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CREATIVE WRITING SERIES. EP. 1. WHAT IS CREATIVE WRITING?
Updated: Feb 4
Creative writing, according to the dictionary definition, refers to any writing, usually fiction or poetry, which displays imagination, invention, and creativity and is often contrasted with academic or journalistic writing.
It is a type of writing that is different from professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature. There is usually an emphasis on narrative, craft, character development, literary tropes, and poetry.
This means that creative writing is any type of writing that comes from your imagination that aims to entertain and enlighten as well as display your creativity, but that is not considered academic or journalistic work—for example, prose, poetry, drama, narrative, scriptwriting, and so on.
It encompasses several genres and styles across a whole range of fields of both fictional and non-fictional writing.
It is about adding your flavor to writing, using your imagination and creativity to express ideas and thoughts in a personal way that is unique to you.
It has emphases on:
1. Narrative: Narrative is a means of telling a story. A spoken or written account of connected events in which you paint a picture with words. The story must have:
A. Beginning- This is where you introduce the characters and what they are about, and the places where the activities of the story take place in. This is also when you start planting seeds of conflict between the characters. For example, Cinderella was introduced as an innocent young girl who was happy with her widower father until he met and married a new woman with two children.
1. Middle: This is where the first series of events starts. Usually, something triggering sets the rest of the story in motion. For example, at this point, Cinderella’s father dies under suspicious circumstances, and the stepmother’s true colors begin to show. Cinderella was in distress.
1. The Climax: That is when the tension is the highest, and it’s also what everything has been building up to. For Example, Cinderella goes to the ball, meets the prince, and loses her shoe, triggering a panic in the land.
1. The Ending: That is when all the conflicts are resolved, and everyone gets what they deserve. For example, the prince found Cinderella and married her. The stepmother was punished, and They lived happily ever after.
A narrative can also be in the form of a poem. Most poems are narrative in nature. It can also be a witness account, drama, or testimony. In whichever form it comes, it must have a beginning, middle, climax, and ending.
1. Characters: Characters are the players or actors in the story. They are the driving force of your narrative, and the whole story revolves around them. This could be human beings, animals, or things that play active roles in that story. There is usually a protagonist, who is the good guy or the innocent one that everyone is rooting for, and the antagonist or the bad guy that challenges the protagonist and who he must defeat before the end of the story. The antagonist could be a person Like Thanos in “The Avengers End Game”, an animal like the lion in “The ghost and the darkness,” or even an institution or an idea that our heroes need to challenge and resolve or change by the end of the story. There is no limit to what your imagination can come up with regarding characters. However, you must remember that their interaction must have conflict or struggle and resolution. You must take people on a journey with you in which they will learn about the characters and sympathize with them.
2. Plot: It is the sequence of events that make up a narrative in a novel or story. It builds up to a climax and ends in a resolution. The events are not random but work on the premise of cause and effect. That is, one thing happens that leads to another, then another, and so on. For example, The Child Bruce Wayne witnessed the brutal murder of his parents, which not only traumatized him but filled him with determination and challenged him to become later the vigilante called Batman, whose primary goal is to clean up his city and rid it of all crimes. Between the murder of his parents and his becoming the grown-up Batman, there were a series of events that built up to a climax and then a resolution in the end, giving us an engaging narrative with a satisfying ending.
THINGS YOU MUST CONSIDER IN CREATIVE WRITING
Some of the things that you must consider when engaging in creative writing are:
1. Your target audience. Who are you trying to reach? What age group or class, or race are they? Is it a general audience you are after, or do you target young adults only? What may typically be entertaining to one group may not necessarily win with another group. For example, stories for children will not be appealing to young adults and vice versa.
2. Write what you know. Always write what you know. Start from familiar surroundings and then do your research as you expand. You will be able to write more eloquently and passionately on topics that are familiar to you or that you are passionate about than something you have no interest in. that doesn’t mean that you cannot write on anything else. Still, it means you must do extensive research and understand your topic before you carry others on that journey.
3. Creativity and imagination. Lean into your imagination and be creative. There is no one rule on what you can or how you write. If you can come up with a story that has a structure with a beginning, middle, climax, and resolution, then go ahead and be as creative as you can. Give it your flavor and flair. It is your own story; therefore, tell it from your heart.
4. Be open-minded. Open yourself to new knowledge and experiences. Don’t be rigid and clingy to your old beliefs. The world is vast, and there is much to discover if you try to learn and grow.
In conclusion, creative writing is any writing that comes from your imagination that is aimed at telling a story, but that is not considered academic or journalistic writing. This could be prose, poetry, play/Drama, speeches, witness account, etc. It does not fit into one specific genre, and there is no definitive way to categorize creative writing in literature. Therefore, do not be afraid to experiment and be creative, as much as you want, to produce a creative, entertaining, and captivating narrative.
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