Creative Writing A Lost Art?

   It may be sad news to the older generations but it would seem that it is an accepted part of the technological advance that letter writing has receded to the background in exchange for faster more innovative options -(sorry Nana). But what of writing in general? Well to my dismay not only is the beautiful cursive script I painstakingly learned and mastered my fourth grade year now a lost art also- tsk tsk; but based on my findings while tutoring creative writing is fastly approaching obscurity as well.

 This photo to the left courtesy of http://www.uniqueteachingresources.com is a prime example of the type of assignment I and several others recieved during elementary years. They are what helped my current love of creative writing flourish. Surely, I am not alone in remembering when there was such a thing as daily and weekly creative writing assignments. Their sole purpose was to ensure that when highschool and college rolled around our writing would be that of excellence. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case a fact those with young impressionable children in their lives are being forced to deal with. Thanks to commoncore -(insert frustrated sigh here) bygone is the era of schools using creative writing not only as a skill but as a stepping stone for the essays previously required to show understanding of a particular concept.  Where are all the kids that aspire to be authors? The answer is sadly that they are now adults like us now. I myself wished to be a NY Times Bestselling Author by age 20. I truly believed it possible that I could be the next Christopher Paolini whom many of you know as the brilliant mind behind  such lovable characters as Eragon and Saphira.
 Yes, believe it or not a love for reading and a love for writing often go hand in hand. A great book can often inspire a person to create an even greater book. Creative writing does not always mean a short story sometimes its a poem or a series of lyrics maybe even a comic. It is a matter of imaginitive perspective. Those of you with children in your life be they 5 or 15 I encourage you to talk with them about reading and writing. Try to gauge what their attitudes are on the subjects and try to find ways to improve those attitudes if possible. As for you, consider starting a journal or diary and allow yourself to be seen writing you may be surprised to see your little ones showing interest in writing in the future. Creative writing is not entirely a lost art and it can be saved but its up to us individually to do our part to encourage its survival.

Be Blessed, Stay Inspired, and Write Well