Statement of Pedagogical Teaching Philosophy

Much is written and discussed about the ability to "teach" creative writing and over the years I've discovered that my pedagogical philosophy to teaching this difficult, but rewarding subject, is also what led me to want to design a creative writing program for the students at ACC in the first place. This approach gives students what I, and others, did not receive in our schooling, an approach I've not heard put forth by anyone else in a cohesive manner. I do feel that there is a lack of understanding of how best to teach beginning level students by some, if not most, teachers of creative writing. This lack of understanding is not anyone's fault, but it originates from a lack of a strong model for teaching excellence we've received in most graduate programs that makes us fall back on the workshop approach to teaching. This is not to say we didn't all take classes from famous names, but the ability to write a novel, a short story, or a poem does not necessarily make one a good teacher. The creative personality can make for an interesting class because the professor is entertaining, or witty, or even brilliant, but does personality mean that the professor knows how to take a student's raw poem or story and make it better? Experience has taught me that most of the time the answer to that question is no.

Over the years when I've discussed with colleagues the killing of creativity in the writing classes we took in school, I've come away with a nagging feeling that there has to be a better way. When I learned that I had been accepted into UT's graduate program, two well-know writers (Sandra Cisneros and Helena Maria Viramonetes) warned me not to do it. They both said graduate school killed their writing for a long while, and they were right. I did no creative writing after graduation for almost two years. The reason, I believe, was that the academic reading and the academic papers we are required to write fail to stimulate the creative mind. And the reading of the classic cannon, in my opinion, does little to prepare creative writers to teach creative writing.

In most college level creative writing classes, emphasis is placed on the student's ability to bring in something, anything, on paper. Then it is talked about in general terms, usually of how the student's peers subjectively like the writing because they don't want to hurt anyone's feelings and they don't want their feelings hurt when it is their turn., This is counter-productive in advancing the student's writing ability because there is no objective feedback about the writing based in a pedagogy. Faculty are also sometimes reluctant to give corrective feedback because the student's response is, "the other students liked it," thereby closing the door on editorial dialogue.

My own approach to the teaching of creative writing is based heavily in actually teaching students to be careful readers and editors. Students who possess the ability to write at college level can write what I call a lump of words. This is usually generated in a free-write exercise in class. What they do with that lump determines where or not it becomes a literary piece of creative writing, recognizable as a poem, short story, novel chapter, play, screenplay, or memoir.

I don't schedule workshop in the beginning level classes until the last fourth of the semester, after students have been immersed in the genre enough to know how to discuss writing at the college level. Even then, emphasis is placed on structure based in a contemporary cannon, no matter the genre. The advanced classes are for honing skills acquired in the beginning level classes. I prefer not to use a textbook for most classes because I've developed my own approach to form, line breaks, punctuation, poetic language, plot, character, etc. I use lots of handouts, films, readings, and coaching as replacement tools for books.

When I first started teaching creative writing at ACC, several things struck me as obstacles to help my students overcome. The first was that most students do not buy books of poems or stories, most students have not seen plays or screenplays in written form, and most importantly most students do not read unless it is connected to a test or grade. Poor writing skills and little knowledge of literary writing styles are also some of the more obvious weaknesses students bring to the classroom. So I've developed a total immersion method to teach creative writing in each genre. I read to them using models of contemporary writers who are successful now; my students each semester go to the Texas Book Festival, the University of Texas, or Texas State to hear writers read that we study. We are very fortunate to have to wonderful MFA programs nearby. Other methods used to immerse the students are to give them samples to read, require that they buy or borrow books, require that they listen to other writers read and talk about their work, require that they attend literary events. The idea is to let them know that creative writing is more than putting your feelings on paper. And lastly, I require that they edit, edit, edit. It is my belief that all students come to the class already creative beings and what I teach more that anything else is how to take their creative impulses and craft their writing into literary work.