i went for creative writing last year, and i can honestly say right now that it will be the most intense and incredible summer of your life. the teachers are incredible, the people are interesting and you will have hour long discussions at lunch about the values of utopias and obscure thoughts on human existence and it's amazing
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Okay, let's not put them on too high a pedestal here. The teachers are NOT godly and are seriously very human. Tracy was kind of bitchy to me and to other students and as for Zay... Well, one girl knew him personally (he was childhood best friends with her older brother) and apparently he tells a lot of really offensive, not at all funny, not exactly "lulz irony" racist jokes and uses racial slurs.
The teachers are hired because they're all good teachers. But they're absolutely human and not worthy of such praise. They also tend to speak dogmatically and tell students that this is how to write poetry and this is how to write prose and this is how to write plays and here are your prompts and do this and do that and then all the students graduate... and don't write again for either the rest of their lives or for, at least, the next several years. I've met three CSSSA graduates (two in '03, one in '04) who kept writing after that summer. The rest, not so much.
hmmm...well, maybe i just had a different experience with them then you did? i personally loved them, and maybe it was just me, but both tracy and zay were excellent for me and great at kind of forcing me out of my comfort zone. i apologize if this offended you or something, but that was just my personal experience with them.
Oh, no, not at all. And I didn't mean to bash their teaching ability. They're excellent teachers and they had a lot of good advice which I still find useful. But I think they were too restrictive on what constituted "good" writing and the program was set up to have students rely on having a mentor and being surrounded by support, which isn't what the real world is like. Though it is refreshing for those four weeks. /endrant >_
-as much as you might want to, don't bring your complete set of shakespeare's works or that enormous encyclopedia that you might feel you HAVE to bring. i would advise bringing some books, but don't pack anything excessive or enormous and obtrusive. you honestly won't have time to read and you'll want to be with friends instead of reading. on that note, bring a decent amount of clothes, because laundry is ridiculous to do unless you go at like 3 on a wednesday afternoon, and you won't want to do that. when you do decide to do laundry, strategize for the time. you'll think that people won't be doing laundry on a sunday morning because they'll be sleeping, but you're completely wrong. writers have a lot more free time than all the other disciplines because almost all their work is done outside of class, so utilize some of that for laundry
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Thank you so much for the advice! I really appreciate your long comments with all of it, going above and beyond my original questions.
This really makes me reconsider my original plan of leaving my laptop at home. I don't want it to get lost/stolen/whatever but I can't really carry it with me (it's ridic. heavy). So I'll have to figure that out, but did you have any experiences with leaving a computer in the room or did you know anyone whose belongings were stolen?
Again, thank you. I tend to worry about some things (like being really great each time I write or even stupid normal things, like having time to do laundry) so your "extra advice" really has helped to assuage my worries. I'm really excited for this summer and it's really good to know that you (and the other person below) had great experiences in the Creative Writing departments.
it's no problem at all, ask if you have any more questions. i'll be more than pleased to answer
i brought my dad's macbook with me, and it was really no problem. i usually carried it with me, but there were some times where i just left it in my room. i don't know of anyone who had any problems with stealing. the people at csssa are usually focused on art, not being kleptomaniacs, haha. if you're really worried about it being stolen, just hide it somewhere in your room when you leave. my roommate left hers on our desk in plain view in front of the window most of the time (and our dorm was literally the first one and faced the outside of the dorms and the street) and nothing ever happened. so i wouldn't worry at all.
and it will be more than a great experience for you, i promise. the creative writing department grows so close simply because of what we're writing about and how much we really reveal about ourselves through our writing. it's amazing
When I was there for creative writing 4 years ago, I did my joint project with a friend who was a film student. I wrote a poem, we recorded me reading it, we filmed a whole bunch of stuff that was either directly or tangentially related to the poem, and then she put the whole thing together into this wonderful melding of our art forms. It was a lot of fun, and a good way to branch out from the department. I also know people who worked with visual artists in a similar way, and playwrights who collaborated with the theater department, and so forth. My favorite project of the year was a group of writers (who were also musicians) who collaborated with some of the musicians to create a band called The Tickle Me Hell NosPoint being, people did a lot of different things, but for everyone I knew, it worked out really well. People had a lot of fun, and got the opportunity to do a lot of rad stuff
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i've been to similar camps like csssa in the past, and i'd say as far as making friends goes, just start by saying your name! :D its easier than you think, don't worry about it. my only precaution is that, particularly with girls, its a little harder after the first week to make new friends because many have already formed cliques. sad but true. you'll do fine, though. just keep smiling and people will even introduce themselves to you! :)
Haha, sorry if my question was ridiculously redundant or something.I can see where that'd be annoying.
Thanks for sharing your experience as a "what-not-to-do" for the joint-project, it's helpful. Yeah, it makes sense that procrastination & loss of control would affect a project (no duh, I guess) so I'll really keep that in mind (I'm the like, worst procrastinator ever). Would you recommend working with another writer or someone from a different discipline or does it really just depend on your own style/personality?
Sorry, didn't mean to sound so wharrgarbl. I think I forgot what it's like to be a teenager and be afraid of not making friends. But seriously, you will be fine.
Project: Different discipline! It'll get you out of your comfort zone, you'll make even more friends, get to know a little something about other art forms, and your project will be more interesting. I wish I'd done that. But if you find a friend who's a writer and inspires you and you want to do something with them, forget everything I just said.
BTW, I'm sure someone has at some point collaborated with a dancer, but I didn't see it my year. If you want to a challenge, you could try that. Like, poetry and interpretive dance. I dunno. But yeah, you'll be fine. You got in, that means you're already off on the right foot.
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The teachers are hired because they're all good teachers. But they're absolutely human and not worthy of such praise. They also tend to speak dogmatically and tell students that this is how to write poetry and this is how to write prose and this is how to write plays and here are your prompts and do this and do that and then all the students graduate... and don't write again for either the rest of their lives or for, at least, the next several years. I've met three CSSSA graduates (two in '03, one in '04) who kept writing after that summer. The rest, not so much.
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This really makes me reconsider my original plan of leaving my laptop at home. I don't want it to get lost/stolen/whatever but I can't really carry it with me (it's ridic. heavy). So I'll have to figure that out, but did you have any experiences with leaving a computer in the room or did you know anyone whose belongings were stolen?
Again, thank you. I tend to worry about some things (like being really great each time I write or even stupid normal things, like having time to do laundry) so your "extra advice" really has helped to assuage my worries. I'm really excited for this summer and it's really good to know that you (and the other person below) had great experiences in the Creative Writing departments.
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i brought my dad's macbook with me, and it was really no problem. i usually carried it with me, but there were some times where i just left it in my room. i don't know of anyone who had any problems with stealing. the people at csssa are usually focused on art, not being kleptomaniacs, haha. if you're really worried about it being stolen, just hide it somewhere in your room when you leave. my roommate left hers on our desk in plain view in front of the window most of the time (and our dorm was literally the first one and faced the outside of the dorms and the street) and nothing ever happened. so i wouldn't worry at all.
and it will be more than a great experience for you, i promise. the creative writing department grows so close simply because of what we're writing about and how much we really reveal about ourselves through our writing. it's amazing
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That band thing is a really cool idea, since I'm a musician too (bass guitar ftw)so it's good to know that that's an option.
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Thanks for sharing your experience as a "what-not-to-do" for the joint-project, it's helpful. Yeah, it makes sense that procrastination & loss of control would affect a project (no duh, I guess) so I'll really keep that in mind (I'm the like, worst procrastinator ever). Would you recommend working with another writer or someone from a different discipline or does it really just depend on your own style/personality?
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Project: Different discipline! It'll get you out of your comfort zone, you'll make even more friends, get to know a little something about other art forms, and your project will be more interesting. I wish I'd done that. But if you find a friend who's a writer and inspires you and you want to do something with them, forget everything I just said.
BTW, I'm sure someone has at some point collaborated with a dancer, but I didn't see it my year. If you want to a challenge, you could try that. Like, poetry and interpretive dance. I dunno. But yeah, you'll be fine. You got in, that means you're already off on the right foot.
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