Does taking a creative writing class in school actually help you improve writingg?
Next year I’m taking my school’s creative writing class, and I’m wondering if it will actually help. Also, has any one on here took a creative writing class in high school? What was it like? Thanks.
- ? Brigitta’s troll ?
Tags: Creative Writing Q&A, School Help, Writing Class, Writing Help, Writing School
June 23rd, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Anything that can help you focus your ability is not a waste. Such a class might help you see how to tighten your writitng, instead of always saying “I” or “She said”, it might show you different ways to approach the sentence and make it more interesting. I wish they had had classes like that when I was in school. I was always in the higher English classes and all we did was read..I think they figured we already knew everything..but I use to write stories for my friends in English II so they could get good grades!
I’m sure you will enjoy it.
June 24th, 2009 at 3:40 am
Yes it helps a lot.
You will get a lot of varied input from your fellow students and instructor, while not all of it may be what you’re going for, it will give you different perspectives and help you ways in which you may need to improve your clarity.
it will also give you plenty of things to write about that you may have never thought to write about through your assignments.
June 24th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Mine helped me a little bit, though I didn’t use any of it for a few years after I took the class. The teacher I had basically made it clear she didn’t want us to write our stories, just her version of our stories, which really turned my off to writing. It’s only been in the last year or so that I’ve been able to get back into writing again, but I do use some of what I learned from that class, like using unusual prompts (fortune cookies, old pictures cut out from newspapers, etc.).
June 28th, 2009 at 12:06 am
You get out of these classes what you put into it.
If you are open to criticism and new ideas - it should be a good class.
If you don’t think you need the class because you are already a good writer - you will find it annoying.
June 29th, 2009 at 11:00 am
It can, but creative writing classes are highly unpredictable, in at least three ways:
-The professor’s personality and writing beliefs. Unless you know the prof, you don’t know whether you’re getting someone who is supportive, open-minded and knowledgeable or an arrogant, doctrinaire jerk.
-Professors can choose to teach a structured class with real lessons and papers that actually get graded other than getting credit for work (one extreme), or to have nothing but “workshopping,” which is where the prof and the students share and dissect each oither’s work, every session (the other extreme). I’ve had both kinds.
-The students. Creative writing students are sometimes combative–usually because of ego, but sometimes just because writing classes attract eccentric people. In one of my creative writing classes, an argument turned nasty, and the prof had to break it up.
June 30th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
For me, creative writing helped me tap into my imagination and discover my voice. Even in the most structured of writing courses you can be creative-you just have to find your voice!
July 1st, 2009 at 7:29 am
I think that some people do get quite a bit out of creative writing classes.
I, however, had a Terrible teacher for that class. She asked us on the first day, “So…what do think we should do? I don’t know. Do you want to read or something?” >:D It was not good.
The only thing that i really learned was how relaxing prompted writing can be (before prompts had always been an assignment, not something to be enjoyed).
I don’t think that particular class made Me any better of a writer though.
So i kind of think that it matters who is teaching it. If you have a teacher who is sort of creative them self, you may get more out of it. Daily writing will help you out overall though