We are finished up our final round of articles discussions in Teaching Creative Writing last night. It was bittersweet (sort of). We've had a lot of good discussions in this class, but the semester is coming to a close, and I'm ready for it. Thanksgiving was not the break that I needed. I'm ready for Christmas Break, and I need it.
One of the articles we discussed is called "Inspiration, Creativity, and Crisis". This article was interesting because it made me think again about the "writer's myth" that we've so often talked about in class. The myth I'm referring to is the one involving Divine Inspiration basically being the only way that people are able to write. Anyone who is in a creative writing program or has done any creative writing knows that creative writing is hard work. Lots and lots of hard work. Blood, sweat, and tears hard work...sometimes. Anyway, I thought about it, and I think I used to buy into the writer's myth" when I was younger. I'm pretty sure I thought that only brilliant people or tortured people could become writers. I may have even thought that ideas happened randomly (that Divine Inspiration), as if they sort of fell into people's minds. Oh, how wrong I was. I'm glad I know better now.
Being teachable also comes up in this article. That is a critical part of creative writing. You can't become a better writers if you're unwilling to learn, to grow and change. So open yourselves up to (constructive) criticism people! It's there to make you a better writer.
BK
