<p>I read a lot and find the biographical info and sometimes the thanks to... about the authors interesting. The best books are written by people who have knowledge about what they include in their book (obviously for nonfiction, but also fiction). Life experiences give one in depth knowledge and understanding, a substitute would be classroom/book learning. The wealth of details can make or break a book, along with the mechanics of writing. The creative writing classes should help one learn those mechanics, but a broad knowledge base paints the picture for the reader. My favorites are science fiction and fantasy- the college majors, jobs held and hobbies/interests contribute greatly to each different author's stories. Many of the authors attend writing seminars long past college days. With the sciences mentioned she may want to major in one and pursue her writing passion instead of lab research eventually. So many variables. I have to add that sci fi/fantasy is legitimate, despite my H's opinion, I even took a college course in it (P/F, I hate to write).</p>
<p>I was thinking more the Jack Kerouac type of travel and experience but that has to wait a few years at least. It also seems to help to have a real demented family life. Guess that's out too. ;-)</p>
<p>Flannery O'Connor said "We hear a great deal of lamentation these days about writers having all taken themselves to the colleges and universities where they live decorously instead of going out and getting firsthand information about life. The fact is that anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days."</p>
<p>I also attended Washington College in (inaudible) and left after 2 years. It's a beautiful campus with many people dedicated to fostering writers. But I started selling books instead of just reading them and made a choice not to finish college but to pursue my dream career. </p>
<p>That being said, most of the writers I know did not major in any kind of writing. They are nurses, doctors, lawyers, housewives, who were writing all the time they were doing other things. Some still do other things...fewer than 5% of professional writers make more than $5000 a year from their work. I would suggest that college writing courses teach more about 1) teaching English and 2) how to make everybody's writing sound similar. If I had it to do over, I would not have taken English but history or sociology and written on the side. I hate to sound all 'mom' but having a solid career to fall back on is a necessity. If writing is really important to her, she'll find a way to do it but she shouldn't have to starve to make it all work!</p>
<p>This book might be worth checking out when it comes out:
Amazon.com:</a> Creative Colleges: A Guide for Student Actors, Artists, Dancers, Musicians and Writers (Creative Colleges: A Guide for Student Actors, Artists, Dancers,): Elaina Loveland: Books</p>
<p>I agree with all the posts above. Some Northeast colleges to consider that are strong in writing: Brown, Bard, Colby, Wesleyan, Amherst, just to name a few.</p>
<p>Been there, done that with DS1. While still in HS have her submit her work to organizations like 826NYC. They publish Sonny Paine (short stories written by high schoolers) 826NYC[/url</a>]
If you can afford it the summer creative writing program at Columbia is superb [url=<a href="http://www.ce.columbia.edu/hs/courses.cfm?PID=4&Content=writingMasterClasses%5DHigh">http://www.ce.columbia.edu/hs/courses.cfm?PID=4&Content=writingMasterClasses]High</a> School Program - Summer in New York City NYC : Columbia University : School of Continuing Education : Courses
The deadline is passed for this year but the biggest bargain for young writers with any interest in playwriting is the urban retreat run by Youngplaywrights.org in NYC The</a> Urban Retreat
If she can get in next year she should definitely go.
College is a few years away but for my S it came down to Bard or Johns Hopkins and he picked JHU for the greater breadth of writing courses available. His fall-back position is to teach but all his classmates think he is "the one" so who knows. I agree with the other posters that you can major in anything or just get life experience and be a writer but my son views it this way - he would write no matter what he was doing in college and this way it coincides with his assignments. However, like Novelisto suggests he's taken plenty of history, psychology and sociology classes.</p>
<p>Another great summer program is the Iowa Young Writers' Studio, less costly than Columbia. Link is </p>
<p>Untitled</a> Document</p>
<ul>
<li>sorry I do not know how to post easy links on this board. The deadline for this program for 2008 has passed as well, but again something to think about for next year.<br>
to
My S is also at Johns Hopkins. He was initially attracted to the Writing Seminars program, and will probably end up double-majoring in Writing Seminars and some permutation of psychology. He is also going to explore Science Writing, which is offered in a Masters program at Hopkins.
He spent 2 weeds in Iowa the summer before his senior yr of HS and it was an invaluable experience. He was humbled by the talents of other students (an important experience to have before college) and as a kid who never spent extended time away from home, got a first taste of that.</li>
</ul>
<p>well I guess I REALLY don't know how to post links - will look into it, but meantime you can google Iowa Young Writers Studio</p>
<p>Isn't Washington College the place that gives a $10,000 merit scholarship to any student who is a member of the NHS?</p>
<p>If I had it to do over again, this is where I would go to college:</p>
<p>St</a>. John’s College</p>
<p>Annapolis campus.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Isn't Washington College the place that gives a $10,000 merit scholarship to any student who is a member of the NHS?
[/quote]
Yes.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If I had it to do over again, this is where I would go to college:</p>
<p>St. Johns College, Annapolis campus.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yes, my English major son was intrigued by the Great Books curriculum as well, but did not seriously consider it as a little too out there (he's at William & Mary). A guy I knew in my M.Ed. in Elementary Education program, a program for people without an undergraduate degree in education, got his undergraduate degree from St. John's and he said that while it was an interesting four years, most St. Johns graduates have to go to graduate school because they can't do anything else.</p>
<p>--K9Leader</p>
<p>The problem with St. John's is that they cover so much, there is no opportunity to go in-depth. It's study something and move on to the next thing. There's no chance to go deeper since it's a (mostly) set curriculum.</p>
<p>Flannery O'Connor grew up before the current era of the hothouse child.</p>
<p>Since she is just a sophomore now, there is still time for your daughter to take more English classes in high school. We homeschool as well, and my daughter just finished an academic writing class through Duke TIP. It was NOT creative writing, but the students learned how to do close readings and wrote about the techniques used by the authors they read. There was a lot of interaction with the teacher and the other students, which made the class quite enjoyable for my daughter. There are also Short Fiction I and II classes through TIP, which ARE creative writing classes. We do not have experience with either class, but we have heard they are also good classes. Duke TIP does not assign grades, but we will be getting a detailed final evaluation, and my daughter did get numerical scores on all her assignments, so we will be able to use this class as outside validation of her abilities.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon has a professional writing major.</p>
<p>Thanks for that LongPrime, we'll look into it.</p>
<p>Great idea - she's taking two or three classes online (Lit and Precalc, possibly Chemistry) already but we'll look into this.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link BicoastMom (you did great and I love your user title). We're too late for this summer but we'll definitely keep Iowa in mind for next summer.</p>
<p>Thanks for those links Roberthhid and for sharing your ds's experience. We'll have to look into them for next summer.</p>
<p>Thanks Novelisto - you really sound like my dd - yes writing is her thing and she will find a way to make it work. Thanks for your encouraging words.</p>
<p>Thanks Mountains! I put it in my cart.</p>