The Writer as Teacher

It’s often said that those who can’t, teach. I say that those who can have a duty to teach. Or at the very least, reap the rewards from sharing their passion with others.

By the time you read this, I’ll have delivered my first professional creative writing workshop. I’ve given workshops before, but always on a voluntary basis. Now myself and a fellow Waterford writer have decided to pool our talents and offer creative writing classes to young people.

Teaching creative writing has always been one of my goals. I feel it is a privilege to be able to share myknowledge with others and hopefully ignite passion in them. I’ve chosen teenagers because they have the wacky imaginations of children, but are also burning with newly formed adult opinions which deserve an outlet.

In the workshops, the students will find out about the ingredients that make successful stories. They’ll have a chance to let their imaginations run riot, as they create character biographies and put together the ingredients for a story soup.

Hopefully by the end, they’ll feel they’ve made a good start with their writing and can feed their knowledge into their schoolwork. Who knows; we mayfind that there’s a budding JK Rowling in the ranks. Most people have something to offer and teaching can be a useful extra string to your bow. In fact, it’s how many writers support themselves, since very little of the proceeds from their work actually ends up in their own wallets.

What are my qualifications, you might ask? Well, there’s the fact that I live and breathe writing and I’ve been doing it in some form all my life. I’m hoping that my passion for the subject will come across.I’ve also been taking  a Train the Trainer Course in Carlow IT, so that I’ll be equipped with the tools to give more detailed lessons and deal with any situations that might arise.

Teaching creative writing is a little diferent from teaching something like bookkeeping. You’re more of a facilitator, giving students an outlet to express themselves. It’s a chance to step off the corporate wheel and to enrich the lives of others, even if it’s just for a short while.