Creative writing
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2008-07-09T12:07:40Z
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/* In the classroom */
'''Creative writing''' is considered to be any writing, [[fiction]] or [[non-fiction]], that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, [[journalistic]], [[Academic writing|academic]], and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include most [[novel]]s and [[Epic poetry|epic]]s, as well as many [[short stories]] and [[poem]]s.
== Overview ==
{{cquote|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. <ref name="Johnson">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.</ref>}}
Creative writing can technically be considered any writing of [[Originality|original]] [[Composition (language)|composition]] that is in no way guilty of [[plagiarism]]. In this sense creative writing is a more contemporary and process-oriented name for what has been traditionally called [[literature]], including the variety of its [[Literary genre|genre]]s. The practice of "professional [[Writer|writing]]" is not excluded from creative writing — one can be doing both in the same action. 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:
{{cquote|Witty and LaBrant…[say creative writing] is a composition of any type of writing at any time primarily in the service of such needs as
#the need for keeping records of significant experience,
#the need for sharing experience with an interested group, and
#the need for free individual expression which contributes to mental and physical health.<ref name="Marksberry">Marksberry, Mary Lee. ''Foundation of Creativity.'' Harper's Series on Teaching. (New York ; London: Harper & Row, 1963), 39.</ref>}}
== 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.<ref>Johnson, Burges and [[Syracuse University]]. "Creative Writing", 3.</ref> While creative writing as an educational subject is often available at some stages, if not throughout, [[K–12 education]], perhaps the most refined form of creative writing as an educational focus is in [[university|universities]]. 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:
{{cquote|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?<ref name="Engle">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).</ref>}}
===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 [[rewrite|re-writing]]. Some courses teach the means to exploit or access latent creativity or more technical issues such as [[editing]], [[structure|structural]] [[literary technique|techniques]], [[genre]]s, random [[plot generator|idea generating]] or [[writer's block]] unblocking. Some noted [[author]]s, such as [[Michael Chabon]], [[Kazuo Ishiguro]], [[Decheonbae Jones]], [[Ian McEwan]], [[Rose Tremain]] and reputed screenwriters, such as [[David Benioff]], [[Darren Star]] and [[Peter Farrelly]], have graduated from university creative writing programs.
===Controversy in academia===
Creative writing is considered by some academics (mostly in the USA) to be an extension of the [[English studies|English]] discipline, even though it is taught around the world in many languages. 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. In the UK and Australia, as well as increasingly in the USA and the rest of the world, creative writing is considered a discipline in its own right, not an offshoot of any other discipline.
{{cquote|To say that the creative has no part in education is to argue that a university is not universal.<ref>Engle, Paul. "The Writer and the Place," 3.</ref>}}
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. They 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 skills 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]].
It is also believed by some in the academic sphere that the term "creative writing" can include "creative reading" which is the [[reading]] of something not typically understood to be a creative piece as though it were creative. This expanded concept further addresses the idea of "found" materials being of literary value under a newly assigned meaning. Examples of this might be product assembly directions being considered "[[found poetry]]."
==Forms of creative writing==
* [[Short story]]
* [[Novella]]
* [[Novel]]
* [[Epic poetry|Epic]]
* [[Poetry]]
* [[Screenwriting]]
* [[Playwriting]]/[[Dramatic writing]]
* [[Autobiography]]/[[Memoir]]
* [[Creative non-fiction]]
* [[Flash fiction]]
* [[Collaborative writing]]
==See also==
* [[Asemic writing]]
* [[Author]]
* [[Book report]]
* [[Creativity]]
* [[Expository writing]]
* [[Fiction writing]]
* [[Literature]]
* [[Show, don't tell]]
* [[Writer's block]]
* [[Writing]]
* [[Writing circle]]
* [[Writing style]]
== References ==
<references/>
* Everett, Nick. 2005. Creative Writing and English. ''The Cambridge Quarterly.'' 34 (3):231-242.
== External links ==
*[http://search.dmoz.org/cgi-bin/search?search=creative+writing Creative Writing Links]
* {{cite web |publisher= [[Victoria and Albert Museum]]
|url= http://www.vam.ac.uk/activ_events/adult_resources/creative_writing/index.html
|title= Creative Writing in Museums
|work=Adult Learning Resources
|accessdate= 2007-08-27}}
* [http://www.multilingual-matters.com/journals/journals_nw.asp New Writing: the International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing]
* [http://www.nawe.co.uk National Association of Writers in Education]
[[Category:Literature]]
[[Category:Writing]]
[[Category:Communication design]]
[[Category:Creativity]]
[[Category:Interdisciplinary fields]]
[[cs:Tvůrčí psaní]]
[[da:Creative writing]]
[[de:Kreatives Schreiben]]
[[el:Δημιουργική γραφή]]
[[fr:Écriture créative]]
[[he:כתיבה יוצרת]]
[[pt:Criação literária]]