Fan the Creative Flames

by Julie Coulter Bellon

I was listening to a discussion a few weeks ago about whether a formal education and/or an English degree would actually stifle a writer’s creativity. I found the argument quite interesting.

As a writer who has an English degree, I have to say that I’m glad that I do. I was exposed to classical literature, modern literature, grammar classes, writing theory classes, and of course required to write many, many papers. I learned about how other writers approached the creative process, characterizations, themes, and plots. My professors did an amazing job in bringing long-dead authors and their works to life and when I graduated, one of the highlights of that time in my life was taking a trip to England and walking the halls of Oxford, touring Shakespeare’s childhood home, seeing where Dickens lived and many other tourist sites of authors I’d only read about. I’d always been a writer and loved writing, but my education only deepened and broadened my view of writing. My creativity seemed to be sparked as I attended classes and thought about characters of my own that I wanted to create and plots that could work. It was motivating and exhilarating for me. I’d seen the example of others and I was primed and ready to follow my own dreams.

So, in my experience, an English degree didn’t stifle my creativity in the least, in fact, it seemed to be ignited even more. But do I think a writer needs a formal education to be a writer? No. I do recommend, however, that a writer do a few things to educate themselves and improve their writing.

1. Read. Read all different kinds of genres, read fiction, non-fiction, writing books, anything that will inspire you in your writing endeavors and of course, just reading for the love of reading. You can live a million lives through books and you can feel the creative juices run through you when a book particularly excites your creative process. See what’s out there, especially in the genre you want to write in. It can be eye-opening when you see what is or isn’t out there and where your writing might fit.

2. Find or put together a writer’s group that can read what you’re writing, give an honest critique and help you improve.

3. Where possible, take a community education class on writing. It can help immensely to be reminded of current writing practices and have a teacher to bounce ideas off of for your best seller.

4. Watch people around you. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been people watching and an idea for a particular character has come to me. (Don’t just sit and stare at people though. They get annoyed and think you’re a stalker or something.)

5. Listen to the voice inside you. I believe that we all have a creative voice inside of us that sometimes nags us to write down that idea you dreamed about, that encourages you to live your dream of writing no matter how long it’s been or how old you are, and reminds you that no matter how educated you are the voice will not be stifled.

Of course I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to earn an English degree and even though I'm no longer a student at a university, I still do all those things I mentioned above. I don’t believe that any education stifles creativity, I think just the opposite. Education of any sort, formal or informal, becomes a foundation that can support your efforts and reinforce that you can achieve your goals. It can fan the flames of creativity and allow you more freedom to do what you want to do. If nothing else, doing something for yourself expands your horizons and gives you experiences you can incorporate into your writing. Because, as a wise friend once told me, a sheltered writer is a boring writer and you wouldn’t want to be that!