Our first writing assignment in creative writing is a creative non-fiction piece for the National Public Radio series “This I Believe.”

This I Believe is based on a 1950s radio program of the same name, hosted by acclaimed journalist Edward R. Murrow. Each day, Americans gathered by their radios to hear compelling essays from the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson, Helen Keller, and Harry Truman as well as corporate leaders, cab drivers, scientists, and secretaries—anyone able to distill into a few minutes the guiding principles by which they lived. These essayists’ words brought comfort and inspiration to a country worried about the Cold War, McCarthyism, and racial division. (About This I Believe)

It is an excellent start for a creative writing course because it gives me a chance to have a pre-course assessment on students’ general compositional ability.

As part of our preparation, we read and listen to some of the following essays for “This I Believe.”

Listen and read the following examples.

• Accomplishing Big Things in Small Pieces
• Finding the Flexibility to Survive
• Being Content with Myself
• Thirty Things I Believe

Afterward, choose three more to read and listen to.

Recommended Essays

• Good Can Be As Communicable As Evil
• In Praise of the ‘Wobblies’
• Inner Strength from Desperate Times
• The America I Believe In
• The Kindness Of Strangers
• The Mysterious Connections That Link Us Together
• This Is Home
• We’re All Different in Our Own Ways
• Work Is A Blessing