Creative writing is more than just throwing words on a page. There are several different forms of creative writing, each with its own set of rules and regulations. You must learn and understand these rules if you want to compose music, literature, or artwork that is considered creative.
Lectures And Essays
Traditional creative writing classes consist of lectures on literature and creativity followed by formal essays on a specific topic. In these instances, the “creative writing” part simply means that you are required to write something – whether it’s an essay or a short story – that adheres to the set guidelines presented by the professor. While this type of writing may be fun and educational, it doesn’t prepare you for the real world of creative writing. In the real world, you don’t have to adhere to any sort of set formula – you can basically write whatever you want, when you want, however you want. You can’t do that in a traditional setting, which is why so many creative writers simply tune out and refuse to go to class.
Free-Style
If you’ve ever taken a creative writing class in high school or college, you may have heard of the “free-style” creative writing class. In a free-style setting, you are given complete creative control over the content and structure of your work. There are no hard and fast rules for what you should write about or how you should write it. You simply need to write something that you feel is true to yourself, your experiences, and your emotions – something that is not easily explained in a traditional lecture-based format. While this may be exciting, it can also be extremely daunting. Having complete control over the content of your writing can be both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Knowing that you have no limitations gives you an unprecedented degree of creativity, but also makes you vulnerable to writing something that may not be appreciated by others. In order to guarantee that you produce work that is legally defensible, you must learn how to write clearly and concisely as well as learn how to use grammar and punctuation correctly. Otherwise, you may end up in legal trouble. Free-style creative writing is a great choice for those looking to simply “shake off” their creative writing classes from high school and college, but it requires a certain set of skills that many people don’t have.
Narrative
Narrative creative writing is a more traditional type of writing. In a narrative, you are given the basic framework for a story and are expected to fill in the blanks with various characters and events. You have a limited number of characters and events, which you must work within in order to maintain a cohesive narrative. As with any type of storytelling, you should have a clear beginning, middle, and end, and stick to the most important events and characters in a clear and concise manner. When writing a narrative, you are following a set of rules and guidelines that have been established for you by the teacher or professor. Even though you are following a set formula, you must still use your creativity to make it interesting and unique to you. Just because this is a narrative does not mean that you are restricted to only using prose – you can also use poetry, song lyrics, or whatever you feel will best express what you are trying to say. It’s all about finding the right medium for you.
Technical
If you have an interest in the technical aspects of creative writing, you may want to consider taking a class on programming or web design. A technical class will not only teach you the fundamentals of writing code, it will also give you the opportunity to use your skills and knowledge as a freelance engineer or web designer. For those interested in pursuing a music career, a class in sound engineering may also be a good choice. Technical classes can give you a leg up on the competition, and allow you to develop valuable skills that you can use in the future.
Research
Those looking to write scholarly articles, books, or government briefs may want to consider taking a class on research. Research classes are very similar to technical classes, except that you will be expected to conduct original interviews or otherwise gather primary data through research and documentation. Essentially, you will be doing all the legwork for the professor or teacher. They will give you a general idea of what is needed, but you will need to find the resources and do the bulk of the work yourself. Technical, research, and even some of the creative writing classes can be good choices for those whose focus is on the “form” and how to put it all together. However, if your main focus is on the content and how to make it work for you, you may want to consider one of the free-style classes above.
These classes may be a little more expensive, but they can also be a lot more fun. Plus, you have the advantage of being able to write what you want, when you want, however you want. You may even end up producing something that the teacher or professor declares “good” and gives you a passing grade. This may not seem like a bad thing, especially if you are looking for a college degree, but it can also be a hindrance if your main goal is to write something creative and have fun.
If your aim is to become a musician, writer, or artist, you may want to consider pursuing a degree in Creative Writing. With a degree in Creative Writing, you will have the advantage of being able to immediately network with other writers and artists, looking to collaborate or network for potential gigs. You will also be able to take this degree and apply for a variety of jobs, ranging from journalism to screenwriting to copywriting to content creation. A degree in Creative Writing can also open up a lot of doors for those interested in a more literary career, such as publishing or academia. If your aim is to simply write something for fun and the sake of doing it, a good choice would be a short story class or a novella class. These are simply shorter versions of a novel, and allow you to experiment with different forms and see how each one works for you, as well as give you a good idea of how a longer piece is structured and which parts work best when written in which form.