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One kind of writing – academic writing – is rigid, procedural, purposed purely to convey knowledge, data and information. It’s orderly, organized and follows a formula. It is necessary. It can be dull. Anyone can master it. Everyone should master it.
The other kind of writing – creative writing – is inspired, artistic and entertains with word pictures, concepts and deep meaning. It is enjoyable to read. It touches us while teaching us. It’s an art form. It’s not necessary to learn, but a joy to those who do.
Academic writing will earn you A’s, creative writing may get you published. Academic writing must be taught, but rarely is; creative writing is optional, but is almost always the focus of writing curricula.
Creative writing focuses on story telling, recounting personal experiences, authoring fiction, poetry, using style, voice and techniques for making writing entertaining, smart, and packed with panache. Most curricula on the market seek to encourage this kind of creativity and style in our students, drawing out the reluctant writer, cultivating a future author, columnist, reporter, and novelist, someone who is confident and comfortable with the pen. The truth? We really do want to produce fabulous writers of our children. Thus, the kind of writing we encourage and value is creative, expressive writing. We even endorse the use of creative writing with the all-important essay. Herein lies the professor problem. College professors just want the facts, not the flair.