EDITORIAL

Short cuts to success

AN estimated 110,000 people signed up for some kind of creative writing course in the UK last year. And the numbers are growing – at every level from evening class to postgraduate. Twelve years ago only eight universities here offered postgraduate degrees in creative writing. Today that number has increased to 85.

But can writing be taught? Or are all these people being taken for a ride? The lead feature in this issue of Mslexia argues that writing is an art like any other art, with principles and rules that can be learnt. This means that enrolling on a course is one of the quickest short cuts through the maze of drudgery and pain that is the writer’s life. The corollary is that many potentially great authors may waste years languishing in the creative wilderness for want of a good tutor.

That this applies as much to poetry as it does to any other form of writing was brought home to me earlier this year when I chaired the judging panel of the National Poetry Prize. I turned up fully expecting to be mystified by the debate among the erudite judges. Instead I discovered that the rules for writing a winning poem are very similar to the rules for writing a good piece of prose.

The discovery made me want to rush out and give it a go. I hope, when you read my 10 tips for winning a poetry competition, that you'll feel the same.

Debbie Taylor
Editor