Allegra weighs in on writing class...

Allegra wrote the following as a facebook Note:

The other day, my college friend Nancy (Hi Nancy! I still remember how you played your violin in the vault at Herrell's) wrote to say that she is taking a writing course, and dabbling a bit in my trade. I love that.

There seem to be two views about writing classes.

The pessimistic view: you can't teach writing, nor can you make a living as a writer, so why bother with creative writing classes?

The optimistic view: there are certain aspects of writing you CAN teach. Creative writing makes people happy and it's great for the mind and heart.

Consider the dichotomy: On the one hand--the publishing industry is in free fall, bookstores are struggling, newspapers are going out of business and reviewers losing jobs, books themselves are an endangered species, and the world is full of useless MFA programs graduating more would be novelists / writing teachers than the market can bear.

On the other hand--people are writing more than ever, in classes, in blogs, on Facebook. Children are reading voraciously, and the electronic and audio book markets are exploding. The desire to tell stories is stronger than ever, and the desire to read and listen to good stories persists.

When I was a girl I played the violin. I wasn't exceptionally talented, (not nearly as good as Nancy!), but I played in my school orchestra and my state youth orchestra. As an adult I listen to music in a different way because I know what it's like to make music.

By the same token, anyone who takes a writing class will not only practice telling stories, but read better and deeper afterward. A double reward.

Some people say--everyone wants to write, but fewer people want to read. I disagree. I believe that reading and writing are inextricably linked. It's not that the audience for writing is shrinking while the number of writers increases. Writers and readers make up one audience, one growing community. Who says readers can't contribute their own work? Or that writers can't be enthusiasts?

If you think about it--reading is creative, and writing is responsive. To read is not only to receive but to interpret and to think actively about a story. To write is not only to create, but to respond to the world, the moment, and the tradition of writers who came before.

Writers are readers and readers are writers. You can't have one without the other. Writing teachers know this, and writing students--especially grown up ones--understand this as well.