everyday lives and to have fun while doing that.”

National Day on Writing takes place 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission is free of charge.