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Which colleges have good writing programs?


FlockOfSillies
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DD wants to be a writer. She writes lots of fiction, but we're not sure that's the kind of writing she'll end up doing for a living.

 

What schools do you know of that have good track records of producing skilled writers? Or is she better off just finding some real-world mentors to critique her work? (I don't have much faith in college English departments' interest or ability in producing graduates who can write well.)

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I'm looking at a local university that has a programme for first years that essentially follows a classical model. The kids start in the Ancient world reading Gilgamesh, the Bible, Plato, etc. They end up in the contemporary world with Elliott and Freud. All along they're discussing the works with a relatively small class and predicting a lot of writing.

 

http://www.ukings.ca/foundation-year-programme

 

There's the link to the program. Kings is one of the oldest universities in Canada and this is a program that attracts kids from right across the country and beyond.

 

 

I think that is probably the best preparation a future writer can get. Lots off writing, lots of discussion, and a deeper cultural literacy. Maybe there are schools bear thou with similar programmes?

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I have a ton of skepticism about whether any program produces creative writers with significant success (any program can have a success or two, what's the overall success rate? How many are working as creative writers five years out? Ten?). Personally, I think finding a strong English program is what I would look for. 

 

That and a second major to support her until she can live off her writing. I don't know if there is any future for journalism graduates but you could look at that; back in the old timey days people at my school were often English/Journalism majors. 

 

 

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I was a communications major in college, so I'm familiar with j-school programs. At this point I don't see journalism as being a growth industry, and newswriting format can be learned from a good college textbook.

 

I've been talking with my dd about the need to have something to write *about* -- either learning about a topic in-depth, or reading widely so as to have a broad knowledge base for her writing. Then there's all the other possibilities for people with strong writing skills in different fields. I just wonder how much of that you get from majoring in English. Maybe a major in something lucrative and a minor in a writing-oriented discipline? I've toyed with the idea of having her get a certification in some marketable skill before she starts college, so she has a way to pay the bills.

 

Thanks for the school suggestions. Keep 'em coming!

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I was a communications major in college, so I'm familiar with j-school programs. At this point I don't see journalism as being a growth industry, and newswriting format can be learned from a good college textbook.

 

I've been talking with my dd about the need to have something to write *about* -- either learning about a topic in-depth, or reading widely so as to have a broad knowledge base for her writing. Then there's all the other possibilities for people with strong writing skills in different fields. I just wonder how much of that you get from majoring in English. Maybe a major in something lucrative and a minor in a writing-oriented discipline? I've toyed with the idea of having her get a certification in some marketable skill before she starts college, so she has a way to pay the bills.

 

Thanks for the school suggestions. Keep 'em coming!

 

I don't disagree about straight journalism, but the author of The Dressmaker of Khair Khana is a graduate of Mizzou's journalism program, which I know because I just finished it.  She did have "something to write about," of course:  she has an MBA from Harvard and a focus on women's entrepreneurship in her literary and other professional life and is fluent in something like 3 1/2 languages.  Whew.  

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I was a communications major in college, so I'm familiar with j-school programs. At this point I don't see journalism as being a growth industry, and newswriting format can be learned from a good college textbook.

 

 

 

I'm not sure I agree with this. A good journalism school, not part of a communications department, will probably have a student newspaper associated with it. At my university, the paper was published daily and the j-students I knew competed fiercely to be published in it. Because where they really honed their craft was in writing everyday for a real paper not from a text. AND those hiring them knew that and hired based on clippings. 

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I'm not sure I agree with this. A good journalism school, not part of a communications department, will probably have a student newspaper associated with it. At my university, the paper was published daily and the j-students I knew competed fiercely to be published in it. Because where they really honed their craft was in writing everyday for a real paper not from a text. AND those hiring them knew that and hired based on clippings. 

 

From the standpoint of getting practice and experience, I agree. But I learned everything I needed to know about how to craft a good article from one newswriting class.

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