creative writing degree

creative writing degree

The Benefits of Pursuing a Creative Writing Degree

1. Introduction

Creative writing has been a part of the university and college curriculum for the past several decades. It can also be an exciting, rewarding career, as I discovered when I embarked upon a creative writing education 16 years ago. An education in writing simply provides you the solid foundation on which to build a writing career. It also equips you with a highly valued skill in today’s job market. I was not unaware that an education in the subject would also require me to spend a large amount of time writing, something which suits me down to the ground. It is often necessary to get a Certificate in Tertiary Teaching in order to be a creative writing teacher. Many universities and colleges offer a Master’s in Fine Arts. With a doctorate in creative writing, there are now many positions in teaching English, and occasionally in other languages, literature, and linguistics. However, the teaching, because it is a higher education subject, is usually at a more advanced level and you would not normally be teaching school teachers. Reaching the standard that is required to gain a high education teaching position usually will require some publications. This means that for those wishing to become creative writing teachers, education will involve not only the studying of creative writing but also creative writing itself.

2. Developing Writing Skills

Once creativity has been released, it has the ability to grow and mature. It is vital that as a writer, one must know the tools to use in order to cultivate and grow their ideas. This skill is the first and foremost to developing writing skill. Creative writing covers a wide variety of forms; simply, its purpose is to enable a writer to express, enhance, and/or create imagery, which comes in many forms, from the narrative to the epistolary. Creative writing definitely can be a training which will help a writer who wants to enhance the quality of their writing. This is a practice for fiction writers, poets, and playwrights. The more a writer is able to use their creativity, the more they will enhance their writing. Creativity also helps a writer to organize many ideas. When a writer is forced to go into a writing job that is not what they would normally choose to do, they are still using their creativity to find ways around the obstacles of the job to produce higher quality work. For example, an advertising agency is trying to get a writer to write a script for a sixty-second commercial. Now, as a writer, one could simply take the information given to them about the product and be satisfied that they have met the requirements. However, a creative writer would use the sixty-second challenge as an opportunity to be as inventive as possible. The writer would have to brainstorm several ideas about the product within the time limit given and convey these ideas in an interesting manner, taking full advantage of the time to produce a result that is of high quality.

3. Exploring Different Genres

One of the main considerations of studying several genres is the conventions of the course. However, writers must be wary of what they learn. Confirmation bias is a term used often in research writing; it should also be used with finesse in creative writing. If a writer only learns the conventions of commercial fiction, he or she will only know how to write commercial fiction. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with writing commercial fiction, or only learning to write in one genre. But in this day and age, many writers find themselves dissatisfied with the rigidity of genre classification. These writers will find that overlearning one genre may inhibit their broadening abilities to incorporate aspects of other styles or forms. The creative writing conventions of a particular genre may actually stifle the growth of a writer’s development of style and form. This again is not necessarily a bad thing for every writer. But writers who love to experiment with style and form should push themselves to explore options outside their comfortable genre. For poets, fiction writers have much to gain in poetry writing. Understanding the poetry process can enrich metaphorical writing and concise use of language. Fiction writers have a lot to learn from the process of a good poet and can become better wordsmiths by taking a poetry course. Cross-genre learning can be done in formal education by stepping out of genre comfort zones. An example would be a speculative fiction writer taking a literary fiction workshop. Lit fiction may be the polar opposite of spec fiction, but the spec fiction writer will gain much from discussing all the fundamental story writing concepts in spec fiction, which can also translate to lit fiction. This type of learning is also beneficial for critique and growth. Spec fiction students critiquing their own work may deem a story concept too “out-there” for a general fiction workshop. But the same idea written a different way may get past the lit fiction writer workshop group and receive feedback he deems more valuable for said concept. He may even consider a genre swap to get a better understanding of allegorical writing. But perhaps the most advantageous cross-genre learning to be had is finding out what one genre can do that can also be applied in another genre to enhance story writing. An example is the mystery and suspense plot device that can be used in any genre.

4. Building a Professional Writing Career

Starting a professional writing career is the ultimate goal of a great deal of people who pursue creative writing degrees. While some people say that you do not need a degree to be a writer, this type of work is much different now than it was twenty years ago. There are many different types of writing and most employers have a certain level of education in mind when hiring. A career in academia is another option for professionals in the field of writing. Teaching college English courses or other writing classes can be very rewarding. These jobs will usually require a higher degree such as a master’s or a PhD. Between writing and research, many of these jobs involve publishing articles and novels. This career path can be very lucrative; it all depends on what type of writing you are willing to do. An MFA is a terminal degree for this type of work, meaning it is the highest level of education available, and it qualifies candidates to teach at the college level. Building a career as a writer takes much work, but even though it is difficult, it is very possible with the right dedication and creativity. Building a career will involve a lot of trial and error. It is best for writers to get their name known by sending pieces of their work to many different magazines and online publications. This is a great way to break into the publishing scene. If the publication likes the work, they will publish it and pay the writer. This is very rewarding for writers who want to see their work in print. Another alternative is to publish novels or poetry. This method is more difficult and the pay can vary, but many writers find this type of work to be extremely satisfying. Finally, technical writing is a viable career. This involves writing pieces with the intent of making instructions clearer for an audience. This type of work can involve anything from writing instructions for a video game to making scientific research more comprehensible through writing.

5. Conclusion

All in all, it is widely accepted that a degree in creative writing will be truly beneficial to one’s education and future endeavors. One thing to remember is that this is quite a specialized field and often may lower employment mobility in the case that many individuals may be looking for jobs outside of writing. As a final note, the benefits of the course itself are the reasons why many students continue to pursue their interest in writing, despite the ever-growing fear of an oversaturated job market. Despite the fact that writers are plenty, we are a few who are successful in doing what we love best.

Because of these reasons, we can see creative writing can be truly useful to students and even participants as an interest or a career. These benefits far surpass the ones traditionally brought by a degree in literature. In this day and age where the education system is moving towards a more technical aspect in learning and focusing on the sciences, we can safely say that studying creative writing can continue to be beneficial to us and our future. This is due to the fact that many businesses are becoming more open to the idea that the power of the written word in advertising and communication is the most effective tool in communicating to the masses.