Katie Hetherman 250467615 Professor Brock Eayrs Writing 2299 Sunday November 13th, 2011 The Merits of Creative

Writing Introduction Creative writing is often put down in the academic community and dismissed as a flowery or uneducated practice. It is common for creative writers to encounter stigma associated with their craft, particularly in a facility of higher education wherein technical writing is viewed as a more sophisticated practice than creative writing. Through an accumulation of scholarly research and an interview with Claudia Osmond, a respected childrens author, this paper will explore the merits of creative writing in contributing to a persons mental health, well-roundedness and scholastic performance. Creative writing is most appropriately defined as fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature (Wikipedia). Writing in these styles requires a connection to the emotional range of a writer. In The Self on the Page, Celia Hunt explains creative writing as it differs from technical: the emphasis which creative writing puts on showing the feelings and emotions of characters in fiction rather than simply telling their story makes it a valuable method for getting in touch with the inner life (Hunt 13). Mental Wellness Through the act of showing feelings, creative writers become intimately aware of

their own mental and emotional capacities. It is considered common knowledge that writing is a therapeutic technique that contributes to a persons overall psychological wellness. Claudia Osmond, writer of such childrens novels as Smudges Mark, is living proof of creative writings positive effects on an individual. In an interview, she said, although its exhausting work and oftentimes frustrating, the overall effect on my mental and emotional wellness is positive (Osmond). Writers often write because they have something to say. Creative writing allows a writer to express themselves in ways they would not otherwise be able to. In a professional or technical sense, the emphasis is typically on the communication of a particular idea in the most concrete and expository terms. When writing freely or creatively, a writer is able to give voice to issues and ideas that constantly swirl in [their] mind, says Osmond (Osmond). Being able to get chaotic thoughts out of ones head and onto paper offers a great deal of organization and structure. Oftentimes, a writers work need not be even remotely publishable in order for their words to have affected change within them. Journal writing is a prime example of creative writing contributing to the overall wellness of a person. Barbara J. Hemphill-Pearson writes about the therapeutic techniques of journaling in her book Assessments in Occupational Therapy Mental Health: An Integrative Approach. She writes, the journal is a powerful tool for exploration of spirituality and matters of personal meaning (Hemphill-Pearson 72). The keeping of a personal journal frees an individual to write whatever is on his or her mind free of the judgment of others. For avid writers, these journal entries have the potential to evolve into poetry, short fiction and other forms of publishable writing, but for many the

journal is a means to expression and the organization of thought which is a release in itself. Creative vs. Technical Writing Many creative writers rely heavily on their internal connection to a particular topic before writing about it. Whereas technical writers weigh more heavily towards research, fact and exposition, creative writers more often search for secondary meanings, image building and emotional appeals in order to tell a story. While these two spheres of writing can be regarded as opposites, it is more appropriate to suggest that a well-rounded writer can effectively communicate in both methods. In his article Creative-Academic Writing, Dr. Alex Baratta describes the stigmatic view of creative as based on the fact that creative writing in any manifestation (e.g., poetry, fiction) generally has more rhetorical freedom with which to fulfill its primary purpose of telling a story and entertaining the reader, which often involves the use of non-standard English, slang and taboo words (Baratta). Baratta continues to explain why creative writing is degraded in the academic and technical fields that are largely produced to inform ones reader, demonstrate appropriate knowledge in a field of study [...] and not to entertain per se (Baratta). Barattas writing clearly sets up the debate among writers as to which type of writing is the most legitimate. Most writers choose to specialize in one area or another based on their professional demands and/or personal preferences. If legitimacy is based on profitability, the field cannot be adequately measured because each field can be equally profitable depending on the situation. Academics are more likely to be published based on the nature of their work and the level of their study while creative writers

depend on the support of fans for their professional success. Osmond wrote academically throughout her scholarly years and also writes a blog that can be quite autobiographical in nature (Osmond). She stated that she feels a balance of both creative and technical writing serves to round a reader out and offer fresh perspectives into each facet. Osmond, a novelist, considers herself to be a creative writer though cannot do away with the technical tools that also lend to well-crafted creative work. Osmond says, practicing both does contribute to a writers flexibility however, if one wishes to establish themselves as a writer, choosing the lane they are most inclined to and comfortable with, in the beginning at least, will assist in helping them secure their place in the writing world (Osmond). While creative writers often have a fairly easy time writing academically, the inverse is rarely true. Jenna LaPlante, a fourth year Media, Information and Technoculture student at the University of Western Ontario, excels in her academic and technical writing but feels she struggles with creative writing. In an interview, she said, the ability to write creatively is something you are born with (LaPlante). LaPlante went on to speak about the different sides of the brain one needs to access in order to write in each discipline. Being able to write short stories and poetry would make writing essays a very different experience as the choice of language and development of ideas would likely be coming from a different place than those of non-creative writers (LaPlante). Osmond explains that creative writing includes a great deal of research and critical thinking, especially in the editing stages when facts and storylines all have to line up and make complete, cohesive sense (Osmond). She further articulates LaPlantes feelings of frustration towards creative writing. Creative writers might transition more

easily into scholarly writing than the other way around [because] I dont believe creativity can be taught and then assimilated into a work like factual information, processes, and methods can (Osmond). Creative writers are typically ready to sit and focus on their writing while technical writers are more consumed with the message. It would be difficult for a predominantly scholarly writer who is trained to think in very analytical, precise, and tangible terms to incorporate creativity into their work (Osmond). Academic Performance Creative writing has been said to be a contributing factor to a students overall academic performance. Exercises in free writing in particular have been shown to have great effects on a students writing capacity. In Peter Elbows book Writing Without Teachers, he identifies free writing as an extremely effective way for a person to improve their writing (Elbow 3). The idea is simply to write for ten minutes (later on, perhaps fifteen or twenty). Dont stop for anything. Go quickly without rushing. Never stop to look back, to cross something out, to wonder how to spell something [...] The only requirement is that you never stop (Elbow 3). Teachers at the Chinese Culture University have found students problem solving skills improve in all areas when trained to free write. The exercise encourages students to focus on the task at hand and it therefore opens their mind to different aspects of the problem which until this point they may not have encountered. The Chinese Culture University has found the exercise helps reluctant writers, perfectionists who do not have access to an eraser during the exercise, students who are reliant on technology, and students who have trouble focusing in class (Dickson).

Conclusion This paper has explored a variety of ways a writers ability and self can be enhanced by creative writing. Emotional and psychological wellness can be achieved by channeling thoughts into tangible pieces of writing. Interviews with novelist Claudia Osmond and student Jenna LaPlante have displayed the ways a writer can be challenged and improved upon by incorporating creative writing into their regime. Through a comparison of academic and technical writing, it has been shown that a strong grasp of technical writing can most definitely give way to improved creative writing, but the creative elements must be present in a writers mind in order to achieve such success. Further, engagement in creative writing can only improve a technical writers performance.

Works Cited Baratta, Alex. Creative-Academic Writing. Manchester Metropolitan University: Department of Languages. 2011. Print. Dickson, Kenneth J. "Freewriting, Prompts and Feedback." Internet TESL Journal. 7.8 (2001): n. page. Print. Elbow, Peter. Writing Without Teachers. 25th Anniversary New Edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1998. Print. Hemphill-Pearson, Barbara J. Assessments in Occupational Therapy Mental Health, An Integrative Approach. 2nd. Thorofare, NJ: Slack Incorporated, 2008. Print. Hunt, Celia. The Self on the Page. Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publisher, 1998. Print. Osmond, Claudia. Email interview. 10 November 2011. Wikipedia contributors. "Creative writing." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2 Nov. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2011.