A good discussion about the value of MA courses in creative writing in The Independent today. There's been a lot of debate about such courses, but as Diane Evans says in this article:
"The argument about whether creative writing can be taught has more or less been won. The techniques of fiction can be imparted, as can the techniques of acting, music and painting. Talent cannot be induced but where it already exists, it can be accelerated and focused."
Wonder if what she says about universities becoming "responsible eventually for saturating an already overcrowded market with bland fiction" will turn out to be true? Wonder if it is happening to some extent already?
And "About 80 per cent of creative writing graduates do not become published authors. Just think if that was the statistic for medical schools." I wonder what happens to 'em?
Good advice for all writers: "A text has to sell itself. What they are looking for is sentences that from the very first paragraph have a truth to them, contain interesting ideas and straightforward elegance. Sentences can swing into life on a single active verb; they should also have rhythm and a pulse. Characters should not be self-absorbed, but observers of their world and that world should build into something compelling. If it is a known world (World War Two, for example), take a fresh and unique angle. Characters are best executed through the work they perform and should be emotionally authentic. Don't try to imitate recent successes, as the market constantly changes. Writers create the market and not the other way round."
2 comments:
I just read the piece. Woohoo, my alma mater gets lots of attention!
My favourite line from it - observers of their own world.
Yes, oh yes.
Thank you for sharing this piece, Sharon, and also for sharing everything interesting you come across in your reading.
You're welcome, Chet. It's the frustrated librarian in me that makes me want to pass on information! Yes, UEA is de place!
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