Write or Left
As an “introduction to creative writing,” this book works! The book seems aimed at writers new to creative writing, writers who like to write but who don’t know the ropes yet and need affirmation, guidance, and fun activities to develop writing confidence. The author seems deeply familiar with new creative writing students (students who are yet discovering the possibilities for writing creatively vs. students who consider themselves experienced, confident creative writers already). Thus, Priebe anticipates questions and concerns that new creative writers might have, such as structure, genres, how-to’s, expectations, problems, and solicitation and integration of feedback.
My students appreciated the discussion of multiple genres in this book, like flash fiction, sci-fi, and horror. Listening to my student writers, I often get the sense that they feel their writing is “fringe” writing. Priebe pulls all writers into the fold of creative writing with the supportive guidance provided in each chapter for each genre.
The examples, although inconsistent as I explain in a later section, are a major support for student writers. The stand-out example is “Snow White: Take II,” a hilarious, quite effective student example included in the humor section.
The book ends with a short but helpful glossary of literary and writing terms.
The Venn diagrams in the opening pages of the book show the author’s ability to connect with students. The explanation of “experimental literature” as an expansive, vibrant extension of the “expected” circles of the diagram shows the author’s accurate understanding of creative writing and creative writers.
An important feature of this book is Priebe’s helpful lists of things to do if you are writing in the various genres. Student writers appreciate the directness of such guidance, which gives them agency to attempt writing with confidence of what readers expect and with understanding the “conventions” in each genre.
The accuracy of the approach and content is shown in Priebe’s expansive understanding of multiple genres in creative writing. Again, my students were delighted to find sections on graphic novels, flash fiction, sci-fi, and horror.
New creative writers would find this book not only highly accessible in tone and content but also amazingly relevant to their problems and insecurities as writers. The author does not dwell on problems, but instead offers real strategies and solutions for becoming a more satisfied, productive writer. For example, the bullet list of what to do to get over writer’s block does not dwell on the issue of writer’s block but instead simply acknowledges that this is something that happens to writers. The bulleted list, in my opinion (because I’ve used these strategies), faithfully represents what matters to writers who find themselves stuck in a non-productive phase.
The discussion of flash fiction, alternative literature, and science fiction addresses student interests in genres that extend beyond traditions of literature classes. Seeing these discussions in a textbook lends powerful credibility to the work so many student writers do in non-traditional genres.
This book seems written by an instructor who knows what new creative writers need. The level of assurance offered simply by identifying and discussing issues that plague young writers shows remarkable clarity of understanding. The activities offered in the chapters suggest how to surmount the idea-to-writing hesitancy that stymies many student writers. The activities are fun to do yet highly productive for writers trying to understand their own writing processes.
One student-centered feature of the book is the integration of examples; however, these are managed inconsistently. In some cases, an example is mentioned without elaboration. In other instances, there is an extended example, such as the whole of Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour,” or the long excerpt from Frankenstein.
Also, sometimes there are student examples; other times, there’s a note about how student examples might be added.
This inconsistency in the inclusion of examples is one of the major downsides of the book. I liked the reference to movies and tv series as examples, but the author does not elaborate on how to find writing-relevant connections in these cross-platform examples.
The use of definitions is also inconsistent. Sometimes, the author provides an expansive, well-constructed definition of the genre under discussion. But, the low point in the book is the use of a Webster’s definition for, of all things(!!!!), POETRY. The Webster’s definition is a pedestrian, stereotyped “definition” of poetry—a huge disappointment in an otherwise great teaching book especially since a bit of research on the part of the author would have yielded definitions from actual poets. Particularly disappointing is that the author did not even reference Wordsworth’s classic definition of poetry as “emotion recollected in tranquility” which would have been a great starting point for considering the nature and scope of poetry.
I wish there were more quotes from writers. I was so happy to see my favorite Stephen King quote about writing showcased on p. 24 with a follow-up discussion over several pages of how to become a more engaged reader, which as King’s quote suggests, is the key to being a writer.
The chapters and subsections allow for a good modulation of user experience for both teachers assigning sections as assignments and for students free-forming their use of the book. The activities allow for creative adaptation to reflect specific teaching approaches across not just creative writing classes but also a variety of writing classes.
The presentation of topics and chapters is highly adaptable to a variety of instructor-specific approaches, allowing for skipping around and reading in reconstructed order.
I especially appreciate the variety of activities offered in all the chapters. Some activities are perfect for in-class collaborative work with whole-class sharing and discussion. Others can be adapted for online or out-of-class assignments.
The sample, albeit rudimentary, syllabus at the end is helpful as are the suggestions for student projects.
The author reminds us multiple times that the book can be downloaded in a variety of formats, including google docs which students love to use and which allows for interactive participation among learners in independent study time as well as in instructor-led in-class work. I can imagine tons of possibilities for using google docs versions of sections of the book in collaborative class work.
No detectable issues in language use.
This aspect of the book is weak. If we expand “cultural relevance” to mean the culture of creative writing, then the book is fine because of the expansive discussion of problems writers face and the many strategies that can be used to write with brio. However, I see no representation of voices from diverse cultures, the examples drawn mostly from traditional literary figures. There is a brief discussion of “holes in diversity” on p. 38, noting that “some stories are not as prominent in the ‘literature industry’ and that makes them all the more valued to be told,” with a list of examples ranging from people of color to people of size. I think this aspect of the text could be expanded and managed with more attention to creative work from diverse groups.
I selected this book not for a creative writing class but for an Introduction to English Studies class in which students need to learn about five areas of English studies in my institution’s English BA. Thus, I needed a creative writing text that would be accessible, readable, and real. I loved Priebe’s book from the moment I read the first few pages. Her voice and style and subtle quirkiness appeal to students (and me!). For students who already considered themselves creative writers, this book affirms many of their insecurities not as flaws in themselves as writers but as features of the life of a writer. The writing advice and directive guidance is truly helpful to both novice and experienced creative writers.
In my capstone course, I had a student who wanted to include a creative writing artifact done in a creative writing course. My student had a partial draft of something that was supposed to be a story but he never finished it because he didn’t know what to do and apparently, in his creative writing class, the instructor assumed the students were already creative writers and didn’t need basic guidance about nuts and bolts of creative writing. Had my student been assigned this book in his creative writing class, he would have developed the confidence and strategies he needed to complete even the simple story about a boy and his dog that he had attempted. Instead, he was ashamed of the fragment he had to submit for his capstone portfolio. (He did write a great reflection on his learning about creative writing after I shared parts of Write to Left with him.)
I do not teach creative writing, but I teach writing courses; from now on, Write or Left will be a resource book in my first year and upper division writing courses. I have pages of notes on how I can turn so many of the activities in Priebe’s book into student-centered classwork for my junior and senior-level writing courses.