Somewhere in the educational scheme there must be encouragement for the dreams and imaginings of youth. The student must be permitted emotional expression in order that he may be taught to discipline his emotions. His shy fancies must be drawn out of him for the good of his soul. ^1.

Creative writing can technically be considered any writing of original composition that is in no way guilty of plagiarism. Creative writing is more commonly considered to be non-scholarly writing, writing created for purposes other than making an academic argument. Creative writing is adventurous and explores life beyond limitations and structure; it demands for imagination to become more real than reality. Creative writing, as a means of classification, is more inclusive than exclusive. All forms of fiction writing as well as many non-fiction forms fall under this broad heading. In her work, Foundations of Creativity, Mary Lee Marksberry references Paul Witty and Lou LaBrant’s Teaching the People’s Language to define creative writing. Marksberry notes:

Witty and LaBrant…give a very clear definition of creative writing. They say it is a composition of any type of writing at any time primarily in the service of such needs as (1.) the need for keeping records of significant experience, (2.) the need for sharing experience with an interested group, and (3.) the need for free individual expression which contributes to mental and physical health. ^2.

When a practitioner makes a career through creative writing, for example, being a novelist, then they can be seen as both a "professional writer" and a "creative writer" — these terms being not necessarily contradictory.

Creative writing includes but is not limited to:

• fiction;
• drama for stage or screen;
• screenwriting — writing for films;
• poetry;
• self-exploratory writing (e.g. autobiography);
• creative non-fiction;
• writing that self-consciously mixes these or other genres.

Creative Writing in Academia

Unlike its academic counterpart of writing classes that teach students to compose work based on the rules of the language, creative writing is believed to focus on students’ self-expression.^3. While creative writing as an educational subject is often available somewhere, if not throughout, K-12 education, perhaps the most refined form of creative writing as an educational focus is in the university setting. Following the reworking of university education occurring in most post-war eras, creative writing has progressively gained prominence in the university setting. With the beginning of formal creative writing program:

For the first time in the sad and enchanting history of literature, for the first time in the glorious and dreadful history of the world, the writer was welcome in the academic place. If the mind could be honored there, why not the imagination? ^4.

In the Classroom

Creative writing is usually taught in a workshop format rather than seminar style. In workshops students usually submit original work for peer critique. Students also format a writing method through the process of writing and re-writing. Some courses teach the means to exploit or access latent creativity or more technical issues such as editing, structural techniques, genres, random idea generating or writer's block unblocking. Some noted authors, such as Michael Chabon, Kazuo Ishiguro, Decheonbae Jones, Ian McEwan, Rose Tremain and reputed screenwriters, such as David Benioff and Peter Farrelly, have graduated from university creative writing programs.

Controversy in Academia

In the academic realm, there remains disagreement about the relevance of creative writing programs. Creative writing is considered by most academics to be an extension of the English discipline. The English discipline is traditionally seen as the critical study of literary forms, not the creation of literary forms. Some academics see creative writing as a challenge to this tradition.

“To say that the creative has no part in education is to argue that a university is not universal.”^5. Those who support creative writing programs either as part or separate from the English discipline, argue for the academic worth of the creative writing experience. Its supporters argue that creative writing hones the students’ abilities to clearly express their thoughts. They further argue that creative writing also entails an in-depth study of literary terms and mechanisms so they can be applied to the writer’s own work to foster improvement. These critical analysis poems are further used in other literary study outside the creative writing sphere. Indeed the process of creative writing, the crafting of a thought-out and original piece, is considered by some to be experience in creative problem solving.

Current Discussion

Some say the term "creative writing" can include "creative reading" which is the reading of something uncreative as though it were creative.

See also

• Asemic Writing
• Authorship
• Book report
• Creativity
• Expository writing
• Fiction writing
• Literature
• Show, don't tell
• Writer's block
• Writing
• Writing circle
• Writing style

References

1.Johnson, Burges and Syracuse University. "Creative Writing"; Inferences Drawn from an Inquiry Now being Carried on at Syracuse University Under the Direction of Burges Johnson, Litt.D., and Helene Hartley, Ph.D., into the Effectiveness of the Teaching of Written Composition in American Colleges. (Syracuse: Syracuse university, 1934), 7.

2. Marksberry, Mary Lee. Foundation of Creativity. Harper's Series on Teaching. (New York ; London: Harper & Row, 1963), 39.

3. Johnson, Burges and Syracuse University. "Creative Writing", 3.

4. Engle, Paul. "The Writer and the Place." In A Community of Writers: Paul engle and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, edited by Robert Dana, 2(Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1999).

5.Engle, Paul. "The Writer and the Place," 3.

6. Everett, Nick. 2005. Creative Writing and English. The Cambridge Quarterly. 34 (3):231-242.

External links

• Creative Writing Links
• Creative Writing in Museums. Adult Learning Resources. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved on 2007-08-27.
• Creative Writing and Science: Royal Literary Fund resource
• Inkstains Creative Writing Community

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