Art Creative Writing

Tomorrow, June 23rd
 Workshop! Be sure to have read
any submitted work to date.
 Continue discussion of fiction:
plot and character.
 Possibly begin discussion of
script writing.

What is
this
stuff
and how
do you
learn
it?
How do you teach it?
How is it different from
any other kind of writing?
Where is its place in the
history of writing/writing
studies?

Let’s start with
“creative writing”—
small “c” & small “w”
:)

what kind of writing is “creative”
writing? What is “art,” really? What’s it
for? Whom is it for?
That is…

Responses from another
recent class…

Krista Kiedrowski
Creative writing to me is scary. I don't know if I can write,
and if I some how produce something I don't know if it
will be any good. Hopefully I'll learn to write masterpiece!
Creative writing is for reading, I have no idea how to
answer this question.
Creative writing is mostly for the writer I think. And I think its
more for a smaller group of readers. I don't thing in this
instance the writer is trying to please or include as many
people as possible.

These next three raise different
versions of the same question…

Deven
Creative Writing is any writing that isn’t
done for someone else. Creative
Writing is for the writer. The same I
would say holds true for any kind of art.
An artist creates a painting for
his/herself, and the folks walking
around the gallery are privileged to see
it. A musician creates an album about
something personal in his life and the
listeners are simply “along for the
ride”.
Yes! Absolutely!
Except…
Is the audience really that irrelevant?
Is this the kind of art you/we typically
spend our money on? CDs? Big
budget films?

Jason Boerger
Creative writing is allowing yourself to spill whatever is in your
head, onto paper.
3. Creative writing is an art. I also think it can be theraputic and
uplifting.
4. I truely believe Creative writing is for the reader. I quit reading
when something isn't interesting, so I think it has to capture the
reader, therefore it's for the reader. That doesn't mean it should be
catered to a certain group of people, but rather the goal is to have a
reader or readers connect to the writing.
5. No, I think creative writing can't be forced. You have to want to
do it. I see it like choir, you have talented people, but if they don't try,
then it's a waste to try to teach them and ultimately the performance
suffers. It's a possibility in grade school, to just open the door to the
kids when they are young, then offer it to those who want to as they
get older, but requiring it is the wrong path to go down.

Erica
Creative writing is without restrictions,
or not many of them. Individuals are
free to express themselves and be
original. Too many rules and
restrictions suppress creativity since
individuals are so limited. Creative
writing can be described as freedom of
writing where emotions are not
concealed and the creator is present
within each piece of work.
Yep, completely true!
And, again, how come this
isn’t the art that most of us
actively support with our
check books?
—except, um, what about form? Craft?

Emma Doerner
2. To me, creative writing is a form of self-expression
that is completely unique. I believe that it is another
medium that can channel who we are as individuals
experiencing life. In a way, it is similar to painting a
picture, composing a song, or taking a photograph..
another way to share my viewpoint with the world.
3. In my opinon, the purpose of creative writing is for both
pleasure and the sharing of ideas.
4. Creative writing is for everybody, both the writer and the
reader, Every reader. I think writing for only one
audience occurs, but it is unwise. That's like painting a
picture and telling some people that they shouldn't look
at it or try to interpret it. Not that a writer should worry
about pleasing everyone, because I'm pretty sure that's
impossible. I think we should write with the mindset that
this piece of work can and should be shared by all.

Hattie Tysver
I think creative writing is an expression
of the truth. I think that it includes humor
and beauty found only in people's
imaginations.
.

Tyler Vossler
For me though, writing down the stories I tell detracts from them, greatly. So,
one might say I'm a story teller, not a writer. Then why write? Mostly
misplaced anger, maybe I'm a little jaded, but definatly because if I'm not
telling stories I've told a thousand times, I get too caught up in my own
words, that I fail, utterly, at conveying anything that could even be
considered a good story. I write to tell stories, new ones. A little fyi though,
I'd love to tell you some old ones if you ask.
I can't explain exactly why I want to write. I just like the idea of
it. People are more likely to listen to you if your ideas are on
paper. They seem more solid. Even ideas that arn't real. A good story
is only worth how many people know it, and how well it is told. I want
to be excelent both.
I don't really write for anybody but myself though. I'm a selfish ass
whole. It's the same reason I tell stories too. I enjoy it, I'm good at it, so I
do it. My writing, I need to improve. I like it! Didn't always, now I do. I'm
pretty good at it, or so I've been told. So, it's something worth
pursueing. Who knows, if enough people actually like it, I might be
able to do it for money, and hopefully it won't become work. At which
point I'd probably go crazy and burn a complete collection of my work... or at
least pretend to go crazy, 'cause there's no such thing as bad publicity.

Michael Fitzgerald
Creative writing is writing that's engaging for its form and
style as much as its content.
3.) Creative should give the reader an experience,
whether it's that of the protagonist or the writer himself.
4.) When I write, I consider a small subset of friends
and family as the reader. If other people respond as
they would, so much the better.
5.) I think creative writing skills should be incorporated
into english classes at all levels, but as its own class, it
shouldn't be required. Creative writing should be
encouraged, not forced.

Brian
Creative writing is one of the most
powerful ways to expel and express
feelings, thoughts, and ideas. Writing and
all art is meant to affect and influence
the minds and emotions of others. The
needs of the audience are important and
writer should make some compromises,
however a writer should never
compromise their message.
Rhetorical
component
of any
piece of
writing
Or is it something we do for
its sake—without any
exterior purpose?

Heather
Creative writing is something that I want to
do because it helps me feel connected. It
is a way for me to tap into my
subconscious thoughts and desires. It’s
a way for me to express those to others.
SELF OTHER
Maybe writing’s a constant negotiation between these two
Artist Audience

Adam
All art should be educative (assuming there’s a way things should be –
that there is a right way), for what possible value could art possess if
it did not lead us towards what is ultimately good? This leads us
to the point that we must first know what is good. I’m not so sure we
(as a people/collective consciousness) actually do know what is
good (though we often assume we do). Fortunately, creative writing
allows for the opportunity for each individual artist to search
(however they so choose) for what is true and good through a
process of self-expression, and thus, self-realization. I could go off
on this for hours, but I hope this gives a general outline of why I
write.
P.S. Sorry this is so late, I was at the RNC and then went to a musical
this weekend. But I can’t wait to meet you all later
Ok, the REAL truth comes out. Art’s an excuse to be a
slacker! Plato was right…
Ethical purpose of art?
What did Plato say
about this?

Chris
Creative writing is for writing very creatively. It is
for fun, enjoyment, and school type people.
Art is for those people who enjoy art. It is hard
to say if the writer’s or audience’s needs are
more important because, when juxtaposing
them, only an english teacher could
determine whose needs institute more need.
It should be determined on an individual basis.
All students should take creative writing so they
can learn to write better.

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Lacey L. Locket (Sam Schanhaar)

Carl
Creative writing, in my opinion, is poetry, prose,
really it’s anything that you don’t need to do
extensive research to write and doesn’t need
a bibliography. Creative writing can be
something totally new, or something ripped off
from one of the greats, just a little different;
different enough, at least, to not get sued. It can
be a way of expressing yourself, resolving
inner conflicts, or just killing time.
genre
therapy
(back to the
self)
Notice how little
attention in
these items on
the work itself
Does/can the work have a mind of
its own? Some artists have
spoken about it in these terms…
Forget all
these
questions—
creative
writing is the
writing of
poetry and
fiction. Duh.
The end.

Cassandra Refling
I am here because I decided that my writing will not get too
much better without serious feedback, something I've
never sought before. I've done a lot of creative writing. I
won't rate it at all, but I've done a lot. My last English
class was Intro to Writing Studies.
To me, creative writing is mainly composed of
stories and poems, but can be found anywhere from
books to graffiti to clever memo lines on checks. It's
for expressing feelings and creating something from
the collection of stuff in my head. I think whether it's
for the reader or the writer depends on the piece. I think
one should at least have the opportunity to take creative
writing in junior high and that normal English classes
should have a short intro to it.

Matt
…I even toyed with the idea of making a career out of it. I
enjoy any medium that allows an individual to create. I
have a great respect for language with all of its
potential.
To me, writing is simply one of many forms of artistic
expression. I make little distinction between
paragraph and painting. I read an excerpt a while back
that stated, loosely, that an artist is successful when
he/she can create their own world and effectively
share that world in its entirety with others. I strive to
communicate effectively.

Rich
my second favorite class (after visual art classes) because of the freedom it allowed. I
love not having to follow stifling rules on how to prepare something, to be
allowed to explode my ideas on to the paper has always been a great release
for me. The things I enjoy writing the most are stream of consciousness writings, I
can usually put them into any form (poetry, short stories, essays, rants, ect..). The
thing I love most about them is reading them, I often have a hard time believing
that I am the one who actually wrote them. The more thought I put into
something, the muddier and less enjoyable it becomes.
In this course I hope to learn mostly about writing a good fiction short stories as a
stepping stone to hopefully writing book length ones in the future. I also am very
interested in screen-writing and want to learn all I can about it (maybe get a sitcom
job or something - like in the show 30 Rock).
I think creative writing is for the author and the audience, but in totally different aspects.
For the author the writing is a growth experience, they become someone else
by writing what they write (maybe not much different, but definitely different). The
readers often just digest the writing as they would a cheeseburger, enjoying it while it
is in their mind but when they are done they are not often changed by it. BUT, when
something is written that the specific reader relates to or is fascinated by, then it is a
different story. Then the reader can actually be much more effected than the writer, it
can change the reader's life for the better or the worse.
If you want to know more about me, the current NDSU Magazine has a big article that
explains my personal history in a bit more detail. The article is called "built for the
job".
Here is a link to the PDF:
http://www.ndsu.edu/ndsu/news/magazine/vol09_issue02/spring_mag2009.pdf

Peter
I am returning to one of my passions in life. Writing is a form of self
expression and may be personal or something to share, it depends on the
work. Most poetry I write is sent to other students for their comments, I want
to see if my images are clearly visible or if the diction creates a mist
that blurs the sharp details of my thoughts…
Creative writing allows the author to freely express them self in a variety of
genres. It may be fictional or non-fictional, but the openness of the genre
makes it interesting. Expression and passion are the keystones of good
creative writing. You need to make someone cry, as I did reading "One of
Ours", but the passion of the life must come through the page to create a
bond with the author and reader. The reader is the focus for a creative
writer, otherwise why write? The writer could simply walk around with all
those images in their head and not share them, but sharing is the
instrument which allows a writer to be just that, a writer. Its all about the
audience and creative writing should be mandatory for high school
and college students, but loosely graded to encourage an open channel of
communication and personal expression for young minds to explore the
challenge of fine arts and thus explore them self and their relationship to
humanity.

Jane
The writing that I do is more of journaling. Just recording
thoughts in my head and events that happened that day…
I think creative writing is writing that has no limits. In a way, I think
that all writing is creative. I think creative writing is mainly for
the writer. I believe it's mostly for the writer because many
people write creatively and it's not published, so not many
people get to read it. I think the purpose of fine arts in general is to
make a person more balanced and arts can be used as an
outlet for many different things. I think it should be a mandatory in
high school, kids in high school are still young and should be
exposed to as many different forms of art as possible. I was in choir
in high school and I loved it, it was a creative outlet and I made a
lot of friends. I also took a choir course in college and liked that as
well. I think it would be great to have it mandatory in college, but
many people want to get through college really quickly and are
really focused on the courses that a required for their major.

Christina
…my interest in creative writing is to learn how to express myself more in
writing, to learn more about my writing style and capabilities…What I
hope to get out of this class is more confidence in myself and my writing
ability, self realization of my talents or the lack there of, and a good
passing grade.
Creative writing to me is the expression of one’s thoughts and feelings in a
unique form of the writers writing style. Creative writing is for the writer
to express one’s self, not for their readers. I feel creative writing should
be a mandatory subject in high school to see where young adults views and
hidden self feelings or thoughts may be only expressed through writing. I
am not sure if creative writing should be mandatory for college
undergraduates. I think as a money aspect being a college student that it
shouldn’t be because of the cost perspective, however if you are looking at
trying to expand a student’s professional development it may not be a bad
idea. I think it could be beneficial to make it mandatory for some majors but
not others. So I guess my answer will be depends on the student’s major
and interests.

Skittish Libations
You favorite quotations?

Formalist
The subversion of
tradition (“make it new”)

Mass market: innovation = low priority. Audience
satisfaction and pleasure = high priority.
Formulas = common. Feel-good; few demands
on audience. Confirmation of what is known.
Fine arts: innovation = high priority. Artist
satisfaction and pleasure = high priority. Self-
conscious attention to tradition. Assumes a very
well read audience. Art quality, exploration of
unknown = high priority.

The introspective, suffering, isolated artist.
Art as private vision.
The open, public, accessible bard. Art as
communal, sometimes political, event.
The maker or craftsman. Art as beautiful, shaped,
highly crafted object to be lingered over and
contemplated.
The crazed visionary; translator of visions from the
muse, or duende.

What kind of story or poem are you writing
or do you want to write? What are your
options as a writer?
What kinds of stories or poems are your
classmates working on? How should our
different understandings of art affect the
feedback we give in workshop?

Ok.
So nobody knows how to define it.
Or there’s no final definition.
Then how do we learn it?
How does it get taught? (Emphasize
process or product? Craft or free
exploration?)
How is it distinguished from any other kind
of writing and so what’s it’s place in the
schools at any level? In other words…

What is “Creative Writing”
with a capital C and W?
= the branch of English Studies that
involves teaching and learning how to
write creatively, right?
Yeah, but…

• Isn’t all writing “creative”? Why call it
Creative Writing?
• Can it really be taught? Isn’t it about talent
and a mysterious ability to summon the
muse?
• What’s it doing in a university? How do you
evaluate it?
• How does it relate to Rhetoric and
Composition, Literary Studies, Linguistics,
Technical Writing? Isn’t writing in these
fields creative also?
• What’s more important: the writing of
literature or the study of it?

Did you know…
In some of its earliest appearances in higher
ed, it was taught to help students understand
literature better. I.e., it was in the service of
literature studies.
The idea was that writing some fiction,
poetry, drama themselves, students would
better understand the masterpieces of
literature.

But also…
a bunch of teachers who
were also writers wanted
to get together with other
writers and blab about
their work—
in a college setting.
(Couldn’t hang out in the
bistros of Paris or
Gertrude Stein’s salon
anymore, so had to get
together somewhere…)

It’s always been a bit of an
outlaw…
Not scholarly like other disciplines. The MFA is
a studio degree. Very different criteria.
Not really “academic.” More of a “spritual”
discipline.
A “soft” subject. Workshop approach is
whimpy: writers who want to talk with other
writers sit in a circle and read/discuss their
stuff, while a teacher/published writer chimes
in.

Since the 80s, though,
It has been influenced by postmodern theory,
composition studies, and English education.
The way it is taught is changing here and there…
You can now study “the teaching of Creative Writing”
as a subject itself. Or “Creative Writing Studies”
which examines:
o Creative writing pedagogy
o The culture of creative writing/creative writing in the culture
o The history of creative writing in the university.
You can get an MA and PhD in “Creative Writing
Studies.”

So back to our class and this
course. How should it be run? How
should I teach it?

When I go into the creative writing
classroom…
• I teach genres. Poetry, fiction. Creative nonfiction.
Some script writing.
• I encourage wide-open self-expression.
• I encourage disciplined attention to craft.
• I encourage demented new ways of thinking about
the world.
• I encourage thoughtful appreciation of very old
traditions.
• I try to do everything.
• That’s why I’m burning out.
• That’s why I’m insane.
• Don’t tell my boss.

By the end of this semester, I’d like you to
submit work for our local buses!

Poetry on Wheels
Short-Short Poems
 Fresh language.
 Fresh ideas.
 Attention to line
breaks.
 Attention to music.
 No greeting card verse.
 Nothing offensive.

Art Creative Writing

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