I'm currently doing a Professional Writing and Editing course and it's great! Like many people have mentioned already you can’t be taught to write but rather guided. I write, I practise and I'm learning the ropes of editing and the structure of writing. The workshops we conduct are great because you're getting feedback from other writers, just like on this website, about how you've written and what could be changed or explained. You can become rather desensitised by your own writing when you work on it day after day so people's perceptions can be invaluable. Therefore I see writing classes as a useful tool if you’re intent on improving your knowledge of the writing process.
I feel if you are going to spend the money for a Creative Writing class, then also invest in an English class. I feel they go hand in hand. One washes the other, so to speak. As far as seminars, I think that it depends on who is doing it. I have been to a bunch of them, and most I get some good information out of. There is one I walked out of as it was an advertisement for his book.
Frankly, the best advice (I've heard anyway) for how to learn how to write good stories has always been to read. Read everything. If you don't like something, figure out why you don't like it. If you love something, same thing, figure out why. Then read more.
Reading is a very good way to become better, also something else. WRITE Then take your little short stories to friends and family and anyone else who is willing to read it and ask for blunt and honest feedback. Then dont get mad if it is negative, as why. My personal rule about critiques, and reviews of my books. If anyone sais they do not like it. I ask WHY, and then I take a hard look at what I wrote. So really the best way to become better is to take criticism of your writing as a valuable tool.
A good class with the right instructor, as has been said, can guide you through skills you need to develop, which is a great blessing, and help you show you ways to use those skills that you may not have known existed. The assignments they give you may encourage you to try something you never would have tried otherwise. I wrote a short play that I am very proud of because of a suggestion a teacher gave me. Wayson Choy wrote what I think is his most successful novel as a result of an assignment given to him in a class. The teacher passed around a box with slips of paper with a colour written on it. They had to write a story using that colour in some way, even if it was just as simple as a quick reference to the sky if they got blue. Choy got pink. He was totally stuck until he found out that there was a type of jade that is pink, so that turned into The Jade Peony. These classes also give you a chance to meet others who have the same interest in writing. You can make great friends, share experiences and ideas, not to mention have fun if you have a good group with the right teacher. It's also possible to make connections that could help your career, if that's what you're interested it. You may find out about publishing opportunities you hadn't heard of. What if the instructor is actively working in the industry, or knows people who are? If s/he is impressed enough with you, as unlikely as it is, s/he could be willing to introduce you to an agent or editor. I can't think of any examples of that at the moment, but see no reason why it can't happen.
i always advise new writers to never ask friends or anyone they're related to [or sleeping with] for an opinion... it's best to only ask knowledgeable strangers to look over your work... those who love you too often won't be totally honest, for fear of hurting your feelings... or, if they are totally honest, it may hurt the relationship!
I completely agree with you. Too often when I ask family to critique my stories, the only responses I get are variations of how great the story was. I took a creative writing class and liked the responses because fellow classmates were honest of what worked and what didn't. I am thankful to have met a few fellow writers and we give each other honest critiques of our stories. Having honest feedback is the most important aspect for a new writer like myself because that is the only way I will be able to grow as a writer.
There's nothing wrong with classes and writing books as long as you don't let it consume you. It's easy to get wrapped up in all that and forget to write.
I think there is a potential risk with books on writing, and to a lesser degree, with writing classes. The writing student may be too ready to accept the book's author as an authority on all matters with respect to writimg. Advice from such sources must be taken with skepticism. Many aspects of writing are highly subjective, and what works well for one writer is often poison for another. In particular, when a very famous author like Stephen King writes a book like On Writing, many aspiring writers treat it as a writer's bible. This may set the writer on the wrong path, and he or she may never find the way back to discovering an individual approach that works best for him or her. With books on writing, about the only way to separate the good ideas from the author's own biases is to already understand which is which, through personal exploration and through trial and error.
I can honestly say I've never read a writing book so I can't comment on that. I'd imagine they might help give you some tips and tricks but I think really good writing comes from reading the best.
i agree with cog on that... which is why i never recommend how-to books for writing other than for screenwriting and song lyrics, due to the 'oddities' of format that must be mastered...
The only thing you really need to remember, as my creative writing teacher has told me: 'Let the work speak for itself'.
I took a poetry class last fall and a fiction class in the spring. I wouldn't say they helped me that much because I think I already had a good sense of what sounds good in writing (hopefully that doesn't sound arrogant). It was also hard to sit through some of the poems because a lot of them would try too hard and come off pretentious. There were even some people who would start each line with the same few words, and that was just too much repetition for me. The fiction class was a lot better at writing, I thought, and it was easier for me to provide constructive criticism in that class. However, these classes did help me in that they showed me how others write and gave me some ideas for my own writing. I wrote a lot of stuff I wouldn't have tried to write otherwise. The biggest improvement for me was that I gained confidence in my writing, though. I had to read whole poems and parts of short stories aloud and to hear some good criticism and praise for them helped me feel more secure in my abilities. That was nice because one of the things that hindered my writing in the past was my low self esteem. It also became apparent that creative writing was a good direction for me to go in after taking these classes.
Well, then I guess it's a good thing I only read the books when it was necessary. When I did, however, I always kind of understood that there's no way to really "teach" writing and I would disagree with some of the rules all the time. Luckily, the teachers seemed to understand this. The poetry professor was all about experimentation, and the fiction professor had us write a story at the end of the semester that broke every rule we had learned. That was by far the assignment I liked the most. My main character was a rock that had dialogue he didn't say.
So, I'm thinking of what to study, and I really don't know... I only have a few years left to think, and I am like freaked out, because I'm gonna have to apply next year, or the year after. Since I wanna be a writer, I'm considering studying creative writing and/or english litterature. My question is: will this help me? Do I get advantages if I educate within writing? Do I get a better chance of suceeding? What do you guys think?
It depends. Writing isn't like a lot of other vocations. You don't need any particular qualifications to be a writer in the same way that you do to be a lawyer or doctor. So from that perspective, you don't need to study Creative Writing or English Literature. However, what studying those subjects will do is give you the opportunity and academic support to improve your writing. English Lit is a good base for a writer, as it's the other side of the coin. If you analyse the writing of others, then you can see what they've done, how they've done it, whether it works, and whether it's something you yourself can use. Creative Writing courses are a different beast, really. You can't teach writing, as such. What you can do, is improve it. I'd imagine that any Creative Writing course you do would be based on workshopping- on writing a piece, getting feedback, and seeing where you went wrong. Such courses have their detractors, who argue that you can get such workshopping elsewhere (such as this website) for free. Personally, I believe that such courses, if well run, can be incredibly useful. If your tutors are experienced and capable writers and critiquers, then you can improve your writing drastically. Will it help you succeed? Assuming you mean get published, only in so far as your writing will improve. A BA or whatever in Creative Writing won't automatically mean you get a torrent of acceptances.
I don't know how it works where you are, but if you're not sure on whether to study English Literature or Creative Writing then perhaps do a joint degree, you can always change to single if you want. I'm currently in my second year studying Creative Writing at university and I absolutely love it. It has really helped to improve my writing, and gain an understanding of the industry I want to enter. But of course, just because you have a degree in Creative Writing doesn't instantly mean you'll be successful. It's not as easy as that. But I personally think it is really helping me to go in the right direction. I'm at a great university for Creative Writing so that obviously helps. I think a Creative Writing course will vary in every university, and how helpful it is so I would look seriously at all university possibilities and their course in detail before deciding.
Of the two, I mostly want to study creative writing, at a university in England. But I'm not sure yet, as there are other subjects I want to study that leads to a more secure job. What jobs can one get from studiyng writing or litterature anyway?
If you don't have any specific job in mind then I would recommend going for an IT degree. Every employer now says that they want people who are skilled in using IT software and hardware. If I was you I would look at the jobs that are out there, find one that you want to do and then look into what sort of degree you will need to accomplish that.
well, it could help you with your spelling! ;-) ... seriously, it won't help you in re getting published, but could help inspire you to write and by exposing you to the best works of the best writers, help you to learn what constitutes good writing... ...none but what i mentioned above... ...not really... most of the most successful and most respected writers of all ages never studied writing/literature formally... ...publishing house or magazine editor, if you obtain a masters degree... other than that, i can't think of any...
A good grasp of English can get you many jobs and most universities when I was there would show you how to tailor a CV - many jobs just ask for a degree. Naturally teaching, lecturing comes to mind, journalism etc - jobs in administration, marketing, certain museums, libraries etc
Get a degree that will allow you to be competitive in the job market. What if writing doesn't work out? Spend the considerable time and money focused on a skill set that is transferable to multiple vocations.
Why aren't good writing, reading, research, interpretation skills; transferable to multiple occupations? All my friends with an English Degree managed to get jobs.
Isn't the OP talking about a college/university degree? All those skills you mentioned are great but they should be well honed by the time you get out of high school. But did the English degree put them ahead of the rest of the competition and if so what kind of jobs are you talking about?
