Why Creative Writing is Underrated

What do you think of when someone says ‘art’? 

When I’m asked that question, my mind immediately traverses paintings, Shakespeare, and my failed art projects. 

Then I start to recall traces of my online lecture where my lecturer argues why the ‘Legend of Zelda’ is in fact ‘state of the art’. In fact, my mind could pull out a million things that could constitute art and look bourgeois, to convince people that I know a thing or two about art. 

Somehow, my mind never recalls creative writing or even mentions it as ‘art’, even as an aspiring novelist myself.  

You read that right.  

I do enjoy creative writing and I still aspire to be a novelist. It’s something I don’t really speak of anymore. Even the people around me see me as an aspiring journalist instead. Some have long forgotten that it has been my dream ever since I was twelve. 

It’s not that I became ashamed of being a fiction writer, it’s just that life… happened. There was no time to write, much less tell people that I loved creative writing. 

So, is there such a thing as an underrated art form? 

Apparently so. In fact, I was even told that creative writing was more of a hobby than a career.  

Creative Writing: A Hobby, a Career, or Both? 

The question of categorizing my very dream into a career or a hobby has never felt so stressful.  

Because, in reality, I’m pulled in all directions by people around me trying to persuade me to migrate elsewhere. To start a better life because I’m just “starting out in life” and that I should “keep my options open”.  

Other than trying to ignore the insurmountable amount of peer pressure thrown in my direction, I spend half my free time scouting for job openings that are alternatives to fiction writing. Alternatives to creative writing, but never really creative writing itself. 

Gone were the days I spent writing an entire manuscript for a novel series and paid to enter writing competitions. Because paying to enter a competition and spending your time doing something that doesn’t earn you any money are now mere myths in today’s crashing economy.  

So, should creative writing be considered a career, a hobby, or both? 

Professor Bryan Walpert, doctoral mentor supervisor of Massey University’s School of Humanities, Media and Creative Communication, shares his thoughts on this. 

Walpert writes poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction. He has published poetry collections such as ‘Etymology’, ‘A History of Glass’, ‘Native Bird’; and his other works include a novel, ‘Entanglement’; a novella, ‘Late Sonata’; and a collection of short stories, ‘Ephraim’s Eyes’. 

In explaining how he got to delve into these genres, he said that he started out with poetry as his primary genre, then fiction books, and finally, individual creative non-fiction pieces. 

When asked why he loves creative writing, he said that language is what draws him the most. 

“(It’s) how language can be pleasurable to play with and also can lead to surprising discoveries,” he said. 

When asked whether creative writing should be seen as a career, a hobby or both, Walpert said that it can be seen as both. 

“It can be a successful or lucrative experience of creative writing,” said Walpert. 

“When it comes to creative writing, it is important to remember that every time we watch a show on Netflix, or Apple TV, or Neon, or Lightbox, behind it all are writers. It has become an extraordinary part of everyday life.” 

When asked whether creative writing is considered a stable career, he said that it’s not a guarantee on its own nor is it easy to be a full-time creative writer.  

“In any independent career effort, there are no guarantees of stability,” said Walpert. 

However, many creative writers often work in related fields, such as teaching. 

“In poetry and fiction, you often don’t know where you’re going, and it takes you to places that surprise and delight. It’s just a lot of fun. It’s an intellectual experience and emotional experience. It combines a lot of things.” 

Creative Writing as an Underrated Art Form 

There is no denying that creative writing is an underrated art form. After all, we creative writers must find jobs related to creative writing to earn a stable income.  

Some of you reading this may have already become convinced that creative writing is not worth the time or effort since it does not consistently rake in some dollars to survive the cost-of-living crisis. 

But are we truly living if we only do things to earn rather than do things we enjoy doing? 

Sure, creative writing is extremely underrated, but it still exists as art. Art that we enjoy each time we buy some books off the shelves in a bookstore, when we borrow stacks of books from the library during the weekend, by scrolling through an e-Book, or winding down with an audiobook.  

Here’s an abstract of my personal fiction piece to prove why life is worth living in the world of creative writing: 

“Its scales were black yet luminescent, changing from violet to azure under the dim, scattered sunlight. It had spiky black frills on top of its head, as if it were a crown. The snake snoozed, soaking up the cool dampness of the shed.”