On the Horizon
Originally published, July 7, 2009
A student asked this question, at a Langara College reading in June. “Do you think an aspiring writer would do best to get a degree in literature or in Creative Writing?”
This was never a choice for me, since no such thing as a BFA or MFA in Creative Writing existed during my own journey through the post-secondary system. However, four decades of writing and reading and teaching, since then, made it easy for me to say that I thought studying literature was best.
I’ve been thinking about this some more.
I do believe that nothing could be better for a beginner than to swim daily for several years in the intoxicating ocean of styles, forms, moods, modes, dictions, purposes, genres, and fashions that add up to A Literature. While doing so, the beginner can seriously consider models and preferences. And can have a total crush on some writer and turn out a ton of derivative junk. And may figure out why other writers cause nausea or boredom or envy. All that is part of discovering who this beginner is, as a writer, herself or himself.
Also, reading leads to a lot of unconscious learning about writing. For one thing, the reader’s vocabulary grows and grows. For another, someone who’s read widely across several centuries isn’t as likely to get messed up by tone or grammar or wordiness as someone who’s only familiar with today’s commonplaces on the page.
More on this another time, I’m sure.
