Creative Conundrums #8: Creative Writing Courses Vs M(F)As in Creative Writing
A Writer's Corner series dedicated to challenges and worries throughout the creative process, doubts, queries and everything in between.
2023 Round Up and Past Instalments of Creative Conundrums
I am sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen (a favourite spot of mine in this house) although I should be at my writing desk upstairs, thinking about today’s date. It seems impossible that 2023 will end in two days.
Through meagre efforts on my part – I could pluck other reasons from here, there and everywhere but you have already heard my excuses for having been Missing In Action since April – I do not have a lot to show for it. Good intentions worked their magic, and the year began well but, not even halfway through, my writing died a quick, merciless death.
However, as cheesy as it sounds, it has been wonderful to build a community around Writer’s Corner and share my amateur writing with you. Thank you for reading, liking, and commenting on the posts; the interaction with other writers has been very rewarding. I am lucky to have read many of your own pieces, enriching my writing skills and world view along the way.
Here is the last preamble before we get to the point of this post. I have added links to previous Creative Conundrums, should you wish to read them. Apart from #1 and #2, which are inter-related, the Creative Conundrums can be read in isolation and in any order.
Creative Conundrums #2: Individual Publications or Publication Sections?
Creative Conundrums #4: What Are the Substack ... Things Called?
What is Creative Conundrums?
“What is Creative Conundrums”, you ask yourself. It is a series – if someone has a finer term for it, I would steal it in a heartbeat – dedicated to questions of creative nature, worrisome thoughts, plaguing insecurities, and day-to-day challenges that I wrestle with.
Over the years, I have realised that much of what we often consider to be unique to our personalities, for example the tendency to be indecisive, or circumstances, say, our education background or job, resonates with others louder than we have ever imagined.
Creative Conundrums will, therefore, serve two purposes:
Aid me in un-baffling myself through endless rambling and mind backflips, and
Provide solace to you in the realisation that you are not alone in your troubles (Fingers crossed, sound practical advice will be a welcome by-product).
Now, let us delve into Creative Conundrum #8.
Creative Conundrums #8: Creative Writing Courses Vs M(F)As in Creative Writing? Context
Cher - If I could Turn Back Time
If only, Cher. If only. If I could turn back time, I would major in a different field than the one I majored in a decade ago. Alas, time machines have not been developed yet and it is rather unlikely they will be before my last breath.
At the risk of repeating myself, as a child, I wrote but mainly analytical essays in which I laid out arguments and critical thoughts on this literature masterpiece, or that. The only original stories or essays we created were in Primary School when we were eight and nine years old, perhaps in Comprehensive School aged eleven. I enjoyed the writing practice and received high grades.
In none of the Schools I attended – mind you, the third was a Languages High School – could I, or anyone else for that matter, sign up for an Optional Module of, say, Creative Writing. The Optional Modules were only available in my final year of study (I was eighteen going on nineteen years old, for I had transferred from a Comprehensive School to a High School at this stage), and they were simply extra hours of a specific subject. Students, who planned on going to University, took the supplementary lessons in the subject(s) they would be sitting exams in over the summer. For that reason, the material covered would sometimes be slightly more complicated and / or in depth.
Outside of School, no one in my hometown – cities might have been different, especially Sofia – offered Creative Writing Courses. Out of mind, out of sight. Writing was never something I considered possible or attainable, because …. well, if you were a writer, you would know it.
This is a long-winded way of saying that I have never, except for analysing great literary works, learnt how storytelling works.
Creative Conundrums #8: Creative Writing Courses Vs M(F)As in Creative Writing? The Actual Conundrum
I have heard an opinion after an opinion, stating that no one can teach you how to write (well), and becoming a (good) writer is something within your gift. A dose of talent, a knack, for the written word is bound to play a part. But so will consistency and exercising the writing muscle. Showing up at the desk, day in and day out.
While I cannot argue with that, I believe every little helps. In the last year, I have listened to numerous podcasts, digging into writers’ writing habits and routines, what they write about and how they discovered writing was their calling. Most of them, with some exceptions, have always written. They have written all their lives, inventing stories from an early age. Some maintain it is a physical need they have, the need to write.
That last statement is starting to resonate; I can recognise the draw to writing and the inability to tear myself away from it however bad it may be. But I did not experience this need as a child. When I was tasked with writing, be it academic or creative, I did it and had to move on. Does that mean I am living in a chimera, fooling myself that I have something when, in fact, I have nothing?
I am hopeful that by learning the basics of storytelling, including the elements that usually make up an intriguing story, I will find out if, indeed, I am a writer (or can be). If, after the Course or M(F)A in Creative Writing, it is not working out for me, I may have to hang the gloves.
Given my other commitments, primarily work, I am inclined to do a Course in Creative Writing rather than an M(F)A. From what I gather, an Online Course in Creative Writing is a balanced mix of ‘theory’ and practice, with feedback on several assignments from tutors and peers.
I cannot pretend I have researched M(F)As with the same level of due diligence, since I am aware that I am unlikely to go down that route. Their method of teaching, as the name might suggest, gives the impression of theory overshadowing practice (but I may be wrong). Another factor, which is influencing my decision, has to do with the associated cost: it is comparatively higher than that of Creative Writing Courses.
About those: there are a lot to choose from; I am sure it is no different to M(F)As! I think I have I have narrowed them down to three now but have postponed making a decision for ages; it has been a year but, recently, at least a month. Is this my subconscious playing tricks with me and ensuring I stay in my lane, with no stupid ideas about being a creative clouding my otherwise logical self?
Possibly. Hence, I ought to decide what to do. Pronto.
Creative Conundrums #8: Creative Writing Courses Vs M(F)As in Creative Writing? Your Thoughts
This is where I shush, and you are in charge. If you have any insight into this topic, it would be super helpful to me (and others, I hope) to hear it.
What follows are a few prompts:
Have you completed a Course in Creative Writing? What was the experience for you? Could you share some of the benefits?
Have you obtained an M(F)A in Creative Writing? What was the experience for you? What were some of the valuable lessons you learnt?
If you have done both, could you summarise the main similarities and differences between the two?
How did you decide on one or the other? What were the factors that swayed you?
Once you chose the main route, what research did you undertake for the various Universities / providers?
Do you think that the face-to-face and online proposals are on par in terms of teaching quality and tutor / peer feedback?
If you have neither a Course, nor an M(F)A in Creative Writing under your belt, what did you do instead (if anything)? If not, why not and how did that help or hinder your writing?
It would be great if you could let me, and readers of Writer’s Corner, have a little glimpse in your experience.