creative writing journey essay

creative writing journey essay

The Power of Creative Writing: A Journey of Self-Expression and Discovery

1. Introduction

Creative writing is an extremely individual way of communicating. It is an exercise of self-expression. The individual goes deep within themselves and looks for what makes them tick – what causes them to feel or act in a certain way. Some kind of writing an diary entry, in this that really is an act of creative writing. The individual has experienced something in their life, and the mind comes up with an interesting way to express it. One example may be the recount of a horror filled experience, and the best method of expressing the horror they felt would be to write a fictional story based on the experience, and the feelings of the characters mirroring the feelings of the individual. This really brings out the creativity in writing. Another important reason to taking up creative writing is its therapeutic value. Many studies have shown that expressing ones thoughts and feelings on paper is a healthy way of relieving emotional stresses. In some cases, people who have suffered traumas in their lives have gone on to write a memoir; and in doing so writing has helped them to bring repressed memories to the conscious level, in order that they may get a better understanding of the event and their feelings towards it. As stated by Richards. E (2009, p.74), “whenever we express a thought feeling or view point in writing, there is a release…It is a practicable way of standing back from the ups and downs of daily living, exercising reflective paper; and in doing so gain greater understanding and self-awareness”.

2. Unleashing the Imagination: The Art of Creative Writing

The next most important aspect is character and action, and this is what drives the story. Writing to involve the struggles and conflicts of the character will breathe life into their situation. Allowing the audience to see the character’s motivations and feelings will engage a more personal reflection from the writing. Discussion of people’s feelings often involves introspective thought, and this is another venue where people can use creative writing to express and reflect on self. The culmination of writing action and conflict should be a long chain of events leading to eventual change or understanding in the character, and this can often help to solve a real-life problem or understanding in the mind of the writer.

The most important element of creative writing is setting the scene. Situating the reader in the story is tantamount, and any good writer knows this. The use of descriptive and sensory language is what will transport the audience into this imaginary world. For example, compare the two following sentences. Sentence one: “I went to the store and it was raining.” Sentence two: “I walked along the wet pavement to the sound of the gently tapping rain.” The viewer could see the store front and picture the writer looking back at his steps in the rain; this is what all writers should aim to accomplish.

Writing is a divine way for one to express his or her inner feelings, emotions, and thoughts, and this process can be an enlightening and fulfilling experience. Many people search for creative outlets, and creative writing is a way to express the self that can lead to a better understanding of a problem or emotional release. Creative writing in any form usually lets loose the imagination using clear and vivid expression. When reading great writing, one can feel as though they are looking through a window at the experience that is being told or feel that they are getting the experience firsthand. This is the key for anyone writing creatively: the better the writing, the more vivid the mental image, and thus the more profound effect.

3. Embarking on the Journey: Finding Your Voice

Try to remember that when you write, you are giving voice to the thoughts and emotions that have never been spoken. So, as told by Albert Camus, “The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.” Creative writing is an outlet to the mind that illuminates and captures the thoughts, beliefs, and emotions that all of us feel and experience at some point in our lives. “A real writer knows how to express a mundane event in an extraordinary manner” is a phrase that has been embedded in my thoughts (Simon, 1997). Creative writing is the art of stringing words, phrases, and sentences together in order to illustrate an idea, a picture, a sound, or a feeling. It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but just picture what can be accomplished with a thousand words. The beauty of creative writing is that it is bound by the limits of our imagination. Whether through poetry, short stories, or nonfiction, writers can use their words to paint a picture in the mind of the reader. A world of pure imagination… sounds great, but where do you start? Children are said to be some of the most imaginative and creative thinkers. Contrary to popular belief, the grown person has the ability to think even more creatively than a child. With the increase in technological advances, we as humans are constantly pushing our minds to think and create at levels we never have before. The ability to think creatively is a talent that is nurtured and can be developed. Where it truly becomes an art is when one has the ability to express and share their ideas with others. This is an important point for any writer. With your writing, you have a story to tell or a message to convey. And often times, the key to getting people to understand what you are trying to say is having a strong voice.

4. Overcoming Challenges: Nurturing Creativity in Writing

Many people, including some ESL writers (including my former self), have confined creativity to its visual and performing arts equivalents. They think poetry equals painting, fiction equals acting, and so on. Utilizing global sources to support us really is a smart idea. This process really started the day I decided that I wanted to write poems and lyrics as a way to supplement other people’s songwriting ambitions. Every time you want to try and write a song in another language, especially a language that you are learning, you will naturally be forced to sift through your linguistic knowledge and employ trial and error. This will result in a broadened vocabulary and a more intuitive feel for word choice and sentence structure. At this point, you could decide to take advantage of another source of mine. Lyric writing is essentially poetry, and so setting out to write English lyrics using Japanese (or any second language) topic matter can really help to reinforce what you have learned in ESL writing. Poetry and lyric writing also encourage metaphoric thinking, and with enough repetition working within similes and metaphors can become second nature. The primary concern of fiction or nonfiction article writing as an ESL author is grammar. And while I do believe that input from a native speaker or excellent peer is the best way to refine your understanding of article grammar and style, it is important to stress that every ESL writer has one giant trump card over most native speakers… and that’s grammar reference. Middle high and especially senior high school students usually detest grammar study, and by university, many native speakers have all but forgotten why we use certain words in certain ways.

5. The Transformation: Discovering the Depths of Self through Writing

In investigating the transformation of personality through involvement in the creative writing process, we undertook a phenomenological study using depth psychological methods. A group of men and women with various levels of involvement in the creative writing process was assembled to take part in a program of writing exercises with the general instruction to “let the writing change you if it will.” It was hoped that this simple instruction would connect the writing process directly to their personal lives. Written materials were collected and studied with a focus on changes in self-experience and motivational patterns. A consistent picture of the potential transformation of writers’ personalities emerged, supported by subjective reports of the writing process in the lives of these individuals. This report will cover how ego development, self-concepts, defense mechanisms, and affective states are modified in the service of personality change while writing creatively and how this different form of self-experience gains creative new reflections of self.

Some persons that take to creative writing with the intention of self-expression do not move beyond a certain point of development. They may begin to see some change in themselves, and in an effort to understand it, become interested in psychological interpretations. If they become absorbed in this type of self-analysis, they may lose their creative impulse, dodge their writing, and quit writing entirely. On the other hand, our aim is the intention of those who continue to write and at the same time maintain or regain a sense of creativity in their lives, however atypical it may be, and who are looking for more direct and unmediated forms of expression.