creative writing topics

creative writing topics

The Power of Creative Writing

1. Introduction

Creative writing is an exercise in solving problems, either for the writer or the characters within the story. It’s a powerful tool for developing new ideas, stories, and the change that we want to see in our world. At Penn State, we take pride in teaching students to craft their own path, one that combines a love of reading with a passion for producing the kind of writing that is most meaningful to them. Creative writers have the power to entertain someone, to make someone laugh, to make someone cry. This is an amazing and satisfying talent, having the ability to touch someone using only your imagination. Whichever way a creative writer uses the power of words, there is a feeling of freedom involved. In today’s society, most people feel restricted, with the way things are and the way things are headed. By writing creatively, we are granted the liberation that is so often absent. Let’s take advantage of this opportunity.

2. Benefits of Creative Writing

Secondly, creative writing can help a child further understand and explore ideas, concepts, and emotions. How many times have you read a book or polemic on a topic and thought, “argh, I can do better than this”? Writing allows children to put their own spin on things, with the possibility of writing a different ending or adding in new characters or events. Creating a fictional alternative can be very liberating and can also yield great insights. The ability to express thoughts and ideas is crucial for all scientific and academic discovery. Creative writing teaches self-expression, whether it is thoughts, feelings, ideas, or emotions. It is often a safe haven for people of all ages to express and come to terms better with emotions, perhaps due to its non-pressured and liberating nature. This becomes increasingly important in higher education. If we consider Maslow’s hierarchy, self-actualization can be interpreted as the desire to become more and more what one is. This involves the fullest development of the self and can take many forms depending on an individual. Self-expression is a major part of this and not only the ability to express but learn to truly understand and accept the self and the way in which one fits into the world.

There are numerous benefits of creative writing. One major benefit is that it builds language skills. Language skills are enhanced as children learn to find descriptive words to portray their own world, experiences, and to create characters. It is said that when Alfred Tennyson was a child, he had a hard time understanding things that were told to him verbally on the spot. His tutor recognized his creative abilities and taught Tennyson academics through storytelling and playing games. It can also help a child with their ability to read and write. A child’s writing can become an object of pride when they put effort into it. They will be eager to go back and proofread and find new ways to improve their stories. “All the Pretty Horses” is a fabulous example of Cormac McCarthy’s writing skill, and I am more than certain that he felt both proud of his work and willing to edit it. This will then transfer onto reading and increasing interest in editing the work of others as well as their own. Reading brings ideas and new vocabulary to further enhance writing. When a child’s literacy skills improve, their academic achievement can also be positively affected.

3. Techniques for Effective Creative Writing

The most creative writing in the world will be undermined if it’s full of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. These are all factors that are easily improved with time and practice. Similarly, the first idea that comes to mind is rarely the best idea. Don’t expect your work to be perfect the first time. It can take several drafts to improve your work, and some will feel like complete rewrites. That’s OK. When you’re writing creatively, the process is just as important (if not more so) than the final outcome.

3.4 Be prepared to work hard.

Some writers feel that creative writing, by its nature, is too vague and therefore a waste of time. It, of course, depends on what you’re aiming for, but the best work generally speaks for itself, and getting your point across usually requires a clear method of communicating it to the reader. Don’t expect your meaning to be obvious to your reader just because it’s clear in your head. Make sure it appears on the paper.

3.3 Be clear.

If all you read is a single genre or type of writing, that’s what you’ll end up writing. Make sure your literary diet is varied. If you usually read fiction, try reading non-fiction, poetry, or magazines. You never know what might inspire you.

3.2 Read extensively and be open to new ideas.

The creative process is hard to define, and even harder to teach, but those that write creatively often cite the ability to take a germ of an idea and shape it into a finished piece of writing as the most crucial factor. If you’re writing a story, make sure you finish it. If you keep abandoning half-written pieces, you’ll never experience the pleasure of having a finished work, nor will you understand which ideas are successful and which are not.

3.1 Be disciplined.

How does a writer learn to be more creative? There isn’t a magical answer, but the following are a series of tips and suggestions that can help any writer to improve their work.

4. Exploring Different Genres

This involves testing your ability to write in different ways. The first task will involve switching between genres in a single piece of work. Take a piece of academic writing and translate it into a piece of poetry or a short story. The point of this task is not to degrade the quality of your work, but to find a new and interesting way to convey the same message. The next task is to do some background research into different genres and how they are constructed. Find out what makes a piece of writing fit into one genre but not another. Using what you have learned, write a short piece of work that could be classed as one of these genres. Now write the same piece as if it were in a different genre, making sure that it fits the conventions of that genre. This will ensure that next time you have an idea for a piece of writing you will be able to consider what genre it would best fit into, as you know that changing the genre of a piece can change the impact it has on the reader. The final task is to get a selection of writing from the same genre, but from various different authors. Analyze the style and form of each piece and consider what makes them differ despite all fitting into the same category. Now try to imitate one of these pieces by writing your own piece in the same genre as the one you have selected. This is an exercise in finding a voice appropriate to a certain genre.

5. Overcoming Writer’s Block

First thing’s first, let’s analyze what this “writer’s block” really is. Writer’s block is a term that is used to describe a condition in which a writer experiences a creative slowdown. It is characterized by an inability to produce new work, or a severe case of disliking all one’s own work. This condition can range from a short-lived delay in productivity to the complete abandonment of a writing project. Writer’s block can occur due to a number of different reasons, it could be stress, an unfortunate case of procrastination, it could be due to external reasons, maybe adverse conditions in which to write, or it simply could be the timing is wrong and the idea was forced. Writer’s block is a subjective condition, it affects people in different ways. However, writer’s block is no excuse for delayed productivity and failure to meet deadlines, which is why it is an essential topic for this essay.

Picture this: a blank sheet of paper, no words, no idea where to start, and the dreaded deadline looming over your head. What do you do? I’ve been there; we’ve all been there. Whether it’s an essay due for school, an article for a website, or just a personal project, we all know that feeling of staring at our blank canvas and drawing nothing but blanks. This is what writers have now termed “writer’s block”. It can be a tough, frustrating obstacle to overcome, and many end up pushing back deadlines and turning in work that they’re not happy with. But for today, we will grab that writer’s block by the horns, dissect it, and what it is and then completely destroy it.

Overcoming writer’s block