My motto when it comes to teaching creative writing is “Everybody can write”. Now, some people might require aids to get the letters written down, and some people might not enjoy creative writing much. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t capable of telling stories and expressing themselves.
Every time I hear a recollection about a teacher telling a student that they “can’t write”, it makes me both furious and sad. Like all skills, writing is one that requires practice to improve. And, depending on the goal of the writing, improvement may not even be among your priorities. If you’re writing just for yourself, the act of writing might be more about letting out your emotions or aiding your thought processes. In that case, “quality of writing” might not matter much. Not all writing needs or even should have the end goal of publishing.
In my writing instruction I tend to have two aims in mind: 1) helping you find the joy in writing, and 2) helping you improve your writing skills. I want to encourage people to experiment and find out all the ways that they enjoy writing. I want to guide them on how to make their texts express the things they want them to express. I want to motivate them to keep writing, even though sometimes it can be very hard.
“Everybody can write”, as a motto maybe be very simplistic, perhaps even naïve. But in it I at least try to encapsulate my utter faith in the fact that everybody has the right to be creative. In this case, as that is where my main interest lies, in the written form. In that motto I’ve tried to express my great dislike towards gatekeeping, and my desire to encourage everyone to try and keep on trying if they wish to do so.
With that said, have a great time writing, and keep an eye on this space for more thoughts on writing (and sometimes perhaps on some other topics). I have a post in the works about what makes a text good, so that’ll probably be next.
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