r/WriteDaily • u/DanceForSandwich Little Red Writing Hood • Nov 05 '14

Open Forum

This is the place for general subreddit discussion, updates on your current work, requests for critique, or anything unrelated to the daily prompts. If you have suggestions for themes or prompts, this is also the place to submit those!

Remember that if you are submitting for critique, you should share a maximum of 2000 words (or up to 5 pages on a linked Google Doc) and you should specify what type and how heavy of critique you would like. Anyone replying with critique should always remember to be constructive and courteous!

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u/weepolzhappy Jan 31 '15

Here's a question: How have you dealt with uninspiring creative writing courses/teachers? Ive recently started a creative writing class through the local community college, and I can already tell this teacher is so skatterbrained I may not be able to get a whole lot of useful input from her extremely roundabout and disorganized trains of thought. She's very sweet, mind you, but not a good teacher.

For example, in the last class, the entire period was spent in a group discussion of the great gatsby, and the newest movie version of it. Which would have been great, except we haven't read the book yet because it was only the first week of class and she hadn't assigned any reading yet. I've never before had a class devoted to discussion on something we haven't even started yet. A third of the class had never even read the book (or hadn't read it in years) and were totally lost, and losing the ability to form their own impressions of the book after hearing so many opinions. I'm not exactly brimming with confidence about the rest of the semester.

That was just some context for my specific situation, but I guess a broader question could be, how do you try to glean the most from an uninspiring or even annoying class or teacher, and still make as much progress as you can as a writer?

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u/DanceForSandwich Jan 31 '15

That's a fantastic question. I dunno about anybody else, but personally I've always found the idea of a creative writing course baffling. Are they there to teach you how to write, because I've never heard of that going well. Usually you read a bunch of poetry and short stories and talk about why those things were great. You might get to write a few things, sure, but I've never been sure how you would accurately grade something that's inherently based on personal preference. Creative writing is an artform, and like any artform the only real way to get better at it is practice. All a creative writing course can teach you is the mechanics (find what works for you, write); it can never teach you to be a great writer.

Finding inspiration in a setting like that can be hard, especially considering how stifling it can feel. I would take that class as what it is: a class. It isn't a writer's group, and it isn't going to teach you the right way to do your current project. It's going to teach you what creative writing is, who has done it successfully in the past, and what you basically need to have in order to create a coherent story. That last one you can kind of learn on your own by reading and banging out a ton of stories that are absolutely terrible and don't make a lick of sense.

Personally I'd take what I can out of it (tips and tricks, networking opportunities, learning how to give and take solid, constructive feedback) and save the real work for outside of class. Nobody can teach you how to be an amazing writer. You have to be responsible for putting in the effort and, like any skill or artform, the practice necessary to achieve your goal.

That said, you might find some of her quirks interesting enough to splice into a character somewhere. Find inspiration in the world around you, even in the unlikeliest of places (or, rather, in places you'd expect but not in perhaps the way they were intended).

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u/ifcoffeewereblue Feb 08 '15

[CRIT] I'm not sure if this is the right place, so feel free to point me elsewhere if it's not. I loved writing in college, but stopped once I left. I have decided I want to pick it back up, mostly just as a way to get my thoughts out. This is my first piece in quite a while, so have at it. I know it needs work, that's why I'm here. I'd like the critique to mostly focus on style and substance. I'm not afraid to see a ton of criticism as long as it's constructive. Thanks!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yLo2MOB9ZqVJM8JL_H029jqIyPH-oejrmzc3mP7dhpE/pub

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u/DanceForSandwich Feb 08 '15

This is exactly the right place! Welcome to WriteDaily :]

I'll give you a thorough crit later on in the day!