Creative writing at university? - Page 6 - Writers Forum

lin · 05-03-2008, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Ooh, clever. Is that what the ladies tell you?

This is the sort of thing people say when they've given up an untenable argument but still want to get in a crusher anyway.

A Vaulter's Insanity · 05-04-2008, 11:53 AM

Now youre just sounding hypocritical Lin. lets stop this pointless flame war and get back on topic.

All Im saying is that there millions of people who sucked at something the first time they tried it, and then later in life tried it again and were awesome at it. Its as if they became 'natural'. which of course defeats the meaning of the name. And if you think about what it was that changed, its that they just understood something they didnt before. And anyone can have that epiphany. Its just rare. Now im not saying a college class can teach you how to be a writer. Nor am I saying that if you suck at writing right now, one day youll be good. All im saying is that people have the potential to be good at just about anything. With practice of course.

PageOfCups · 05-04-2008, 05:00 PM

I'm tempted to send you a few links to fanfiction to see if you think there's any hope for some of the people on that site. Once you've read a few things from there you realise pretty quickly that most people are just dreamers when it comes to writing and that they'll never be particularly good at it no matter how many courses they do.

Pluss I think it's kind of lazy to take a course in something you can teach yourself.

Monkuta · 05-04-2008, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PageOfCups

Pluss I think it's kind of lazy to take a course in something you can teach yourself.

Not everybody can. Some people might have ideas but are not so creative as to use them well. If somebody has some step-by-step "how to" kind of thing, it can help. If it is the case where you just need to keep trying until you're good, then yeah, a course is unnecessary.

Ilasir Maroa · 05-04-2008, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PageOfCups

I'm tempted to send you a few links to fanfiction to see if you think there's any hope for some of the people on that site. Once you've read a few things from there you realise pretty quickly that most people are just dreamers when it comes to writing and that they'll never be particularly good at it no matter how many courses they do.

Pluss I think it's kind of lazy to take a course in something you can teach yourself.

Do you mean "fanfiction".net?

JosephB · 05-04-2008, 10:56 PM

I took a creative writing class at Emory University in their continuing education program last spring. The teacher taught day classes at the school and the course was basically a short version of his usual class. It wasn't some lame, softball, community center thing.

Honestly, I didn't learn that much. I enjoyed it, and writing under time constraints was a good learning experience. I had a chance to share ideas in real time and have a real conversation about my writing with a knowledgeable teacher.

There were people in the class that didn't have a lick of talent and they finished no better off. But the people who could write a little got something out of it.

I'm glad I did it. Funny, the discipline I've acquired in the "real world" made me a much better student than I was in college. If I'd worked half as hard then as I do know, I would have made straight A's.

A Vaulter's Insanity · 05-05-2008, 12:17 AM

Most people on fanfiction.net probably dont have any talent. (Although there are some great ones too.) And the ones that dont, probably never will. But anythings possible really. The first thing I wrote was absolute and total crap. For the next 2 years I read a lot, and next time I tried to write something, it was halfway decent. And every time I write, its gets a little bit better. But Im not fooling myself, I have virtually no chance of becoming a published author. But I still like writing, and hope one day I might discover something thatll help me enough to get involved in something to do with writing. Whether it be a novel or something else entirely. (Just nothing boring)

Writing class will probably only help you if you take everything with a grain of salt and dont change your style too much, and already had some talent to begin with. But you probably could do just as well with out it as you can with if youre willing to try new things and are determined. But again, determination will only get you so far.

lin · 05-05-2008, 02:40 AM

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Now youre just sounding hypocritical Lin. lets stop this pointless flame war

I love it. Let's stop quarreling after I insult you. What a jerk. Tell you what, since you think you can go to school and learn how not be a shitty writer anymore, why don't you put in a couple of years seeing if they can teach you to think straight and not blame your deficiencies on others. After all, anything can be taught, right?

A Vaulter's Insanity · 05-05-2008, 06:23 PM

Actually you've insulted me multiple times, and I only said stop the flame war after you insulted somebody else. Id rather not have this thread closed because you continue on insulting people. But I guess I dont really care anymore

And I never said school will make you an awesome writer. In fact, if you look back, I said multiple times that school will not automatically stop you from being a shitty writer.

And I never said anything can be taught. I said anything can be learned.

Maybe if you actaully tried to understand peoples point of views you would stop being such a jack ass to people and open your mind for once in your life. Ive met some close minded people before, but youre the worst, and the most rude too. Go get layed or something, it seems you havnt since 4111 posts ago.

lin · 05-05-2008, 07:23 PM

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I said anything can be learned.

Just not true. For instance, can you learn to play pro basketball? Sing opera with the Met? Fly? Shut up?

Let us know how it comes out.

StephenP2003 · 05-05-2008, 07:37 PM

Stop fighting and write something publishable!

StephenP2003 · 05-05-2008, 07:37 PM

And where is my goddamned avatar?

edit: that's better

lin · 05-05-2008, 11:37 PM

That reminds me, Stephen. Any luck on that college column book? I thought it sounded pretty doable, especially as an inhouse thing for the paper.

A Vaulter's Insanity · 05-05-2008, 11:46 PM

Singing opera is more hereditary than it is anything else. Same with flying...flying even more so. You got be a bird, a bug or something.

Alright, so i was pushing it when I said anything, but you get the idea. In things like art, writing and sports. If youre at a point in your life where you can get stronger faster and more athletic, then why wouldnt you be able to learn basketball?

Im not saying stuff like this happens all the time. Im just sayings its happened in the past and will happen again unless Armageddon is tonight.

And shutting up is actaully quite easy for me. but on a forum...why join if youre just gonna shut up?

topper · 05-06-2008, 02:06 AM

Okay, points on arguments
1) singing can actually be taught to most people, opera included. In fact, it is highly unlikely that someone is going to wake up day and burst out into an aria from Carmen--it's a very stylized form of singing.
2) Beethoven and Mozart both started music lessons at the age of ~3-5. They were child prodigies who practiced for hours and hours every day. Which brings me to my next point
3) All of the truly famous (read: name known long after death) artists, musicians, and athletes I can think of had tons of training to go along with their gift. I don't know many writers' backgrounds, but I'm fairly sure most of them had pretty intense schooling.
4) There is very little taught in college that you couldn't learn on your own, with books, ect... But it would take you much, much longer.

So a good creative writing course should make you better at a faster rate. No, it's not going to make you the next Charles Dickens or whatever, nor is it going to take you past a certain point, but it can help. And enough of them could probably turn a bad writer into a decent one, just like enough art classes can teach somehow how to turn out recognizable likenesses.