1. 如何教授创意性写作？

2. [10-10 23:11:39]   来源：http://www.85jc.com  英语教学经验   阅读：8289次

概要：It's finally happened. You've reached the pinnacle (or at least a peak) of your career: you've been asked to teach a creative writing class. Sounds easy, doesn't it? After all, isn't writing in your blood, with words flowing from your fingertips every day?The problem is that what comes so naturally on paper is hard to explain, difficult to define and even more impossible to teach to others. You can make the process easier, however, by following t

如何教授创意性写作？,标签：教学经验,http://www.85jc.com
It's finally happened. You've reached the pinnacle (or at least a peak) of your career: you've been asked to teach a creative writing class. Sounds easy, doesn't it? After all, isn't writing in your blood, with words flowing from your fingertips every day?

The problem is that what comes so naturally on paper is hard to explain, difficult to define and even more impossible to teach to others. You can make the process easier, however, by following these nine simple steps:

1. Plan ahead. Scour past issues of writer's magazines, pulling ideas for each class from those pages of infinite wisdom. Line up your schedule in chronological order: covering the basics, developing a plot, creating characters, etc. Find materials that match each week's theme and help reiterate your points. Make copies and lay out the entire course plan before the first class. Having a clearly defined curriculum relieves the pressure of coming up with something new each week.

2. Plan twice as much material as you think you're going to need. You may be counting on class participation and end up with a room full of Marcel Marceau wannabees. Or the brainstorming session you allotted 30 minutes for only takes 30 seconds. Rather than filling dead time with complaints about your cat, make sure you have additional handouts and exercises. Find a book of quick writing exercises and use those as a springboard for a few of your own. These are great ways to revive a class and to help your students apply what you are teaching them.

3. Plan activities that will involve the whole class. Part of the problem with a creative writing class is the diverse group of people who sign up. Poets may not be too interested in writing short stories and vice versa. Develop lectures that can encompass all the writers in the room. After all, writing is writing. The lessons I have learned in my fiction writing -- show and don't tell, bring characters to life, integrate scenery as a character -- have all been applied to my articles and, in my opinion, add a depth that would be lacking if I didn't have a background in fiction, too. A session on character development, if delivered right, can help everyone from the journalist to the poet make their writing come alive.

4. Share a little of yourself. Go beyond telling how you made your first sale or how great it is to go to work in your sweats every day. Show some pieces of your work before and after -- with the typos and crossouts. It shows the class your evolution as a writer and helps you vocalize what is essentially an internal process. In addition, this helps writers realize final drafts don't magically spring from the author's fingers without many, many revisions and several staged executions of favorite lines and entire scenes.

5. Develop several brainstorming activities. When I was in creative writing classes, the "assignments" that the teacher gave us (go look in a mirror and write a poem about what you see, write a story about this painting, etc.) inspired me well beyond that night's homework. I count a few of those pieces among the best work I've ever done. There's just something about a room filled with writers that jump-starts the creative muse.

6. Do a few "get to know exercises." I had my class "interview" each other for mock newspaper articles -- a great method of developing characters, because each "reporter" had to gather all the background information before putting pen to paper. The interviewee was allowed to be anything he or she wanted -- a bordello madam, a mystery writer, etc. It was fun to listen to the interviews but even more entertaining to hear the finished newspaper articles. This exercise helped others in the class open up and share a bit of creative flair.

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