Creative writing courses, classes and workshops seem to worry some people. Sceptics such as John Boland, Bookworm of this newspaper, query if creative writing can be taught. They say that genius can't be taught, that we can't learn to be a James Joyce or a John Banville. Of course not, but surely they miss the point.
Creative writers write because they must. They have no option. And if they can't be as good as Joyce or Banville, so what? Some don't give a toss - they just love to write - but others want to be as good as they can be. So why shouldn't they attend a class, for the very same reason anyone does - to learn and to improve. Why does the novelist Colin Wilson describe a creative writing class as an opportunity to pour fertiliser on gardens full of weeds? Do painters not learn to paint, composers how to write music? Are the sceptics perhaps confusing creative writing with creative thinking?
A creative writing course, class or workshop has only one purpose - to help participants to get to where they want to go and are capable of going. What the groups do is help unlock the imagination and offer advice on the craft of writing.
Courses abound
There are many such courses available around the country - in universities, VECs, local community schools, rooms over pubs and private houses. The Irish Writers' Centre in Dublin organises a number of throughout the year on various topics - e.g. the novel, short story, plays, poetry.
A workshop can do many things for writers. First, it provides a forum in which participants can talk about why they find it so difficult to sit down and do what they most want to do in the world. If all you ever wanted to do was write a novel, why have the kitchen presses to be cleaned right now? And why does the ironing go to the top of the list of enjoyable activities? It is an enormous relief to find that others suffer from the same kind of madness and a great help to hear how they cope with it.
And having sat down at screen, typewriter or pen and paper, what if nothing happens? Pat Boran, writer of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, and leader of many writing workshops, offers practical suggestions for "kick-starting the writing process" in his new book The Portable Creative Writing Workshop (Salmon, £7.99). He recommends certain tricks and games to get over the obstacles that the writer puts in her or his own way. He suggests that it is the critic in all of us that "starts muttering " whenever we try to write and it is the conflict between the critic and the writer that promotes paralysis.
Intense emotions
Others believe that the stasis arises from the fact that the emotions that are called up when we are writing are so intense that it's natural to put off confronting them for as long as possible. Writing means self-revelation, which (without sounding too new-age) is a surrender of the self. No wonder doing the washing-up is a more enjoyable way to pass the time!
Boran suggests what he calls "automatic writing" as a technique to break the log-jam. This means writing about anything at all that comes into your head for five minutes. The next stage, he suggests, is "guided" automatic writing - choosing an opening phrase and seeing where it leads. Of course, a lot of what is produced could hardly be described as great literature, but it does get you started and there is always the chance of finding a jewel glittering in the dust.
The next task is to cut and polish that jewel. As Pat Boran points out, learning the structure of a sonnet is not the same as writing a sonnet, but structure is not unimportant. Eavan Boland describes creative writing workshops as "a community of craft"; her fellow poet Paula Meehan suggests that we "learn the craft so the art can root and be earthed."
Boran's book includes an analysis of aspects of fiction and verse writing. Do you remember learning in school about the villanelle? The sestina?
Having learnt the craft, the creative writer, like any other artist, is free to adapt, discard, or parody - in other words, to be creative.
Panel of readers
Writers can be the last to recognise their own worth, so the workshop can be extremely useful in providing a panel of readers. And as writers themselves, the participants often have the insight to know how to "fix" a piece of writing.
Of course attending classes, courses or workshops is no substitute for reading great literature, but the experience of many who seek to learn from the work of the masters can be very disheartening. The greatest art very often conceals the craft; and the feelings of inadequacy which result from reading beautiful writing can provoke paralysis in the learner writer.
If you have the urge but perhaps not the confidence, or if you have the confidence but not the skill, ignore the sceptics and join a group. Local libraries should have useful information; and check out this website: http://www.local.ie/culture/literature
It provides information on most things literary in Ireland.