Should you go to creative writing school to learn how to write? Digging into Antanas Sileika’s study on Who Publishes When, we see the answer isn’t clear. A full 51% of writers had no specific training in this area and didn’t seem to miss it. Among the 294 comments contained in question-12-numbered, these are a few of the points that came up most often:
1. Many endorsed the simple and time-tested read-a-lot-write-a-lot school.
2. Apart from the actual craft of writing, many CW school attendees cited side benefits such as feedback, support, mentorship, blocking off time for writing, and making connections within the industry.
3. In the negative column, a few pointed out the danger of homogeneity within each batch of CW graduates. This can be the inevitable result of realized or subconscious instructor bias.
4. CW school is not the only route to becoming a published writer. It can be helpful, but it is not necessary.
Comment 222—at once sad, mad, and funny—could be someone’s short story.
When I went to the University of Manitoba, my CW instructor was David Arnason. Being an arrogant little prick, I argued that this first-year student should attend his third-year course. My Queen’s Quarterly publication credit raised his eyebrows a notch. He was open to everything and guided us with a light hand. After transferring to the University of Victoria, I hit a snag. Robin Skelton gave me a grade that was just low enough to prevent me from going any further in the program. He also announced a surprise examination halfway through the year, something that violated university regulations. A few students successfully appealed their grades on this basis, but I was done with uni by then. There was a point in Robin’s class when I began to understand what he wanted from us, what he considered good poetry, but I wasn’t about to change my style just to please him.
It wasn’t until a few years later, in Ottawa, that I was able to fully benefit from writing workshops. University extension courses with Rita Donovan and Nadine McInnis fueled a period of maximum production and lead to the formation of a separate writing group that kept me going for years. The rich writing scene in Ottawa freely mixed established writers with beginners, and I haven’t seen anything like it since.
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