The Cambridge Introduction to Creative Writing

Cambridge Introductions to Literature

by David Morley

This pioneering book introduces students to the practice and art of creative writing and creative reading. It offers a fresh, distinctive and beautifully written synthesis of the discipline. David Morley discusses where creative writing comes from, the various forms and camouflages it has taken, and why we teach and learn the arts of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction. He looks at creative writing in performance; as public art, as visual art, as e-literature and as an act of community. As a leading poet, critic and award-winning teacher of the subject, Morley finds new engagements for creative writing in the creative academy and within science. Accessible, entertaining and groundbreaking, The Cambridge Introduction to Creative Writing is not only a useful textbook for students and teachers of writing, but also an inspiring read in its own right. Aspiring authors and teachers of writing will find much to discover and enjoy.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Linguistics, Literary Criticism, Reference, School, Education

286 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

David is Head of the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at Warwick University (Coventry, UK), and adjunct Professor at Monash University (Melbourne, Australia).

Reviews

[Miranda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This textbook was required for my first Creative Writing class.
I quickly found that an "introduction" is not the proper word for this compact, dense book. Morley comes across as pretentious most of the time. He uses three dollar words and his sentences bounce like he's trying to be poetic and sharp. He talks up writing, making it sound so complex that only the most gifted students may excel in the craft.

Morley expresses a strong personal voice and his own opinion more than a textbook should. Throughout, I found that the author developed a narrow definition of what a great writer should be. This book does the opposite of what it should. Instead of making writing an accessible study, it intimidates its readers into constantly wondering, "Am I even worthy?"

[Jude Brigley · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an interesting and stimulating book! As a teacher and would-be writer I found this book both challenging and delightful. The exercises are practical and thought-provoking. The ideas expressed made me think about my own practices with renewed vigour. It is thorough and lively but unlike some guides to writing, it also provides academic frameworks for writing which give the endeavour depth and intellectual rigour. I really enjoyed the book which made me re-enter the classroom with more creative heart and mind. I also loved Peter Blegvad's illustrations. The title makes the book sound too routine when really it is a labour of love by one of our most esteemed writers and teachers.

[félon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extremely dry and incredibly dense. Two stars rather than one because there’s some interesting stuff in there, and I made some useful notes for future reference, and it’s not a one star book. But it did take me over two and a half years to read this because I couldn’t bring myself to pick it up and force my way through the writing; only my inability to DNF any book carried me through it.

A lot of the time this read like someone who was trying very hard to reach a required word count, or wanted to write for the sake of flexing and showing off what they can do with language. Basically, the opposite of the advice in the book.

Also on at least two occasions the author used the term ‘schizophrenic’ to describe multiple/split personality type concepts, so again it’s funny that somewhere in there he mentions something about the necessity of research and not misusing words or terms and undermining your work. Regardless, the comparison was unnecessary and trivialising.

[Somesuchlike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is full of useful information, but I found it quite dry and difficult to read; it took me a long time to get through it. This is very much an introduction to creative writing as an academic discipline, which I did find interesting as I am about to take a creative writing course - but it's not going to be everyone's thing.

Additionally, given the personal nature of writing I'm not sure it's a subject that's well-suited to the kind of general study you get from a Cambridge Introduction. No matter what kind of writer you are, the chances are there'll be at least one chapter here that's not helpful to you; I skimmed the poetry and creative nonfiction chapters. I really enjoyed the history of creative writing sections but 'creative writing in the academy and community' bored me to tears. Whatever your interests are, this is going to be a patchy read.

I do have to agree with other reviewers that the writing games/exercises are excellent. They don't all look like my cup of tea, but they're all interesting and challenging, not to mention extremely varied. The 'further reading' sections are also very helpful and in-depth. However, if you're not interested in the academic side of creative writing it's not worth buying this book just for the exercises and reading lists; there's other writing books that will be much more interesting and helpful.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is less interested in the mechanics of writing (prose, form, genre, style, etc.), that it is with the mechanics of writing; answering questions as varied as: how to prepare yourself to write, how to start up a writing group, and how to study creative writing. Specific chapters on performing writing, and writing in academia, are pretty specialized and might not be of interest to all readers.

[Sally Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fresh and accessible analysis of how to be a good reader as much as how to be a good writer, which offers a strong and valid argument for creative writing courses (while also acknowledging the pitfalls of them), and the benefit of positioning creativity as a landbridge to a far wider community of writers and readers, such as those focussed on the sciences or in business.

[Naeim Ammareh]

The book is good. The games are good too, but I wish if there was something like a timed plan for the games mentioned. I mean if the games were in sequence, because some of them were to be followed after some time.

[Sohail · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a disorganized and chaotic mess.

[E. D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saved me a fortune in NOT doing a PhD.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

read for a university year one, semester one + two creative writing class.

[Apoorva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three reasons why this book stands out: the Uh-MAZING word games, the generally engaging prose, and the awesome recommended readings at the end of every chapter.
There were a few typos here & there (something you don't really expect in a Cambridge book), but they don't detract from the content & how well it is written.

[A.J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was an interesting approach to a subject which is probably written to death. Morley is a scientist who thinks that all writing is creative and that good writing should be taught in all disciplines. The book is peppered with practical writing tasks (which all look frankly terrifying) and with sensible advice.

[Hella · Rating 4 out of 5]

een standaardwerk! Alle mogelijke technische aspecten van creatief schrijven (fictie en poëzie) behandeld, met veel mooie opdrachten, en ook veel theorie over het onderwijzen van creatief schrijven. Aanrader!

[Sarja · Rating 1 out of 5]

It might be worth reading to someone, but it is hardly necessary to spend any effort in reading it. What advice and recommendations it can provide can easily be extracted in the course of a few hours thorough skimming.

[Lesley Botez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and well-explained handbook for creative writers. Interesting exercises. In one I discovered from my writing that a writer's dog has to have a good vocabulary. Quite right, I am working on teaching my dog a few more words.

[Beccy · Rating 3 out of 5]

True rating; 2.5 stars

An ambivalent rating as Morley is teaching some worthwhile lessons on Creative Writing, but I find his writing style so impenetrable that I can barely remember a single lesson through I read the whole thing cover to cover.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected.

[Eren Buğlalılar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teknik bilgi sunmaktan ziyade ilham vermeye odaklı bir çalışmaydı. Öğretici yerleri var ama yazarlık konusunda okuduğum en iyi kitap değil. Her şeyden biraz var.

[A.D. Labuschagne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved the games and prompts in this book! It was fun actually working through it! I would reccomend this to any and all aspiring wordsmiths!

[Adelaide]

I think my writing-ignorant teenage self would have enjoyed this more than my 25-year-old self. But the writing excercises should prove useful, and some of the points made were a good refresher of what I learnt in uni.