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Overview

Often pictured sitting in dark little cafés, scrawling furiously on a piece of paper, or sitting alone at a typewriter punching out the next Great American Novel, the creative writer always seems to stand alone in his or her own world. How do you get to be the next Ernest Hemingway or William Faulkner or Toni Morrison? Well, you write a lot, and then, if you can, you major in Creative Writing.

Creative Writing is frequently listed as a concentration within a broader English major program since opportunities to major specifically in creative writing do not exist at every university or college. For those schools that do have Creative Writing programs, expect a course of study that will involve a lot of reading, and of course, writing. Creative Writing majors blend the love and study of books that come with being an English major with the creative freedom and expression of being an artist. It is the best of both worlds, one that gives you the opportunity to read the greatest works of literature, and in the process develop your own unique response to those works.

In addition to reading everything from Shakespeare to Virginia Woolf, Creative Writing allows you time to focus on your own development as a writer. At the heart of the Creative Writing major is the writing workshop, the small and intimate courses in which students and faculty read and criticize each other's writing. Whether you are writing short stories, poetry, or novels, the Creative Writing major is designed to help you learn and develop your skills as a writer in your chosen genre.