Are you considering taking some courses in creative writing? Or is it a part of your current education? In any case, this activity will definitely bring you a lot of good. Mastering creative writing lets you share your emotions and experience most excitingly. You can also entertain and touch the audience. This method of self-expression is excellent and almost universal. So, let’s talk about creative writing now.
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What is creative writing – types and specificities
Creative writing is the art of creating images and sharing emotions through words. Or, to be more precise, it is a specific type of writing that describes the subject in an imaginative, emotional manner. People usually name fiction, plays, and poetry the most popular types of creative writing. However, it also relates to some non-fiction, such as memoirs or personal essays.
The distinctive features of creative writing
Assume you have to analyze a particular written text and define whether it is creative writing. It might not be so elementary as you consider. Journal articles can be very entertaining and emotional. In other cases, you need to explain if this piece of essay writing belongs to the creative genre. Is there a way to define it quickly and correctly? Yes.
Creative writing has its fundamental distinguishing features:
- The specific point of view. The narrative in creative writing always suggests a personal perspective. Whether it uses the first person or the third person, it expresses personal feelings and includes the author’s personality. A news article may be excellently written, but it focuses on facts and presents the information objectively.
- Original plot. All types of creative writing, from novels to short poems, are grounded on unique plots. Different authors may refer to the same plots. However, they will always have original interpretations. Specific plots in each particular piece will be unique.
- Characters in development. Having a character is not a unique feature of creative writing only. You may need it in some academic essays, such as narrative essays. But creative writing needs characters always. To tell the story, you need to build and develop that character. In practice, it is the character’s personality and how it changes during the story in different circumstances. The primary rule is that a character at the beginning is not the same as in the end.
- The underlying theme. In general, we define the underlying theme as the message of the story. It has its specificity because it is usually not expressed directly. Writers use plots, characters, and literacy means to present the main ideas and concepts of their stories. Without that underlying theme, a piece of creative writing is not complete as an art form.
- Visual descriptions. This element is also common in non-creative writing pieces. You might meet it in interviews and newspaper articles. They can depict the participants, the environment, some events to build a picture in the reader’s mind. However, if you remove these descriptions, the article won’t lose anything essential. In creative writing, descriptions are integral and necessary parts that build the overall impression of the story. They make the atmosphere, help express feelings, and do the obvious job of telling the reader how the characters and their surroundings look.
- Using literary means. Figurative language is one of the constants in the “what is creative writing” definition. Literacy devices are always present in this type of writing. And it is that item that you should omit in academic writing (you’d notice it if you ever used the write my paper services from reputable writers). In creative writing, you have a variety of figurative speech in possession. The purpose is the same. It is to create the atmosphere, show the factual and emotional contexts, and engage the reader.
- Dialogues. This element also can be present in other types of writing (such as interviews). Dialogues let the writer achieve two goals. They serve to deliver the information to the reader and help to explore the characters. There are lots of methods, such as voices, the vocabulary used, expressive style, sentences structure, etc. Ernest Hemingway was one of the best dialogue writers. Also, such types of creative writing as plays rely on dialogues completely.
- Emotional appeal. Creative writing raises emotions. It is the most significant factor in poetry – it may omit the features mentioned above, but its emotional appeal will be overwhelming. The writer’s job is to share emotions or provoke them in the readers by using literacy means, descriptions, dialogues, etc.
Now you can easily analyze any piece and define whether you deal with creative writing or just a well-written piece of academic or journalistic writing.
How to train your creative writing skills
Like it is with any other activity, practice makes perfect. There are specific exercises and tips for training your creative writing abilities. The most famous authors of bestsellers recommend them, so you can rely on their experience.
Tip #1. Write regularly
This recommendation is universal, and it is one of the best methods to fight writer’s block. Write a small piece of text every day – it can be a diary entry, a post on social media, or the next portion of the future novel. It disciplines you. But postponing the writing routine leads to losing your focus and energy.
Tip #2. Train the descriptive skills
Descriptions often make the writers struggle, so you should train them separately. A simple exercise is telling the reader about the character, object, or event without naming it. When it is regular, it enhances the skill of describing really well. m
Tip #3. Edit your earlier writings
This exercise is very efficient. With all-new knowledge and skills, you can evaluate the existing piece better. Then, you can edit the piece to make it sharper and more expressive. Besides, it shows you at once how you have progressed as a writer.
Tip #4. Create different voices
If your story includes characters with dialogues, create individual voice features for everyone. Dialogues let you present the characters best of all, make them all unique, and engage readers.
Tip #5. Create an origin story of a well-known character
This exercise helps you train your imagination and also improve your plot-building skills. You may take any character, from the fairy-tale heroes to outstanding historical personalities, and try to present them in an original, but logical way. This way, you learn to create and expose the most interesting idea and also build the backgrounds for them.
Tip #6. Read as much as you can
Reading is the best foundation for good creative writing. Read books of different genres and by different authors. It gives you the priceless opportunity to learn different techniques and approaches to building the plots and developing characters. At the same time, you decide which ideas and methods you like and would like to explore, and which ones don’t suit you at all. The better your readers’ experience is, the more successful you can become as a writer.
It might seem that creative writing is superior to all the other writing styles. It is difficult to judge, as all types of writing have their specific goals and methods. However, being a really good creative writer means mastering the most robust “toolset” for a successful writing career.
Whether you write for your own pleasure or become a professional writer for hire, like the specialists at writeanypapers.com, you know that your skills are polished, and your knowledge would allow you to cope with any job. Besides, creative writing is fun! So, let yourself have fun.
Author Bio:
Rebecca Carter works as a content writer for a firm specializing in custom essay writing. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and enjoys writing essays about her life and experiences. In her spare time, Rebecca volunteers in animal shelters and attends culinary classes.
Originality: https://www.plagscan.com/doc?143739710&sharekey=NZSdovaB6m1da8IGpIxw