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Creative writing course yes or no ?

  • 21-01-2013 1:14pm
    #1
    barrymanilow
    Registered Users Posts: 548 ✭✭✭


    Hi there , Ive recently started writing , short stories , poems , small bits of fiction and Im really enjoying it . I am considering doing a creative writing course but I have a few reservations .

    the main thing thats holding me back is that i am concerned that a writing course would influence my style too early on before its had a chance to develop naturally . What I mean is that at this stage im feeling out what kind of a writer I am and what feels natural and flowy for me and that a creative writing course will stifle that with a very formulaic , template like approach to writing .

    On the other hand if I had a course with deadlines etc i might be more organised and procrastinate less on the writing .

    Am I way off the mark ? do you think courses can help ?


Comments

  • #2
    EileenG
    Registered Users Posts: 5,775 ✭✭✭EileenG


    Get the right course and it will improve your writing beyond recognition. And of course it won't impose a formulaic style on you.

    I can thoroughly recommend Patricia O'Reilly's course in UCD. Unfortunately I think you are too late to get onto the spring course, but keep an eye open for the next one.

    Occasionally, she'll do an exercise in class where she reads out a couple of sentences and you follow on from that. What's amazing is how everyone always comes up with a different slant. And that's good. There is no question of a "right" way to continue the sentences.

    But yes, the deadline of having to have something written for the next class, whether it is a story you are working on, an entry for a competition, or an exercise for class (she's happy with any of those) is a great motivator.


  • #3
    Cliona2012
    Registered Users Posts: 156 ✭✭Cliona2012


    Go for it. Nothing better than getting feedback from your peers to improve your writing style.


  • #4
    abblegabble
    Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭abblegabble


    Heya,

    Just wondering if any of you think that Creative Writing M.A courses are worth doing. (Sorry to hijack this thread- but thought if may be of some relevance if you are thinking of doing a course of that kind of nature.)
    They seem expensive but I wonder if they could be worthwhile....hmmmmm


  • #5
    EileenG
    Registered Users Posts: 5,775 ✭✭✭EileenG


    I've never done one, so I can't say from that angle.

    But there were a couple of people in Patricia's last course who had done them, and I was constantly listening to chat about how wonderful they were, and how great the professors were, and how hard it was to get accepted on them. But the one thing I noticed was that both those people had stopped writing as soon as the course was over, and frankly, were not up to the general standard of Patricia's class.

    One of them showed me something she had written, and I honestly didn't know if it was a joke or not. I was horrified when I realised she was in deadly earnest and had no idea of the sub-text of her story, never mind the appalling writing.

    I know you can't assume that the entire course is rubbish from two examples but I can say they were not a recommendation for the course.


  • #6
    Danpad
    Registered Users Posts: 273 ✭✭Danpad


    The only experience I have in regards to creative writing courses is this, which you may rubbish if you like and/or scoff at but here it is:
    My close friend's partner can, I'll give her this, verbally spin a line or two when she chooses and she's not bad on paper either. She's the niece of a known writer (whose name I shall not divulge) and perhaps inherited the same inklings (pun intended).
    Anyway, after a few scribbled attempts at novel writing, she embarked upon a creative writing course. Finishing it she had a choice to make; spend a windfall (she got lucky with the lottery, not life changing luck, but the damp squid, four numbers kind of luck) on further, advanced creative writing courses and education, y'know-really pursue it, or, serious, reconstructive (expensive & painful) dental surgery.
    She opted for the latter.
    Yes, I envied her lottery win.


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  • #7
    Antilles
    Registered Users Posts: 1,183 ✭✭✭Antilles


    Patricia's course looks good. Pity its in the middle of the day :(


  • #8
    Das Kitty
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 17,231 Mod ✭✭✭✭Das Kitty


    Antilles wrote: »
    Patricia's course looks good. Pity its in the middle of the day :(

    Pity it's in Dublin in the middle of the day! :pac:


  • #9
    kieslowski
    Registered Users Posts: 51 ✭✭kieslowski


    I was on an 'advanced' writing course recently and it was absolutely awful. Listening to utterly inane writing being read out for hours with little or no instruction or advice given apart from a clap on the back to one and all. Hard to believe it was considered an advanced course really. Very disappointing.


  • #10
    EileenG
    Registered Users Posts: 5,775 ✭✭✭EileenG


    kieslowski wrote: »
    I was on an 'advanced' writing course recently and it was absolutely awful. Listening to utterly inane writing being read out for hours with little or no instruction or advice given apart from a clap on the back to one and all. Hard to believe it was considered an advanced course really. Very disappointing.

    Where and what was it? We should be warned.


  • #11
    echo beach
    Registered Users Posts: 1,252 ✭✭✭echo beach


    As a general rule the more expensive a course in anything is the more likely it is to accept on it anybody who can afford to pay and the less likely they are to tell those people that they have no talent/ability/aptitude for the subject and are wasting their money.
    Remember that many of the people who helped ruin our economy had numerous qualification while many successful business people don't have a third level education.
    I regularly read pieces in a certain publication from a person who proudly claims to have an MA in creative writing. It must have been a factor in getting him the gig because I can't see any merit in the work. I read much better stuff on this forum.

    If you pay thousands for the course and produce anything I can't see how they will 'fail' you but a degree doesn't prove you can write. Effectively you are paying somebody to read your stuff.
    I'd rather get a cheque than a piece of parchment.


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  • #12
    hcass
    Registered Users Posts: 628 ✭✭✭hcass


    I have a degree in creative writing. I went to university in Derby. I loved the course. I loved my creative writing lecturer. He treated us all as the individuals we were and I think my writing and even more so my confidence in my writing improved greatly because of the course. Maybe I was just lucky. I don't feel like I paid someone to read my stuff. (depsite anything else, the UK gov paid him cos I got a student loan that In will probably never have to pay back) He was paid to teach us how to be better writers. And I believe he did.


  • #13
    Qualitymark
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,824 ✭✭✭Qualitymark


    Lots of night courses in the VECs - ask in your local college. Some good and structured, some more woo-woo.
    Most courses are aimed towards hobby writers, but where the teacher is good, can really help people at all levels to improve their work.


  • #14
    bigsmokewriting
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 169 ✭✭bigsmokewriting


    Certainly always worth contacting the institution and asking about the kind of feedback that would be given, what the emphasis of the course is (is it purely for 'self expression' or is there a focus on improving and developing the writing, for example), etc. Different facilitators will have different styles and a different focus, and you need to have a good sense that what they're aiming for with a group is appropriate for where you're at with your writing.

    >> ...that a creative writing course will stifle that with a very formulaic , template like approach to writing . <<

    A good course shouldn't. There's no formula, after all!

    Re: masters programmes, the main benefit is often the intense focus on your writing for the year or two you're enrolled. In terms of the fees and idea of taking 'anyone who can pay' - it's true that the fail rate is very low, but that's the case for a lot of masters' degrees in the arts and humanities (you're more likely to not complete than to produce a failing thesis) - and they are selective in who they accept. (The UCD MFA only takes on five students a year, for example.)


  • #15
    ThePinkCage
    Registered Users Posts: 78 ✭✭ThePinkCage


    A good creative writing course is an important step on the road. It gives you tools, techniques and the belief that you can do it. But in the end, it's just a step. Nothing beats sitting down in front of a notepad or computer and writing.

    Ultimate advice: Keep doing what you're doing, but find a good course that will support you in your work and spur you to create work that's of publication standard.


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