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A LEAP OF FAITH: TEACHING CREATIVE
WRITING
“The
most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.
It is the source of all true art and science.”
Albert Einstein
he
mere act of teaching creative writing presupposes a leap of faith: that
teachers can stimulate, motivate, and guide students to write creatively.
This is a huge task. Tom
Robbins once wrote that “to achieve the marvelous, it is precisely the
unthinkable that must be thought.” That
is our job in a nutshell: to get students to think and write the
unthinkable. Many teachers
believe that they can, at a minimum, help students learn where to dig for
ideas, challenge students to mine originality, and model habits for
students that lead to creative possibilities.
There are those among us, however, who would argue against this
premise. They claim that
creativity is an innate gift and that teachers are misguided if they think
they play any part in the creative act.
There will always be naysayers.
But those naysayers must also argue that music instruction cannot
lead to creativity in music, or that art classes cannot help students
become better painters or sculptors. They
must argue that acting classes will not help actors be more creative in
their approaches. No doubt
there is a hint of truth in these observations, but there is also truth in
the belief that practice, stimulation, and encouragement can often lead to
discovery. As the
University
of
Michigan English
professor Eric Rabkin says, “Creativity can be taught, but it can’t be
taught equally effectively to everyone” (qtd. in Barr 32).
If we assume, and we do, that all people own a creative vein, then
we assume responsibility for tapping into that vein as teachers.
Guiding students becomes a major task in creative writing courses.
Teachers steer students toward areas ripe for creativity.
Of course, not all students will hold up their end of the bargain.
We can’t force any person to be creative.
But we can point students toward greener pastures for harvesting.
Most writers agree that writing involves a combination of craft and
imagination. The balance of
the two is debatable. A
student may have a rich imagination, but not enough knowledge and practice
in writing to harness it. Or a
student may have the technical language skills, but not the instinct or
confidence to use those skills creatively.
A creative writing class must focus on craft, the tools of the
writer. But the class must
also focus on imaginative exploration.
Through guidance and encouragement, a creative writing teacher can
help students see which ideas are worth pursuing and which are not.
This task places a burden on teachers—they must be well-read,
insightful, and open-minded. Teachers
can lead students only so far up the mountain.
As Richard Hugo used to say to every creative writing class he
taught:
You’ll never be a poet until you
realize that everything I say
today and this quarter is wrong. It
may be right for me, but
it is wrong for you.
Every moment, I am, without wanting
or trying to, telling you to write
like me. But I hope you learn
to write like you.
In a sense, I hope I don’t teach you how to
write
but how to teach yourself how to write. (3)
A creative writing teacher must
challenge students, usually through readings and assignments.
By stimulating students through prompts, the teacher helps new
writers discover the depths of their creativity.
Sometimes students, like all of us, stumble upon unique images,
language, and ideas by force. In-class
writing prompts are attempts to rouse the creative, unconscious mind.
Sometimes these prompts force students to break past habits and
tread into new territory for ideas. A
short in-class prompt like Rita Dove’s “Ten-Minute Spill” can
generate images and phrases that might never naturally fly off the pens of
students (13). I am routinely
amazed at what students create given assignments such as invent an
imaginary game, write a dream, place a famous dead character in a
contemporary setting, tell the real story behind a childhood fable or
legend or nursery rhyme.
Teachers also challenge students in
the form of critiquing—making suggestions to rewrite a cliched ending,
to hook the reader better, to consider deleting a weak stanza, to find
stronger verbs. This advice,
which we know may be ignored, forces young writers to reassess and
question, and that process involves a deeper mining for new and original
answers. The experience of the
helping circle and feedback from colleagues in that public group setting
can also spark creativity.
The idea of the teacher as a model is an old and venerable one in
educational literature. Certainly
the teacher’s attitude toward writing and teaching can inspire and
motivate many. Deserved and
well-placed encouragement is an underused tactic.
Testimonials on how, in practice, the teacher writes can help
students understand different methods.
Descriptions on what inspires people, stories about how and when
the creative spirit took control, and excerpts from writers discussing
creativity all complement more directive instruction.
Probably the most influential task of the teacher is to establish a
class environment that invites creativity, celebrates creativity, and
honors creativity. This
classroom must be non-threatening and flexible.
Often, it is full of humor and laughter.
It is always full of excellent examples, read with heart and gusto.
It must be a safe haven for experimentation.
As teachers, we must
take that Kierkegaardian leap of faith off the edge of an abyss, trusting
that in the darkness below, we’ll land on the ledge of creativity.
This is, in fact, exactly what we do when we write: we trust that
the imagination will take us somewhere.
Our task is to gather our students around us and leap in unison.
We’ll all land in different places, some not jumping far enough,
some leaping yards beyond the others.
The limitless possibilities of creativity open up in the act of
leaping itself.
Learning how to land on our feet comes
with practice, time, grace, and experience.
Works
Cited
Barr,
Bill, B. “Creativity from
the Inside.”
Michigan
Alumnus Nov./Dec.
1987:
22-39.
Dove,
Rita. “Ten-Minute Spill.”
The Practice of Poetry.
Eds. Robin Behn
and
Chase Twichell.
New York
: Harper, 1992. 13-14.
Hugo,
Richard. The Triggering
Town.
New York
: Norton, 1979.
David
James teaches English for
Oakland
Community College
in
Michigan
.
His books of poetry include A HEART OUT OF THIS WORLD, DO NOT GIVE
DOGS WHAT IS HOLY, and I DANCE BACK. Three
of his one-act plays have been produced off-Broadway.
Dljames@oaklandcc.edu
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