Day 99: Can creative writing be taught

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 99: Can creative writing be taught

Joe, a Facebook member, posted this question today … ‘What do you guys think about an aspiring writer going to college to become a fiction writer? Good or bad idea?’

Rather than giving him a direct answer, his question became the inspiration for today’s blog post.

Many years ago, I had a pen pal called Nadia. This was before the Internet became popular and people exchanged letters instead of emails. Our letters were no ordinary letters, but pages and pages of stories that resembled a small newspaper. We started out writing with pen and paper, later used a typewriter and ultimately switched to a computer.

Nadia’s letters were fluid, interesting and funny. She wrote from the heart and I could tell that rather than writing, she was talking to me.

A few years later, Nadia told me that she planned on writing a short story for a national competition. As it turned out, her submission was not only accepted, but she won 1^st prize and gained television, radio and newspaper exposure.

Rather than this victory building up her confidence, it destroyed it. Nadia couldn’t write anything anymore because all her creations fell short compared her winning story.

She decided to enroll in a creative writing class. Three years later she graduated with distinction. During these three years, I had noticed a change in Nadia’s letters. They were no longer fluid but mechanical.

When as tactfully mentioned this to Nadia, she wholeheartedly agreed. She said ever since she took the course, writing was no longer a labor of love but torture. She agonized over word choice and sentence structure, often rewriting the same sentence over and over again until it was as perfect as possible.

When I remarked that this was probably advisable for story writing, she didn’t have to go through such trouble while writing a letter to me. Her response was ‘I can’t help it. I’ve become so aware of being grammar perfect that nothing but the best will do.’

Ultimately, the book that Nadia intended on writing never materialized and she couldn’t even produce another short story. In her quest for perfection, she had lost her creativity.

To answer Joe’s question … Go to college to improve your language skills, but where it comes to your creative spirit … nobody can teach you that.

Don’t forget to donate to the Toronto Cat Rescue.

Any amount will make a difference.

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/toronto-cat-rescue-bowl-a-thon-9/

Day 31: The importance of teachers

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 31: The importance of teachers

More and more families decide to homeschool their children. The majority justifies their action by voicing a concern of the school environment, while others chose to homeschool because of religious reasons or because the child has special needs.  While the motivation might be well intended, parents often forget the importance of teachers.

Why are teachers important?

The Board of Education claims that a primary school teacher holds the most important job in the world.  A teacher is a trained professional, able to deal with all kinds of children and situations. A teacher passes on knowledge and values to her class of young students and prepares them for higher education and life in the workplace. 

The role of the teacher

Teaching gifted students is easy, stimulating ordinary students and leading them to excellence is quite another.  A good teacher sparks the interest of her students, tickles their curiosity and motivates them to work.

The role of the teacher in class

Teachers, whether in elementary or high school, do more than stand in front of a class and deliver a lecture.  Many will claim that teaching isn’t so much a profession as it is a calling.

They influence their students with their commitment, competence, and character. 

They transfer their morals and ethics to their students and stimulate them to learn. 

Good teachers encourage students to participate in lessons, seeks their opinion and use student’s feedback to make the lessons more effective and fun. 

The role of the teacher in school

While teachers are first and foremost facilitators who transfer their knowledge in a particular subject to their students, they take on other roles too.

They are role models who show kindness and good manners to those around them.

They instill the right attitude in students to learn.

They provide guidance to students who need help and support them along the way.

They are confidants to students with problems.  While schools generally have a guidance teacher, many students prefer to entrust a teacher they know with their problems.

Teachers are often instrumental in a student’s career choice.

A good teacher has a way of communicating with parents and encourages them to be involved in their child’s education.

A teacher’s role in society

Being a role model, a teacher should behave impeccably in everyday life.  While everybody deserves to relax and let their hair down, swearing in public, or rude or drunken behavior can ruin a teacher’s reputation. The teacher never knows who is watching. A single misstep can ruin a carefully build up career.

Unless a child is homeschooled by a teacher or professor, it misses out on all these advantages. Not only that, a homeschooled child doesn’t learn any social skills in dealing with other children. In many ways, going to school prepares a child for a working environment in adult life.

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