Creative Writing is one of the most vied-for classes in all of Lake Braddock. After taking it, many students interested in writing move on to Advanced Composition. However, Advanced Composition is no longer offered after being cut from the curriculum last year. Several students are retaking Creative Writing after the cut.
The students who take Creative Writing are often the most dedicated to the subject.
“Writing was always something I did to survive,” junior Alicia McMillan said. “I needed to express myself. I started writing and pouring out my feelings onto the characters.”
Taking Advanced Composition was a natural step after Creative Writing.
“Creative Writing is fiction,” McMillan said. “Advanced Composition is more creative nonfiction.”
However, after the cut, students are retaking Creative Writing rather than moving on.
“It was a great environment to write in,” McMillan said.
There are very few other writing electives to choose from.
“I think the English department is lacking a lot,” sophomore Heather Wilson said. “Advanced Composition was important because it’s the next level.”
However, that doesn’t mean that there are no similar electives at all.
“AP Seminar isn’t writing, but it teaches you to think differently,” McMillan said. “It’s very business-oriented, unlike Creative Writing.”
Of course, not every Creative Writing student wants to retake it.
“There’s not a lot of money in writing, so people decide to take engineering or science electives,” McMillan said.
The most obvious question is what students get out of taking the class if they have taken it before.
“It’s not the level I hope for,” Wilson said, “because I’ve taken it before. But I still get new things out of it.”