examples of creative writing

examples of creative writing

The Power of Creative Writing

1. Introduction

I am a critical and cultural historian, but I have written novels, screenplays, and libretti. When I tell people I teach creative writing – fiction and creative non-fiction – on the Oxford Mst in Literature and Arts, they sometimes assume the ‘but’ that makes what follows an interesting paradox. In fact, the teaching of creative writing seems to me a perfectly natural extension of my academic work. For the assumption that it is not comes from another – related – assumption, that literature is essentially interpretive, a reflection of some truth outside itself. This, in turn, comes from the intellectual division of labor that has characterized modernity, in which different forms of knowledge and understanding are assigned to different people: scientists and social scientists are the experts in fact and human behavior, humanists are the ones who understand meaning. Nowadays, critics of many different inclinations hold the interpretative line, and many of them will look askance at the turning of hands to pens as a dereliction into partiality, self-expression, or – at best – the communicating of something previously understood. Allowing, I began teaching creative writing expecting that in literature at least, the distinction between writer and reader no longer held, and that ways of making and doing could be a subject for everyone. I now think something slightly different, which is that the distinction between making and interpreting has never been a very good one, and that critics stand to learn as much from taking their turn at creation as writers do from the ‘exercises in style’ that are a standard way of teaching critical reading. This essay is an account of those beliefs and their mutation into practice.

Integrity and Literature: From Critique to Creative Writing Susan Wiseman

2. Benefits of Creative Writing

I am a registered social worker with many years of experience helping vulnerable people make changes in their lives. More often than not, these changes are a biography or reframing of a client’s experience with a particular event. I have sat and watched people struggle for hours over a simple paragraph, and the frustration was visible. The decision to do it through a writing activity was met with more frustration – it was the ‘how is this going to help?’ response. But when it was completed and the individual looked at what they had produced, there was a significant difference in their emotional state. Everyone, without exception, has said that it was a positive experience, and the majority of them have gone on to use writing as a tool to help themselves understand and cope with life situations. Being able to write about our experiences can help with coming to terms with or understanding them, as well as a cathartic experience that can ultimately help us make a change for the better.

Creative writing has benefits for mental and physical health. Perhaps one of the most far-reaching effects that it has is on the self-esteem and confidence of the individual. People who have never written before often assume that it is not something they could ever learn to do or do well, and in my experience, that is not the case. The most severe self-critics are often silenced by the encouraging voice of free writing and the freedom it gives you to make mistakes. In the same vein, those who are gaining skills in a particular type of writing or are preparing for a specific task can gain confidence by knowing that their work measures up to their own standards.

3. Techniques for Effective Creative Writing

Creative writing of any sort will excite your writing if it’s stimulated by emotion and requires true emotion to be sparked. Emotion comes from the root of experience, whether it be your experience or the experience of someone you know or know of. In order to write, draw from your soul, letting the words form from your deepest feelings and thoughts. Writing with emotion being the main concept catapults the pen into an endless river of colour and texture, sparking reality from the page. Through using emotion in your writing to spark emotion in the reader, you create a magical bond between reader and writer, and if you succeed, have a piece of writing that’s effective and moving. A great method for brainstorming and choosing your emotion or theme to base your writing on is to create a spider diagram. Drawing a circle in the middle of a piece of paper with your emotion as the title works as the first step, for example “Despair” or “Happiness”, leading onto each sub-emotion or event leading to this emotion, and then onto further explanation or story or real event which triggered this emotion. It’s a quick and very effective way of getting all your thoughts and ideas for some text down onto paper, ready for a brainstorm or rough plan.

4. Examples of Creative Writing

Examples of creative writing offer so much opportunity to indulge in the writing process. For this exercise, I chose several stimuli: a traditional and rebellious young person, entering an unusual place, a journey, and a personal experience. These stimuli provided an excellent launch point for a vast array of writing. I wrote several pieces using these stimuli. This was no trouble at all as the stimuli were so rich with avenues to explore. This exercise was very refreshing and a lot of fun. It feels so good to let the ideas flow and not have to think too hard. I feel the stimulus-based writing was comparable to opening a can of drink – the ideas fizzed out. My second exercise concerned targeting an environment. I had to choose the most effective method to write either a short story, a poem, or a description. The environment I targeted was an abandoned house. The place was so vivid in my mind I found it easy to write. I would love to live there. The stimulus targeting method was again a useful tool to initiate ideas. The results were interesting. I named the story “Breath of Life” and it was quite a melancholic tale of a WW2 evacuee who had lost his family. He discovered the house after running from an air raid but did not leave as he felt a strange affinity with the place. He lived a solitary life and repaired the house gradually. He passed away as an old man and at the same time as he drew his last breath, the ghost of him as a child was leaving the house. This story was unexpected for me, but I feel it was effective. I wrote the poem about a year later. I do not read the stories or other pieces before I write a new work and it came as a surprise to see that the poem was similar in concept to the story. The poem was published as a printing error in “Smudges” in 2008 and I was chuffed to see that. I feel the story and the poem helped me to refine the changing atmosphere and the feelings of an old man who spent his last days in a place of solitude that held bittersweet memories. This is the knowledge that will inform my second poem. I look forward to moving my writing experience forward from something that is just relaxing to something that has a clear goal and appears to evolve. At present, I am unsure what it is meant to evolve into, but I hope that I will be able to recognize it when I get there.

5. Conclusion

With the very recent emergence of computers, writing has taken on a whole new level of importance. Word processing has revolutionized the way people write. It has become so easy to change things and move things around. This has made writing more efficient and less stressful. It is also less time-consuming. Creativity can now be captured quickly for fear of forgetting it later. Writing emails and instant messages has become an everyday thing. This has actually advanced the creativity in writing among people of all ages. People are more inclined to write creatively when it is something personal. The recent popularity of blogging has also sparked creative writing among people. Blogs are written as a sort of journal, usually with the intent of other people reading it. This has made people write more from the heart, as it is often a place to express emotions. Blogs also often have comment sections where the writer can get feedback on what people think of their writing. This feedback can inspire a writer to continue with their creative writing. With all of this recent emphasis on writing, it is clear that creative writing is still an important art and will continue to be so in the future.

It is evident that the power of creative writing can have many positive effects on its writer. When done properly, it can leave a lasting impression on your life and the way you see the world. It can bring you to a place that you thought only existed in your mind. Writers who use their creative writing skills will often find themselves to be closer to their work when they are emotionally attached. This just means that when a writer is attached to his work, he writes from the heart. Writing from one’s heart has shown to be more meaningful and have a lasting impression on readers. Creative writing is an escape from reality. It can bring you to a calm and peaceful place, away from the stress and pressure that you face on a day-to-day basis. Finally, and most importantly, writing creatively can bring joy to the writer. The power of writing can be a powerful antidote to your daily stresses and bring an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. While writing may not be an easy task for everyone, the power of it can be very beneficial. It is something that will stick with you for the rest of your life.