Creative writing: A year on

The Malta Society of Arts has been offering my creative writing course for over a year now. Given that this is the first recurring creative writing programme on the island, it’s proven very popular — classes are always full, and courses are invariably fully booked within minutes of being advertised on the website.

However, since students who have completed the course in its previous iterations are now returning for more, I’m given to believe that the way the classes are conducted is working, that students are inspired, that they enjoy the sessions.

A year after its launch, I reflected on this and thought about the power of communities and of talking about one’s craft, sharing work, and so on. Students I spoke to at the end of each course always mentioned how safe they felt sharing their work, how they felt that the space they were offered was something they had never experienced before.

Popular book reviewer Bob Pisani said about the programme: “David Hudson's creative writing course made me crumple up all my silly inhibitions and make me appreciate that I am actually capable of writing something decent.”

It sounds trite, perhaps, but teaching creative writing has taught me a lot, and not just about creative writing techniques. It’s taught me how to foster a safe haven where writers who have never shared their work before feel confident doing so. In this same space, I also teach them that it’s perfectly acceptable to be honest and critical about their own and their peers’ texts. If this critical aspect is not present, the course would simply be a fun little diversion but not much in terms of an education.

I suppose I’ve been successful in this regard by being personal, by being vulnerable. I’ve been in these students’ shoes before, there was a time when I’ve yearned for feedback — heck, I still do — I strove to be successful with my stories. There is no right or wrong when it comes to creative writing — it’s a very tender craft and people find their own unique ways to make it work. So teaching it in absolute terms is, to me, irresponsible. Creative writing teachers saying that clichés are bad, for example, is a cliché in itself and not one I insist on. There’s no insisting to be made.

Tropes and archetypes? Sure, they are there, but up to a few years ago, solastalgia (Glenn Albrecht describes it as “the homesickness you have when you are still at home” or eco-anxiety in short), for example, did not exist and there are spaces to carve out the meaning of utterly new human experiences that are seemingly going beyond the limited spectrum of the human adventure on this planet.

My class is complete freedom. This is why I’ve learned so much and this is why some of my students have come up with extraordinary pieces of writing that, at first glance, do not follow what we typically term the creative writing 101.

Dayna Camilleri Clarke, a speech therapist, writer and editor, said about the course that the programme was a real eye-opener for her. “David is a true professional and the time to sit down and focus on a passion of mine really helped to hone my skills in this area. Consequently, I’ve been published in high level global names. I’m sure the course was a large factor in that!”

While I do help students with finding the right publisher for their work, that is, of course, not the point. After all, I meet a lot of students who do not wish to be published at all. They simply want to get better and have fun doing it.

Sophie Guedon who works as a yoga instructor said: “Taking the creative writing course gave me the motivation and necessary understanding of what writing is about in order for me to start expressing whatever I needed to. The safe community I found made it all the more possible.”

A year on, I am proud that every single one of my students has found something special, some takeaway, that will help them in their writing journey. Mostly it’s this: I am good, I am writing, I love doing it. Writing should not be presented as some garrisoned artistry that only the chosen few can do well. It is a craft, it is practicable, and it brings joy to a lot of people seeking to find their voice. I suppose that learning something about writing goes far beyond the page.

All my thanks go to the Malta Society of Arts for believing that such a space can exist and then for providing it.