DIRECTION FOR CREATIVE WRITING TEACHERS— A HERMENEUTIC PHENOMENOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
(MONOGRAPH NUMBER ONE) Ó

Dan Lukiv

Chapter One: An Overview

In the hermeneutic phenomenological tradition, I explored through interviews
with each of three creative writers (respectively: Arthur, a poet, Study I [MEd research], 2002b, 2003b, or 2003c; Thomas, a poet, Study II, 2004b; and Elizabeth, a fiction writer, Study III [1] , 2005b, 2005c, & 2005d) this research question: What, if any, experiences in school encouraged [the participant] to become an adult creative writer? Many literature and curriculum guides for Language Arts address how to teach poetry and fiction writing (not surprising in view of many individuals’ thirst for reading creative works [e.g., poetry, fiction]). If creative writing, therefore, stands as a formal Language Arts ingredient, then direction for teachers about what sorts of activities can encourage students to view creative writing seriously merits attention.

            One might logically wonder: Do creative writing activities in school stand as examples of lived school experiences [2] that encouraged the participants? Consider “yes” to that question as a possibility. As a poet, novelist, and short story writer, I naturally have thoughts and beliefs about what activities or events in school encouraged me to become a creative writer; therefore, I attempted, prior to each interview, to bracket out my biases related to those thoughts and beliefs. I also attempted to bracket out themes I had discovered in my template study (Study I) before my beginning Study II. Likewise, I attempted to bracket out themes I had discovered in Studies I and II before I began Study III.  Thus, prior to each interview, I attempted to bracket out possibilities—possibilities that I had inadvertently come up with based on general reading, conversations with colleagues, and deductive, inductive, and analogy-type reasoning that suggested certain events in school could encourage students to take up writing

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