creative writing class

creative writing class

The Power of Words: Unleashing Your Creativity

1. Exploring the Art of Creative Writing

Creative writing is not limited to creating characters or plots that are born inside the minds of writers. Often ideas fail or are not fully thought out due to the hurried nature of the modern world. This is an extremely important point in today’s society as many people are involved in a fast-paced lifestyle which does not allow time for independent thought. A society which is becoming more dependent on visual and audio means, while neglecting the power of the written word, something which has troubled and does trouble many writers today. The fear is that this transition of media will cause a loss in ability for the imaginative processing of information. But the hope is that this can be turned around. Writing can rekindle its power and become integrated to other forms of media. But for now, it is a means of escaping the rigidity of modern life.

The mind is a wonderful thing. While science and technology are wonderful in their own rights, they often force rationality upon us. But the wonderful thing about human thought is that it doesn’t always come in a linear, rational form. Sometimes the way we think is closer to a Picasso painting than a mathematical equation. The surrealists knew this. They were interested in the illogical transforming of one idea to another. And this is the essence of creativity.

Today’s billion-dollar fiction business works on the principle of creative writing. It is an idea jungle out there, new concepts working with old ones, like genetic engineers trying to breed a fast, thoroughbred racehorse. But what is creative writing? Is strong narrative and good characterization enough? Just what does this ‘creative’ in ‘creative writing’ entail?

2. Crafting Engaging Characters and Plots

Above all, it is important to remember the nature of humanity: human beings are by nature flawed creations, and flawless characters are entirely unconvincing. Characters must have their own trials and tribulations, for it is in overcoming adversity that a person demonstrates a true measure of his/her worth. This brings us to the issue of character conflict, which is often an important element of plot. Two characters are not likely to come to blows for no good reason, and a character’s past action usually festers into conflict at a later date. Because your characters are the cornerstone of your story, often it is a good practice to write a character study of a particular event from various points of view in that character’s voice. This will help to ascertain how different characters will perceive a single event based on their individual dispositions and experiences.

3. Captivating Chronicles: Characters from your imagination. In literature, unforgettable characters may become almost real to their readers. They engage public emotion and loyalty, and sometimes impel readers to continue turning the pages of the story that they inhabit. To a degree, characters take on a life of their own. “The surprising thing, to me, was how truly I came to think of him,” writes William Maxwell of his character “Jim Willard,” “not in that solipsistic way in which an author loves one of his creations—and how densely real he became” (Nesset, p. 107). Developing such characters and characterizations is an essential part of crafting a successful story. The characters will interact with innumerable areas of your plot, and it is necessary to give each his or her own distinct traits and voice that will enable you to predict their individual responses in any given situation. A character without any individuality may become a mere plot device, and the best come about as hybrids between original idea and unpredicted discovery. An Italian proverb claims “every head is a world,” and a character’s “world” must be an interesting one to explore. A character that seems to have no deeper story to him will not likely captivate reader interest. The author’s task then becomes discovering just what makes this figure tick, and it may involve delving into this character’s imaginary past or future behavior in various hypothetical situations. An extensive character profile might be useful for this task, and questioning what this character wants, what he or she is afraid of, and what he or she is willing or unwilling to do to achieve his/her desires is often an effective tool for determining future character action in an improvisatory fashion.

3. Mastering the Art of Descriptive Writing

By mastering the art of descriptive writing, you can paint a picture using words. We’ll show you how to employ descriptive techniques in your writing, evoking emotion that will transport your reader to another place. It’s easy to overdo descriptive writing, which can leave your reader feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. Those who have a real talent for writing may want to push themselves to show the world just how expressive they can be. For those people, the challenge of writing in more descriptive prose can be a very rewarding exercise. Writing that is packed with metaphor and simile creates an awful lot to work with. This can make it easier to write than more literal prose, but at the same time, it can be much harder to get right. Metaphorical writing is the highest form of descriptive writing, exacting a powerful image to form in the reader’s mind. A good exercise to accomplish this can be to attempt to write a short story or opening to a story using no dialogue whatsoever. Now, although dialogue is the best way to progress a character or plot, using descriptive prose can build up the impression of what a character is like or the mood of an area in which a scene has taken place without having to actually describe it. The writer can then go back and look at the dialogue that would have taken place or even change the piece so that dialogue can be included. This would be effective in showing the writer how he can utilize his descriptive writing to bring to life the parts between the quotes. Another key point in descriptive prose is to try and avoid repetitions of the same or similar words. A thesaurus can be very handy here to find better alternative words, but be wary of using obscure words in place of simpler ones. One rule that should always be followed is that the new word must have the same meaning as the old.

4. Developing a Unique Writing Style

However, if you were unsatisfied with the result and feel that it was too similar to that of the other author, then try taking the same topic and approach it in a completely different manner. Always compare effectively different methods to writing a piece until you come up with something that’s unique. Also, do not be afraid to use your own personal experiences and the emotions attached to them as a base for emotional writing. Lastly, it is important to let a piece sit for a while. You can then return to it a little later and review it with a fresh and unbiased mindset. The ability to critically review one’s own work is an important step to further development.

Ask yourself if that writing effectively conveyed the personality and feeling that you intended to. If so, then there are elements of that style that may be the foundation to your very own style. Of course, you would still want to continue experimenting with slight alterations of that style and new styles entirely, only until you are satisfied that your work is original to you.

Another way you can unleash creativity is by developing your unique writing style. Students often have preconceptions that there are only a limited amount of styles in writing. You are then to emulate these styles and that’s it. You may turn in a piece of writing only to find that it sounds so much like a piece of work that you have read from an author that it lacks any form of originality. This is by all means a starting point to developing a style, as you have attempted a similar form of writing to that author, however, it can still be very creative.

5. Sharing Your Creative Works with the World

By sharing your creative work with others, you play an important role in helping your creative ideas bear fruit. Creative works need an audience. They need people to interact with them, interpret them, build on them. They often need to “go public” before you can appreciate their full value. When you share your work with others, you also are sharing a part of yourself. It takes courage to do this, but the feedback and recognition you’ll get will be very rewarding. Whether this takes the form of a simple “that’s cool,” or an in-depth analysis and constructive criticism, you’ll gain new perspectives and insights that can only come from other people. Positive feedback will serve as encouragement, helping to motivate you to produce more works or improve the one you’ve already done. Negative feedback and criticism can be difficult to accept, but valuable in its own way. Use it as a tool to help you identify areas in which your work can be improved. If your audience is one you can trust to give useful feedback, always keep an open mind and be willing to make changes for the sake of improving the end result. A well-rounded work is one that has been looked at from every angle and reflects the thoughts and ideas of many different people. Finally, sharing your work with others adds a sense of completion. Art is created to be seen. Writing is created to be read. Music is created to be heard. Seeing how your work affects other people is the best way to consider it done and move on to the next project.