Creative Writing Course

[wildsweetone]

There is a Creative Writing Course (one session per week for eight weeks) on a Wednesday evening at a school a fair distance from my home.

As I have never been to one, I would like to know:

1. If you have been on a Creative Writing course or workshop, did you gain anything from it?

2. Were you happy you went or did you feel it was a worthless exercise?

3. Can you share with me (either email me) or us, (on here) one (1) thing you learned from the course?

The last question of course is totally up to you. I would like your opinions as I'm unsure it would be worth the travel, and/or leaving my family to fend for themselves for three hours each week.

 

[Guest]

pros and cons

1. If you have been on a Creative Writing course or workshop, did you gain anything from it?

I have taken creative writing courses in prose and poetry and the biggest benefit was the discipline of the courses... weekly assignments and daily journalling kept me writing whether I felt like it or not... In some ways it was like signing up for an aerobics course, I could have done the exercises at home with a tape, but paying the money increased the commitment level. The group feedback was also valuable.

2. Were you happy you went or did you feel it was a worthless exercise?

I was really happy with the poetry course because the group dynamics were good-- everyone was interested in being both a contributor and a source of feedback. Perhaps this was easier in the poetry course because the pieces were shorter.
The prose course was technically more challenging, but the group dynamics weren't as good.

3. Can you share with me (either email me) or us, (on here) one (1) thing you learned from the course?

The only way to become a better writer is to write, write, write and then re-write, re-write, re-write. A good style handbook- or PM'ing Quasimodem- are also essential.

WSO- I hesitated to post because I know that my writing is not A level writing, but I want to encourage you in your writing if it will get you to finish your series! If this course will conflict with you completing your series, then I strongly recommend you skip the course!

-b

 

[deliciously_naughty]

There is a Creative Writing Course (one session per week for eight weeks) on a Wednesday evening at a school a fair distance from my home.

As I have never been to one, I would like to know:

1. If you have been on a Creative Writing course or workshop, did you gain anything from it?

I gained knowledge of puncuation, and learned the value of rewriting.

2. Were you happy you went or did you feel it was a worthless exercise?

I still felt that I was being pressured to write to the style of the the teacher

3. Can you share with me (either email me) or us, (on here) one (1) thing you learned from the course?
I learned that the only way to become a good writer is to write.


The last question of course is totally up to you. I would like your opinions as I'm unsure it would be worth the travel, and/or leaving my family to fend for themselves for three hours each week.

I think that it might be good for you...it will give you a break from you family (very important) and a chance for you to explore in more depth something you enjoy.

 

[karmadog]

1. If you have been on a Creative Writing course or workshop, did you gain anything from it?

I gained very little. I took a morning class which was full of students who were 18 or 19. There is sometimes a certain energy in a class full of young people, but they seldom wrote anything that wasn't complete cliche. For the most part, the hadn't read widely enough to know any better. In an evening class, you'll more than likely have older people who are a little more serious about classes in general, and writing specifically.

2. Were you happy you went or did you feel it was a worthless exercise?

I wasted my money. The critique sessions were of less use than an email saying that a story gave someone a great, big chubby. But again, most of the students were just taking a class they thought would be an easy grade.

3. Can you share with me (either email me) or us, (on here) one (1) thing you learned from the course?

Not to take day classes.

Actually, the teacher was very encouraging and I still speak to her from time to time, but I did not complete the class, I dropped it. There was no sense wasting time AND money.

I encourage you to take the class, though. If it sucks, you can always drop it before the deadline and get your money back, and if it's good, it will be worth every penny. Also, your teacher can be a terrific resource. He or she can direct you to good writer's groups and local publications that can get you clips for your resume (depending on how serious you are).

Good luck and have fun!

 

[wildsweetone]

If this course will conflict with you completing your series, then I strongly recommend you skip the course!

okay i get the hint, truely i do... really i do understand
i have spent part of the day wondering what Bess, Miles, Martin and Blondie are going to get me into trouble for next... and i'm seriously trying to find out about military chain of command so they don't mess me up. lol

btw nobody in my family knows about my Lite (i sooo love that term) writing, heck, they don't think i write anything worthwhile anyway so i guess the whole idea of a course would be a joke to them.

on the other hand, isn't that all the more reason to take a course?

 

[KillerMuffin]

The only way to master the craft is to do it.

The course that's improved my writing the most is a Literature course. How to read it and appreciate it.

I think that one of the most basic things a writer has to master is how to read critically. Discussion about writing has always been fabulous because I can take that and apply it judiciously to my own work.

There are online courses. Or you could skip that and get into a writer's group or form a writer's group.

I would like to form a Lit writer's group "here" rather than at MSN or elsewhere. We have the basic tools, but it would take some putting together. And some interest.

 

[wildsweetone]

KM i would be interested in a writer's group... please let me know as an when you get further down the planning. if you require help, shout and i'll see if there's anything i can do

 

[tenyari]

I started one in high school before cutting school for almost a semester.


The only thing I got out of it was the advice that you never kill a character.

I think the teacher was overstating it, but the point he was making was valid.

Violence, and death of character are very often used by writers for cheap thrills or when they cannot come up with a real plot thread.

The teacher was thus forcing us to come up with something just a tad ore in depth. I suspect he chose death as his anti-theme merely because we were all a bunch of over dramatic fatalistic, half goth teens.

I would extend this advice out to whatever -cheap tricks- your chosen genre uses.

For example, try writing an erotic story were nobody 'gets off'. Or a sex scene without describing anything in terms of the mechanics of the action.

The advice here is to push yourself beyond the simple tricks, to make sure you aren't writing anything just because 'there's nothing better to say'.

 

[Weird Harold]

The last question of course is totally up to you. I would like your opinions as I'm unsure it would be worth the travel, and/or leaving my family to fend for themselves for three hours each week.

I've never taken a creative writing course, although I've taken a couple of other writing courses.

Whether any course is worth your time will depend in large part what you expect to get out of it. No writing course will turn you into Shakespear, but you can learn something about writing to improve your own from almost any course on writing.

From comments made by others who have had creative writing classes, the teacher is probably the biggest factor in how much you get out of the class. A teacher who insists that their way is the only way can stifle any creativity you may have -- at least as far as the class is concerned -- but if you approach the class with the intention of learning something, the worst teacher in the world can't stop you from learning.

As others have said, Creative Writing classes aren't the only way to learn writing -- this forum is a pretty good place to learn from the discussions and arguments that crop up from time to time.

 

[wildsweetone]

thank you

i appreciate all your comments and all those who have emailed and PMed me.

there have been a wide range of experiences with Writing Courses by the looks of things.

it sounds like any writing course experience is better than none. i can cope with a teacher's different style, my attitude to that is that their style boundaries are only temporary to my own writing, and if i can stay openminded, then chances are i'll learn from it.

now, it's time to get writing (yes bridget, that next chapter) and later i'll see what i can do to convince my spousal unit to let me go.

*hugs* all, thank you. your thoughts are appreciated.

 

[poohlive]

I guess it would really depend on why you want to take the class. A creative writing class, just like any other, will only teach you some disciplines of writing, and challenge you, it won't actually make you creative.
No one can teach you to be a write, you need to be one. People can help harness your skills, but unless the talent isn't there, than little can be done. I'm not trying to say you don't have talent, far from it, I just don't want you to go to this class thinking that you will learn the secret to writing.
The base of the class will do nothing more than tell you to write more, try for at least once a day, whether an idea is rattling around in your brain or not, and to challenge yourself. New situations, unusual characters, anything and everything to keep you, God of the manuscript, on your toes.
Of course, you can already do that on your own. You don't need to pay someone to tell you that. The feedback from others and listening to other ideas form however, might be of interest. Lit could help you in that situation though, it does harbor a lot of amateur writers (no offence, amateur as in learning and growing, not as in naive and childish) who I know would love to help you, and have help themselves with writing.
If you can't do that for yourself, force yourself to write nearly daily and think up something that is unusual for you to write, than perhaps it wouldn't hurt to take a few hours of your time to have an actual deadline and syllabus on this.
I honestly can't see a teacher telling you something that you didn't already know from hours of work with a pen or on a computer.
The only thing I have learned about writing, is that you get one lie. The reader allows you one lie in the story (and that lie is the fact that they know it's fiction and it never happened) apart from that you had better keep it realistic.
Cause once you don't, you not only lose the reader, but the reader's respect as well.

 

[gaigirl]

writers group

I would like to form a Lit writer's group "here" rather than at MSN or elsewhere. We have the basic tools, but it would take some putting together. And some interest.

I'm interested in a writers' group here on lit.

I think KM and Pooh et. al. are right that writing is a talent, and that a class can give inspiration and tools, but not necessarily instant talent. I think though, that others are right when they say the best way to write better is to write more. A class will provide opportuinity, and new sources of feedback.

I also agree with those who say that the teacher is key to a good, worthwhile class, as are the other students--but I think the real factor here is that you are interested in going-- you seem to want to go, if not to this one then to a class somewhere else, some other time. You said something about running it by the spousal unit for approval. I think it is something you should decide for yourself and do for yourself, then announce it to the spousal unit as a done deal. Nurturing your own creativity is an important thing-- being true to yourself through your writing-- my feeling is that your family doesn't appreciate you as a writer, or see you with a 'writer's label' on your forehead. It's up to you to just BE a writer if that is what you want.

 

[Guest]

and it will be posted when?

now, it's time to get writing (yes bridget, that next chapter) and later i'll see what i can do to convince my spousal unit to let me go.

WSO- I am eagerly awaiting your next offering!

And as far as the spousal unit is concerned, wake him up three days in a row with fellatio... it's worked for me every time!

bridget

 

[Guest]

1. If you have been on a Creative Writing course or workshop, did you gain anything from it?

I attended college after the point where creative writing was considered a viable major, so I've had numerous creative writing courses and can say that the quality of them is basically a crapshoot. Even when having the same professor or the same students in a course that were in the previous one was no guarantee that the experience would be the same. For the most part, I gained very little from the courses beyond the afore mentioned discipline that comes with having to produce something every week.

Were you happy you went or did you feel it was a worthless exercise?

Sorry to say, but most creative writing courses are a waste of time. Typically they're populated with writers who take the same pieces of writing around to every workshop available to them and only want to hear praise about their work. Criticism is usually not welcome in writing courses as usually few people know each other so any attack on the writing is seen as an attack on the writer. Usually I went looking for a group of helpful editors and found a group of worthless mutual admirers.

So, if what you're looking for is a gentle reassurance that you're a good writer, a creative writing course might be the way to go. If you're actually looking for help with your writing, other options might be in order.

3. Can you share with me (either email me) or us, (on here) one (1) thing you learned from the course?

The thing I learned the most was that it's incredibly difficult for a group of strangers to get together once a week for fifteen weeks to discuss pieces of writing that were important to the strangers and remain honest about the writing. Until the tenth or eleventh week everyone is still getting to know each other and therefore unsure how comments will be taken. By the time everyone is secure in how much criticism everyone can take, the course is over.

I'd say that your best bet is in forming a long-term writing group. It would be best if you could create a group that had the possibility of staying together for a very long time; was something that you could depend on for a number of years. Also, though it might sound elitest, you should probably carefully choose your group and then not allow anyone else in. New faces bring in new ideas, but they also disrupt the flow while they're getting settled.

Just some thoughts.

 

[LivingUnicorn]

WSO,

I have taken several creative writing courses. Some were very worthwhile, others less so.

I really believe there are two things that affect how good a Creative writing course is. The teacher, first and most. The student, second.

If the teacher is good and you have a good attitude going in, the class will be well worth your time.

If either the teacher or your attitude is poor then it will be a waste of time.

I am sure your attitude is fine, so that just leaves the teacher. I don't know how to tell you to judge that until you are in the class.

Good luck with whatever decision you make, just please don't stop writing. I always enjoy reading your stories.

LU

 

[wildsweetone]

wow

thank you LivingUnicorn, i had no idea you read anything of mine.

just in case everyone is wondering, i love writing and am openminded and willing to learn. i want to write well, i know i have a long way to go. so my attitude towards writing is in the right place - in my opinion

the teacher thing is something which would have bugged me 5 years ago, but now all i see is the 'worth' that i can glean from a teacher. i am fully aware we are all very different people, our own writing is unique to us, it has to be. we all experience life differently and we all have individual imaginations.

therefore i believe that there will be something worth learning from everybody... whether it is a pebble or boulder remains yet to be seen.

a teacher is afterall human, and, teachers are there to teach others how to learn, right? what i learn depends on how hard i work.

thank you gaigirl, poohlive, green_rooke also, your comments are welcome

bridget, i'm halfway through the next chapter, keep your hair on girl i have computer problems again, i'm hoping like anything that i don't see smoke coming out of the drive, but i know full well that's what's going to happen i am ensuring i keep my work in progress on floppy though

i have to say i feel so naive (and not just about not knowing what fellatio is), but it's wonderful to write, it's amazing to be able to submit stories and have them posted publically but it's just overwhelming to have people say they've read the stories and want more. i am very humbled. thank you.