Earlier this semester, I did an informal survey and asked my students if any of them wrote fiction or poetry for fun. As a professor in the English Language & Literature department, I feel an obligation to constantly emphasize how enriching writing can be as both a hobby and an artistic pursuit. Sure, writing during a class is important for improving one’s grammar syntactic choices, but the true enjoyment and wonder of writing does not reveal itself until the activity is being done in peace and in private for the pure enjoyment of the craft itself.

To my surprise and sadness, not a single student of mine said in response to my survey that she wrote fiction or poetry for fun. This was particularly perplexing to me since many of my students are English majors. That is to say, they greatly enjoy reading novels and writing essays in a classroom setting. So, I would have guessed that they all loved writing and enjoyed expressing their thoughts and opinions through imagined narratives, poetic stanzas, and clever short stories on their own.

In the days that followed, I began to wonder why many of my students did not feel compelled to write fiction or poetry. Eventually I determined that part of the reason might have to do with Korea’s collegiate system. You see, in many American universities, writing fiction or poetry is a big part of any English major. Students can choose to actually focustheir major or minor on “creative writing.” Such a major then entails taking numerous classes that focus solely on writing fiction and poetry, rather than reading it. Consider one English class from Stanford University. The description of the class is as follows: “[This class] explores the basic elements of fiction writing, including narrative, scene, character, and dialogue, as well as the habits necessary to grow as a writer.”

In addition to fiction and poetry writing being encouraged in a classroom setting in many American universities, most schools also publish a magazine—called a literary journal—that features fiction and poetry written by students. Nearly all universities also have creative writing clubs, and the students frequently hold fiction or poetry parties at local coffee shops and bars.

In other words, writing fiction and poetry is heavily encouraged by many American universities.

I say all of this not to detract from the wonderful classes and clubs that Korean universities offer, but simply to point out the difference in the focus of the two countries’ educational curriculums. There are many marvelous college English departments throughout the country of Korea, but many of them tend to focus less on fiction or poetry writing and more on reading, analysis, and essay writing.

So, I offer a challenge to anyone reading this. With the substantial days of vacation that are coming up, plan to write a short story or poem just for fun. It can be extremely brief—perhaps a poem that only takes five minutes to compose. Or perhaps you want to write something longer, like a 10-page fiction story that takes several weeks to complete. Whatever the case, use this vacation as an opportunity to write outside of the classroom and to enjoy writing as an imaginative hobby. Let your mind wander, and let your pen follow along. You might be surprised at how exciting writing can be.   

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