I Miss Creative Writing!

I was ecstatic when I found out that we were going to be writing fiction short stories of our own, but as soon as I sat down to begin writing the thing I completely froze, all my thoughts rushed out of my head, and for once I experienced having an internal critic- nothing that I though of was good enough, everything was boring! And I couldn't help but feel the slightest bit sorry for myself because I used to be a marvelous creative writer! But the more I though about it, the more I realized that the only thing that I have to blame for my momentary writer's block was school!

The drab art of writing ABOUT fiction leaves nothing to the imagination- each word is carefully defined and discussed to so s to create a cohesive argument about th author's meaning or intentions in writing the piece. We have become lawyers, arguing the meaning of a comma, creating arguments from nothing and supporting them in the most lifeless way possible. After doing this, and only thins, for four years it is understandable that the creative process came slow to me, and possibly to others. Because writing fiction is about being completely uninhibited, using the left side of your brain to create a picture, not pick it apart. And I have to say, writing fiction is much more enjoyable than this academic stuff we've been asked to do for so many years. Interestingly enough, though, teaching students how to write about fiction is on the same level as writing fiction—my students say that I’m a dork because I get so excited about it!