Can you really teach people how to write?, is a question that is debated over and over in the writing world. My personal response would be, "yes".
It can be done, if the person realizes 'learned creative writing' is breaking down writing into small components and understanding the writing process. You may not become a best selling writer but, you can experience the joy of saying what you want to say in writing.
What are the two most important elements a person must have to become a good writer? Writing like a writer and thinking like a writer.
Writing like a writer is to have absolute control over your material and tools. Knowing when to use dialogue and when to summarize, learning the value of adjectives and adverbs as well as how to use them. Able to delvelope and name characters and anchor them in real time and space.
Thinking like a writers is more complex for some than others. You must exploit your curiosity, imagination and capacity for skepticisim. Look beneath the obvious to get the true "meaning" of smille, burst of anger, or a loud robust laugh.
There are people, who are marvelous storytellers, then there are poeple who know how to form marvelous sentences, paragraphs, weaving words into a beautiful tapestry of creative writing.
Practice and persistence are crucial to a writer. If the writer's engine is persistence, than the fuel of imagination will stir an endless supply of stories waiting to be released.
To stir the creative writers imagination, turn on your TV, mute the sound and watch the characters. Pay attention to their mannerism, their facial expressions. Picture in your mind what is being said and how it is being said. In otherwords, to stimulate the mind by exercising your imagination.
