Kimberlee A. Dobek Portfolio This Website is actively under construction
Creative Writing for College Educators
The Past, Present, and Future of Creative Writing in Higher Education
What is creative writing, and how do we teach it?
Creative writing involves tapping into a student’s innermost self, viewed as a reservoir, a hidden well wherein lies a wealth of creativity and potential. We begin scrubbing away their inner critic while drawing out from within their innermost thoughts and emotions, awakening their senses, as they begin to build their creative identity. We intentionally begin to pull them in a specific direction of knowledge by exposing students to hi-quality curated, diverse reading selections. Engaging students in reflective practices and past experiences, from fleeting thoughts and ideas, external experiences and internal deeply rooted thoughts and emotions; students begin a journey of self-expression through poetry and prose. This teaches students to think like a writer. From the classical haiku or sonnet to free-form creative writing, students will experience an array of poetry. Along the way, we introduce intensive writing workshop activities, breaking free from writers block and tearing down inner prejudices about their writing. Students begin incorporating multimodal projects, and as they begin to draw upon their senses, we continue to surround students with an intentional collection of ideas, offering options for writing prompts that align with educational outcomes, and then continue aiming them in a specific direction to guide their assignments. As Augustine would say, to teach, to delight, and to move; creative writing follows the process of teaching to mindfully engage students' ethos, conveyed through personal experiences and their senses. As an instructor who advocates for autonomy and student-led choices on topics, effective teaching provides students access to digital resource alternatives, and assignment variety. This fosters and awakens students’ creativity, empowering independent thinkers who inspire beyond the page. Providing deeper learning opportunities for both peer-reviewed feedback and instructor feedback, the classroom lends space for students to grow and expand their writing pieces, encouraging students to explore and unleash their creative expression and achieve their writing goals.
Creative Writing Blog Posts
Creative Writing Coursework
The following are four creative writing assignments. My creative writing course work, my history of creative writing, an annotated bibliography of creative writing resources for educators, and pedagogical analysis of creative writing.
Creative Writing: 10-Minute Writing Prompts + Examples
1) A Walk to The Mailbox
1) A Walk to The Mailbox
1) A Walk to The Mailbox
Students who learn to write on a micro scale learning about detail, revealing how much they have to say about the smallest, most overlooked objects in life and bring them to the forefront as they learn shadow and ground in their writing.
2) Memories of the Past
1) A Walk to The Mailbox
1) A Walk to The Mailbox
Through reflection, students will begin to write about their past experiences, their past histories and learn to honor their past, explore their identity and how their life has shaped who they are as a person and a writer.
3) Alone One Evening
1) A Walk to The Mailbox
3) Alone One Evening
Explore empathy through writing about walking in another person's shoes and students can learn to think, act, and view the world through the senses of another person without having lived their story. Writing through a different point of view affords students opportunities to explore their writing in depth.
4) Springtime Love
5) One-Sentence Stories
3) Alone One Evening
Writing about love, human emotions, and feelings helps students tap into their inner world through their senses as they reflect on their lived experiences revealing their literacies on the page.
5) One-Sentence Stories
5) One-Sentence Stories
5) One-Sentence Stories
Teaching students to write laconic one sentence stories assists students in writing effectively using succinct diction helps with clarity as students learn to write better.
6) On Writer's Block
5) One-Sentence Stories
5) One-Sentence Stories
Writing on writers block is an important step in learning how to become a better writer because at times, it plagues all writers. Learning how to write to a timer, write before you feel like writing teaches students consistency and persistence.
Poetry, Flash Fiction, and Lyrical Essays
Free Verse Poetry
Free Verse Poetry
Free Verse Poetry
Free verse meets contemporary classrooms where students are afforded opportunities for experimentation with lyrical form, enjambment, unconventional structural patterns, and student-controlled form. The free verse poem deviates from traditional form, emphasizing linguistic freedom while reimagining the structure of poetry foregrounding the importance of language through poetic structures.
Short Story
Free Verse Poetry
Free Verse Poetry
The following is an example of a short story assignment designed to be completed within 2-6 weeks. Short stories teach narrative, students learn the power of voice, grounded in a rhetorically solid framework. Short stories develop characters, settings, themes and highlights the importance of conflict within a story. Students explore and engage with point of view and scene structures and opportunities for ambiguity within their storytelling.
Flash Fiction
Flash Fiction
Flash Fiction
Combining narrative into a pithy short story. Typically under 1,500 words, flash fiction strives for brevity, clarity, and precision. Flash fiction is a solution for writers as it appeals to the fast-paced digital era, while promoting a sense of intensity. Flash fiction adds a mindful depth and critical analysis that supports student creativity.
Lyrical Essay
Flash Fiction
Flash Fiction
Lyrical poems afford students time to explore memories, emotions, and evoke their senses through poetic language combining poetry, memoir, and essay writing styles. Lyrical essays concentrate on the suggestive nature of language through rhythm, language, syntax and attention to detail.
This website uses cookies.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.