365 creative writing prompts

365 creative writing prompts

Inspiring Ideas for Creative Writing

1. Introduction

It is strange that in a society that has access to tons of information and is so inspired, that individuals can struggle so much to come up with a new idea or one that applies to some of the current issues. A lot of that has to do with our conditioning; we are taught to do things correctly, but whether these things are right or the best things to do is seldom questioned. We are pushed to believe that we are not capable of thinking certain thoughts. Society is defined as an enduring and cooperating social group whose members have developed organized patterns of relationships through interaction with one another. With that said, social hierarchies and constraints set in to add another dynamic to the term society and how it actually applies to the people who are joined in the group. Many times we are forced to believe that we are incapable of attaining certain positions or in some cases higher learning. Now consider the ideas and suggestions that a person gives you and compare them to an individual who does not have the social constraints, even though the advice may be harmful. Whose idea would be more creative? Now consider how many of these situations you have faced in school and the advice that you have been given. The reason for so many people’s issues with running out of creative ideas usually boils down to some kind of social situation or self-doubt and very rarely has to deal with a lack of inspiration. Basically, put, societal norms and restrictions kill creativity. Now, with a problem identified as that, we have a motive to correct it and change our environment to one that is suited to creativity.

2. Exploring Different Writing Styles

b. Abstract Writers: These students provide loose definitions with signaling being muddled and incomplete. Readers must guess what the writer is trying to define. These types of writers are capable of excellent and incisive logical arguments if they learn to define their terms and state the logical connections. Abstract writers can often write very well on topics that are of interest to themselves. They do not see that writing in philosophy is a tool for discovery as well as communication. A philosopher uses writing to help understand a problem and solution that are thoroughly understood. Your poor writing in a past essay is not a reflection of who you are, so do not get discouraged! Digging deeper into that topic should be less difficult as it is already of interest, and an abstract writer can be changed into a concrete one. This strategy can be employed by pretending to type up something that will be read again at a later point.

a. Concrete Writers: These students excel in providing clear and specific definitions. They make good use of examples or analogies. They tend to stick to the same kind of writing they use in mathematical proofs. They can improve by trying to put their ideas into an essay format. They should state their definitions, prove their statements, and restate their definitions. These writers also need to pay special attention to spelling and punctuation. A small mistake can confuse the reader. Try to read over what you have written and circle key words that will be important in the next paragraph. This will help you to link definitions with proving statements.

Some students’ writing styles fit into the following categories:

3. Crafting Memorable Characters

Creating a character more interesting than oneself can be the beginning of a personal adventure in fiction writing. Plot can be defined as the structure of events in a story, novel, or play. The causally related events that take place, the pattern of action and reaction in the story. However, without characters, there is usually no one for the reader to relate to, to care about, and no one to experience the events of the plot. Many stories arise from character “what ifs?” Starting with someone ordinary and asking what if this person found themselves in an extraordinary situation or taking an extraordinary person and asking what would it be like for this person to fail or face disgrace. Characters become interesting to the reader when they have identifiable human qualities, when they go against the norm, when they are in conflict with themselves or others, or when they are faced with new and unfamiliar situations. In general, people who go out of their way to do something are more interesting than people who are more reactive, and characters who dare to challenge the norm are often challenging and compelling characters.

4. Creating Captivating Plots

Plot is, in fact, the thing. Good writing is all about good stories and the characters that inhabit them. Creating a good plot is not easy; it must be good and it must be simple. A good story is about a crisis that changes a situation into a decision and its resolution. The characters, after that situation is resolved, will not be able to come back to the way they were. This change is a good basis for character development. All plots can be divided into two types: the first is action-based plots that involve the characters struggling to prevent changes in their ideal worlds and failing until they are finally forced to make a stand. The second type of plot is about characters who are thrown into a new and unplanned situation and must struggle to find a way to return to their old world. This event-based plotting involves the manipulation of cause and effect to produce dramatic cause in which the change of circumstance will pit the protagonist against the antagonist. Always remember that every villain is the hero of his own story. A good villain will see himself as mirroring the protagonist at best. And at worst, he is what the protagonist could be if the situation was different. Event-based plotting is best suited to episodic storytelling, while action-based stories are better for more dramatic and emotional change in the plot. No matter what path your plot takes, the main goal here is to have a clear chain of events and an end goal. This way, you are less likely to write yourself into a corner and be forced to redo much of your story. With experience, a clear plot can allow you to predict the duration and page count of your story to avoid a lack of detail or an overly long story.

5. Enhancing Your Writing Skills

One way to improve your skills at any task, provided it is a task that requires creativity, is to learn more about the possibilities and techniques involved, and that is what you might hope to achieve from reading this material. However, much of it might seem obscure or overwhelming if you are not currently convinced that your work is not always as good as you could hope; therefore, these chapters are only likely to be helpful if you are already fairly motivated to improve your writing skills. It is worth noting, however, that being dissatisfied with one’s current skills is not the same as being dissatisfied with one’s current level of skill: in the latter case, the material may seem too difficult to be of much use at present, but might still be usefully read after your skills have reached a higher level.

General These chapters are designed to help you improve your writing skills. It is particularly important to say right at the beginning that they are not intended to provide a shortcut to “good writing”. The only way of improving your skills is practice, and an experienced tutor can be helpful. Nevertheless, there is nobody who cannot benefit in some way from some thought about writing skills, and in the end, the only way to learn what is good and bad about your own writing is to compare it to other writing and edit it, and compare it to edited versions, many times.