creative writing ideas

creative writing ideas

Creative Writing Ideas

1. Introduction

And lastly, is the miscellany. Ideas come and ideas go. Some of the ones in this section were originally intended to be in another, but managed to slip away and house themselves here instead. No need to attempt to classify this one!

The plays section is for the playwright, whether it be for fun or for a thespian on a serious course of live drama. Remember, all good plays come from the soul of human experience and do not necessarily rely heavily upon the traditions of the theatre.

Nonfiction is offered with a writer in mind who is not necessarily a journalist, but who sees the world around them and is compelled to write about it. The world is a phase of words, and we see things often times not to experience them in action, but to write about them later.

In the poetry section, it is presented with some seriously different types of poetry, as varied as the different dimensions of creativity that poets inhabit. Some are wholeheartedly serious, and some are sarcastic. A writer of poetry needs to hold their biases and their intense emotion in words.

Here is a wide range of resources for developing creative writing, for all ages and all kinds of writing. We’ve split the following ideas and topics into specific categories: fiction, poetry, nonfiction, plays, and a unique miscellany. In fiction, the writer believes that there is no in-between; you have to either be a novelist or not, so this is mostly geared towards novelists. Each snippet of the idea comes from an ethereal seed of thought, a flash of inspiration that the writer can turn into a story.

2. Developing Characters

Create a character who needs something really badly and is having difficulty getting it. Think about why he wants it so much and what he is prepared to do to get it. Show the reader what stands in his way. By the time we finish your story, the reader should know this character better than they know some real people. What he wants should color everything he says and does. Imagine your character has gone on a job interview. Create a job he wants, and then have him be interviewed by a personnel officer who won’t hire him because your character is not right for the job. This will force you to figure out why that particular job is so important to this character and what it is about him that makes him unsuitable. Now create a major crisis for your character. Write a scene in which he loses something very dear to him. Then show how he tries to cope with the loss. Next, write a scene in which he must suspend or postpone his attempt to resolve this first crisis in order to deal with an entirely separate, second problem. If you have planned the story well, this second problem will be related to the first, but more complex. During this, the character must behave in a way which is consistent with the personality traits you have attributed to him. This should result in making the character still more real to you, since you have now seen how he behaves under stress in situations even you had not foreseen.

3. Creating Engaging Plots

The first thing to say is that every story is different. There are no hard and fast rules for constructing a plot. However, it is useful for an author of fiction to think about structural aspects of plot at the outset. A common weakness of amateur fiction is a plot that wanders aimlessly with little direction. A tight, well-structured plot is the foundation of a good story. Be clear about the aim of your story. What is it that the protagonist must do? What is at stake? This will help the story to move towards its resolution.

A good plot is a plan that can be judged by its outcome. It is not whether it is complicated or simple, but whether it succeeds in engaging the reader. For any writer attempting their first steps in creative writing, plotting out a story can be the most difficult part. We have an idea, we can see the setting, but what actually happens? In this section, you will find advice on various aspects of plot construction as well as definitions and examples of different forms of plot.

4. Enhancing Descriptive Writing

Show, don’t tell. This is a staple of creative writing advice given, and the principle holds true here. Telling is saying: There was a snake on the floor. Showing is saying: A long, sinuous shape uncoiled in the darkness. This version already evokes an atmosphere and image. A writer should be fully immersed in the scene when writing and be constantly asking themselves how they can make the reader see what they are seeing and feel what they are feeling. A writer is a painter of pictures and the reader is their canvas.

Descriptive: The silvery rays of the moon lit the path before me and led me towards the sound of trickling laughter that danced in the wind. The first sentence gives a clear picture, but the second sentence is much more vivid and interesting. It is important to be selective in your use of adjectives and adverbs and avoid using hackneyed and obvious choices. Similes and metaphors are effective ways of conveying information, but they can be clichéd and trite, e.g. His furious anger was like a raging fire. You would be better writing: His volcanic anger spewed forth like molten rock. Create connotations with the choice of words. Instead of: The old cat was sleeping. Consider: The ancient cat lay dozing. This creates an image of a cat that may have lived a storied life, with some interesting tales to tell. Also, be sure to use a range of sentence structures as this can make all the difference to the flow of your writing. Vary sentence length and complexity.

If you want to enhance your writing and make it more descriptive, consider these sentences: The moon was shining and I heard some sounds.

5. Exploring Different Genres

Activity for the Whole Class: An interesting and accessible way to explore the concept of genre is to write a soap opera script as a class. This activity is particularly useful for students in the middle years. Create the scenario of a family moving into a new neighborhood. Each lesson, add a new family to the neighborhood, building an elaborate soapie plot. For example, the Jones family, who are secretive and reclusive, move in next door to the Santiagos, recent Italian migrants who are proud and fiercely patriotic. Continue the activity until there are 4 or 5 families. Students will easily be able to identify the conventions of the soap opera genre through the narrative and character stereotypes. Demonstrate this to them by getting the class to collectively list these conventions. This and the adventure genre activity can be used in preparation for a creative writing task in the respective genre.

While this is quite a traditional approach to genre, it provides a sound base for less experienced students. Later, you may wish to have students consider Joseph Campbell’s theory of the hero to add depth to their understanding and analysis of the adventure genre. A comparative review tool is also available to assist students in comparing their own adventure writing with the convention list.

Activity for a small group: In small groups, students read an adventure story or film. They then identify and list the conventions of the adventure genre. Bring the class together and draw up a list of these conventions on the board or an overhead. It may be more efficient to have the students do this, but it’s probably important for you to monitor that they are on track as the conventions, particularly for younger students, can be complex and subtle.