This week marks the first class of my latest writing course at the local college: Creative Writing 102. Eeeek.
I took my first creative writing course this January after about 5 years of signing up for courses, and then finding a lame reason to drop them before they started. Taking a writing course was a terrifying prospect to me because (horror of horrors) I’d have to show my writing to someone else. Once I finally managed to drag myself to my first creative writing course, I avoided sharing my writing for as long as I could. It took me 6 weeks to build up the courage to read out a few sentences from a writing exercise in class, but once I did share my work, the benefits were plentiful!
Based on my experience, I’ve compiled a few potential pros of taking a creative writing course:
- You get to meet other writers (who might be good writing group members in the future).
- You’re forced to practice writing (lest you be embarassed by not having your homework completed).
- You’ll likely get a ton of writing tips and ideas from your teacher and fellow classmates (and perhaps your textbook, depending on the course).
- Your teacher might be a published author who you can pummel with questions about the industry.
- If you can bring yourself to share, you will get invaluable feedback on your writing.
And a few potential cons of creative writing courses:
- They can be expensive (especially for struggling artists).
- They can be time consuming: between attending class and completing assignments a writing course could take up to 5 hours of your time each week. This time could arguably be better spent on your WIP.
- They can give you a nasty reality check (and maybe make you cry). In my last course I watched as some of my fellow classmates bloomed into writers, and others became overwhelmed, lost confidence, and eventually stopped coming to class. Taking a writing course can give your dreams of becoming the next J.K. Rowling a nasty reality check.
If you’re interested reading more about the pros and cons of writing classes, you could check out Emma Darwin’s thoughtful and detailed post on the topic here.
For me, taking my first creative writing course was my first big step into the ‘writing life’. Not only did I learn a lot about how to write, I also gained confidence in my writing, established a regular writing practice, and met another aspiring writer that I’ve managed to keep in touch with (hi Meghan!).
Although I’m nervous about starting another creative writing course, I have high hopes that it will help improve my writing even more as I work my way through writing my first novel.
I’d love to hear what others think about writing courses. Have you ever taken a creative writing course? Did you find it helpful? Has anyone had a bad experience with a writing course?
I have never taken a creative writing course, but always wanted to.
It would be the $$$ and the location of the school. That is what prevents me. I think anything that causes you to write—immaterial of the description, such as writing course///neighborhood group///coffee clutch at a girlfriend’s home is worth it.
just write—Jaye
God! I eish I could take a course.
Great point Jaye – whether you’re writing because you’re in a class or some other reason, you’re still writing! Have you looked into online creative writing courses? I have never taken one, but I imagine they might be less expensive. I also tried to work my way through one of the Gotham Writer’s Workshop books before (http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Fiction-Practical-Acclaimed-Creative/dp/1582343306/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b ). You miss out on the camaraderie with classmates when you do a course through a book, but if you’re on a tight budget it might be a good place to start. Good luck with your writing!
Hey, just recently found your site (through Freshly Pressed), and have been enjoying it.
It sounds like you’ve had a pretty positive experience with creative writing courses. Do you think it makes a difference where/when you take one, and with whom? I took one prose writing class as an undergrad, and wasn’t impressed. I’ve discussed it with a friend of mine, who also took a creative writing course at her respective college, and we found that a lot of our experiences were the same. That is, there were a lot of people indulging in their sex and/or violence fantasies, and a few working out their mother issues. Our professors seemed to respond more to those pieces that were, it seemed to us, “edgy” for the sake of edginess. These things just didn’t speak to either of us.
I wonder if different circumstances would have made it better—like, say, if there hadn’t been any pretentious undergrads (I don’t think I was one…). Or maybe there will always be people who think their way of writing is the best way—or the only way—and make it uncomfortable for everyone else…? I also think it makes a difference who’s instructing the class. If your ideas, and approach to writing, just don’t click with the instructor’s, it’s really hard to feel confident about your work.
Anyway, I’m happy to hear that there are good programs out there, with a supportive atmosphere and helpful feedback. I may have to try another creative writing class sometime.
I’m sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience! I think that taking a writing course that’s not for credit (so a continuing ed course, or a course put on by a writer’s association), could have less of that competitiveness that you describe.
For one thing, with non-credit courses, you’re not working towards a good grade, you’re working to improve your own writing; Your teacher is there to guide you into becoming a better writer, rather than to grade your papers. I’m not sure if this is the case in ALL non-credit writing courses, but it seems to be the norm in most that I have read up on.
In my class I did run across writers of varying confidence, and I learned that confidence (at least in this group of new-ish writers) didn’t necessarily equate to writing prowess. About halfway through the course I decided that I’d have to stop worrying about what others thought about their writing, or my writing, and just try to get the most out of the course as I could (that sounds a lot easier than it actually was – this was one of my biggest struggles during the course).
Perhaps trying a non-credit course would redeem writing courses in your mind! Thanks for stopping by, and good luck with your writing!
What a coincidence! I just wrote a post yesterday about 6 tips to survive a writing workshop.
Here it is if you want to check it out. http://www.thewriterssalon.com/2011/05/six-tips-for-surviving-writing-workshop.html
Good luck in your class! Enjoy the creative camaraderie.
Great post Jacquelin! Thanks so much for sharing. My next course is going to include a lot more workshopping, so I’ll be sure to take your tips to heart.
I dabbled with writing when I was in school, but as the years went on I found I enjoyed editing others’ work far more. My goal is to always make the book the best it can be within a writer’s goals and voice. Would attending or auditing a writing course help me understand writers better? Or would it be an expensive waste of time?
Hello Neil!
I am a writer who has dabbled in editing, and I took several editing classes that definitely helped with my writing. I’m not certain that the reverse would hold true, but I can’t see why a writing class wouldn’t help you better understand writers. But, if you aren’t interested in writing at all, I think you could probably get the same kind of understanding just from talking to writers (as you probably do day-to-day now), or reading a book directed towards writers. In fact, I bet you could write a great book for writers since you have probably seen all of the usual mistakes we writers make :)
Thanks for commenting!
Interesting read!
I’ve never taken a writing course as such – we had some writing related courses at uni, but not fiction related. Had a lot of literature there, but not anything about writing it.
I am in a writing group or two, though, and that is very useful to me. If I didn’t have that opportunity, I may consider signing up for classes.
I would love to be in a writing group! The course I am taking now is set-up more like a writing group – lots of workshopping and giving feedback on each others writing. Part of the reason I’m taking this class is in the hopes that I can meet more writers to form a writing group. Having a supportive group of like-minded folks to chat with about writing sounds lovely.
How did you find your writing groups? Do you meet often?
One group is made up of NaNoWriMo writers in my area. We don’t meet very often, but we do some collaborative projects, which is great fun. The other one was originally started by a friend of mine. We meet once every week or every second week.
In case you’re curious, I recently wrote a post on my blog about what we do in the groups. :) (http://howalt.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/writing-groups-and-other-peoples-opinions/)
I took a creative writing course this past semester and it was the best class I’ve taken. However, I would say it depends almost entirely on the teacher you get. My teacher assigned readings that shared similar themes and gave us exercises that I can use in the future when I have writer’s block that really drew out my best work. It was really helpful and I hope to stay in touch with some of my classmates so we can workshop each others writings even after the class ends. I would highly recommend it to anyone serious about developing his/her writing.
Hi Leanne,
I’m glad to hear that you too have had a good experience with a writing course! One of my favourite parts of my first writing course were the exercises that my teacher passed on to us. She had some great ideas (like go out and do something as your character, then come home and write about it). I hope you are able to stay in touch with at least a few of your classmates – I’ve found that it makes a big difference when I have other writers to commiserate and celebrate with.
Thanks for commenting!
I took quite a few creative writing courses in college. Loved them, for all the reasons you mentioned, and more! The most important thing, for me, was that the class served as a daily reminder that I was a writer. I had writing to do, to turn in for class, to keep up with my classmates. The camaraderie of writing workshops was an added incentive to work hard. You know, maybe I should look into taking another class some time…
Great point. Classes do give you nice deadlines. It’s much harder to look out at your class and tell them you can’t read out your homework assignment than it is to let a personal deadline slip by when only you know about it.
Thanks for stopping by!
Good post. I’ve never attended one before. The courses sounded sounded so interesting at the pros. Sharing your work and meeting other writers. Until I read the cons… Though I am still keen about attending one. Oppurtunities like these means you find out the flaws and get to polish them up. Thanks for the post.
Best regards,
nicrt
Hell nicrt,
Nice to hear from you! Writing courses can definitely help you work out the kinks in your writing (in my limited experience), especially since you will often get feedback from your teachers and fellow classmates, so they may uncover things you may not have noticed. Happy writing!
As a creative-writing tutor recently elevated to Kindle UK “best-seller” status I have a pretty unique perspective on this, Carrie.
And for the second time in a week you’ve given me a theme for a blog on my own site, though time pressure means it won’t appear just yet. So here to address a few points briefly.
Most cw courses are one-size-fits-all lessons, and while that’s great for the first two or three sessions while everyone gets settled in, it can backfire badly for some as they progress, as your last point observes.
An ideal cw course is one that brings you altogether, then lets you separate into small groups sharing competence, confidence and aims, and then running those small groups separately. At separate times would be perfect, but at the very least with different assignment tasks. And reviewing students’ work with due regard to their current progress, not comparing absolute beginners with those with years of experience.
Carrie, you wrote “I watched as some of my fellow classmates bloomed into writers, and others became overwhelmed, lost confidence, and eventually stopped coming to class.”
I cringed whe I read that. But sadly all too common. Sorry, but that’s not teaching, that’s lecturing. That so-called teacher should be ashamed of him / her self.
@leanneh: yes, meeting others and staying in touch is a huge benefit.
@kathleen: As above, good teachers will address the needs of ALL their students, not just the noisy few. One benefit of on-line tuition is that you are not in direct competition with the loud-mouthed drunk across the room or the ego-ridden delusional sitting behind you who thinks he is the new Shakespeare. It’s just you and the screen.
@jgavinallan: Cost and practicality are always a consideration, and while on-line courses lack that instant feedback and the ability to meet up for a coffee afterwards, they do offer many benefits. They invariably still cost, but can be much cheaper than a college-based course. But they are sill mostly one-size-fits-all and very impersonal.
Many blogs offer writing tips for free, and it’s worth finding a few that do and trawling through their archives.
I’m keen to relaunch an on-line creative writing group (or maybe a few, to suit needs) as an adjunct to my blog and would love to hear from anyone who’s interested. NO FEES. The only price you pay is having your work posted for others to comment on. If anyone’s interested you can contact me via my blog or FB page initially, and we can go from there.
Hello Mark!
Thank you for such a great comment! You mentioned that you were a creative writing tutor – does that mean that you tutored one-on-one? I didn’t know that was even an option in the world of writing courses! That sounds much less stressful than a classroom situation.
I’ve considered joining an online writing group, but I’m a bit nervous about putting my work up there for relative strangers to comment on. It seems like people might be harsher if they don’t have to look at me across the room while they do it. What has your experience been with online writing groups? Is this an issue or am I just being paranoid? Would your group operate in a closed forum, so only members could read each others work? Regardless, it sounds very interesting!
I’ve never taken one but am intrigued by the idea. Look forward to hearing how yours goes – good luck!
Thanks very much, vixter! I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes. The last course had lots of ups and downs, but was very useful in the end. Here’s hoping for the same result!
Thanks for your comment.
Hey buddy.
My name’s Gabriel, I’m from Brazil. A few years ago I lived in Maryland. There, I took a few courses in a local college as well. The problema I find here in brazil is that our colleges don’t usually offer these fast courses.
I love writing, I actually host a blog myself (www.homeroffice.wordpress.com), I believe you won’t be able to read cause it’s in portuguese :-), but anyway, do you know about a Book that I could buy to learn more about Creative Writing?
I’ve signed up for your new posts, really enjoying them. Thanks a lot!
Hello Gabriel,
Nice to meet you! I have used several creative writing books over the years, but I’ve had the most success recently with Imaginative Writing by Janet Burroway (http://www.amazon.com/Imaginative-Writing-Elements-Penguin-Academics/dp/0321081919).
I know that there are a TON of writing books out there though, so if any others who stop by this site have any suggestions, please do post them!
Thanks for your comment, Gabriel. Also, you’re right, I can’t read Portuguese, but I wish I could! Your blog looks very cool.
I took a creative writing course in college. It wasn’t hard to fit in as an English major. I was leery of them at first, and had to drop one that wasn’t good for me, so I didn’t know what to expect. Usually lower level CW classes at universities are taught by MFA students, so the quality can vary in the intro classes.
Luckily, I had an amazing teacher. She introduced us to several different kinds of poetic verse and how to write them, gave creative exercises, and helped refine my writing. I strengthen my writing greatly with one piece of advice I’d never applied to creative writing: use stronger verbs rather than adjectives (I try to never use adverbs). But by far the biggest benefit was teaching me how to revise.
Mrs. Prevatt-Harris made us revise 50% of the story we submitted for workshopping–mandatory revision. I thought the story was nearly perfect and didn’t have a clue how to revise it that significantly without writing another story. Through her guidance, I learned how to revise properly and pull more out of the writing, make it tighter, and polish a story in ways I often overlooked simply because I refused to revise (I only proofread, really).
One of the drawbacks was also a benefit. It wasn’t a genre specific class and counted as an elective for many non-English/CW majors, so I read many stories outside of my reading preferences (and many that needed more proofreading than revision).
I would take another creative writing class if I had the opportunity…and the money. The cost is a definite drawback, as is the time commitment. I work fulltime now, and barely have time to work on my WIPs. I’ve thought of returning to school, for further writing instruction and to have concentrated time on my writing.
Nice listing of pros and cons.
It’s great to hear about your experience with creative writing courses. Learning how to edit your work is another fantastic benefit of many writing courses. Thanks for stopping by to comment!
I just survived my first semester of a creative writing workshop. I turned in my final draft of a manuscript I’ve been working on all semester about an hour ago! I’m an English major, but took a writing workshop on a whim, and I have nothing but positive things to say about it…now that it’s over. It was quite challenging and very demanding, as you mentioned. My class was a nonfiction workshop, which made for an interesting semester. My piece was about a very difficult time in my life and writing it was a challenge because, as you can probably relate, when you write from your past, you essentially relive those moments all over again. It was rough. And then, after you manage to survive the process of writing it, you have to sit and listen to twenty people rip it apart. As painful as it was, now that I’m on the other side, I can see how beneficial the experience it was (despite the late-night tears trying to finish the draft). I would highly recommend creative writing classes to everyone, not just writers who wish to be published. I feel like my writing has dramatically improved just from the sheer amount of writing I had to do for the class. It can only help, even if it’s only for the rest of your academic career.
Congrats on finishing your manuscript! I have never shared a non-fiction piece of writing with a class, so I can only imagine how intense that must be. Thanks for sharing your experience!
I enjoyed this post. Thanks for sharing. When I was in college, I took two poetry classes. I know this is not quite the same as creative writing but figure, it’s close enough. The two teachers were totally opposite with their approach. The first teacher was one who believed that poetry is an expressive art and shouldn’t be critique like a research paper whereas my second teacher believed totally in criticism and the whole class was involved in doing so to each person’s piece. The only thing similar with both classes is we sat in a circle. However, I learned a bit from both.
I learned in the first class how to accept all styles of writing and how to offer suggestions to a writer without being incredibly harsh about it. (I wasn’t really harsh to begin with but I was cautious of my wording when writing critiques to others.) In the second class, I learned how to take a first draft and make it even better and how to pay attention to each word in a poem and show its significant through the use of the word and how to edit my poetry so that only the most important words were on the page. I actually written some of my best poetry in the second class.
Oh I forgot. I did take a fiction writing course as well and that was interesting. I think that course was when I realized that a person can interpret your words in so many ways so I learned how to be aware of what is written versus what I want it to say and notice the difference and make any necessary changes to clarify what I want the story to say.
All in all, creative writing courses have helped me improve my writing and even though sometimes it may hurt a bit, it will be so worth it in the end.
Hello! I like what you said about creative writing courses helping you improve your writing, even though “sometimes it may hurt a bit”. So true! I found my first writing course to be a bit of an emotional roller coaster, and I dipped between feeling fantastic when I wrote something I liked, and feeling mortified when I read out something I had written that was actually quite terrible.
Thanks for commenting!
I am soooooooooooo late. Almost a year late with this response but I just realized you responded. lol Thanks for the response. And yes the feeling of being mortified by our sometimes terrible writing helps calm our a little inflated ego when it comes to our writing. Even though, nowadays, I am my own worse critic. I guess I internalized those writing courses a bit. lol
I’ve had both good and bad experiences in writing classes. It 100% depends on the teacher. I took an intro to poetry class that had me in tears for the first time ever during a critique (and I got my BA in English and creative writing). The teacher was abysmal and made everyone feel terrible about their work, aside from a couple of her favorites. But usually I find them to be really helpful and fun.
Hello Alana!
A few people have mentioned that a teacher can make or break a class. I’m very glad that the teacher I’ve had for the two writing courses I have taken has been fantastic, but this is definitely something I’ll look into carefully before venturing out to other courses.
I noticed on your blog that you are a writing teacher! Your upcoming online class looks fantastic. Here’s the link for anyone who is interested: http://alanasaltz.com/classes/.
Unfortunately, I had a terrible time at a creative writing course! Like you mentioned, it was extremely time consuming and the coordinator/teacher was highly negative. She had a few “pets” as I liked to refer to them. As for the rest of us, no matter the material, there was never constructive criticism – just plain old criticism. There were some pretty fantastic writers in the class that I could tell were getting pretty frustrated.
This doesn’t mean I wouldn’t try another class in the future. I just would check to see if there are any reviews available before signing up.
That sounds terrible! I had a math teacher in high school that would bring chocolate (one of my all-time favourite foods) to students who did well on tests (a.k.a her pets). As a terrible math student, this was torture for me. I remember scoring my highest mark of the year on a test and hoping she might reward me for my personal best with some of her delicious homemade chocolate – but, nada. Obviously it has scarred me for life ;) That was the last math class I took (which is probably not totally her fault, but I like to think her withholding of chocolate held some part in the matter).
I don’t think it’s useful when anyone (let alone a writing teacher) gives criticism that’s not constructive. It’s too bad that you had this experience, but I’m glad it hasn’t entirely deterred you from writing courses.
Well done for going back to a writing course and hope it is useful. I took a writing course at uni, three modules if I remember rightly. It was a general course and I found a lot of it irrelevant but I loved the prose writing module. Reading out my own work embarassing, I hate reading out loud anyway let alone when it was my own words, but knowing that I would have to read it out I worked harder on my writing in that short semester than I ever had done before (or since if I’m completely honest)!
I agree with your post, it does force you to practice writing and the feedback is great. Honest and thoughtful critiques are invaluable; online forums tend to be too positive or unconstructive in my limited experience. I’m still looking for a good one!
Good luck with your course!
Thanks for your comment, Laura! You’re right – knowing that you are going to have to read your work out in class is a fantastic motivator to revise and revise again. I find it especially mortifying to have to read out writing from exercises we have done in class that I haven’t had time to edit. Either way, it’s still a good experience. Good luck with your hunt for a good online course (and let me know if you find one!).
I agree that the non-credit writing courses are very helpful! I learned so much from them because they were not as rushed as the college credit courses. With a variety of writing styles and levels of experience, you learn as much from your classmates as you do from the teacher. I would also recommend online writing courses. It’s still difficult to show others your writing but it’s a little easier to handle when they aren’t critiquing you to your face! Another intense writing experience that lasts a lifetime is from Writing Conferences. I met my mentor at a conference and it’s motivational to be around so many people with the same goals.
Good luck with your writing course!
Hello Tara! I have heard good things about writing conferences. I think that’s going to have to be my next adventure in the fall.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Hi, Tara! I have taken writing couses. I’m working on my AA in liberal arts right now and have been blessed with not only the time to go back to school, but the drive to get it done. There are an amazing bunch of people at my school, and the writing course is geared to help improve writing. The professors give guidelines, but within that you can take it where you want to. I find the classes are helpful.
I have been in a bad writing class too, but not at this school. About two years ago I went to an online writing school for help; I figured it would work into my schedule much better than a normal class. While the time frame did work better it wasn’t directed, there was hardly any feedback, and no interaction with other writers.
I think we go to these events to talk with other people as well as to work. Writing is such a solitary occupation you need to get out and mingle when you can.
So I created a writing group (Sock Monkey Writers), and have enrolled in college…again.
It’s all good, and I think destiny takes us where we need to go.
Write on,
Darlene
http://www.darlenereilley.com
http://www.darwrites.wordpress.com
I am one of those rare writers that do not have an MFA in creative writing from UBC. I dropped out of the BFA program at Concordia University in Montreal after the first year and I was do this at night. I was young then and had more energy! What good would this degree do me I asked except give me the knowledge to teach, but I didn’t want to teach. When I moved to Edmonton I decided to write fiction but what did I know? I joined the WGA and CAA and attended workshops and conferences and asked hard questions because I wanted to know. I took some creative writing courses but, as someone mentioned earlier, it all depends on the teacher. I had both good and bad experiences. Joining the WGA and CAA and attending conferences enabled me to connect with other writers also. I subscribed to magazines like The Writer and Writers Digest and just wrote every day and read everything about writing and the craft. I also subscribed to Quill and Quire which is the industry bible and if you’re going to write, you should be aware of what’s happening in publishing…unless you are just writing for yourself as therapy…and that is okay too.
I have reached the point where I will no longer attend creative writing courses because they are wasted on me. They are repetitive and sometimes the teachers are full of themselves. I get cranky because I see through the bullshit and they don’t like it that I put them on the spot with my questions.
I started to get published in the late nineties, short stories, non fiction, a poem (poetry is NOT my first thing) and right now my first novel is being read by a large literary agency in Toronto. It took me four years to write it as I also held a full time day job and it went through five revisions. You asked about what books to read on the craft. I’ve read all the popular ones like Anne Lamont, John Gardner, Stephen King, Ralph Keyes and they are all encouraging but the one that clicked with me and showed me how to write was when I took Robert McKee’s 3-day seminar The Story. If you ever get the chance to take this seminar, I would highly recommend it. I purchased his book which is word for word what he says in the seminar. (You can order from Chapters I think). I listened and then read his book. I got it, something clicked for me, and I started to write my novel. That was 2006.
Writing classes help but they are not the be all. The thing is, if writing is your passion, you won’t give up. My advice is to just write every day and read the kinds of books you want to write. If you want to be original, just write and trust yourself. Believe in yourself and your writing. Thanks for listening.
Thanks so much for such a thoughtful comment Dolly! I’m definitely going to check out Robert McKee’s book. I really like your advice about believing in yourself and your writing. Thank you for stopping by (and good luck with your manuscript)!