Talking To: Tim Tomlinson
Arriving in Shanghai in August 2011, Tim Tomlinson quickly established himself as a professor of writing in NYU (New York University) Shanghai's liberal studies program. It's the most recent stop of many throughout the world in his 20 year career of teaching writing both to university students and through the New York Writer's Workshop, an organisation which Tomlinson himself helped found. Tomlinson shares his thoughts on the craft as well as what caused him to become a writer.
A group of college students stand in Zhongshan Park taking turns to cast three coins on the ground before noting the results, using them to look up hexagrams from the Yi Jing, the ancient Chinese system of divination. Based on these hexagrams, the students then choose from three different locations to travel to in Shanghai. A crowd of people begins to gather around (as is often the case in Chinese parks) and begin to question them as to what they are doing. Soon, a colourful cultural exchange begins and the students become immersed in a journey that they hadn't expected would happen. It's another day in Tim Tomlinson's writing class.
Teaching the writing segment of the liberal studies curriculum at NYU Shanghai, a core curriculum that includes the 'Great Books' of the Western canon as well as cultural and social foundations found throughout the world, Tomlinson embraces the fact that he has more leeway in terms of what he teaches students in his writing class. "If you follow any of the controversy around the global expansion of American universities, you'll find students who are getting in [to university based solely] on test scores, but their English isn't up to stuff. Especially in the writing classes."
The result being that Tomlinson is continuously tailoring his classes, feeling that he has to engage students in more personal and intimate ways. "Cultural and social foundations, instructors argue that what we do is kind of touchy feely," Tomlinson states, but feels that doesn’t make his classes in any way subsidiary. Instead, Tomlinson realises the power and the need for this kind of teaching from his own experience in learning about writing.
When Tomlinson studied for his MFA in Creative Writing at Columbia University in the 80s, much of academia was under the impression that "writing cannot be taught". Tomlinson recalls going through his entire two year program without so much as a mark on any manuscript submitted to professors, many of whom proved evasive and discouraging. It was an experience that eventually prompted Tomlinson to create the New York Writer's Workshop and subsequently author a popular book on creative writing called The Portable MFA in 2006. And although Tomlinson agrees that while "talent in writing can't be taught, the skills to hone that talent can."
Tomlinson now shares his passion for writing by guiding students in developing ideas and finding inspiration in writing workshops providing information on dramatic action, character development, plot structure and, of course, making notes on manuscripts. Of course, to hear him tell the tale of what got him into writing, it's a long way from throwing coins in a park.
"In third grade we had a first year teacher, Mr Belcourt, and up until his arrival the only time we had any writing punishments, were writing 'I must not speak out in class' 50 times. He wanted compositions, so you couldn't repeat the same admonitions, you had to write an essay. They started out at 50 words, but by the second or third week I could do a 50 word essay before everyone went outside for recess. Then they went up to 100. Then 150. The highest it ever got was 1,000, which really scared me." Today, Tomlinson continues to write and encourage others to write, but for him and hopefully for his students, it's anything but a punishment.
Tim Tomlinson will be holding two writing workshops, open to the public on May 10 (7 – 9pm, RMB 200) and May 19 (1 – 4pm, RMB 300) at Colorbox, 1/F, Bldg 20, 383 Xiangyang Nan Lu, near Jianguo Lu, 6467 7002
