Take A Creative Writing Course
When one reflects on the question – how to be a better academic writer – I am sure several answers come up. Read more. Write more. Never write again. The idea of creative writing typically does not go hand-in-hand with academic writing, and for good reason. Academic writing is formulaic, passive, technical, and generally not good. These two writing styles are completely different.
But it doesn’t have to be this way!
One antidote to academic writing is creative writing.
There are so many benefits to engaging in creative writing. But unless you have the intrinsic motivation of Captain America and the innate natural skill set of Batman (you can see where my streaming hours are going), you might need a little support. This is where creative courses can help.
Caroline Malloy, PhD encourages scholars to take creative writing courses, saying:
“Creative writing courses challenge (and encourage) scholars to think laterally about expressing their ideas – new ways of saying the same old thing. This is so helpful because as scholars, sometimes we lose sight of the fact that not only are we become professionals in our field, we’re adapting our writing style to our field. Creative writing courses force us to step back and rediscover parts of our voice we had forgotten or put aside, and the ripple effects of that rediscovery can be profound, both personally and professionally.”
And she’s 100% right.
In this post, I highlight, along with many other scholars, how to be a better academic writer by embracing creative writing as academics, scientists, and scholars. One way to embrace creative writing is by enrolling in a course at your university.
Four Benefits of Taking a Creative Writing Course
It’s low cost.
Ah, the (few) benefits you get as a faculty member – the opportunity to enroll in various courses for free. It may seem like an impossible feat to teach courses, conduct research, attend all the meetings, AND enroll in a course at the same time. You could enroll in a creative writing course over the summer. You could enroll in an online course. At the end of the day, everything is finite and nothing, not even a semester of a creative writing course, lasts forever. If you really want to do it, you’ll find a way.
Not only is this professional development experience nearly free, it also comes with an instructor/faculty member who can work with you to improve your academic writing skills. You can practice ideas, practice writing with different styles, and receive real-time feedback on it. This is crucial in learning how to be a better academic writer.
It will help you exercise different parts of your brain.
Creative writing improves your brain functions
Creative writing is so completely different from academic writing. The practice forces you to use different sentence structure that may not involve third-person (or no-person), passive language, or sentences constructed of citations. How to be a better academic writer can be as simple (though not to be reductive) as sentence structure and word choice.
Randolph et al. (2011) argued that creative writing should be a vital part of training for English as a second language learners in higher education to help them become more effective academic writers. In his article, Randolph discussed how creative writing stimulates the brain more than academic literature, aiding vocabulary acquisition and command of English (Murphy Paul, 2012). Creative writing can also help students have a sense of control, ownership, and enjoyment of writing, promoting confidence and risk-taking (Eagleman, 2011; Medina, 2009), all activities that benefit native English speakers and English learners alike.
Creative writing also exercises the brain more than academic writing, promoting brain health (Hortsman, 2011; Iacoboni, 2009; Jensen, 2008; Medina, 2009). How to be a better academic writer can simply involve exercising different parts of your brain.
Creative writing sparks creativity and innovation
It should come as no surprise that creative writing fosters creativity and innovation (Aslan et al., 2014; Root-Bernstein, 2003). Some creative writing outlets like poetry writing can provide “incubation periods” that give us space from the work; thus, allowing ideas to develop, helping us foster crucial creativity for innovation in our research (Januchowski-Hartley et al., 2018). Writing poetry can help scientists engage, learn, and generate new ideas. This can occur in the space between the scientist, the creative writing, and a problem they may be facing in their work (Ritter & Dijksterhuis, 2014).
Creative writing is uncomfortable for anyone who may not be an avid practitioner in the field. And because of this, creative writing can also help foster resilience, making us more comfortable with failure, and give us the ability to confront the unknown (Fernandez-Gimenez et al, 2019; Stillman & Baumeister, 2009). These are all important factors for innovation in research and science. How to be a better academic writer means getting a little uncomfortable so you can find the good bits.
It will make you a better communicator.
Creative writing can help you tap into different words and flavor of writing, which can make you a much better communicator. And in turn, creative writing can help you be a better public communicator. The creative writing process can bring more clarity in how you think about your research and the problems you are trying to solve; thus, helping you better communicate to wider audiences. It also forces you to use less jargon and more succinct words.
Improved, enhanced communication is important for conveying complex scientific ideas to the public (Januchowski-Hartley et al., 2018). For example, poetry writing can help scientists connect scientific topics to everyday activities, thus bridging the gap with audiences who may not read the literature (Follett 2016; Silverman 2016). In learning about how to be a better academic writer, you can become a better communicator overall.
Graduate student writing & career development
McVey (2008) highlighted the difficulties graduate students face in their writing. I can relate to the difficulty in writing and shifting language from lay person to graduate student to professor back to lay person. I could have benefited from a creative writing course as I navigated communicating through teaching and research writing. Instead, I took structural equation modeling, and look where that got me. McVey (2008) suggested that encouraging creativity in writing can help students find their voice, engage differently with texts, and develop vital skills for learning how to be a better academic writer.
Related Post: Reimagining PhD Programs: Communication Training as a Catalyst for Student Success
Encouraging graduate students to take a creative writing course can also help their future careers, whatever route they go. At the core of everything we do, we communicate.
It will make you more reflective.
Of course, creative writing can make you think – differently, deeply, reflectively – about yourself, your position, the world. Creative writing exercises can promote reflective thinking and writing (McVey, 2008). Existential in nature, creative writing offers an outlet for expressing ourselves, our emotions, our existence, among other things (Murray, 2012; Peñaloza & Salamanca, 2019).
Creative writing can humanize us. The practice of creative writing encourages ethical considerations and humanistic perspectives in scientific work (Atkinson, 2008). Reconnecting us to the human nature of science and research makes us better scientists and researchers.
Often we think about our work, its importance, and why we do it. If we don’t then we should. Creative writing offers this chance to reflect (Peñaloza & Salamanca, 2019). Creative writing can also help you come to terms with your roles as a researcher, writer, cog in the knowledge production system, integrating your persona as a human and scientist (Hunter et al., 2007). In learning how to be a better academic writer, we also learn how to connect with ourselves and our purpose.
Related post: Unleashing the Power of Research Communication Through Reflexivity
Recommendations for Embracing Creative Writing as a Scholar
Here are concrete steps you can take to incorporate creative writing into your practice:
- Practice makes perfect: Dedicate 15-30 minutes a week to creative writing exercises can yield significant benefits for your academic writing.
- Start small and specific: Begin with specific creative writing exercises related to your research. Try describing your research question as a short story, write a poem about your findings, or craft a dialogue between competing theories in your field.
- Read widely across genres: Expose yourself to various writing styles by reading fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and science communication pieces. Pay attention to techniques that effectively communicate complex ideas, which can help stimulate your brain more than academic literature.
- Consume various storytelling mediums: In the same vein as above, watch movies, television, plays, etc. and note the storytelling techniques that trigger emotional responses.
- Reflect on your writing process: After completing academic writing tasks, spend time reflecting on what felt challenging or satisfying.
- Share your creative efforts: Submit your creative writing to appropriate outlets—departmental newsletters, blogs, or literary journals that welcome science-themed work. Sharing makes the practice more meaningful and can help bridge the gap with audiences who may not read academic literature.
McVey (2008) argued that all writing (academic, technical, creative, etc.) involves a creative process of bringing something new into existence through language, experience, and imagination. As long as we look at all writing in this way, it may be easier to embrace a more creative writing style. And if you need a bit of focus and guidance, enroll in a course at your university. Encourage your graduate students to expand their communication skills by enrolling in a creative writing course. It will help us all in the long run.
