LITR 3731: Creative Writing
Sample Final Exam 2005
Daniel Davis
Can Creativity Be Learned?
Before this class began, in the back of my mind I believed that I could not become any better or worse at writing than I already am. Sure, in time my grammar may get better, I may be able to organize thoughts more effectively. But in no way could I believe that I could become more creative. I had a preconceived notion that writers are born great and that you have to be inspired by the muses to create anything that is worth showing the world. This class helped and our text helped me to see that you can teach an old dog new tricks (though I realize 22 isn’t exactly old).
Minot’s Three Genres was not near what I expected. I was partially worried that the book would be no more than a series of technical requirements for writing. I envisioned chapters such as “the form and writing of an Italian sonnet” or “seven steps to finding out you never could write”. Instead, Minot gives the reader a plethora of very user-friendly tips on improving your writing.
In poetry, Chapter three in Three Genres was a great help. It is a common question and a hard one for me. I usually write poetry when I am “inspired” but rarely if ever do I sit down to write a poem for its own sake. Minot gives great advice on how to get your mind in an “inspired” place. The piece of advice I took most to heart lay in the section headed “Probing Your True Feelings” (48). Anything that I write to please other people or tell them what they want to hear comes off sounding boring or cheap or cheesy. However, when any person writes about what is truly important or relevant to them, it makes the piece carry new weight and gives it a ring of authenticity. So now, when I write, one of the first things on my mind is the question, “what is it that I have to say that matters? I also enjoyed his section of common pitfalls of writing poetry in chapter three. Being in Christian ministry, it would be very easy for me to come up with a lot of “truth in a nutshell” poems, so I appreciated the warning and am more cautious about the motive of my poems.
Regarding fiction, I had no idea where to begin. So when we read our assigned reading and I began to hear other’s submissions I began to see that I needed to draw on my own experience. I learned that it’s okay to write about my own life. I enjoyed the “Case History” about Sausage and Beer, it demonstrated well how to make stories from your own life into interesting fiction. This is the first class in which I have been required to do a draft exchange, and it has been a very profitable experience for me. This is the first time I have written a fiction piece. The idea came from my past mostly, but the actual story had more to do with the present. My friends and I went to Colorado every summer between seventh grade and junior year (as the story suggests). My mom and stepfather own thirty-five acres on the side of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. It was paradise; we built our lives around that trip. So naturally, I felt that this topic, because it was important to my life, would ring true to those who read it. We will see if that was accomplished in time. Also I heard the message loud and clear, revision revision revision.
I felt like I learned the least from the drama section of the Minot. Most of my learning in this area was experience. I really did enjoy the performances and how the class seemed to play off of each other and mesh quite well. In pursing a comedy, I realize that I had to disregard Minot’s plea for eliminating flat characters, but that’s comedy right? I enjoyed writing it thoroughly, though at times I struggled with it being almost too lighthearted. Maybe its just from years of literature classes and the thought that comedy is a lower form of literature and I can see how that is true. The play was relatively easy for me to write as soon as I figured out my theme. From there, I was just writing what I knew everyone would want to see or hear. Because of that, I don’t really feel like I got much of myself into the play, I just operated on other people’s expectations. The plus side is that people liked it, the down side is that it doesn’t really reflect me.
Concerning the question of whether my writing technique will be changed by this course, I can honestly say that it has. However, I can’t say that the book is entirely responsible for it. The workshop format worked really well for hearing reactions as to what people liked and disliked. Minot helped us to polish up what we had and make it the best that we could, but the class time gave opportunity for real improvement. I learned to always read, always write by myself and with others, and always revise. I think this will in fact teach me creativity on a new level.