Does anyone else ever feel stifled, creatively speaking? I find myself with two months left to go until I recieve my diploma in creative writing. I will walk out of school with a BA degree, non transferable credits, and a mound of debt that will most likely follow me to my grave. I came to this realization, several months ago, but I simply could not stand the idea of paying for something I didn't see through to the end. That being said I still have to wonder, have my few years in school been a complete waste? Sure I have learned so much about sending work out to publication, and about different writing formats, but couldn't I have learned this information on my own, through online research and "self teaching." It sure as would have been a great deal cheaper, and a heck of lot less stress.
I find that the majority of the classes that I have taken have truly hindered me in the realms of my own creativity. Yes I have learned tricks about formatting and how to market myself as a professional writer. But I have to ask myself, though I have gained in some ways, have I lost myself in others?
I know, for an absolute fact, that I am not alone in this thought either. After speaking with other students I am left with the knowledge that we all are feeling more than a bit stifled. I am sure than many of the writers that I have worked with in school will go on to work for large companies and probably earn a fortune, as they work their way up the ladder to company success.
But what about the rest of us...
We, the writers. In the simplest and purest form.
I feel that so many of us have been so harshly graded on things like formatting errors, and marketing faux pas, that wee have fallen through the cracks in our school. We find ourselves desperately clinging to the dream we had when entering the program. The dream of hard and soft bound books, our name on the front cover, and people reading through our stories, eagerly turning through page after page, after page. Smiling with us, laughing with us, and sobbing with us.
We have learned so much, yet gained very little when it comes to the expression of our own individual style of storytelling.
Do not misunderstand me, yes, tricks that I have learned will serve me well when it comes to showcasing my stories with publishers and agents. But I still feel that so much of my schooling has been spent on writing styles that I, and many others, care nothing for.
There are still some of us, that wish to remain individuals, and showcase our work through novels, short stories, and poetry.
And though some may have this idea that books are a dying breed, I for one must respectfully disagree.
And I know I am not the only one.
I hope one day the school returns to what I thought it was, an Arts School, not a business school.
I am aware that six figure incomes do not come easy to those of us that plan to be free lance story tellers...
But I also know that those of us who write, and truly write will all that is in us, do no write solely for financial gain.
We write for different reasons. We write for love.
For the love of story telling. For the love of inspiring future readers, and future writers.
I wish institutions of "higher learning" would focus on the higher mindset that is for the love of art.
The world needs more love, and more art.
I hope that writers like us will help to bring those two things to life.
If asked if I would go back and go to school, in order to "better myself", my answer would be no. There are some days that in fact I wish I had never started, and spent more time getting real world experience and gaining real world inspiration.
But instead I went, and am l left with mounds of debt, few real world skills, non transferable credits, and above all, feeling stifled.
I hope with all that is in me, that this feeling will release me of it's hold and that the inspiration and the great love of writing will return to me. In my heart I am well aware that it in fact will, but I know it will also take time.
I look forward to graduation, simply for school to release it's hold on me, and with hopes of accomplishing my dreams of my writing inspiring my audiences for all time to come.
But that...that my readers, my fans, my friends, it merely...just a thought.
I find that the majority of the classes that I have taken have truly hindered me in the realms of my own creativity. Yes I have learned tricks about formatting and how to market myself as a professional writer. But I have to ask myself, though I have gained in some ways, have I lost myself in others?
I know, for an absolute fact, that I am not alone in this thought either. After speaking with other students I am left with the knowledge that we all are feeling more than a bit stifled. I am sure than many of the writers that I have worked with in school will go on to work for large companies and probably earn a fortune, as they work their way up the ladder to company success.
But what about the rest of us...
We, the writers. In the simplest and purest form.
I feel that so many of us have been so harshly graded on things like formatting errors, and marketing faux pas, that wee have fallen through the cracks in our school. We find ourselves desperately clinging to the dream we had when entering the program. The dream of hard and soft bound books, our name on the front cover, and people reading through our stories, eagerly turning through page after page, after page. Smiling with us, laughing with us, and sobbing with us.
We have learned so much, yet gained very little when it comes to the expression of our own individual style of storytelling.
Do not misunderstand me, yes, tricks that I have learned will serve me well when it comes to showcasing my stories with publishers and agents. But I still feel that so much of my schooling has been spent on writing styles that I, and many others, care nothing for.
There are still some of us, that wish to remain individuals, and showcase our work through novels, short stories, and poetry.
And though some may have this idea that books are a dying breed, I for one must respectfully disagree.
And I know I am not the only one.
I hope one day the school returns to what I thought it was, an Arts School, not a business school.
I am aware that six figure incomes do not come easy to those of us that plan to be free lance story tellers...
But I also know that those of us who write, and truly write will all that is in us, do no write solely for financial gain.
We write for different reasons. We write for love.
For the love of story telling. For the love of inspiring future readers, and future writers.
I wish institutions of "higher learning" would focus on the higher mindset that is for the love of art.
The world needs more love, and more art.
I hope that writers like us will help to bring those two things to life.
If asked if I would go back and go to school, in order to "better myself", my answer would be no. There are some days that in fact I wish I had never started, and spent more time getting real world experience and gaining real world inspiration.
But instead I went, and am l left with mounds of debt, few real world skills, non transferable credits, and above all, feeling stifled.
I hope with all that is in me, that this feeling will release me of it's hold and that the inspiration and the great love of writing will return to me. In my heart I am well aware that it in fact will, but I know it will also take time.
I look forward to graduation, simply for school to release it's hold on me, and with hopes of accomplishing my dreams of my writing inspiring my audiences for all time to come.
But that...that my readers, my fans, my friends, it merely...just a thought.
With Love and Pages of...well...Hope,
-W