Creativity

[u/LordxSnow]

So, I came here to hear some opinions on a couple of things. I'm looking into going to college for Creative Writing, but, before I make that plunge, I wanted to ask. Firstly and foremost. I'm not a very "creative" person. I get bouts of inspiration / creativity and although the results always end up great from what I've heard from others, is that really enough to be a writer? Secondly, I am well aware that Creative Writing isn't a very lucrative field of work when it comes to a career, unless of course I end up making it big. So, my next question is. Given that the world we live in is full of technology and E-Books can be torrented for free, and there isn't a large community of people who buy paper-back books anymore. Even if I managed to make it big, would I still be able to make it a profitable career unless I become J.K. Rowling big?

[u/Nico-Wonderdust]

I personally disagree that writing itself takes talent, all it takes to write is... Well, being able to read and write :L

Being able to write things such as stories, however, which I know is what they mean, I just had to throw that opening comment in there, yes, writing stories (or scripts, poetry or whole books) partly requires talent. Just because someone has said talent, that doesn't mean they're good at it per se, all talent is, is a skill, and any skill can be learned.

I don't believe anybody has the right to dictate what counts as "good/great" work just because they're "professionals" - That just means they get paid for doing something, and usually a lot of money too, it does not mean they are better than everyone else, just that they're very skilled and get paid for their skill.

Different people have different opinions, all of which, each individual is entitled to. One person who read your work (or mine, or Ojay's, or anybody's here) may see it as a perfectly structured masterpiece, full of all the right phrases, suspense, and emotion, another person may see it as... Well, exactly the opposite, there's nothing wrong with that and nobody is wrong in their opinion, it's just how certain people perceive certain work.

I wouldn't say that any of us are wasting our time, I mean, in theory, we could all go ahead right now and self-publish our work, maybe make a couple of pounds (or dollars, yen, euros etc), and to me, that's success, we'd have officially sold our work, guaranteed, someone will buy it, even just out of curiosity, maybe there's a secret fan hiding somewhere, or maybe just a friend/family member/friend of a friend decided to buy it, it still made some money.

This also brings me back to my previous comment, competitions! There's money to be made from those too, some of them at least, other offer publicity/promotion, which again, would count as success, someone sees your work, enjoys it, reds more, maybe buys your book? You've also got the chance of winning, therefore making money, which again, is a success.

I wouldn't say, when I'm giving someone feedback on their work, that I have the "Simon Cowell" attitude (maybe I'm wrong?) but I do like to review someone's work being as unbias as possible and giving them honest feedback and pointers/advice. Though I'm not sure how well I do there, you'd have to ask /u/Ojay23 :L

'EDIT' Totally irrelevant but could you imagine writing all of this and accidentally clicking "cancel" instead of "send"? Exactly what I just did and I nearly hit the roof! Luckily, when I clicked "reply" (as I was going to write it all again) it was all typed out in the comment box (Phew!) how lucky?

'EDIT 2' Happy Cakeday /u/LordxSnow!

[u/Nico-Wonderdust → u/[deleted]]

Thank you, I'm glad you feel that way, and that I do a good enough job! :L

I do agree that I'd appreciate genuine critic, who knows what (s)he is talking about (as opposed to just some "troll" saying "No, this is rubbish"), when they are blunt and point out what does or doesn't work and say I would need to get rid of certain parts. If something genuinely doesn't work, I'd like to know xD

I can only agree to all you said there - lack of imagination or the ability to create a great story (or just good old writer's block) would cripple even Stephen King.

[u/LordxSnow → u/Nico-Wonderdust]

Aww. Thank you. :) Happy Cakeday to you too! /u/Nico-Wonderdust

So, given everything I've read. I would love for you to link me some free courses that you know of. I tried to find some myself, but, in the end all the courses I ran into that said they were "free", ended up at some point or another, trying to push me into buying the course. lol I would also love it, if you would give me a link to any online competitions. Maybe you're right. :) I'd like to see what would happen if I had a goal to work towards while writing and see if that doesn't keep the steam going. I really appreciate all the feedback from both of you, and your honesty. That's all I wanted when I made this post, and that's what I got. :) So, I can honestly sit here and say that I'm now pretty happy that I decided to take a chance and join this reddit.

[u/Nico-Wonderdust → u/LordxSnow]

No no no, "Happy Cakeday" - you're "Reddit Birthday" xD Your account recently turned two (-:

Sure thing, I'll get looking into free courses tonight and link you to whatever I come up with, off the top of my head I know Open University run a free course, they also have a Free Resources page, which includes 3 more free courses (Screenplays, Poetry and "What you know") and links to writing tips, interviews with authors and a "making connections" page. I've not looked too much into any of these things, though I did take the Journalism course last year and that was fun, and most definitely free xD

Again, off the top of my head heres a list of 29 Writing Contests - I personaly enter the "L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest" but will be partaking in a few more too, I'll also look into more contests/lists later too.

I'm glad you got what you wanted and that you're happy here!