Creative writing: words as practice-led research

Abstract

Creative writing most often focuses on an individual creative writer's own project, and is generated by that creative writer's personal desire to discover and develop knowledge that can assist their creative practice — specifically for the project at hand, but often with continuing use in future work. Creative writing research is both creative and critical in nature. The range of evidence of creative writing has been only marginally considered by ‘post-event’ arts and humanities subjects, most particularly literature study, and, until recently, creative writing has often been relegated to the role of a satellite to such post-event research. There is now a strongly developing body of understanding about the nature of creative writing, and considerable articulation of the nature of creative writing research, its knowledge base and understanding. This is aided, not least, by the circa 400 students per annum that are undertaking Creative Writing doctoral research degrees in the United Kingdom alone, by the circa 10,000 creative writers in academe that attend subject association conferences every year, and by a deepening subject knowledge supported by contemporary academic and governmental interest in creative practice.