The desire to create, to write, to fulfil our artistic dreams is a powerful human need. Yet the number of people who make a living solely by their pen is actually quite small. What does that mean for the rest of us, the self-described writing geeks, who are passionate about writing and who still want to sustain successful literary lives? What does it really mean to find time to build a rewarding writing life while pursuing a career, being a partner or raising a family, in the distracted, time-deprived, 21st-century? In The Geek's Guide to the Writing Life, based on her Huffington Post blog of the same name, Stephanie Vanderslice shares the secrets and tools to developing a successful, rewarding writing practice in a way that inspires the reader to persevere through the inevitable lows and even the highs of a literary life, so that anyone can pursue the path to realizing their artistic dreams.

Revised and updated throughout, this 10th-anniversary edition of Can Creative Writing Really Be Taught? is a significantly expanded guide to key issues and practices in creative writing teaching today. Challenging the myths of creative writing teaching, experienced and up-and-coming teachers explore what works in the classroom and workshop and what does not. Now brought up-to-date with new issues that have emerged with the explosion of creative writing courses in higher education, the new edition includes: * Guides to and case studies of workshop practice * Discussions on grading and the myth of "the easy A" * Explorations of the relationship between reading and writing * A new chapter on creative writing research * A new chapter on games, fan-fiction and genre writing * New chapters on identity and activism

The only textbook of its kind, this all-in-one introduction guides you through the history, theories and practices of creative writing you need to know to teach this ever-expanding and infinitely rewarding subject successfully in higher education. Asking you to think reflectively about the discipline throughout, this book offers a bridge between teaching and learning of the subject to help you develop effective and informed methods that will enliven your classroom and help you discover the best practice for you. Based on the author’s two decades of teaching and research in creative writing theory and pedagogy, and on feedback from a range of instructors in the field, Stephanie Vanderslice brings forward this essential companion for students and teachers engaging with the study and instruction of creative writing. Written in Vanderslice’s trademark cogent, conversational style, Teaching Creative Writing gives you the tools to understand creative writing as a subject and a practice and offers you a ready-to-use blueprint for planning your first creative writing classes. It covers such critical topics as: - How research into the development of the creative writer might influence your classroom environment - The need to free students from damaging myths and pervasive lore - The use of revision and editing - Creating inclusive classroom spaces and workshops - The place of genre in creative writing - Teaching students to work multi-modally - How to assess and grade work - Introducing students to the literary community - Teaching creative writing online Building on what it means to teach creative writing in the 21st century, this book leads you through creating your own syllabi, course plans, and statements of teaching philosophies, features capsule interviews with experts on key topics, and includes an online companion resource which features teacher guides to using the book.

Blurb: In this passionate, iconoclastic, survey of Creative Writing as an academic discipline, Stephanie Vanderslice provides a provocative critique of existing practice. She challenges enduring myths surrounding creative writing - not least, that writers learn most from workshops. Through case studies of best practice from America and elsewhere, Vanderslice provides a vision of change, showing how undergraduate and postgraduate programs can be reformed to re-engage with contemporary culture. Abstract: Creative writing as a discipline is a victim of its own success. The discipline needs now to demythogize and revitalize itself. Undergraduate and graduate programs need to be further differentiated. Programs over-reliant on the traditional creative writing workshop, with its focus on craft and on building community, are ill equipped to prepare students for the new realities of the creative economy. Programs need not only to improve the workshop experience of students, but also employ a more diverse, outward-looking, outcomes-oriented pedagogy and to make a more direct contribution to the development of a literate society.Much can be learnt from good practice; including distinctive and visionary programs; developed on both sides of the Atlantic and in Australia. Key terms: creative writing; literacy; pedagogy; programs; reflective; reform; teaching; visionary; workshop.

In this passionate, iconoclastic, survey of Creative Writing as an academic discipline, Stephanie Vanderslice provides a provocative critique of existing practice. She challenges enduring myths surrounding creative writing - not least, that writers learn most from workshops. Through case studies of best practice from America and elsewhere, Vanderslice provides a vision of change, showing how undergraduate and postgraduate programs can be reformed to re-engage with contemporary culture.

The only textbook of its kind, this all-in-one introduction guides you through the history, theories and practices of creative writing you need to know to teach this ever-expanding and infinitely rewarding subject successfully in higher education. Asking you to think reflectively about the discipline throughout, this book offers a bridge between teaching and learning of the subject to help you develop effective and informed methods that will enliven your classroom and help you discover the best practice for you. Based on the author’s two decades of teaching and research in creative writing theory and pedagogy, and on feedback from a range of instructors in the field, Stephanie Vanderslice brings forward this essential companion for students and teachers engaging with the study and instruction of creative writing. Written in Vanderslice’s trademark cogent, conversational style, Teaching Creative Writing gives you the tools to understand creative writing as a subject and a practice and offers you a ready-to-use blueprint for planning your first creative writing classes. It covers such critical topics as: - How research into the development of the creative writer might influence your classroom environment - The need to free students from damaging myths and pervasive lore - The use of revision and editing - Creating inclusive classroom spaces and workshops - The place of genre in creative writing - Teaching students to work multi-modally - How to assess and grade work - Introducing students to the literary community - Teaching creative writing online Building on what it means to teach creative writing in the 21st century, this book leads you through creating your own syllabi, course plans, and statements of teaching philosophies, features capsule interviews with experts on key topics, and includes an online companion resource which features teacher guides to using the book.

Revised and updated throughout, this 10th-anniversary edition of Can Creative Writing Really Be Taught? is a significantly expanded guide to key issues and practices in creative writing teaching today. Challenging the myths of creative writing teaching, experienced and up-and-coming teachers explore what works in the classroom and workshop and what does not. Now brought up-to-date with new issues that have emerged with the explosion of creative writing courses in higher education, the new edition includes: * Guides to and case studies of workshop practice * Discussions on grading and the myth of "the easy A" * Explorations of the relationship between reading and writing * A new chapter on creative writing research * A new chapter on games, fan-fiction and genre writing * New chapters on identity and activism

The desire to create, to write, to fulfil our artistic dreams is a powerful human need. Yet the number of people who make a living solely by their pen is actually quite small. What does that mean for the rest of us, the self-described writing geeks, who are passionate about writing and who still want to sustain successful literary lives? What does it really mean to find time to build a rewarding writing life while pursuing a career, being a partner or raising a family, in the distracted, time-deprived, 21st-century? In The Geek's Guide to the Writing Life, based on her Huffington Post blog of the same name, Stephanie Vanderslice shares the secrets and tools to developing a successful, rewarding writing practice in a way that inspires the reader to persevere through the inevitable lows and even the highs of a literary life, so that anyone can pursue the path to realizing their artistic dreams.