Coming to a liberal arts college, you expect to get to know your professors. You expect small, intimate discussion-based courses. You expect to be pushed and driven to improve upon yourself—in academics and more generally too. At least, this is what I was expecting.
More than anywhere else on campus, I’ve found this in my creative writing classes.
Official creative writing classes are taken through the English department, and they require an application. These classes are in such demand that nearly everyone gets rejected at least once. Personally, I was rejected from Advanced Nonfiction my sophomore year (probably the right choice, Prof. Hyde). Even John Green was infamously rejected from Advanced Fiction, and look where he ended up. Fingers crossed that I make the cut for Writing the Novella, the course I hope to take my last semester here at Kenyon.
In addition to Introduction to Fiction Writing and Advanced Fiction Writing, I’m also including The Screenwriter in this list of creative writing classes. It’s offered through the Film department and replaced the formal application with a brief office hours meeting, but fits all the other main characteristics. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, my creative writing classes have lived up to all of the promises of liberal arts (the type of college, not the slightly creepy movie filmed right here at Kenyon).
First off, they’re taught in small seminars—a dozen or so people sitting around a table, exchanging ideas. I’m never one to shy away from class participation, probably to a fault. But creative writing classes feel so much more open than the typical Kenyon course. Rather than referencing essays and sources, creative writing forces you to form your own critique. By the end of each class, I had a greater understanding of my own preferences, of what I like or dislike in a story, of how I would change or improve a story.
Another effect of the intimate class size is how well you get to know everybody. Sharing your creative work requires an immense amount of trust, and thankfully the courses I’ve taken are structured to build that trust. Everyone has to share their work, and everyone has to critique it. You learn how to give criticism constructively, tactfully, and kindly. You also learn how to accept criticism that misses one or more of those points. Of all the thing’s I’ll learn at college, those two processes might be the most important.
This environment creates an immense bond between student and student, as well as between student and professor. Take Professor Weber, for instance. She taught my Advanced Fiction course. I’ve yet to meet someone who can have a brief conversation with her. She provides helpful advice for actual writing, of course. But, for me, it’s more than that. When you talk with her, you feel important. You feel like what you write and say actually matters. That’s an incredible skill for a professor to have, and one that encourages that crucial environment of trust.
Also, I met my boyfriend in Prof. Weber’s class. It was a pretty great class. In addition, this intimate, caring environment, has prompted more personal growth than any other. When you write a story, it isn’t graded on an objective scale—whether the decimal point is in the right place, whether you correctly defined validity, whether you know who was king of France in 1474. You’re being graded against yourself. Creative writing classes are about you. You get to come up with your topic, plot, theme, everything. The whole class is pushing towards the best version of your story that you can write.
I know that Kenyon’s creative writing classes can seem intimidating, and I know how disheartening the application process can be. But if it’s at all possible, try and take one while you’re here. If you’re anything like me, you’ll learn just as much about yourself as you will about story structure and characterization.
Image Credit: Feature, Paige Ballard,1