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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.

When I taught at the University of Houston in the Creative Writing program, we required the poets to take workshops in fiction writing, and we required the fiction writers to take workshops in poetry.

Quotes by Edward Hirsch

I don't know much about creative writing programs. But they're not telling the truth if they don't teach, one, that writing is hard work, and, two, that you have to give up a great deal of life, your personal life,...

Quotes by Doris Lessing

I loathe the trivialization of poetry that happens in creative writing classes. Teachers set exercises to stimulate subject matter: Write a poem about an imaginary landscape with real people in it. Write about a place your parents lived in before...

Quotes by Donald Hall

When I went to college I took a creative writing class and decided in a week to be a writer.

Quotes by David Guterson

I teach a lot of graduate creative writing classes, and on the first day, I like to go around the room and ask everybody what's the last book you've read that you really loved. And all of the women tend...

Quotes by Cristina Henriquez

I always loved writing, be it creative writing for school or just poetry. I just loved writing, and in college, I started really trying to write songs and was copying other artists, just to figure it out - but I...

Quotes by Chelsea Lankes

I had never taken creative writing classes. Hadn't even considered it.

Quotes by Charles Frazier

And after about two years, I realized that creative writing was not going to help you ace those biological tests. So I switched over to journalism. I didn't graduate with honors, but I did graduate on time and with some...

Quotes by Bob Schieffer

I flew into a small airport surrounded by cornfields and pastures, ready to carry out the two commands my father had written out for me the night before I left Calcutta: Spend two years studying creative writing at the Iowa...

Quotes by Bharati Mukherjee

After finishing my undergraduate work at the University of Iowa, where I took creative writing classes taught by Writer's Workshop students, I applied to half a dozen MFA writing programs.

Quotes by Andrew Shaffer

I took an MA course in creative writing a couple of years back, and I was definitely in the bottom of the class.

Quotes by Allan Guthrie

Some creative writing programs seem evil, but my experience at Irvine was totally the opposite, where I feel like they were really good at focusing in on each writers voice and setting. When I felt like I was obligated to...

Quotes by Aimee Bender

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.