WHAT DOES WRITING A NOVEL EVEN ENTAIL? (Essential Background/Context)
Everybody writes, it's part of our lives whether we like it or not. Grocery lists, errands, thank you cards, pen pals, writing plays an integral into our everyday lives! I have always been extremely fond of writing, more specifically creative writing. After doing some research about how creative writing came to be, it inspired me even further to complete my mission of writing this book! Here's some background on creative writing for everyone who wonders how the phenomenon of taking pen to paper for pleasure got world wide!
- Beginning around some time in the 1930s, literature, writing, and discussion were considered especially important mediums for solving issues facing not only our world but our personal lives as well
- There was even a movement empowering young people to write known as "Self-expression through words!"
- Unfortunately, this movement was short lived.
- After the landing of Sputnik in 1957, Congress was forced to pass the National Defense Education Act
- This act flew in the face of the creative writing movement, as it gave the government the right to release huge sums of their money into education- but only specifically in the fields of math, science, and foreign language
- Teachers were in upheaval over the act, and soon superintendents, teachers, and families within in the school system held a conference in 1967
- The teachers were completely shut down during this conference
- Since then, the focus has been moved to science, math, and STEM (I know, it's STEAM now, yay progress!) in education and these continue to be the main focal points of our education system
My goal after finding out this info is to implement more creative writing into our schools and shift the focus!!!! We NEED more arts and creative classes.