Vision and Revision - The Whys and Hows of Employing Creative Writing Pedagogy in the College Classroom - Susan Friedman

Oct 15, 2026

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The paper examines how employing creative writing pedagogy in college classrooms strengthens students’ academic writing. It argues that writing improves only through sustained writing practice and shows that creative writing activities can enhance grammar, spelling, mechanics, and essay confidence. Drawing on comparisons between higher-education systems in the United States and countries such as the UK and Australia, it proposes that college writing programs should integrate creative writing practices to support first-year and struggling students. It also discusses how creative writing overlaps with composition goals, drawing on theorists and classroom approaches.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Vision and Revision

Creative Writing Improves Academic Writing

Creative Writing and Composition Perspectives

Vision and Revision: The Whys and Hows of Employing Creative Writing Pedagogy in the College Classroom Susan Friedman The University of Alabama in Huntsville Visions Last semester, one of my Introduction to Creative Writing students said something to the tune of:“You know, creative writing is really improving my academic writing. I’m paying a lot more attention to how I am selecting my words, and writing is coming more easily to me.” I am sure I responded matter-of-factly with my standard truism: “The only way you will improve your writing is by writing.” However, this exchange got me wondering: “What is the link between creative writing and students’ improvement in academic writing?” This paper will touch upon some of my discoveries as I seek to answer this question. Not surprisingly, I have found that students’ academic writing improves when they also engage in creative writing activities . However, my research on Creative Writing (CW) pedagogies has also altered how I believe college writing should be instructed. In several Anglophone countries, creative writing classes are offered in lieu of, or before, academic writing classes are taught. Especially in vocational colleges or in technical universities, but also in other institutions of higher education (HE), first-year students in Australia and the UK take some sort of creative writing course designed to assist them in developing their creative thinking processes while also honing their writing skills. Meanwhile,“academic writing” courses are frequently taught later in their“programmes” since academic writing has already been taught to university students prior to their entrance in the HE system. According to Giovanna Lucarelli-Mittiga, who received her BA from the University of Birmingham in the UK, college-bound students take Advanced Level subjects (A-Levels) prior to entering the university system. While preparing for their A-Levels, students focus on gaining analytical skills when reading, and learn “all of the skills which I assume are meant to be learnt in composition English classes”(personal interview) . Since their university system is so different from ours, and there are many other HE tracks that students can take (e.g., vocational, technical), by the time students enter universities in the UK, they have presumably gained some skills necessary for college-level writing. While I cannot logically propose a complete overhaul to our HE system in the United States, I can say that since writing this paper my vision has become clearer: College writing classes should include CW pedagogical practices. Students who struggle with grammar, spelling, mechanics, and other common writing challenges, as well as students who dread writing essays, can improve their academic writing skills through participation in creative writing classes or activities. For this reason and others, I believe that college writing programs in the United States should consider changing their approaches to writing instruction. I believe that our students would benefit from participating in writing programs that borrow pedagogies already in place in the United Kingdom, Australia, and elsewhere. Creative Writing Improves Academic Writing All writing is creative writing. Or is it? The differences (and similarities) between genres of writing have been explored by compositionists and CW pedagogues in myriad studies. I have neither the time, nor the desire, to take that route. Rather, as suggested by the title of Tim Mayers’ germinal book (Re) Writing Craft: Composition, Creative Writing, and the Future of English Studies, while creative writers and compositionists “begin from several different perspectives, and arrive at positions that are sometimes in conflict” both approaches “actively question and challenge received boundaries”(94) . Certainly, contemporary Rhetoric and Composition theorists and CW pedagogues are interested in the writer’s relationship to language, technology and recei

FAQs

What connection does the author propose between creative writing and academic writing improvement?

The author proposes that students’ academic writing improves when they also engage in creative writing activities, since creative writing supports stronger word choice and writing practice.

How does the author view differences in higher-education writing instruction across countries?

The author notes that in the UK and Australia, creative writing courses often appear in lieu of or before academic writing courses, and suggests the U.S. could benefit from adopting similar approaches.

How does the author define creative writing for the purposes of the discussion?

For this discussion, creative writing is limited to fiction, poetry, drama, and creative nonfiction, especially as reflected in the types of assignments students typically expect in creative writing courses.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Jiven