Are writing classes worth it?

ETA (06/13/11): So I realized there is a fatal flaw to this post. Feel free to read on, but once you're done, check out the continuation in part two.

A couple weeks ago I promised I'd talk about creative writing classes, so here we go.

To start with, there are two camps when it comes to writing workshops: those who've taken them and those who think they're a waste of time. Sure, there's can be some overlap there, but that's the basic gist. Being that I took creative writing classes in college, we can obviously see where I fall.

However, I do think that creative writing classes can be waste of time. They're set up as workshop, so everyone has to participate and it's basically a giant critique group with some learning thrown in. What you need to understand though, is that workshops are only as good as the people that are in them.

The first writing workshop I ever took was a low-level class that many non-majors took to fill their writing requirement. This meant that I got to read a lot of terribly written short stories. They all involved murder, sex, or pot. No lie. Even though my professor was awesome, it wasn't a helpful class because my fellow students didn't offer the kind of writing or critique that I could learn from.

The next few workshops I took were much better because a selection process was involved. For higher level classes, the program I took required you to submit work and pray that you were accepted. The only problem with these classes was the people. I don't want to say that "they just didn't get my work," but I actually had an experience where that kinda happened. My professor actually told me to not listen to the critique that my fellow classmates had given because it would stifle my writing.

Now, the best writing workshop I took was also the last one I took. It was a limited opportunity because it was taught by a visting professor, so I felt pretty awesome when I got accepted. Then my professor was absolutely amazing. Better yet, my peers were amazing too. They offered critique and opinions that got me thinking about what I wrote and what it meant to be writing. Maybe I didn't agree with everyone all of the time, but I respected what they thought.

Like I said before, a writing workshop is like a giant critique group. And unfortunately, it's hard to find a perfect critique group. If you don't mesh with the people, then you won't get anything out the class, and the odds are against you finding the right group. The wrong professor, one jerk who talks louder than everyone else, people that can't or won't take you seriously--none of that is worth it.

Maybe people can teach themselves how to write without taking writing classes. Maybe they really are a waste of time and money. But I can't agree with that 100%. If you can find that one perfect workshop group, then you can learn so much more than you could by yourself. You'll be able to look at good writing in its early phases and discuss what makes published writing so great. Finding that opportunity is worth taking writing classes.

So what do you think? Agree or disagree? Have you ever taken a writing workshop? Was it part of a college course or maybe part of community education? Did you have a good time, or could you not wait until it was over? Tell me in the comments.

The Man Story

Hi. I have a question for all of you. But first, some background!

So I spent my college education primarily as a creative writing major. As such, I spent a lot of time in workshop classes. For anyone that doesn't know, a workshop is basically a giant critique group. There's kind of a debate on the net about whether they're a waste of time or not, but I'll talk about that some other day.

Anyway, there are two things to know about fiction writing workshops in college: 1) they're all about short stories, and 2) they strongly encourage that you write literary fiction. When you Take these two things and throw them at a dude, something exciting will happen. This is what we like to call the Man Story.

But let's cut to the chase and just define what makes a story the Man Story:

• The author and narrator are both college males
• The narrator's best friend is kind of a womanizing douchebag
• But the narrator actually is a decent guy
• They may smoke pot together at some point
• The narrator doesn't know where he's going with his life
• There is a girl who once had relations with the narrator or the douchebag
• The narrator and the girl have unresolved sexual tension
• There is usually some kind of mundane task involved
• And a lot of the time said task doesn't gets completed
• The narrator has an epiphany of some sort--usually that his life sucks
• Nothing much really happens at all ... other than the mundane task

Does that sound familiar to you guys? It probably will if you've gone through college level creative writing workshops. Then again, maybe it won't. Which is why I'm posting this today, because I'm curious whether this phenomenon was limited to Montana people or whether this is worldwide sort of thing.

So really, tell me. Does this sound familiar? Have you read the Man Story before? Better yet, have you written a version of the Man Story? Tell me about it in the comments.

Be brave and write dangerously

Let me tell you about the best test I ever took in college.

It was the final for my fantasy literature class. This class sounds better than it really was. Our teacher was a quirky old man that looked like Colonel Sanders and couldn't stay on topic for the life of him. Normally students like teachers that don't stay off-topic. This was eighty minutes of rambling hell. When it was nearing finals week, I was actually kind of worried because we rarely talked about fantasy literature and all Colonel Sanders did was tell us that he rarely gave high grades.

Test day came. We sat at our desks with pens and blue books, waiting for inevitable doom. The prompt was handed out and it went something like this:

Write a thoughtful, multi-page answer to one of two following questions. One choice is safe, the other is dangerous. 

1. "Fancy quote about fantasy writing reflecting reality" according to Ursula le Guin. Support this claim using at least three works we've read over the semester. 
2. Write the beginning of a fantasy story. Make sure to follow the conventions we've been talking about all semester. It must take place in one of the following locations:

• Billings, MT (the "magic" city)
• A farmland
• Two other places I don't remember

I just remember sitting in my desk, watching as everyone else in class immediately started jotting things down in their blue books. Apparently they didn't need any time to make a decision.

At first, I almost answered the first question. But then I remembered something: I was a creative writing major. If there was anyone in this class of literature people that could write the beginning of a fantasy story, it was me. Sure, the other prompt was definitely the safe one, but if I had to be stuck in that room for two hours writing something, I was going to be writing something fun.

Everyone I talked to after class chose the first essay question. Even my fellow creative writing majors. Apparently I was the only one brave, or stupid, enough to take the plunge.

In the end, I got an A in the class. Some of those other people didn't.

Can you guess what the moral of this story is? One choice is safe, the other is dangerous. Sometimes we need to pick the scary choices, even if they don't seem like a good idea at the time.

Everyone in that class could write a decent answer to the first essay question. A lot of writers can write a candy coated fantasy with teen girls looking for love and elements of Harry Potter. Sure, it's not original, but it's trendy and might get you published.

Maybe it's hard to be brave enough to make something new and edgy. But you should do it anyway because your work will suffer if you don't. Don't make yourself write something because you think someone else will like it better. Write the things you want to write. Have fun! The next time you're dipping into cliche, challenge yourself. Cliches are all about being safe, but if you break away the walls, you can find something fresh.

Have you ever made the dangerous choice? Was it in your writing, or just in life? What were the stakes? Tell me your story in the comments.