COVER STORY
Why creative writing is a force on campus: Maintaining a balance between 'the mind and the heart' through storytelling
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The value of creative writing instruction in a university is difficult to quantify. It may never ensure its students a steady paycheck or retirement plan, and the discipline itself is sometimes called into question. And although it is central to the humanities, its techniques are employed by scientists, engineers, lawyers and business people alike. They, like the talented students in one of the nation's most selective creative writing programs, appreciate the power of words to influence and inspire, as well as to communicate.
For Matthew Belmonte, an assistant professor of human development who studies autism and also writes novels, writing is as elemental as thought. "I don't believe that it's possible to fully understand something unless one has written it, or at least is capable of writing about it," he says.
A Cornell alumnus who was an English and computer science major, Belmonte also holds an MFA in fiction writing from Sarah Lawrence College and a Ph.D. in neuroscience. In addition to his novels, he writes plays and essays, often about "autism and what it tells us about being human."
Scientific writing offers many opportunities to employ fictional techniques, he notes. "We like to separate creative writing from expository or scientific writing, but they actually have more in common than most people realize," Belmonte says. In science, "there is a story and a plot. Any time you tell the story of a physical phenomenon, you destroy certain aspects of that phenomenon to emphasize others. The creative skill in large part lies in making those life-or-death narrative choices."
Can it be taught?
The term "creative writing" can be misleading, though. "I can teach someone to be a better writer," says Ken McClane '73, MFA '76, the W.E.B. DuBois Professor of Literature and author of 10 books of poems and essays. But, he continues, "great writers, I think, are born with it. We can teach people to respect literature and to respect themselves, how to read well and think about life with more discrimination. I see students when they are at the commencement of wonder. It's just beautiful. It's almost religious."
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