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How to Continue a Dialogue or Thought in a Creative Writing Paper

I often get asked about how to continue a dialogue or thought in a creative writing paper. The question is a natural one. After all, you’ve just finished a long piece exploring a particular topic, and now you want to move on to something new. But where do you start? How do you maintain the same level of interest and engagement with your audience? Fortunately, there are a few tried and tested techniques that can help you do just that. They’ve been used heavily by authors, playwrights, and comic novelists, so you’ll surely find them useful. Keep reading for some tips on how to continue a dialogue or thought in a creative writing paper.

Start With A Quote

When you begin a new piece of creative writing, you’ll undoubtedly want to jump straight in with an engaging opening line or quote. However, if you look to your previous work, you’ll probably notice that you don’t always start with an engaging quote. Instead, you normally begin with some description, which can be as short or as long as you like. After that, you can usually find a quote that serves as a continuation of the conversation you’ve just started in the piece. Consider using a quotation not only to begin your piece, but also as part of your recurring theme. For instance, if you’ve mentioned before in your creative writing that you have trouble expressing yourself in words, you might decide to use a quote to prove it. Similarly, if you’ve established in your creative writing that your protagonist is an introvert, you could use a quote to show that this is a consistent part of their personality.

Use The Abstract

An abstract is a brief description of a research study, which might include the background and objectives of the research. The abstract serves as a primer for the reader, who might not have the time to read the whole paper. Consequently, it’s often the case that the abstract is the section of a research paper that gets the most attention. Fortunately, you can use this to your advantage when you write a creative writing piece. The reader will have only just dipped into your paper, so they’ll have no idea what you’re talking about. Thus, the abstract is a good place to introduce new themes, ideas, or interesting details that you haven’t covered before in your paper.

Make It An Interview

An interview is a type of dialogue where you talk to someone either face to face or over the phone. It can be a really useful tool for exploring a wide range of ideas and opinions, speaking to someone who might not necessarily be willing to engage with you in this way. If you decide to interview as a starting point for your creative writing, bear in mind that you’re not restricted to one question. Arguably, the most useful thing about an interview is that it doesn’t have to end once you’ve finished asking your questions. So, you can let the conversation flow naturally and see where it leads you. You can also request follow-up questions or comments, and use the opportunity to further explore an idea or issue that you’ve raised in the interview.

Take Notes

As a writer, you should always be ready to quickly jot down whatever comes to mind when you think of a topic. This could be something that you’ve seen or heard about recently or in the news, or it could be a topic that you’ve been meaning to cover in your creative writing. Whatever the case, if you look to your own recent papers, you’ll probably notice that you frequently jot down notes and snippets of information as you write. These notes eventually turn into full-fledged ideas and concepts as the writing process continues. As you come across new ideas and information, simply make a note of it. Don’t worry about whether or not these ideas turn out to be useful. Some of them may not even seem worth capturing at the time, but eventually, they could all prove useful in some way or another.

Obviously, there isn’t one set formula for how to write a creative paper. Each type of paper will have its own quirks and stylistic conventions. However, if you keep the above tips in mind, you’ll certainly be able to pull off a unique and engaging piece that will provoke thoughts, discussions, and even disagreements among your audience. The trick is in the execution. After all, it’s not enough to simply have an interesting topic; you need to bring it to life in such a way that the reader is compelled to continue the conversation you’ve started in your paper. Good luck out there!