Can creative writing be taught in schools?

We are living in an age where conflicts, arguments, crimes, depression and the likes rule the roost. Leafing through the newspapers of the past few months or even years will put forth the horrifying statistics of the number of students who find themselves in the grip of these vices. Inability to express is contributor to this trend. Our children have bottled up their feelings of anger, sorrow, fear, angst, joy, happiness within them; since we as parents find lesser time to spend with them. Encouraging creative writing helps children to find a way or mode to express their inner most feelings. Their creation of characters and their narratives give us an insight to their thought process and in turn the children are able to free themselves of the bottled feelings. In many ways creative writing is a window to the thoughts and feelings of a person.

And now if you ask me if creative writing can be taught in schools, I would emphatically say yes; in fact it must be encouraged. Narrating stories to children develops their imagination power which strengthens their ability to think and conceptualize thus sharpening their creative skills. Promoting creative writing in schools also ensures a breed that is innovative; who is not a part of the rat race instead far ahead of the race owing to the out-of the-box thinking which has been inculcated in them.

We all go through experiences which may be good and some which may not be palatable. These experiences crystallize our thoughts, which determine our actions and conversations. Providing students the medium of creative writing helps them to compose their thoughts, analyze their situation and find a solution to it. In a world that is fast losing its aesthetic sense, incorporating creative skills at school level will ensure a generation that values aesthetics, innovation and who have an analytical approach towards situations they face in life.

Many believe creative writing to be a part of literature studies. However it is in reality much beyond the bracketed fields of studies. Doubtlessly creative writing hones the ability of the students to express their thoughts, brings clarity in their thoughts and perceptions. Thus was rightly said by Engle Paul “To say that the creative has no part in education is to argue that a university is not universal” and “If the mind could be honored in academics, why not the imagination?”