Classes: Creative Writing vs Screenwriting? - Writers Forum

ThePrimeDreamer · 08-31-2007, 03:57 PM

Hey everyone! I've been thinking about going to a writing workshop or class. And I know most people say that classes or books won't really help besides just plunking yourself and just write each day. But I'm actually looking for something that's structured and I'm really just looking to find other people like me who's interested in writing and starting on this journey. I've been doing this alone for a couple of years and it does get daunting.

So back to my question, I want to know what you guys think of creative writing classes versus screenwriting classes. From other threads on the board about books, I've heard that some screen writing classes are better suited to writers than creative writing classes. By this point I bet you all are thinking, "but it depends on what you want to write" and that is true, but I also want to get the best bang for my buck. I'm thinking of either the UCLA or UCI Extension Writing Classes and while I'm more interested in creative writing and maybe even novel writing, I am very intrigued by writing for movies and TV. Coming into writing via comics, the comic industry also utilizes the same format for writing that's used for TV and movies now.

I don't know. I've been trying to find any work whatsoever but nothings come up and I'm now thinking about just getting some classes.

Any thoughts will be gladly taken into heart. Thanks.

sdavis2k · 08-31-2007, 04:01 PM

I read a screenwriting book. Its was more about telling you how to show something on screen, not so much how to write it were a reader can visualize it in their mind. You answered the question on your own: it depends on what you want to write. Screenplay writing will help you write those. Creative writing I would hope would help you just write in general.

surrealist · 08-31-2007, 04:02 PM

What do you mean by books? 'How to write' books? If so, then yes, you'd be better off writing. On the other hand, if you mean real books, then those should be a part of your arsenal. They will help you more than any class could. Good reading precludes good writing.

Truth-Teller · 08-31-2007, 07:01 PM

You will learn nothing with screen-writing.

Choose as you wish.

With creative--at least there is poetry.

lisajane · 09-01-2007, 12:09 AM

I've done both creative writing classes and screenwriting classes. A screenwriting class is exactly what it sounds like - writing for the screen. If you want to write novels and short stories, screenwriting won't help, cause it'll be teaching you how to write script-wise. You may be better off finding a course that has creative writing and screenwriting as seperate subjects and taking both.

Another thing you could do is take a creative writing class to help you with plot and ideas and the like for the story, then take the screenwriting class afterwards and learn to transfer that story into a tv series or movie.

Depends on what you want to do with your writing, really.

ThePrimeDreamer · 09-01-2007, 12:56 AM

Hey thanks guys. You're input has been helpful. In a perfect world where I wouldn't have to worry about money, I wouldn't even think about screenwriting. And instead I would be writing stories, short and novel-length. I'm interested mostly in drama and how it can seep into other genres of science fiction and fantasy.

So I guess creative writing is what I really want.

Jeff Colburn · 09-01-2007, 02:52 AM

If you're looking for writing events, go here The Creative Cauldron - Events

If you're looking for writer's retreats, go here The Creative Cauldron - Residences and Retreats

Have Fun,
Jeff

lin · 09-01-2007, 04:32 AM

In a screenwriting class you can actually learn something because it's a stylized form of writing with technical format. Creative writing classes you don't really learn anything.

Once beyond that beginning stage, by the way, screenwriting is very helpful to novelists. The compressed, hyper-dramatized way they tell a story is very helpful to finguring out how to structure stories.

Creative writing classes won't make you a better screenwriter, but screenwriting classes just might make you a better creative writer.

Truth-Teller · 09-01-2007, 01:07 PM

Ahh Lin--always up to his usual tricks.

Truth-Teller · 09-01-2007, 01:09 PM

If creative-writing class can't make you a better writer, how in God's name can screen-writing?

They both can't make you a better writer. A better writer starts from within you--from the heart.

surrealist · 09-01-2007, 01:46 PM

The first cw class I took was the one that made the most difference. It exposed me to a lot of different types of stories, and gave me a better sense of what I liked and didn't. From there, reading and writing my own stories has been my primary mode of learning. That said, classes are useful for getting a person to generate stories. I've published most of the things I wrote for the three cw classes I took in college. The classes have their downsides - mostly when both teachers and fellow students attempt to bully the class into writing one or two types of stories, and resist all other types. I don't think I'll take another one again (apart from poetry classes, which are hilarious), but one's experiences will vary dramatically depending on the class and teacher. They do have their uses.

ThePrimeDreamer · 09-01-2007, 10:20 PM

Thanks for the continued effort guys! I'm trying to absorb as much information as I can on this forum, which is tremendously helpful.

lazerbeak · 09-03-2007, 09:37 AM

I did a screenwriting MA, but don't just write scripts.

I agree that no course will neccesarily teach you 'how to write well', that's all about maturity and experience, which nothing can simulate. As people have said, the main thing is just to keep writing, and push yourself.

BUT

Writing regularly, to assignment and to deadlines, and getting feedback from your tutors (who DO have maturity and experience, hopefully) is incredibly useful - mainly in giving you experience of forms and helping you to develop your own voice and direction. Reading it in a book isn't the same as having an experienced writer / teacher give you their practical opinions on your own work over an extended period. This helps you develop your own instinct. The approach of the tutors varied of course, hopefully by the time you approach a major project you'll know whose style best suits your own.

It won't help you come up with ideas though, and all that stuff about acts and plotting you'll learn in seminars is largely simplistic bunk which should be second nature to anyone...

You can't teach creativity (although you can take advice on how to develop it), but writing is also a craft, and most craftsmen in other fields learn from someone who has already mastered it - even established writers rely on editors. So by all means go for the course if you think it will help you - reading a lot is also obligatory, it goes without saying.

One word on the screenwriting vs. creative writing thing. Both will have the same advantage re. helping you channel your own instincts I'm sure. Personally I found that the screenwriting helped me to learn to write concisely (ironic, considering the length and contradictions of this post), and suited me because of my 'visual' instincts.

Most skills you pick up will be entirely transferable, but there are technical differences between script and prose, of course.

Hope that helps.

archer88iv · 09-04-2007, 01:30 AM

Just keep in mind that a screenwriting course is going to contain a lot of information about the formats involved (screenplays and the silver screen) that won't apply to most kinds of writing. Also, you're going to learn about a submission process that isn't necessarily related to the submission process you'll see elsewhere.

wrdsmth · 09-07-2007, 01:45 PM

I would take great exception to the statement that in "Creative writing classes you don't really learn anything."
I think, to a large extent, that depends upon what you bring into it. Some people have a greater realm of knowledge about creative writing and they already have a clear grasp of the grammatical rules of their native language.

If you are able to keep your eyes, ears, and mind open, chances are you can take some learning away from a creative writing class. Then you must balance that against what the cost of the class is to determine whether or not it is worth the expense for you.

When I was in college, I had a comp teacher who had to divide the class into two groups: the literate and the semi-literate. On one day, she was stuck trying to teach basic grammar to people who had no business being in a college classroom, while on the other day, she actually got to do real teaching.

Maybe a college level writing class is not what you need, however. Perhaps a writer's workshop or seminar or two (or three) would better serve your needs. It's amazing the little things you can pick up about the art of writing from such a session. I have, in the past, paid several hundred dollars for a two day writing seminar. Aside from the new friends I made and the contacts in the industry, the seminar was worth the price and the airfare for a few little insights I gleaned because those insights made me a better writer.

You might also consider joining a writers' guild, though I would venture into this carefully because most of them don't know HOW to critique properly so you, as a writer, would gain little from them. Guilds also vary widly in how they are conducted and how they approach the critiquing process.

I would steer clear of most online writing courses. There are hundreds, possibly thousands of them out there. You need to be sure and research them carefully before committing to any.