Are there any critical theory texts or particular educational establishments you'd recommend for creative writing?
I get this question (or the related "what would you recommend for criticism") all the time, and I can never think of a particularly satisfying answer.
I read a bunch of "how to write fiction" self-help books in high school, and those were all largely crap, but I suppose they at least ground in basic, reductive stuff like the hero's journey, different narrative act structures, the significance of details, etc. And I just wrote a bunch, and then went to college and focused on writing there, and got critiqued a lot, and critiqued a bunch of Faulkner and whatnot, and since then I've just read scattered essays and kept trying to actively break down whatever I'm engaging with while writing my own stuff. Looking up interviews/general posts by writers you like is also pretty solid, though remember that your process is your own.
On the criticism side, I'd recommend checking out a good history of literary criticism - going through the various phases and styles of criticism really helps you see all the different lenses you can apply to the text. It also helps grind in that there is no "one truth" of criticism, and the counterpoint that /criticism can really help you understand and elevate a text/.
And on the creative writing side, there's no substitute for writing a ton, and for getting harsh criticism on your writing. And I mean /harsh/ - if you actually want to get any good, you can't rely on a hugbox forum, you'll need to find readers who demand quality. There are probably forums that are actually dedicated to kicking your ass, but I'm not involved with that stuff, so I wouldn't know what to recommend and what to avoid unless you just want a back massage. If you're in college, you can hopefully find either classes or support for that - outside of college, maybe see if your area has a local writers group of some kind. But the important thing's the writing. Look up lists of writing exercises (write a ghost story, write a story in second person, write a story about something lost, etc) and do them. Push outside of your writing comfort zone. Experience things and then think what story you could make of them. Write write write.
I read a bunch of "how to write fiction" self-help books in high school, and those were all largely crap, but I suppose they at least ground in basic, reductive stuff like the hero's journey, different narrative act structures, the significance of details, etc. And I just wrote a bunch, and then went to college and focused on writing there, and got critiqued a lot, and critiqued a bunch of Faulkner and whatnot, and since then I've just read scattered essays and kept trying to actively break down whatever I'm engaging with while writing my own stuff. Looking up interviews/general posts by writers you like is also pretty solid, though remember that your process is your own.
On the criticism side, I'd recommend checking out a good history of literary criticism - going through the various phases and styles of criticism really helps you see all the different lenses you can apply to the text. It also helps grind in that there is no "one truth" of criticism, and the counterpoint that /criticism can really help you understand and elevate a text/.
And on the creative writing side, there's no substitute for writing a ton, and for getting harsh criticism on your writing. And I mean /harsh/ - if you actually want to get any good, you can't rely on a hugbox forum, you'll need to find readers who demand quality. There are probably forums that are actually dedicated to kicking your ass, but I'm not involved with that stuff, so I wouldn't know what to recommend and what to avoid unless you just want a back massage. If you're in college, you can hopefully find either classes or support for that - outside of college, maybe see if your area has a local writers group of some kind. But the important thing's the writing. Look up lists of writing exercises (write a ghost story, write a story in second person, write a story about something lost, etc) and do them. Push outside of your writing comfort zone. Experience things and then think what story you could make of them. Write write write.
