How valuable is a Creative Writing Degree?

To train or not to train?

Are you thinking of enrolling on a Creative Writing degree? Have you found yourself asking, "is it worth it?"

Some years ago I was like you, in limbo, unsure whether or not to start a Creative Writing degree course at university. I wasn't sure if a Creative Writing degree would be worth the three years' investment. My friends and family, while they admire my commitment to the discipline of writing, felt that I should invest those three precious years into carving out a career that was guaranteed to pay the bills. But I knew there was very little else that I wanted to do with my life. I had been practising writing for years. Had even written a short juvenile novel, two children's picture book stories and a handful of poems. I had a chunky Writers' & Artists' Yearbook on my desk, and had scoured the pages looking for publishers. Each unsolicited manuscript sent out was swiftly returned with a generic reply. I began to surmise that most successful writers, except for JK Rowling, have multiple writing degrees. I began to hypothesise that perhaps not having a Creative Writing degree was the barrier between me and a life-changing book deal. Therefore, I decided that nothing or no-one was going to stop me from enrolling on a Creative Writing degree course.

While at university.

I began to realise the benefits of studying on a Creative Writing course. I was learning the technicalities and the poetics of writing creatively and convincingly. I began to learn how to write with the senses, how to develop a clever plot, how to create vivid settings and how to write memorable characters. Any weaknesses that I had had as a writer before were identified, challenged and eliminated. I began to learn how to identify creative techniques, such as Point-of-view, how to show and not tell, and how to know when a piece is working well. Equally, I got to read a variety of novels, some I would recommend and read again, and some I wouldn't touch with a bargepole. After my second year on the course, I had developed into a notable writer among my cohorts, who were equally amazing practitioners. It was on this Creative Writing degree course that I began to practice how to read my work with confidence to a live audience. None of these things would have been possible, for me, without a Creative Writing degree course.

However, it must be said that my argument is not biased against writers who are writing successfully without a Creative Writing degree. We have only to look at the aforementioned author who has found fame and fortune from her work. But we must also recognise that the chances of achieving this level of success are one in a million. Rowling herself has likened her good fortune to that of winning the lottery. In reality, how many of us have won the lottery without first buying a ticket? And even then, there is no gaurantee that we will win, but that should not stop us from being hopeful.

Can Creative Writing be taught?

Many articles/texts will tell you that Creative Writing cannot be taught. That you either have the gift or you don't. To be sure, you will never know if you have the gift or not if you don't allow yourself time and space to grow as a writer. I can tell you this much: even writers who are gifted at what they do sometimes doubt their own ability to write. Like Stephen King said in his book, On Writing, "Fiction writers don't understand very much about what they do - not why it works when it's good - not why it doesn't work when it's bad", which can be a real stumbling block for some writers who are their own worst critics (King, 2002).

Similarly, while on my Master's course one of my cohorts would always say that she is taking the degree because she needed the permission to write. And when she did write, it was magic. A Creative Writing degree can teach you how to acquire the courage of a writer. How to give yourself space and time to grow and develop your craft. The rigorous discipline of each workshop will set you on the right track and give you the permission to write. A Creative Writing degree will command you to stop, to think, to pay attention to the world around you. It will ask everything of you, it will occupy your mind, your thoughts and will force you to think differently about your role as an artist. It will challenge and test you beyond your imagination. And should you not accomplish the successes of fellow writers, such as Rowling, you will always remember the hours spent in those workshops when you thought you could and would create a masterpiece. This nostalgia and sense of being on the brink of something great will no doubt fill you with optimism and the desire to keep on writing.

Final thought

It must be said, if you can write a work of commercial fiction that takes your reader on an immersive journey then you have done your job as a writer. A Creative Writing degree won't give you the ideas of what your novel should be about, but it will indubitably provide you with the technical blueprint to execute it. Should any of us as new writers find fame and fortune at the end of a novel, we can then celebrate even more and give praises to those dedicated practitioners teaching in the field who have helped us on our journeys. Both of my Creative Writing degrees are invaluable to me. They are the torches that cause my writing to burn bright. So whenever you find yourself asking, "Is a Creative Writing degree worth it?" say out loud, "More than yes itself."

-CRW.