Creative writing is more than just making up stories. It can be used to express your thoughts and feelings through literature, or it can be a form of self-reflection through which you examine your experiences and those of others.
No matter what you write, though, there are certain things you can improve on. Here, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most common writing problems and the ways in which you can start fixing them. So, if you’re looking for ways to polish your craft and take your writing to the next level, then keep reading.
Experiment With Different Styles
One of the things that can make or break your creative writing is your stylistic versatility. You’ll always have the option of writing in the way that you feel most comfortable, but if you want your writing to be interesting, then you should consider trying out different styles to see which one works best for you.
The most successful and well-known creative writers are often those who can experiment with different styles and can switch between them during a piece. For instance, Raymond Carver’s short story collection, _What We Talk About When We Talk About Love_, combines poetry with prose to create an interesting narrative. It’s not just about love, but it weaves in themes of loss and longing throughout the collection.
You can use this technique to bring your own experiences into your writing. For example, you might choose to write a piece using the first-person singular point of view – that is, “I”—to represent yourself. Doing this can help the reader understand what you’re going through as you experience it. It can also help you find the right tone for what you’re writing. If you’re not sure what to write about, then consider using the “I” point of view to write about something that’s been on your mind. This is especially useful if you’re trying to write a personal essay or a reflection piece.
Along with experimenting with different styles and tones, you can also vary the point of view character within a single piece to create a more three-dimensional or lifelike narrative. Switching between the different points of view within a single piece can be a way to make the reading experience more interesting. This is one reason why it’s so important to try new things and challenge yourself with new styles and techniques. Doing this will help you grow as a writer and make your work that little bit more interesting.
Use Active And Colloquial Language
It’s important to keep the reader engaged when writing. One way of achieving this is by using active and colloquial language. Take the phrase ‘the man of your dreams’ as an example. When someone reads this line, they will automatically assume that you’re referring to a real person or a character in a story. The language used here is vivid and immediate – it would be easy for the reader to picture the person that this title is describing.
In addition to using vivid language, you can make your writing more realistic by trying to emulate the ‘voice’ of a specific person or character. This is particularly easy if you’re using the “I” point of view to write about yourself or a character that you’ve created. You can give your writing a conversational tone by using “Hey ” or “like” to start sentences. This helps create an authentic voice that will make the reader feel as if they’re in the conversation with you.
Improve The Construction Of Your Sentences
A common issue among creative writers is the construction of their sentences. This is where you use commas and possessives incorrectly, as well as run-on sentences and fragments. You can fix these issues by consistently checking your work for sentence structure and using the punctuation correctly.
A run-on sentence is one that doesn’t contain any punctuation – any commas, periods, or question marks – and instead consists of a group of words that are connected with either a coordinating conjunction or a prepositional phrase.
For example, “I hate commuting. It’s so boring.” This sentence has four complete thoughts that are connected by the word “and,” which is a coordinating conjunction. The first two sentences in the example are independent clauses, while the last two are dependent clauses.
Consistency Is Important
Above all else, consistency is important when it comes to writing. You wouldn’t expect a newspaper article to have the same grammatical errors as a book, so it’s important to keep this in mind when writing.
In addition to the above issues, you should also be careful not to repeat yourself too much within a piece. This can be particularly difficult if you’ve written a certain section of a story or essay and decide to go back and add more content later on. If you feel that you’re on the verge of repeating yourself, then break down the section that you’ve already written and ask yourself whether or not what you’ve written is still relevant. Sometimes, adding more content can make what you’ve already written more effective and help eliminate some of the repetition.
Revise Often
Finally, it’s important to revise often. When you write, you should be looking for ways to improve what you’ve written. This doesn’t mean that you have to tear everything down and start from scratch, but instead means that you should be constantly looking for ways to make your work that little bit better. Your writing should be like a companionable conversation. You should be able to revisit pieces at any time and make small revisions to make them better, or even start from scratch and come back with a completely new piece of work.