WHAT IS CREATIVE WRITING?

The word creative is defined in various ways. The following are just some of the definitions:
“The ability or power to create”
 “Imaginative”
 “Productive and imaginative”
 “Characterized by originality and expressiveness; imaginative”
Creative writing is therefore generally defined as writing that is imaginative, created,
productive and original. This generally covers all areas of fiction, such as novels, short
stories, poetry etc. but can also include non-fiction, such as feature articles for magazines.
The key element of creative writing is, obviously, creativity. A writer is given free scope to
create characters, places and scenarios to their liking. And not everything has to be created
– you can place fictitious characters in an existing city or town, or, base characters on
existing people and place them in unrealistic surroundings or scenarios. The beauty of
creative writing is that you really are only limited by your imagination.

Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of

normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an
emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes or with various
traditions of poetry and poetics. Due to the looseness of the definition, it is possible for writing such
as feature stories to be considered creative writing, even though they fall under journalism, because
the content of features is specifically focused on narrative and character development.

The purpose of creative writing is to both entertain and share human experience, like love or loss.
Writers attempt to get at a truth about humanity through poetics and storytelling. If you'd like to try
your hand at creative writing, just keep in mind that whether you are trying to express a feeling or a
thought, the first step is to use your imagination.
ACADEMIC WRITING VS. CREATIVE WRITING

Academic writing is to teach and/or inform. It can be for a targeted readership or general
public knowledge: for example, medical journals, DIY, math, biology, religions, thesis,
investigative reports . . .

Creative writing is mostly for entertainment. It falls under fictional and non-fictional.
Sometimes authors use this means to promote an agenda or create public awareness. For
example, many good fiction authors will incorporate social issues and mores into their
stories.

Types of creative writing include:

 Poetry
 Plays
 Movie and television scripts
 Fiction (novels, novellas, and short stories)
 Songs
 Speeches
 Memoirs
 Personal essays
Examples of Creative Writing
At its core, creative writing is a form of entertainment. It's also a form of art found in
most of your favorite TV sitcoms, movies, books, poems, and other mediums. 

Poetry Example

Poems provide great examples of creative writing. In fact, they're almost exclusively
emotional and imaginative. This excerpt from Lewis Carroll's "The Walrus and the
Carpenter" is an example of creative writing because it is not based in fact and uses a
lot of imagination. 
If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year,
Do you suppose,' the Walrus said,
That they could get it clear?'
I doubt it,' said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.

If you'd like to try your hand at a poem, check out these tips on writing poems.

Short Story Example

Short stories can be narrative, funny, mysterious, satirical, fantasy, or historical. Often

stories include a lesson for the reader. This excerpt from Margaret Barrington's "Village
Without Men," from The Glass Shore anthology (edited by Sinéad Gleeson) is a great
example of using creativity to evoke emotion. 
Weary and distraught, the women listened to the storm as it raged around the houses.
The wind screamed and howled. It drove suddenly against the doors with heavy
lurchings. It tore at the straw ropes that anchored the thatched roofs to the ground. It
rattled and shook the small windows. It sent the rain in narrow streams under the door,
through the piled-up sacks, to form large puddles on the hard, stamped, earthen floors.
Novel Example

Novels are certainly creative. Readers look forward to dipping in and out of new worlds
created in novels, be they fantasy or realistic. This excerpt from Dark Witch, by famed
romance writer Nora Roberts features a real place, Ireland, with a fictional character
and story. 
The cold carved bone deep, fueled by the lash of the wind, iced by the drowning rain
gushing from a bruised, bloated sky. Such was Iona Sheehan's welcome to Ireland. She
loved it. How could she not? She asked herself as she hugged her arms to her chest
and drank in the wild, soggy view from her window. She was standing in a castle. She'd
sleep in a castle that night. An honest-to-God Irish castle in the heart of the west.

Genres of Creative Writing Creative writing can be found basically everywhere from TV commercial to
funny signs like “ God knows Hudas not pay”, but for a piece of writing to be regarded as literary, one
usually writes in one of these genres : poetry, fiction, drama, and creative non fiction .

Poetry
This is often considered the oldest form of literature. Before writing was
invented, oral stories were commonly put into some sort of poetic form to
make them easier to remember and recite. Poetry today is usually
written down but is still sometimes performed. A lot of people think of
rhymes and counting syllables and lines when they think of poetry, and
some poems certainly follow strict forms. But other types of poetry are so
free-form that they lack any rhymes or common patterns. There are even
kinds of poetry that cross genre lines, such as prose poetry. In general,
though, a text is a poem when it has some sort of meter or rhythm, and
when it focuses on the way the syllables, words, and phrases sound
when put together.

Prose
Once you know what poetry is, it’s easy to define prose. Prose can be
defined as any kind of written text that isn’t poetry (which means drama,
discussed below, is technically a type of prose). The most typical
varieties of prose are novels and short stories, while other types include
letters, diaries, journals, and non-fiction (also discussed below). Prose is
written in complete sentences and organized in paragraphs. Instead of
focusing on sound, which is what poetry does, prose tends to focus on
plot and characters. Like poetry, prose is broken down into a large
number of other sub-genres. Some of these genres revolve around the
structure of the text, such as novellas, biographies, and memoirs, and
others are based on the subject matter, like romances, fantasies, and
mysteries.

Drama
Any text meant to be performed rather than read can be considered
drama (unless it’s a poem meant to be performed, of course). In
layman’s terms, dramas are usually called plays. When written down the
bulk of a drama is dialogue, with periodic stage directions such as “he
looks away angrily.” Of all the genres of literature discussed in this
article, drama is the one given the least time in most classrooms. And
often when drama is taught, it’s only read the same way you might read
a novel. Since dramas are meant to be acted out in front of an audience,
it’s hard to fully appreciate them when looking only at pages of text.
Students respond best to dramas, and grasp their mechanics more fully
when exposed to film or theater versions or encouraged to read aloud or
act out scenes during class. The dramas most commonly taught in
classrooms are definitely those written by the bard. Shakespeare’s plays
are challenging, but rewarding when approached with a little effort and a
critical mindset.

Non-Fiction
Poetry and drama both belong to the broader category of fiction—texts
that feature events and characters that have been made up. Then there
is non-fiction, a vast category that is a type of prose and includes many
different sub-genres. Non-fiction can be creative, such as the personal
essay, or factual, such as the scientific paper. Sometimes the purpose of
non-fiction is to tell a story (hence the autobiography), but most of the
time the purpose is to pass on information and educate the reader about
certain facts, ideas, and/or issues. Some genres of non-fiction include
histories, textbooks, travel books, newspapers, self-help books, and
literary criticism. A full list of non-fiction types would be at least as long
as this entire article. But the varieties most often used in the classroom
are textbooks, literary criticism, and essays of various sorts. Most of
what students practice writing in the classroom is the non-fiction essay,
from factual to personal to persuasive.

Media
The newest type of literature that has been defined as a distinct genre is
media. This categorization was created to encompass the many new
and important kinds of texts in our society today, such as movies and
films, websites, commercials, billboards, and radio programs. Any work
that doesn’t exist primarily as a written text can probably be considered
media, particularly if it relies on recently developed technologies. Media
literature can serve a wide variety of purposes—among other things it
can educate, entertain, advertise, and/or persuade.

Other Types of Literature

These are far from the only important genres of literature. Here are a few
more that are sometimes used in classrooms:

 Oral Literature: The oldest type of literature, and the foundation on

which culture was built. Now, most oral texts have been written down, of
course, and are usually taught in the form of epic poems or plays or folk
tales.

 Folklore/Folk Tales/Fables: A distinction is often made between regular

prose and folklore. Most folk tales were originally oral literature, and are
short stories meant to pass on a particular lesson or moral. They often
have a timeless quality, dealing with common human concerns that are
just as relevant to us today, while still being products of a very specific
culture and time period. 

Graphic Novels and Comic Books: It used to be that most educators saw
comic books as the lowest form of literature, not suitable or valuable for
children. But times have changed, and many teachers have come to
realize that comic books and the more modern graphic novels are both
appealing to kids and are a valid form of literature in their own right.

A writer is a Reader

A good writer has instilled working habits throughout his career that
enable him to sustain his writing, even if he encounters writer’s block or
lack of inspiration along the way. As mentioned in the previous lesson, a
writer is also a lifelong student of the craft, and this entails being a
lifelong reader as well. Without the ability to read widely and deeply, one
cannot entirely call himself a writer.

Writing also necessitates that the writer becomes an active

participant of the world. It means engaging in everything that surrounds
us whether it is part of one’s immediate environment (school, nature, and
home, among others) or other art forms (movies, plays, and songs,
among others) Exposing oneself to different forms of expression
enriches one’s writing. As you expand your circles of influence, your
writing expands with it, and your progress as a writer will constantly
evolve.

Activity 1

Grab a newspaper and look at today’s headlines. Choose one of the

head
Lesson 2- Language