Asked by Marijo Phelps ^(2,873)
Marijo Phelps 15 days ago. (More question by this person)

Did you ever take a creative writing class? Did it encourage you to write or discourage you?

Answer from Mark Parsec ^(16,584)
Mark Parsec 14 days 16 hours ago. More questions answered by this person)
   Selected as Best Answer!   
Yes, I took a few creative writing classes, both in high school and in college. These classes both encouraged and discouraged me to write. For example, when I was in my high school creative writing class there was a contest, the winner would receive $100 and have their article published in the school magazine, The Pegasus. I won second place. I was discouraged because the person whom had won first place had plagiarized their article. I knew this because I had read the story on two previous occasions in a magazine when I was in junior high school and again later in high school. I brought the article to the teacher's attention and he reassured me not to be discouraged that my writing was very good. So, to the question of whether the creative writing courses encouraged me or discouraged me... yes! Creative writing is always both, they compliment one another and spur us on to greater achievements.... if we let them.

Answer from Andy Carloff ⁽¹⁰⁰⁾
Andy Carloff 14 days 10 hours ago. More questions answered by this person)
I've taken several creative writing classes. Some I took when I was young, because they interested me. But others were required for degree requirements. Anyhow, the classes were tremendously discouraging. Writing teachers don't teach you how to be creative -- they teach you how to fulfill the MLA format requirements, how to write movie reviews, and when you're allowed to use different tenses. All of the classes essentially fogged my mind. MLA doesn't matter and tense doesn't matter, and if you doubt that, then pick up any significant novel over the past few centuries. "War and Peace," "Frankenstein," "The Jungle," or "Homage to Catalonia," -- all were brilliant works, full of creativity and genius, but they would have all received D-'s for their Creative Writing class. Creative writing class doesn't teach you to be creative; it teaches you to write like everyone else. It accomplishes the exact opposite of its intention.

Answer from Charlie Prenicolas ⁽⁰⁾ 14 days 9 hours ago. More questions answered by this person)
I believe it helps a lot as it polishes your writing skills. :)

Answer from Alice Owen ⁽³⁶⁰⁾ 13 days 2 hours ago. More questions answered by this person)
It encouraged me ! It's a great exercice, and listening to other people making comment on personal writings is very interesting !

Answer from Teresa Ortiz ^(10,864)
Teresa Ortiz 13 days 1 hour ago. More questions answered by this person)
Never. Did you know I failed english 3 times?? Who knew I was going to end passionate about writing? God really does have a sense of humor.

Answer from Lisa Barker ⁽⁶⁴⁾ 9 days 20 hours ago. More questions answered by this person)
I took it for three years in high school, then discovered I could major in it in college- and so I did. It's a great step in developing your talent and meeting other writers and some publishers.

Looks good on your resume, too. :)