What Is Creative Writing?

Learn a set of exercises that will awaken your creativity

According to writer David Myers, when the great author Vladimir Nabokov was offered a literature tenure at Harvard University, one of the university linguists protested: ’What next? Will an elephant be teaching zoology?'

This type of criticism is often heard when talking about creative writing: some believe that the art of writing cannot be learned, and others think that, just like any other art, practice and exercise can perfect anyone’s ability.

Finding a middle ground can perhaps be the right approach: anyone can practice writing, and this practice could help them to become a better writer and, in general, a better creative.

What does creative writing mean?

There are two uses for this expression:

- As a synonym for literature. Creative writing refers to any work of fiction, poetry, or drama. What this means is that a scientific investigation would not be considered creative writing. (However, there are non-fiction examples of creative writing, for example, in journalism.)

- As a tool for students who wish to learn how to write. Creative writing classes are more and more popular at university. The lecturer sets a topic as an assignment, and students work on different genres.

The term ‘creative writing’ does not imply that a piece is particularly creative, original, or unique. It is perhaps more correct to define it as ‘the research of creativity through practical exercises.’

We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.
—Ernest Hemingway

What is the use of creative writing?

Some teachers claim that whether or not the student wishes to carry on writing professionally, practicing creative writing will help them develop various skills, such as problem-solving, abstract thinking, and using imagination to deal with eventualities.

Some uses of creative writing are as follows:

- To improve artistic skills and stimulate imagination in general.

- As a therapy exercise in which the individual gets to know themselves more deeply or discover important sides of their personal history.

- To perfect verbal and expressive skills. Writing by hand also develops cognitive skills.

You become a good writer just as you become a good carpenter: by planing down your sentences.
—Anatole France

Examples of creative writing exercises

The majority of creative writing teachers create their program of study with the aim of practicing various literary genres. Some teachers also add extra challenges to stretch the limits of creative thought. For example, writing within a restricted time limit, using a set of prescribed sentences in the text, writing the story from end to beginning, and so on.

See below some examples of these types of exercises:

- Look at an abstract painting. Tell a story starting from there.

- Write a haiku (17 syllable poem) about something you do not like.

- Write automatically, without pausing to think about the words you are using (interior monologue or stream of consciousness) for 30 minutes.

- Write a letter to someone you would like to meet, trying to convince them to get together.

- Write a page using only dialogue.

- Describe a room you know well in great detail, or the route you take to get to a place you frequent.

- Choose the verse of a song. Write a story and use the verse as the last line.

Original version by @inuin.

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