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Creative Writing Quotes

Where storytelling becomes a craft.

These creative writing quotes reflect on the pull toward storytelling, from childhood instincts to formal study in college programs. For more on craft, browse Creative quotes.

To say that creative writing courses are all useless is almost as silly as saying all editors are useless. Writers of all levels can benefit from other instructive voices.

Quotes by Matt Haig

Poetry is something that happens in universities, in creative writing programs or in English departments.

Quotes by Mark Strand

The phenomenon of university creative writing programs doesn't exist in France. The whole idea is regarded as a novelty, or an oddity.

Quotes by Marilyn Hacker

Given the devaluation of literature and of the study of foreign languages per se in the United States, as well as the preponderance of theory over text in graduate literature studies, creative writing programs keep literature courses populated.

Quotes by Marilyn Hacker

I wonder what it means about American literary culture and its transmission when I consider the number of American poets who earn their living teaching creative writing in universities. I've ended up doing that myself.

Quotes by Marilyn Hacker

I started creative writing classes at Aberdeen Central Library, and the writer-in-residence there, Todd McEwen, encouraged me a great deal. He showed my stories to his editor, and I thought that was just what happened to everyone who took his...

Quotes by Leila Aboulela

I always got good grades in creative writing from elementary school on up.

Quotes by Keith Hernandez

I was in law school at the University of Kentucky and realized I didn't really like law school, so I took a creative writing course for something different.

Quotes by Karen Robards

I've always written. When I was in school, the only teacher who ever liked me was my creative writing teacher. I used to enter poetry competitions, and I don't think I ever lost one. So I had the idea for...

Quotes by Justin Townes Earle

I was an English major in college, took a ton of creative writing courses, and was a newspaper reporter for 10 years.

Quotes by Jennifer Weiner

I went to school for creative writing in college, and I wound up about six hours short of my degree.

Quotes by Jason Isbell

I'm often asked how I write books, but I don't think my approach is suitable for everyone. If I walked into a creative writing class, all I could say to them was 'I tend to make it up as I...

Quotes by Ian Rankin

For the last few years, I've enjoyed writing my own stuff since studying creative writing at school, and as I've grown up, I've realised how much I enjoy escaping into a world that I've created myself. So I've kept that...

Quotes by Himesh Patel

I studied writing at NYU. I graduated high school in Nashville and then went to the creative writing program, and in the first year, that's when I wrote 'Kids.'

Quotes by Harmony Korine

In high school, I started training, singing with choirs, and getting voice lessons and doing a lot of creative writing and decided that that's really what I wanted to pursue as a career, and that's what I was going to...

Quotes by Goapele

I minored in creative writing in college, and I've played with the idea of doing something more hybrid, but comics are my first love.

Quotes by Gene Luen Yang

I remember telling my creative writing teacher that you never want to have a journal, because if you lose it, then someone's going to know all your secrets. And then she stopped using a journal, but I always write everything...

Quotes by Garrett Hedlund

For decades, as literary editor, I have followed the growth of our creative writing in English. In my Solidaridad Bookshop, half of my stock consists of Filipino books written in English and in the native languages.

Quotes by F. Sionil Jose

One professor in college told me flat out I wasn't good enough to enter the creative writing program. I saved that letter and promised myself I would send it back to her when my first book came out.

Quotes by Ellen Potter

Most applicants to creative writing programs submit stories about the angst of their suburban childhoods.

Quotes by Eileen Pollack

Frequently Asked Questions

What do creative writing quotes typically discuss?
The pull toward storytelling and formal study of writing, including one writer's compulsion to tell stories dating back to the classic fairy-tale opening line learned as a child.
Are creative writing classes viewed positively in these quotes?
Not always. One writer expresses skepticism toward writing classes, describing many workshops as functioning more like therapeutic support groups than craft instruction.
Do creative writing quotes mention specific academic paths?
Yes, one references leaving a university writing faculty for a teaching position elsewhere, then eventually relocating again for new opportunities.
Is creative writing always studied in college?
Not necessarily. One writer only began seriously writing after staying home with their children, despite having minored in it earlier.
Where can I find more on the writing life?
Browse Creative quotes for broader reflections on the creative process.

Whether skeptical of writing workshops or shaped by them, writers describe creative writing as a lifelong compulsion. Continue with College or Good quotes.