Where to Start a Writing Student Who Has Some Experience

I WAS ASKED asked about where to start a student in Creative Writing who has some experience, and the person who asked suggested Creative Writing III .

Yes, I'd say that's a good start. You MIGHT want to have your student read through

Creative Writing I , and skip Creative Writing II completely as it isn't built to offer new ideas, but you could certainly start with Creative Writing III .

To look at Creative Writing courses for ages 5-6, and for preliterate students (yes, that's right), click here.

To loook at Creative Writing courses for ages 7-8, and for students who are developing literacy, click here.

To look at Creative Writing I, the first, simple course in our Lower/Upper School Creative Writing program, click here.

To look at all our Upper School Creative Writing courses, including CW I-V, click here,

To look at our Master's Courses in Creative Writing, click here,

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

Where to Start a Student in Creative Writing Who Thinks They Can't Write

I personally believe that ANYONE can write. Certainly, anyone's writing can be improved with some non-critical pointers, and a lot of writing. The advice I think you'll get from many writers about learning how to write is "write, write, WRITE!" This is decent advice, IF the student loves to write.

That said, you have a student who doesn't want to write because they don't believe they can. I've seen this many times, and it's born from various phenomenon. It doesn't take much to stop someone young from creating, just a comment or disapproving glance can do it, and this could come from any direction...friends, siblings, the critical aunt or uncle, the thoughtless instructor, you name it.

When I first started piloting the Creative Writing courses, which are the oldest of my courses (around 9 years), I was teaching at a private school and had around 50 students doing Creative Writing I . As they started, I would hear moan and groans and comments like "You expect me to write 10 WHOLE SENTENCES!" This type of assignment seemed impossible and abusive to them. I demanded they persist. The result was that two years later, wrapping up Creative Writing IV (as an example), one student came to me with a 40 page story (supposed to be 1/10th that length...) and apologized that he wasn't finished. Many of those students have gone into the arts, some as writers.

It got to the point where, in class, they would (entirely on their own) share stories. In fact, there is an early assignment where the student is asked to finish the story which starts: "Julie came down the stairs for breakfast...". The BOYS in the class created a competition to see who could kill Julie off in the most horribly gruesome manner. (They were boys.) And this is very important...I DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO STOP THIS. In fact, I encouraged it. This got the entire group excited about creating. They stopped this silliness after a while and expanded their writing interests beyond Julie being zapped by ray gun from Mars, and the Earth opening at the bottom of the stairs to consume her. It took a while, but their writing and THEIR INTEREST IN WRITING improved markedly.

Another point, a bit trickier. I had several of those students ASK if it was alright in their work to use profanity. I told them, "IT'S YOUR STORY, WRITE WHATEVER YOU WANT TO." I know this may be a sore point for some nice people out there, but these Creative Writing courses are NOT "manners" courses. (BY THE WAY, I PUBLISHED A MANNERS COURSE TWO NIGHTS AGO ON CURR CLICK!) These are CREATIVE WRITING courses, and the student MUST be allowed to create create create without restriction, "constructive" or critical help of any kind should be avoided at all costs! The parent/tutor/friend's job is to read, understand what has been written, appreciate it, and send the student back to work, AND THAT'S IT! Anything else will hinder the result we all want...students who ENJOY writing, and who are improving at it every day! Let the courses provide ideas the student can use to improve their skills. If you see spelling errors, list them as part of the spelling program WITHOUT COMMENT PLEASE! Grammar should be addressed separately and NEVER AS A PART OF THE CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAM.

Creative writing, as is true of any art, is a form of self-expression (though intended to be shared, and to affect others). There is nothing so fragile as self-expression, especially in the young. The world is tough, and will freely offer its disapproval of any and all creative acts. Home school, as with any and all school situations, really should be a safe haven. The Creative Writing courses are designed to encourage creativity. They do NOT teach manners, grammar, or spelling...just the joy of authorship, along with those rules found helpful.

To look at Creative Writing courses for ages 5-6, and for preliterate students (yes, that's right), click here.

To look at Creative Writing courses for ages 7-8, and for students who are developing literacy, click here.

To look at Creative Writing I, the first, simple course in our Lower/Upper School Creative Writing program, click here.

To look at all our Upper School Creative Writing courses, including CW I-V, click here,

To look at our Master's Courses in Creative Writing, click here,

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

On Creative Writing II, and Why Some Students Do Not Like to Write

CW II is a specialized course which helps the student develop their ability to create and develop ideas. I've seen adults do it and learn from it. However, I usually recommend that if a student age nine and up is doing well on that front after CW I, they skip to III. I takes nearly a whole semester by itself, usually. I put II there as a sort of fail-safe for the parents and student.

A person can be a reluctant writer for numerous reasons. In the past, I've often found that reluctant writers are reluctant because their writing has been "helped" or "critiqued" by others, and those others could be anyone from friends and family to well meaning teachers. The way I designed the courses, I ask that no critique or 'constructive criticism' be offered the student at any point. This is a tough request, I know. But I think usually this is the 'stop' for the student. To create, one must feel safe to create. When creating, we're putting a part of ourselves out there for others to see and there's no where to hide.

Another stop can be literacy. If a student feels not up to the language demands needed to write, they simply won't embarrass themselves. The fix for this is to focus on the student's literacy and not worry about CW until a little later.

1st Step has CW as well, at lower levels of challenge, in Elementary and Starter. Starter is in fact CW for pre-literate students, where the focus is again on the development of ideas and a basic understanding of writing. If your student is really struggling with CTT CW I, you might want to consider trying 1st Step Elem CW I.

Another reason for reluctance is that the student was asked to do things that were too hard roo soon and failed. Failure is a very persuasive argument to not do a thing again. CW II was created as a step to CW III, which is harder and more complex by far than CW I. We want students to win every day. We want them to feel empowered by their accomplishments, not demeaned by their failures. That is how the present educational system is designed in many ways - to demean those who "cannot keep up" by assigning grades, holding students back, etc. It's pathetic when you realize that it's the school and teachers and curricula that failed the student, and not the other way around.

Then there are some people who just don't like to write. There are also people who aren't terribly communicative in any form, as I know you are aware. A key for such people is to allow them to work in their own way and pace. The assignments in CW are all there in black and white. Education should not be done on the clock, or by the calendar. I've seen students walk away from CW and come back a year later and more, ready to pick up where they left off.

There will be students who simply will not write creative works no matter what. If they won't, they won't. For those students (rare, based on what I've seen) CW is just not going to work. I would never force a student to do CW. I'd look for some other English skills program if you get an adamant "I don't want to write, ever" day after day. Why force a student to do a thing they hate or are afraid of. People change in the course of a life. Perhaps someday conditions within the student (or without) will arrive at a point where the student will happily write again. Forcing a student to write, however, is almost a guarantee they will hate it.

Take a look at Creative Writing II, click here.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

For the Writer Who Wants to Work Professionally and Learn About 'The Business'

The way the Creative Writing Program is constructed, the student starts learning something about the industry in Creative Writing V . In that course, the student is exposed to the various ways they might make a living as a writer, and some essential marketing ideas. At the end of that course they're asked to select a Master's Course in writing. There's 7 of these I believe (it's pretty late), in such areas as Playwriting ; Screenwriting ; Lyrics & Poetry ; Novels & Short Stories ; Creative Nonfiction ; TV Writing . In fact the newest of these courses is on how to write professionally in the area of Marketing and PR . These are courses designed to train professionals. To some degree, each course covers its respective industry and how to get in.

We don't start covering the "business" until the student a) knows how to write, and b) knows whether or not they're interested. Hence, Creative Writing V starts this process. By this time, the student is authoring long stories, and has a good grasp of writing essentials.

If you know a student who is pretty advanced already, start them on Creative Writing V . They'll get some marketing pointers. Then have them select the first area they'd like to master.

To look at Creative Writing courses for ages 5-6, and for preliterate students (yes, that's right), click here.

To loook at Creative Writing courses for ages 7-8, and for students who are developing literacy, click here.

To look at Creative Writing I, the first, simple course in our Lower/Upper School Creative Writing program, click here.

To look at all our Upper School Creative Writing courses, including CW I-V, click here,

To look at our Master's Courses in Creative Writing, click here,

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts