If you’re looking for ways to improve your writing and thinking skills,
you’ve probably come across the term “creative writing”. Thinking
of writing creatively? You should try writing a short story or
romantic novel. Discovering a new side of yourself is what
creative writing is all about. In this blog post, we’ll
give you some tips on how to put your creative side to work
and write the best story you can. Let’s get started.
Put Your Stories First
When you sit down to write, the first thing you need to do is
make sure you have a good story to tell. Before you write
a word, you need to know what the story is about and the
main conflict(s) in it. Your first draft won’t be perfect,
but it should be close. So, take your time and polish
it up until it shines.
Don’t Be Fooled By The Hype
There are many creative writing courses and seminars
out there; some good, some bad. They all promise amazing
results and give you a head rush when you start
writing. Unfortunately, this rush usually lasts for only
a few hours and then you realize that your story isn’t
really ready. Unfortunately, many people think that
this is what “creative writing” means and they rush
into class or seminars not having a solid idea of
what they’re going to write. This can lead to a
lot of dissatisfaction when the end result isn’t
what they were expecting. So, do your research
before you sign up for any kind of creative writing
course or seminar. Try and see which ones are
suitable for your personality type and which ones
will help you develop your skills the most.
Keep It Short
If you want your creative writing to be worth anything,
you need to keep it as short as possible. Longer
than about 6,000 words, and it usually isn’t
worth it. You can always break it
down into smaller parts if it’s longer than that.
And remember, your first draft is always
worthless. It’s a work in progress, and
you haven’t written one yet so it doesn’t
exist. You’re starting with a blank
page and you can use anything to write
on, so take your time and don’t rush
into it. Short story writers
aren’t restricted to 600 words or less; they
usually go for 2,000 to 4,000 words. The
idea is to keep it as short and
to the point as possible so that
the reader doesn’t become distracted
by unnecessary words. Good
short stories are like gems, they
have brilliant ideas within their
shortest possible forms.
Plot
A plot is the backbone of any story. Without one,
there’s no reason for the story to exist. You can’t
write a novel, short story, or non-fiction piece
without having a plot. A story with a plot is
like a house with four walls and a roof – everything
else is just decoration. Without a plot,
you don’t have a story, you have just
a list of events that happened
to someone. Things like this can be interesting
as a factual account of what happened;
but they aren’t meant to be fiction,
they aren’t meant to entertain you.
A plot should follow a logical order,
starting with the first scene that
sets the stage for the entire story,
and it should develop through
the course of the story. There
shouldn’t be any scenes in your story
that feel out of place or unnatural.
Take a look at the plot of a
typical romance novel for
example:
The first scene is
always the strongest in a
romance novel. It’s the one that
sets the tone for the entire story,
and often times, it’s the only
scene in the entire novel.
The first scene begins the
ballad of the hero and the
heroine’s romance. The author
usually begins this part of
the story with an old
familiar scene from their
own lives in order to invoke
strong emotions in the
readers. This could be the
dance scene from the very
beginning or it could be the
first meeting between the
hero and heroine. After
this initial scene, the
author will follow through
the narrative in a
chronological order, detailing
the couple’s adventure
together as they seek to
prove themselves worthy
of each other.
Remember that your plot doesn’t
have to be perfect; it just
has to be good enough
to make your story work. You can add more
subplots, extend the story, and make
it fit more plot points, but the
basic idea is to have a plot that is
relatively simple but good enough
to follow the overall arc of your story.
Character
Characters are the individuals that
you’ve brought to life within your story.
They are the heroes and villains, the people
that your audience will naturally identify with,
and the individuals that you intend on
motivating the reader to action. You should develop
a basic character blueprint
before you start writing. What are their
motivations? What are their goals? What are they
hiding from? These are all important
questions to ask yourself before you
write a word. Once you have
a clear picture in your head of what your
characters are like, you will be able to
write them with confidence.
World
A world is a setting or context for a story. You don’t need
to create an entire world from scratch; you can use
places, regions, and modes of transportation to give
it a realistic vibe. However, you should do your research
and make sure that everything fits within the realms of possibility.
You can’t have a dragon flying in the sky or a
race of humanoids trying to take over the world – it
just doesn’t work like that. Keep your
world as general as possible; don’t get too specific
until you’re pretty much finished with the story.
Theme
A theme is the underlying message that you’re trying to
convey through your story. Every piece of literature contains
a message – it’s up to you to figure out what it is that you’re
saying. When someone reads your story, they’ll come
away with a specific feeling or an opinion about the
issue that you’ve raised in your plot. Themes can be
both positive and negative, but you should always stick to one
message per story, and you should back up your
claims with evidence. Here’s a short list of common
literary themes:
- Love
- Friendship
- Family
- Respect
- Justice
- Power
- Obstacles
- Choice
- Sanity
- Aging
- Death
Style
Finally, we arrive at the part of your creative writing
masterclass that you’ve been waiting for: your
opportunity to show off your amazing talent and
beautiful prose. This is the part where you get to
take a deep breath, relax, and showcase what makes you
unique. This is also the part where you can experiment
a bit with language and see how it sounds when
applied to a narrative. This area is largely subjective,
so you have a lot of freedom in the way that you
want to express yourself. When you’re done playing
around with language, you need to start mapping out
your story again from the beginning.