Investigative Creative Writing: Teaching and Practice

Investigative Creative Writing is Mark Spitzer’s lively and original treatment of creative writing practice and teaching within a college/university environment. The author presents an experiential, discovery-based approach that builds on teaching theories of established writers and scholars as well as current innovators and his own extensive experience as a creative writer, editor, and university academic.

Teachers, students, and writers in the fields of English, literary studies, composition and rhetoric, applied linguistics, and education should find this book, written by a prolific creative writer and enthusiastic writing teacher, not only enlightening and engaging, but also useful. Investigative Creative Writing can be envisioned as a practical tool illustrating ways of overcoming hurdles that impede writers from venturing into unknown territory where discoveries take place. In addition to assisting in developing and honing cutting-edge creative writing programs, this book will be helpful for writers in getting to the meat of the matter, generating narratives and dialogue, identifying arguments, fleshing out character traits, discovering direction for plots, and developing a host of other skills that foster and embolden a literary freedom of the imagination. The text includes examples of teaching techniques and assignments from the author’s classes which are intended for instructors to adjust according to their needs, along with extensive discussion of his own practices of investigative creative writing and experience in teaching and developing writing curricula.