coursera creative writing

coursera creative writing

The Art of Creative Writing

1. Introduction to Creative Writing

This is an adaptable resource that provides a solid foundation for creative writing students and other writers using the resources in the classroom as well as for the independent learner. The first chapter offers a clear and focused overview of the fundamental concepts of creative writing. It begins with a discussion of the nature of creative writing and a move away from mere idea generation and workshopping. This not only ensures the writing has a genuine readership but is also deeply rewarding personally. This section ends with a look at the vital importance of reading as a writer, which is to be echoed throughout the book. The next section, entitled “Process, Process, Process: Towards a Theory of Creative Writing,” illuminates a sequence of enlightening task-based exercises designed to gently coax the would-be writer into realizing their potential. These range from modes of developing and organizing ideas to the construction of fiction through character creation, voice, structure, setting, and description. A similarly comprehensive range of activities on poetry concentrates on form, metaphor, and sound. The final phase of this section attempts to solve some of the problematic questions surrounding the learning and teaching of creative writing. It outlines the various roles of the teacher and stresses the elemental importance of tailoring material to the specific needs and interests of individual students. A final summary advocates a positive approach to the criticism and assessment of student work, fostering an encouraging and constructive atmosphere within which pupils can thrive.

2. Elements of a Compelling Story

* Creative writing generates thoughts. Good writing makes people think. It introduces new ideas, and it gives people something to think about. A well-written story, when read until the end, will be remembered. If it is something important, the reader will apply what they learned to their everyday life. Good writing will cause the reader to use their imagination. They talk about what they read and what it meant to them. They will discuss it with others and use it as a reason for new and better ideas. Good writing is a thing that will never be forgotten. * Stories begin with characters. Above all the other aspects of story writing, character is the most important to the overall effect of the work. You can create the most interesting, clever, or thought-provoking plot, but if the reader does not care about the characters in said plot, the whole thing falls apart. To make a good story, you must create characters that people will care about. You must make the reader take an interest in what will happen to said character as the story moves forwards. When the character is in a dire situation, you want the reader to worry about what will happen to said character. Creating this emotional attachment to the character is what separates a mediocre story from a great story. And character-driven emotional attachment is what makes a story memorable. Note: Not all characters need to be human. One of the best examples of this is the book Black Beauty (which is a great book for you to read should you be interested in learning how to write a good story). Character is also one of the easier aspects of story writing, as there are a lot of questionnaires or character bio sheets to help you get started with creating a character. But the best way to go about it is to think about yourself. Why? Because odds are, you are an interesting person already, with a lot of good and bad points. Using yourself as a reference, ask the questions you would ask in getting to know someone. What are this person’s likes and dislikes? What are some things that make this person angry, sad, or happy? What are some significant events in this person’s life? And why has this person chosen to do these things which you can see they have done? (Not everyone makes good or logical decisions) Once you’ve built the character in your mind, then you can simply apply this method to all characters, good or bad, in your story.

3. Crafting Memorable Characters

The first step to creating a believable character is to give the reader something to visualize. For any type of story writing, a character should be seen, heard, smelled, tasted and physically felt. For a reader to be able to use all five senses when thinking of a character, the writer must first make the image clear in their own mind. One technique to a clear seen character is to loosely base them off of someone familiar. Choose anyone the character reminds you of and examine their features, how they act, what they say and why it is said. Now use yourself as a model for the character. Often times a writer will inadvertently create him or herself in a character. This method is effective considering writers know themselves better than anyone. However you form the image, the final test is your ability to physically draw the character and remain consistent.

Upon completion of the first essay, the reader will hone in on character development. And while readers may enjoy characters, guides and tips to improving them are often skimmed over or ignored altogether. According to Whitcomb in The Creative Artist, “your job is not to present a living being but to create a vivid and convincing effect using words on a page. The Judge’s Portrait would lose something its qualities we remember. Reality in presentation of a character is not always the most vivid and when a situation in a story is better remembered than the character it may be reality was not presented at all.

4. Techniques for Effective Descriptions

Imagery is the creation of images and the colors that will appeal to the senses and fire the emotions. Often, writers fall into the trap of believing they must show a mental picture of the way a character looks. This is one small aspect of imagery, and a much greater weight should be given to portraying what a scene feels like, smells like, sounds like, and tastes like. Mentioning that a character is fat and wears a red Reebok tracksuit is not compelling unless an image is created where these aspects of the character develop into a bigger picture. A picture of a busy shopping street on Christmas Eve is universal to most people, and conjuring this image before mentioning any specific event or aspect of the street will set the scene more effectively. For example, how much more effective it is to say “Hedmund walked outside to find his car” after previously mentioning that it was parked under a tree to escape the boiling sun, as opposed to saying “Hedmund walked outside to find his car parked under a tree”.

5. Polishing Your Writing Style

Your writing style mainly depends on two things: your determination to be disciplined in your writing style and to be professional, and the second is your writing ability. In a non-fiction writer, the choice of best style to use will enhance or detract the effectiveness of your writing. Style is basically the way you write, as opposed to the meaning of what you write. It includes things like the use of language and grammar, but really it’s much more than that. Writing ability, a skill which can be learned, comprises several qualities. Your grammar and use of language is one quality; another is how interesting your writing is. Then there’s clarity, how well the reader understands what the writer means. Next is the organization and structure of the writing, and the effectiveness of the writing, how well it achieves the writer’s objectives. This guide will then provide you with a step by step guide on how to improve your writing style.