Choosing the Creative Writing Minor
Meagan Vicens
To all of my writers out there, I know writing can be a pain sometimes. We go from grade school, where we learn how to write, to middle school, where we practice writing, to high school, where we write for the sake of writing, and to college where, let’s be honest, we get tired of writing. In education, writing has turned into a more professional one way street where room for creativity is limited. So, I am writing this piece to the individuals who don’t want to be tired of writing, they just need a better creative outlet.
As an advertising major, writing is a small but impactful part of what we do, specifically copywriting. A copywriter is a professional writer responsible for writing the text, or copy, used in advertising/marketing and promotional materials. Every headline, tagline, body copy, etc you’ve seen was probably written by a copywriter.
Personally, I recently just discovered my niche interest in copywriting. I’ve always been a good writer but never liked writing in high school and didn’t know why. I also always could see myself becoming a writer but never wanted it to be my main path. When I declared advertising as my major, I started learning more about what copywriting was and how to become a good one. It piqued my interest, so I needed a place to start.
I first went to my advisor. I told her I wanted to develop myself more as a writer but didn’t know how to go about that. She asked me, “Well, have you ever thought about choosing a minor?” I told her I had given it some previous thought, but an English minor didn’t fit my goals. My advisor then gave me information about the creative writing minor also in the English department. I went home, did some research on the creative writing minor, and knew it was the perfect fit. I enrolled in my first creative writing class (CW 100) spring semester sophomore year.
Here are the requirements for the minor:
CW 100 (Intro to Creative Writing)
Choose your path:
CW 106 (Poetry Workshop I)
CW 206 (Poetry Workshop II)
CW 406 (Poetry Workshop III)
OR
CW 104 (Fiction Workshop I)
CW 204 (Fiction Workshop II)
CW 404 (Fiction Workshop III)
3. Approved Electives - Students must complete 6 hours of coursework in any of the following areas (a minimum of 3 hours must be at the advanced 300 /400 level):
Any ENGL or CW course
TOTAL HOURS: 18
In choosing the creative writing minor, I loved that writing became fun again. Though it was still considered school work, it ignited my passion again for writing to a height I never thought it could reach. I’ve also learned so much more about writing than I have ever had before. I’m learning how to think critically about not only my writing but others as well. Workshops allow for constructive criticism and feedback from peers, and it’s awesome. Overall, creative writing gave me a different perspective. I now think outside of the box rather than inside. With this, I’ve also become a more experienced copywriter for my career path.
Creative writing can open doors for you both physically and mentally.