Concentration in Creativity

For someone whose college career has been focused on creative writing, I have always had a certain amount of reservation about the assumption of being able to teach craft, originality, and, essentially, skill.

Creative writing programs and departments in colleges and universities across the country would certainly argue that their goals of encouraging and fostering talent are met in their curricula and that the skills they impart are essential to forming up-and-coming important literary voices. However, writers and teachers of writing have long debated whether teaching style, voice, and creative instinct is possible. The writing programs are different at every institution, but most are united by their competitive nature or the need to at least apply for admission. One of my favorite quotes about the nature of writing classes, not to mention writing in general, comes from Flannery O’Connor, who was a writer and also a professor of writing. When asked if she thought the competitive nature of collegiate writing programs discouraged students from writing creatively, she responded, “I actually don’t think it discourages enough of them.”

While O’Connor’s opinion is probably harsher than most, genuine creativity and talent are qualities that not all writing students have even at the university level. Essentially, the desire to write and to devote the focus of one’s college experience to writing doesn’t guarantee literary success. With this in mind, the reputations and exclusivity of programs often rely on the design of the curricula, and, consequently, the quality of students they are able to attract. Many undergraduate institutions offer a major in creative writing, allowing the student to focus on a specific type of prose, poetry, or nonfiction. There are other schools, like Barnard, that follow different trajectories towards a balanced and rigorous writing-focused program.

Barnard’s approach to creative writing, one of the College’s most prestigious and selective programs, is that of a concentration within the English major. After declaring an English major during sophomore year, Barnard juniors have the option of applying for the concentration in creative writing during their spring semester. Applying for both the concentration and individual creative writing classes at Barnard involves the same basic process. The students must submit a sample of their previous writing to the director of the program, although, when applying for the concentration, the sample must be considerably larger than a sample for a class. It is implicit in the guidelines for the concentration that the applicant should have compiled a sort of portfolio or focus when it comes to his or her writing.

Although Barnard’s approach may be different than those of other schools, I have found it to be an intuitive and well-rounded way to improve my writing and my appreciation for the great writing of others. The design of Barnard’s creative writing program keeps the study of writing firmly embedded in the English major as opposed to having it as a major by itself. While it may seem that this would take the focus away from writing, or minimize the focus on it, I have found the opposite to be true. It is indisputable that all great writers have been avid and voracious readers. The connection between reading great works and writing them is clear and is an integral part of any writing class or workshop. In my writing classes at Barnard, I have read the work of writers like Chekhov, Joyce, Jhumpa Lahiri, and William Trevor as well as those I had never heard of before. However, my other English classes, with their different reading lists and interpretations, have also helped my creative writing immeasurably. Reading a variety texts, long and short, and writing analytical papers on them undoubtedly aids in writing creatively. Analyzing great literature from different perspectives, either in a literature or writing class, is always beneficial. However, I find it especially so when these two learning experiences are combined, as they are in the creative writing concentration. The two different perspectives, meeting in one curriculum, give a student an experience that wouldn’t exist if they were separate.

In her book Reading like a Writer, Francine Prose says, “Like most—maybe all—writers, I learned to write by writing and, by example, by reading books.” Barnard’s approach to creative writing exemplifies this sentiment. In many ways, the creative writing program within the English major is a corollary to the liberal arts mentality that is so essential to Barnard. The program alters the English major to allow for more writing classes and a senior project in writing but also retains many of the requirements of the English major. A student concentrating in creative writing is still required to complete classes in literature before 1900 and world literature in addition to taking both introductory and advanced writing classes. It’s this balance that, in my opinion, sets Barnard’s approach apart from others. The program allows for vigorous involvement not only in writing, but also in the other aspects of literature that influence and encourage talent.

The author is a Barnard College senior majoring in English and concentrating in creative writing.