Should creative writing be taught?

>> Read the original article in the New Yorker Magazine

This article will be of particular interest to anyone who calls him/herself a writer and has taken a class in creative writing in an educational setting.

The basic argument here is that a professor cannot necessarily "teach" a student how to become "a publishable writer." This, I think, is true, for the same reason why a vocal instructor or a director can't teach someone how to become a world-renowned artist: it's up to the individual to find his/her personal artistry, the niche that will set him/her apart from others in the field.

"What is usually said is that you can’t teach inspiration, but you can teach craft" (5). Though the article itself goes on to counter this opinion, it is one that I readily accept. In my experience, creative writing classes are based upon two premises: (1) the deconstruction of popular literature in a given genre and (2) the assignment (however artifical) of writing-based activities, which encourage students to both think and write independently. As my former creative nonfiction once put it, (I'm quoting very roughly here), "If you were a football player, you'd have to watch hours and hours of tapes to see how others are playing the game. Then you'd come up with your own strategy of how to make yourself a great player. That's what we're more or less trying to do as writers."

What she's saying is that so much can be learned by sitting down with a Hemingway novel or a Didion essay and analyzing the elements that make it great: the structure, the attention to detail, the syntax, the dialogue. When you read, you absorb--consciously or not--techniques and strategies that will aid you in your own writing.

This is not to say that every writing program or class produces great writers. That would be an overstatement. What I am saying is that creative writing classes provide an awareness about the written word that is quickly disappearing in our science/technology-oriented world. Sure, our viewpoints about what makes "good literature" or "good writing" will differ, but that's why the field continues to be so interesting.

For those of us who love consonants and vowels and syllables and phrases, literature and writing classes are one of the few things that sustain us. What we are really looking for in a writing class, I think, is the opportunity to find others like us (those who actually enjoy reading and thinking--I know, it's difficult to come by these days!) and the time/space to do the things we love best: reading and writing.


Also consider reading: "How to become a writer" by Lorrie Moore, for a more playful take on this subject.