Should Creative Writing Be Taught?
Currently we do not have a common definition of creative
writing, this is probably due to its creativity, but in my opinion the
following definition is perfect for academics and for their research methods in
the field of the creative writing.
Creative writing, a
form of artistic expression, draws on the imagination to convey meaning through
the use of imagery, narrative, and drama. This is in contrast to analytic or
pragmatic forms of writing. This genre includes poetry, fiction (novels, short
stories), scripts, screenplays, and creative non-fiction.[1]
According to this definition creativity cannot be taught
because, in this case, we will have a
standardized voice, ad readers we will be soon refuse to read any kind of
books.
The purpose of the university is to develop a critical
approach on different forms of writing, like historical fiction, biographies,
travel writing, poems and so on.
In other words the task of these universities is those making
a read pleasurable and smooth.
The most important goal is try to find a method or methods
for recognise the natural talent of a writer.
As entrepreneur I won't spend a penny for this kind of
courses, it is bankruptcy but in the case of a course in creative writing is
oriented for the editors and publishers I will certainly change my mind.
This imply that once graduated I will be able to recognise a
good writing from a bad one, I will do my choices more critically, avoiding the
emotional sphere which is irrational.
If I were a director of study, my purpose was to find a
research methods with a particular focus on lectures online, Cognitive Poetics and
The Fiction of Relationship.
All lectures must be online, this means that, the lecturer will have more time for his/her
students, they will discuss about their impressions, ideas and doubts.
I'd like to debunking the famous phrase: “I only write when I am inspired"
The professional writers must read and read, only reading,
they will improve their imagination.
In this context a writer will feel the necessity to find a research methods and probably
googling or going to the local library is not enough, we can find tons of
information but we do not know if they are reliable or not.
In my opinion this is a positive point for the workshop and
degree on creative writing, they won't teach creativity, but they will teach on
how to obtain the material, and especially on how to read critically.
In every novel there is a hero or heroine, we are interested
how the writer has introduced it on how the environment is described, this is a
superficial reading, because we are influenced by the inner voice.
Recently I bought a Kindle paperwhite and frequently I use
the function "X Ray" this is extremely useful for me because I can
read the plot under different point of view, I can be the main personage or the
last one, I can "follow" the character in every action and his/her
interaction to the other characters.
This is a critical reading
subject to a detailed research.
So, the academic
courses will “kill” the creativity of a
potential writer?
I do not think so, for the following reason:
They will enable even the least of them to achieve a level
of competence they would not have on their own. Students will learn to
construct plausible voices, but not always distinct ones.[2]
Studying creative writing at university means that a
lecturer can help the students on how to implement the cognitive poetics on
their writing and reading, in other words he/she can explain the relationship
between the creative work and the critical context giving to the students an
adequate tool on the processes of composition and revision.
The best academic courses are those where is required to
attend physically the lectures because there will be a full immersion on this
subject physically and mentally, doing so we will (probably) feel inspired to
write something and sharing our writings drinking a cold beer.
And I will choose a course in creative writing if at the end
I can enroll for a PhD or in the case of I will work in a publish company,
obviously I won’t be a famous writer.
The Literary Studies are the humanistic study of literature,
with subgenres like:
Comparative Literature, Literary Criticism, Poetics,
Classics, Rhetoric and Humanistic disciplines.
According to this definition we do not have a dedicated
definition for the creative writing and this lack of terminology will be
replaced by dedicated research.
We should consider that the modern writer is a person
interconnected with the world, and this interconnection is made of writers,
readers and publishers.
This is happening because our reading approaches are
different, I can read a book following a single personages, I can share my
reading on social networks goodreads or twitter, I can say that I appreciated
this novel for the following reason.
For the researchers and publisher s, this kind of data are
extremely important, in the future a writer will write a novel based on our
tastes, on our cultural interests and so on.
In my opinion the main rule for a researcher in creative
writing is to find and then to analyze the impact of the creative writing,
intended as a summation of experiences, made by readers writers and publishers,
on the literary studies.
An interesting field for the researcher is to find a
connection between philosophy and literatur
They should consider that the
historical novels as a philosophical tool, because according to Gianbattista Vico,
a philosopher of the 18th
century, wrote:
“Had sought to promote history as a ‘new science’ – not the kind of
science that deals in abstract truths and mathematical laws, but one in which
the human mind struggles to recollect and reanimate the forms of its own past”[3]
There is also another citation of R.G. Collingwood
“It also leaves you thinking that the literary form best suited to
philosophy is not the treatise, the commentary or even the all-conquering
academic paper, but the memoir of a seriously thoughtful life.”[4]
This citation is not suitable for the
fictional novels, is not an interesting research?
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