creative writing

Has anyone or know anyone who has pursued a job in creative writing? I was wondering what sort of jobs there are for creative writers, and if there are job boards, too.

 

This industry does a lot to develop creative writing. Just ask, um, uh ...

Or try these books -- well, let's see ...

 

What do you mean by 'creative writing'? Fiction? Poetry? Advertising copy? Not sure what you're thinking of here...

 

The Freep has no need for a lead sports columnist, if that helps any...

 

Iowa and Ole Miss have reputable creative writing programs, if such a thing deserves the name.

 

Lem - Professorships are about the only steady work you can count on getting in this field, and typically, you'd have to attend an MFA (master of fine arts) program to acquire one. Lee's right - Iowa is probably the most well-known of them. It was the first.

You break into creative writing by penning poems or short stories, and then bombarding all the little literary magazines listed in the Novel & Short Story Writers Market book with your work until someone decides to publish it. Most pay peanuts. Some even pay only with copies, but you get published and it gives you some credibility and then you work on the next one. Ideally, after a while, you get established enough that they pursue YOU.

I just wrote my first short story and shipped it out to like five magazines. Probably be a couple months before the rejections start coming in, but gives me something to work on other than sports writing.

It's a tough market. There's an anecdote in the front of the new Best American Short Stories about how the writer went to Eudora Welty's funeral, and it was no more attended than your average American service. The great writer's sister had to drag this fan who had traveled hundreds of miles over to meet her bored sons, so she could prove to them how respected their aunt was.

 

Google Creative Writing and see what you find ...

 

This, I suppose, is a semi-threadjack. But I wanted to point out that when I was in college, I took a couple of creative writing courses, in addition to the regular journalism courseload. I think it helped me a lot--not that I make stuff up, but that I try to use description whenever possible and try to illuminate characters [now real ones, of course] by describing them and their mannerisms, as opposed to using too much dialogue [quotes].

The instructor [a fiction author published by a fairly well-known house] also was pissed that we all used italics way too much to make a point. He didn't say they couldn't or shouldn't be used, but used in moderation. He also said that sometimes you can write it in such a way that the emphasis is understood, without italics. I've never forgotten that and it's helped me.

 

Why do you hate italics?

 

A lot of politicians at the local, state/provincial and national levels are looking for speech writers and other forms of spin doctors. You won't believe how much creativity you'll be allowed -- no, expected -- to use on the job.

 

Guess no one has looked at the non-fiction best seller list in a while...a lot of them are CREATIVE NON-FICTION aka Memoirs. The first examples of creative non-fiction were done by Tom Wolfe and the other new journalism in the middle of the last century.

But as we know, writing a successful, NYT best seller list book is not an easy thing to accomplish and requires some luck.

 

As a graduate from a creative writing program, it's not a great thing to put your future into...
When I started down the track, I knew I needed to find a job that pays the bills. Sadly, I chose journalism .
Three years later, and I have creative writer's block so bad that I can't get even the worst short story off the ground.