tips for writing creative writing

Tip 7: Practice Overcoming Writer’s Block

At some point in their writing journey, every writer has reached a point where writing doesn’t feel fun anymore.

There are lots of different causes for writer’s block. You might be unsure what to write, afraid of failing, or simply burned out from writing too much.

It’s important to find ways to overcome creative blocks, so you don’t end up putting down your pen for good.

One useful technique is to change your environment. If you normally write at home, try writing in a coffee shop or in your local library.

Another technique is to try a different activity for a while. Go for a walk, take a shower, do your dishes, or try another hobby. Before long, you’ll find yourself wanting to write again.

Perhaps the most underrated method is to simply take a break from writing. Give yourself permission to stop for a while—it’s always okay to take a step back.

Tip 8: Study Writing Craft

Many new writers falsely believe that writing can’t be taught; you’re either good at it or you’re not.

But the truth is that creative writing is a craft, just like woodworking, oil painting, or ballet. You wouldn’t expect anyone to be naturally good at ballet without years of training, so why is writing any different?

One way to learn new creative writing techniques is by reading craft books . Some great books to start with include On Writing by Stephen King, Story Genius by Lisa Cron, and The Creative Writer’s Handbook by Philip K. Jason.

These books can help you learn the basics of how to write well. For example, you can learn how to construct high-quality sentences, how to avoid passive voice, and how to use poetic devices.

The more you learn, the more powerful your writing will become.

Tip 9: Invent Your Own Process

When you’re just starting out as a writer, it can be tempting to copy someone else’s writing process.

Maybe you heard an interview with a bestselling author who said you have to outline a story before you draft it. Or maybe you found out your favorite author writes 1,000 words every day, and now you think you have to write 1,000 words every day too.

But it’s important to remember that no two writers have the exact same writing process. What works best for someone else might not work for you.

There’s no right or wrong way to be a creative writer. Your job is to find a writing process that makes you feel fulfilled, productive, and inspired—and if your favorite writers don’t write the same way, that’s perfectly okay.

Tip 10: Don’t Aim for Perfection

There’s a good chance your writing is never going to be perfect. Mine definitely isn’t!

Remember that writing is about the process, not the product. Even if the final product is never perfect, the process has helped you grow as a writer—and hopefully, it’s also been a lot of fun.

You should decide what your main goal for writing is. Maybe it’s writing stories you might be able to publish someday. Maybe it’s telling stories about characters you rarely see in existing stories. Maybe it’s simply a fun new hobby.

Whatever your goal is, remember that you’re already on your way to achieving it. You don’t need to aim for perfection in order to succeed.

There’s no secret to getting better at creative writing. The process is very simple—it just takes a lot of hard work.

All you have to do is follow this two-step process:

• Step 1: Write consistently
• Step 2: Ask for feedback on your writing

The first step is fairly self-explanatory. Whenever you’re learning a new skill, it’s important to practice it. The more you write, the more you’ll learn about how to be a successful creative writer.

The second step is the one that receives more pushback from writers because it requires a lot of courage and vulnerability, but it’s just as important as the first step.

If you don’t get feedback, you could write every day and still never improve. That’s because most people can’t spot the weaknesses in their own stories.

You can ask for feedback from your friends, family, or writing groups. They can help you see your work from a different perspective and identify areas for improvement.

As long as you write consistently and listen to the feedback on the work you’re producing, you’ll be able to create a positive cycle where you create better and better stories over time.

If you want to improve your creative writing skills, there are numerous resources you can use to find help.

One great method is to join a writing community where you can share your work and get feedback from other writers.

You can look for free critique groups online, on websites such as Scribophile and Critique Circle. Or you can start your own group with your friends.

You can also consider joining a local writing class or retreat. Many schools and community centers offer classes and workshops you can join.

Another option is to use creative writing tools. ProWritingAid can give you AI-powered suggestions about how to improve your prose and make your writing shine.

Good luck, and happy writing!

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Hannah Yang

Hannah Yang is a speculative fiction writer who writes about all things strange and surreal. Her work has appeared in Analog Science Fiction, Apex Magazine, The Dark, and elsewhere, and two of her stories have been finalists for the Locus Award. Her favorite hobbies include watercolor painting, playing guitar, and rock climbing. You can follow her work on hannahyang.com, or subscribe to her newsletter for publication updates.

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• Creativity Techniques

26+ Creative Writing Tips for Young Writers

So you want to be a writer? And not just any writer, you want to be a creative writer. The road to being a legendary storyteller won’t be easy, but with our creative writing tips for kids, you’ll be on the right track! Creative writing isn’t just about writing stories. You could write poems, graphic novels, song lyrics and even movie scripts. But there is one thing you’ll need and that is good creative writing skills. 

Here are over 26 tips to improve your creative writing skills :

Read a wide range of books

When it comes to creative writing, reading is essential. Reading allows you to explore the styles of other writers and gain inspiration to improve your own writing. But don’t just limit yourself to reading only popular books or your favourites. Read all sorts of books, everything from fairytales to scary stories. Take a look at comics, short stories, novels and poetry. Just fill your heads with the knowledge and wisdom of other writers and soon you’ll be just like them!

Write about real-life events

The hardest thing about creative writing is connecting emotionally with your audience. By focusing your writing on real-life events, you know that in some way or another your readers will be able to relate. And with creative writing you don’t need to use real names or details – There are certain things you can keep private while writing about the rare details. Using real-life events is also a good way to find inspiration for your stories. 

Be imaginative

Be as crazy and wild as you like with your imagination. Create your world, your own monsters , or even your own language! The more imaginative your story, the more exciting it will be to read. Remember that there are no rules on what makes a good idea in creative writing. So don’t be afraid to make stuff up!

Find your writing style

Thes best writers have a particular style about them. When you think of Roald Dahl , you know his books are going to have a sense of humour. While with Dr Seuss , you’re prepared to read some funny new words . Alternatively, when you look at R.L.Stine, you know that he is all about the horror. Think about your own writing style. Do you want to be a horror writer? Maybe someone who always writes in the first person? Will always focus your books on your culture or a particular character?

Stick to a routine

Routine is extremely important to writers. If you just write some stuff here and there, it’s likely that you’ll soon give up on writing altogether! A strict routine means that every day at a certain time you will make time to write about something, anything. Even if you’re bored or can’t think of anything, you’ll still pick up that pencil and write. Soon enough you’ll get into the habit of writing good stuff daily and this is definitely important for anyone who wants to be a professional creative writer!

Know your audience

Writing isn’t just about thinking about your own interests, it’s also about thinking about the interests of your audience. If you want to excite fellow classmates, know what they like. Do they like football , monsters or a particular video game? With that knowledge, you can create the most popular book for your target audience. A book that they can’t stop reading and will recommend to others! 

Daily Exercises

To keep your creative writing skills up to scratch it is important to keep practising every day. Even if you have no inspiration. At times when your mind is blank, you should try to use tools like writing prompts , video prompts or other ways of coming up with ideas . You could even take a look at these daily writing exercises as an example. We even created a whole list of over 100 creative writing exercises to try out when you need some inspiration or ideas. 

Work together with others

Everyone needs a little help now and then. We recommend joining a writing club or finding other classmates who are also interested in writing to improve your own creative writing skills. Together you can share ideas, tips and even write a story together! A good storytelling game to play in a group is the “ finish the story” game . 

Get feedback

Without feedback, you’ll never be able to improve your writing. Feedback, whether good or bad is important to all writers. Good feedback gives you the motivation to carry on. While bad feedback just gives you areas to improve and adapt your writing, so you can be the best! After every piece of writing always try to get feedback from it, whether it is from friends, family, teachers or an online writing community .

Enter writing competitions

The best way to improve your creative writing is by entering all sorts of writing competitions . Whether it’s a poetry competition or short story competition, competitions let you compete against other writers and even help you get useful feedback on your writing. Most competitions even have rules to structure your writing, these rules can help you prepare for the real world of writing and getting your work published. And not only that you might even win some cool prizes!

Keep a notebook

Every writer’s best friend is their notebook. Wherever you go make sure you have a notebook handy to jot down any ideas you get on the go. Inspiration can come from anywhere , so the next time you get an idea instead of forgetting about it, write it down. You never know, this idea could become a best-selling novel in the future. 

Research your ideas

So, you got a couple of ideas for short stories. The next step is to research these ideas deeper. 

Researching your ideas could involve reading books similar to your ideas or going online to learn more about a particular topic. For example, if you wanted to write a book on dragons, you would want to know everything about them in history to come up with a good, relatable storyline for your book.

Create Writing Goals

How do you know if your writing is improving over time? Simple – Just create writing goals for yourself. Examples of writing goals might include, to write 100 words every day or to write 600 words by the end of next week. Whatever your goals make sure you can measure them easily. That way you’ll know if you met them or not. You might want to take a look at these bullet journal layouts for writers to help you track the progress of your writing.

Follow your passions

Writing can be tedious and many people even give up after writing a few words. The only way you can keep that fire burning is by writing about your true passions. Whatever it is you enjoy doing or love, you could just write about those things. These are the types of things you’ll enjoy researching and already know so much about, making writing a whole lot more fun!

Don’t Settle for the first draft

You finally wrote your first story. But the writing process isn’t complete yet! Now it’s time to read your story and make the all-important edits. Editing your story is more than just fixing spelling or grammar mistakes. It’s also about criticising your own work and looking for areas of improvement. For example, is the conflict strong enough? Is your opening line exciting? How can you improve your ending?

Plan before writing

Never just jump into writing your story. Always plan first! Whether this means listing down the key scenes in your story or using a storyboard template to map out these scenes. You should have an outline of your story somewhere, which you can refer to when actually writing your story. This way you won’t make basic mistakes like not having a climax in your story which builds up to your main conflict or missing crucial characters out.

It’s strange the difference it makes to read your writing out aloud compared to reading it in your head. When reading aloud you tend to notice more mistakes in your sentences or discover paragraphs which make no sense at all. You might even want to read your story aloud to your family or a group of friends to get feedback on how your story sounds. 

Pace your story

Pacing is important. You don’t want to just start and then quickly jump into the main conflict because this will take all the excitement away from your conflict. And at the same time, you don’t want to give the solution away too early and this will make your conflict too easy for your characters to solve. The key is to gradually build up to your conflict by describing your characters and the many events that lead up to the main conflict. Then you might want to make the conflict more difficult for your characters by including more than one issue in your story to solve. 

Think about themes

Every story has a theme or moral. Some stories are about friendship, others are about the dangers of trusting strangers. And a story can even have more than one theme. The point of a theme is to give something valuable to your readers once they have finished reading your book. In other words, to give them a life lesson, they’ll never forget!

Use dialogue carefully

Dialogue is a tricky thing to get right. Your whole story should not be made up of dialogue unless you’re writing a script. Alternatively, it can be strange to include no dialogue at all in your story. The purpose of dialogue should be to move your story forward. It should also help your readers learn more about a particular character’s personality and their relationship with other characters in your book. 

One thing to avoid with dialogue is… small talk! There’s no point in writing dialogue, such as “How’s the weather?”, if your story has nothing to do with the weather. This is because it doesn’t move your story along.  For more information check out this guide on how to write dialogue in a story .

Write now, edit later

Writing is a magical process. Don’t lose that magic by focusing on editing your sentences while you’re still writing your story up. Not only could this make your story sound fragmented, but you might also forget some key ideas to include in your story or take away the imagination from your writing. When it comes to creative writing, just write and come back to editing your story later.

Ask yourself questions

Always question your writing. Once done, think about any holes in your story. Is there something the reader won’t understand or needs further describing? What if your character finds another solution to solving the conflict? How about adding a new character or removing a character from your story? There are so many questions to ask and keep asking them until you feel confident about your final piece.

Create a dedicated writing space

Some kids like writing on their beds, others at the kitchen table. While this is good for beginners, going pro with your writing might require having a dedicated writing space. Some of the basics you’ll need is a desk and comfy chair, along with writing materials like pens, pencils and notebooks. But to really create an inspiring place, you could also stick some beautiful pictures, some inspiring quotes from writers and anything else that will keep you motivated and prepared. 

Beware of flowery words

Vocabulary is good. It’s always exciting when you learn a new word that you have never heard before. But don’t go around plotting in complicated words into your story, unless it’s necessary to show a character’s personality. Most long words are not natural sounding, meaning your audience will have a hard time relating to your story if it’s full of complicated words from the dictionary like Xenophobia or Xylograph .

Create believable characters

Nobody’s perfect. And why should your story characters be any different? To create believable characters, you’ll need to give them some common flaws as well as some really cool strengths. Your character’s flaws can be used as a setback to why they can’t achieve their goals, while their strengths are the things that will help win over adversity. Just think about your own strengths and weaknesses and use them as inspirations for your storybook characters. You can use the Imagine Forest character creator to plan out your story characters. 

Show, don’t tell

You can say that someone is nice or you can show them how that person is nice. Take the following as an example, “Katie was a nice girl.” Now compare that sentence to this, “Katie spent her weekends at the retirement home, singing to the seniors and making them laugh.”. The difference between the two sentences is huge. The first one sounds boring and you don’t really know why Katie is nice. While in the second sentence, you get the sense that Katie is nice from her actions without even using the word nice in the sentence!

Make the conflict impossible

Imagine the following scenario, you are a championship boxer who has won many medals over the year and the conflict is…Well, you got a boxing match coming up. Now that doesn’t sound so exciting! In fact, most readers won’t even care about the boxer winning the match or not! 

Now imagine this scenario: You’re a poor kid from New Jersey, you barely have enough money to pay the bills. You never did any professional boxing, but you want to enter a boxing competition, so you can win and use the money to pay your bills. 

The second scenario has a bigger mountain to climb. In other words, a much harder challenge to face compared to the character in the first scenario. Giving your characters an almost impossible task or conflict is essential in good story-telling.

Write powerful scenes

Scenes help build a picture in your reader’s mind without even including any actual pictures in your story. Creating powerful scenes involves more than describing the appearance of a setting, it’s also about thinking about the smell, the sounds and what your characters are feeling while they are in a particular setting. By being descriptive with your scenes, your audience can imagine themselves being right there with characters through the hard times and good times!

There’s nothing worse than an ending which leaves the reader feeling underwhelmed. You read all the way through and then it just ends in the most typical, obvious way ever! Strong endings don’t always end on a happy ending. They can end with a sad ending or a cliff-hanger.  In fact, most stories actually leave the reader with more questions in their head, as they wonder what happens next. This then gives you the opportunity to create even more books to continue the story and keep your readers hooked for life (or at least for a very long time)! 

Over 25 creative writing tips later and you should now be ready to master the art of creative writing! The most important tip for all you creative writers out there is to be imaginative! Without a good imagination, you’ll struggle to wow your audience with your writing skills. Do you have any more creative writing tips to share? Let us know in the comments!

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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Guides • Perfecting your Craft

Last updated on Dec 23, 2022

Creative Writing: 8 Fun Ways to Get Started

About the author.

Reedsy's editorial team is a diverse group of industry experts devoted to helping authors write and publish beautiful books.

About Savannah Cordova

Savannah is a senior editor with Reedsy and a published writer whose work has appeared on Slate, Kirkus, and BookTrib. Her short fiction has appeared in the Owl Canyon Press anthology, "No Bars and a Dead Battery". 

Creative writing is a written art form that uses the imagination to tell stories and compose essays, poetry, screenplays, novels, lyrics, and more. It can be defined in opposition to the dry and factual types of writing found in academic, technical, or journalistic texts.

Characterized by its ability to evoke emotion and engage readers, creative writing can tackle themes and ideas that one might struggle to discuss in cold, factual terms.

If you’re interested in the world of creative writing, we have eight fantastic exercises and activities to get you started.

1. Use writing prompts every week

Coming up with ideas for short stories can be challenging, which is why we created a directory of 1700+ creative writing prompts covering a wide range of genres and topics. Writing prompts are flexible in nature, they are meant to inspire you without being too constrictive. Overall, they are a great way to keep your creative muscles limber.

If you’re struggling for motivation, how does a hard deadline and a little prize money sound? Prompts-based writing contests are a fantastic way to dive into creative writing: the combination of due dates, friendly rivalries, prize money, and the potential to have your work published is often just what’s needed to propel you over the finish line. 

We run a weekly writing contest over on Reedsy Prompts , where hundreds of writers from all around the world challenge themselves weekly to write a short story between 1,000 and 3,000 words for a chance to win the $250 prize. Furthermore, the community is very active in providing constructive feedback, support, and accountability to each other 一 something that will make your efforts even more worthwhile.

Take a peek at our directory of writing contests which features some of the most prestigious open writing competitions in the world. 

2. Start journaling your days

Another easy way to get started with creative writing is to keep a journal. We’re not talking about an hour-by-hour account of your day, but journaling as a way to express yourself without filters and find your ‘voice in writing’. If you’re unsure what to journal about, think of any daily experiences that have had an impact on you, such as… 

Special moments . Did you lock yourself out of your house? Or did you catch a beautiful sunset on your way back from groceries? Capture those moments, and how you felt about them.

People . Did you have an unusual exchange with a stranger at the bar? Or did you reconnect with someone you haven’t seen in years? Share your thoughts about it.

World events . Is there something happening in the world right now that is triggering you? That’s understandable. You can reflect on it (and let some steam off) while journaling.

Memories . Did you go down memory lane after a glass of wine? Great, honor those memories by trying to recollect them in detail on paper so that they will always stay vivid in your mind.

Life decisions . Are you having an existential crisis about what to do with your life? Write down your thought process, and the pros and cons of the possible decisions in front of you. You’ll be surprised to discover that, not only is it a great creative writing exercise, but it can also actually help you sort your life out! 

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3. Create an anonymous social media account

Like anonymous blogging, an incognito Twitter account sidesteps the pressure that comes with attaching your name to your work. Anonymously putting tiny stories out into the ether gives you the freedom to create without worrying about the consequences — which is great, so long as you don’t use it as an opportunity to troll people or spread conspiracy theories. 

You could use the anonymous account in different ways. For example, you could…

• Tweet from unique perspectives (e.g. a dog observing human behavior );
• Create a parody account of real or fictional people (e.g. an English poet from the Middle Ages );
• Challenge yourself to write tiny flash fiction stories that fit into Twitter threads.

Just remember, you’re not doing this to fool anyone into thinking that your account is real: be a good citizen and mark yourself a fiction account in your bio. 

But if you’re not really a social media kinda person, you may enjoy our next tip, which is a bit more on the analog side.

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4. Find an old photo and tell its story

Find a random old photo — maybe on the web, maybe from a photo album in a yard sale — and see what catches your attention. Look closely at it and try to imagine the story behind it. What was happening? Who are the people in it and how are they really feeling? Do they share a relationship, and of what kind? What are their goals and dreams?

In other words, bring the photo to life with your imagination. Don't be afraid to take artistic license with your story, as the goal is to be creative and have fun while writing. 

How do you know it’s creative writing?

5. Create a character from a random name

Just as our universe started from a few simple elements, you can create a character from a few basic information, like their name, culture, and gender. Reedsy’s handy character name generator can help you with that, offering random names based on archetypes, Medieval roots, fantasy traits and more. A few examples? A Celtic heroine named Fíona O'Keefe, a hero’s sidekick named Aderine, or a Korean track star named Park Kang-Dae.

Once you've chosen their name, begin to develop their personality. Set a timer for 5–10 minutes and write anything that comes to mind about them. It could be a page from their FBI dossier, a childhood diary entry, or simply a scene about them boiling an egg.

Just ‘go with the flow’ and don’t stop writing until your time is up. Repeat the process a few times to further hone the personality. If you like what you end up with, you can always go deeper later by creating a character bible . 

If a stream-of-consciousness exercise is not your thing, you can try to imagine your character in a specific situation and write down how’d they respond to it. For example, what if they were betrayed by a friend? Or if they were elected in power? To help you imagine situations to put your character in, we made a free template that you can download below. 

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40 questions to help you develop memorable characters.

6. Construct a character by people-watching

People watching is “the action of spending time idly observing people in a public place.” In a non-creepy way, ideally. Sit on a bench on a public square or on a road-side table at your favorite café, and start observing the people around you. Pay attention to any interesting quirks or behaviors, and write it down. Then put on your detective’s hat and try to figure out what that tells you about them.

For example, the man at the table next to you at the restaurant is reading the newspaper. His jacket and hat are neatly arranged next to him. The pages make a whipping sound as he briskly turns them, and he grimaces every time he reads a new article. Try to imagine what he’s reading, and why he’s reacting the way he is. Then, try to build a character with the information you have. It’s a fun creative exercise that will also, hopefully, help you better empathize with strangers. 

7. “Map” something you feel strongly about into a new context

Placing your feelings into new contexts can be a powerful creative writing exercise. The idea is to start from something you feel strongly about, and frame it into a completely different context. 

For example, suppose your heart is torn apart after you divorce your life-long partner: instead of journaling or crafting an entire novel  about it, you could tell a story about a legendary trapeze duo whose partnership has come to an end. If you’re struggling with politicking and petty power dynamics at the office: what if you “mapped” your feelings onto an ant who resents being part of a colony? Directing your frustration at a queen ant can be a fun and cathartic writing experience (that won’t get you in trouble if your co-workers end up reading your story).   

8. Capture the moment with a haiku

Haikus are poems from the Japanese tradition that aim to capture, in a few words, daily moments of insight (usually inspired by nature). In a nutshell, it’s about becoming mindful of your surroundings, and notice if you can see something in a new or deeper way 一 then use contrasting imagery to express whatever you noticed. 

Here’s an example:

Bright orange bicycle

Speeding through the autumn leaves

A burst of color waves

It may sound a bit complicated, but it shouldn’t be 一 at least not for the purpose of this exercise. Learn the basics of haiku-writing , then challenge yourself to write one per day for a week or month. At the end, you’ll be able to look back at your collection of poems and 一 in the worst case scenario 一 revisit small but significant moments that you would have otherwise forgot about.   

Creative writing can be any writing you put your heart and soul into. It could be made for the purpose of expressing your feelings, exploring an idea, or simply entertaining your readers. As you can see there’s many paths to get involved with it, and hundreds of exercises you can use as a starting point. In the next post , we’ll look more in detail at some creative writing examples from some fellow authors. 

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Creative writing tips: What Every Aspiring Creative Writer Must Know

Creative writing tips : So you want to be a writer, huh? That’s awesome. The world needs more creative souls. But before you dive into your first short story or novel, there are some tips every aspiring creative writer should know to help develop your craft and avoid frustration. Writing fiction and poetry isn’t easy, even for seasoned authors, but with practice and persistence you can improve your skills and build confidence in your creative abilities.

Table of Contents

The journey may not always be fun, but the rewards of expressing yourself through the written word and connecting with readers can make it worthwhile. If you’re serious about becoming an author, take these creative writing tips to heart. With time and dedication, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your writing dreams and sharing your words with the world.

What Are the Basics of Creative Writing?

The basics of creative writing come down to a few key elements: imagination, emotion, and a way with words.

Developing a vivid imagination

A creative writer needs to be able to imagine characters, settings, plots, and details that engage readers. Read a lot, observe the world around you, and ask “What if…?” questions to strengthen your imagination.

Emotional intelligence

Great creative writing elicits emotion in the reader. Learn how to tap into your own emotions and express them through your writing. Share experiences that move you. Make your readers feel what your characters feel.

A strong writing skillset

Every creative writer needs to master the fundamentals: spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Study the elements of style like metaphor, imagery, and pacing. Read poetry and nonfiction to expand your range. Experiment with different forms of creative writing like flash fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction.

Finding your creative voice

Your creative voice is your unique style and perspective. Don’t imitate other writers. Write about subjects you care about in a way that is authentic to you. Let your passions and quirks shine through. With practice, your creative voice will emerge.

The building blocks of creative writing may seem simple, but becoming a skilled creative writer takes dedication and time. Tap into your imagination, connect with your emotions, hone your craft, and discover your voice. With an open and willing heart, you’ll be spinning tales in no time!

Creative writing tips:

How to improve your creativity in writing.

To improve your creativity in writing, try these tips:

Make time to daydream

Set aside time each day just to daydream. Let your mind wander freely without distractions. Daydreaming sparks creativity and can lead to new ideas or stories.

Read widely

The more you read, the more creative you can be. Expose yourself to diverse subjects, genres, and authors. You’ll gain exposure to different writing styles and ways of creative thinking.

Freewrite regularly

Freewriting is writing freely without judgment. Set a timer for 10-15 minutes and just write whatever comes to mind. Don’t censor yourself. Freewriting exercises your creative flow and can lead to unexpected ideas or stories.

Mix things up

Try new routines or activities to stimulate your mind. Take a different route to work. Listen to unfamiliar music. Travel when you can. New experiences create new neural connections in your brain that spark creativity.

Collaborate with others

Bouncing ideas off other writers is a great way to overcome blocks and generate new ideas. Form a writers group, join an online community, or find an accountability partner. Fresh perspectives lead to more creativity.

Be flexible in your thinking

Consider different options and perspectives. Don’t limit yourself to conventional ways of thinking. Try brainstorming wild and crazy ideas without judgment. Some of the most creative concepts come from absurd or unrealistic starting points. Flex your mind – you’ll get better at thinking outside the box!

With practice, you can strengthen your creativity in writing and beyond. Tap into the power of your imagination – it’s the only limit to how creative you can become!

Tips to Help You Become a Better Creative Writer

To become a better creative writer, follow these tips:

Read more and analyze what you read

The more you read, the more you’ll absorb the elements of good writing. As you read, analyze how the authors achieve the effects they do. Pay attention to pacing, word choice, imagery, and syntax. Try to understand why certain parts are effective and impactful. Reading a lot will expand your vocabulary and expose you to different writing styles.

Write regularly

Set aside time each day to write and stick to it. Regular practice will help you improve your craft and unlock your creativity. Try writing in a journal, blogging, or work on your fiction. Start with just 15 or 20 minutes a day of uninterrupted writing. You’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish over time.

Get feedback

Share your writing with others and ask for constructive criticism. Find a writing partner or join a writer’s group to get useful feedback. Look for both encouragement and challenges to improve your work. Then, incorporate the notes into your writing. Fresh perspectives can help you identify areas that could be expanded or need refinement.

Experiment and play

Try different forms of writing like poetry, nonfiction, or short stories. Experiment with different styles, voices, and genres. You never know where your talents may lead unless you explore. Have fun with your writing. Don’t be afraid to play around with different ideas, even if you don’t use them. Exercise your creativity – it’s a muscle that requires practice.

Pushing your limits as an author, seeking input to strengthen your work, and making writing a habit are all ways to nurture your creativity. With regular practice, your writing will blossom and you’ll discover your unique voice. Stay curious and keep exploring. There are always new skills to learn on your journey to becoming a better creative writer.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Creatively

As an aspiring creative writer, there are a few common mistakes you’ll want to avoid.

Rushing the process

Creativity can’t be rushed. Don’t feel pressure to churn out a story or poem in one sitting. Give yourself time to brainstorm ideas, develop characters, and find the right words. Let your ideas marinate for a day or two. Coming back to them with fresh eyes will allow you to see them in a new light and make improvements.

Lack of editing

Always edit and proofread your work. Even the most experienced writers go through multiple rounds of edits. Read your work aloud to identify awkward phrasing or repetitive words. Get feedback from others and be open to constructive criticism. Tighten your language by removing unnecessary words and rearranging sentences for better flow and clarity. Polish and refine until you have a piece you feel proud to share.

Choosing complicated language

Using sophisticated language or complex sentence structures in an attempt to seem more “writerly” is a mistake. Write in a natural, conversational tone using words you understand. Your writing will be stronger and more engaging. Focus on showcasing your unique voice and perspective rather than trying to impress readers with fancy turns of phrase.

Ignoring feedback

Seek out feedback on your creative work, whether from a writing group, teacher, or trusted friend. Listen with an open mind. Not all feedback will resonate with you, but look for valid points that can strengthen your writing. Be willing to make changes, accepting that all creative work can be improved. Use feedback as an opportunity to grow as a writer, not a personal attack.

The path to becoming a stronger creative writer is filled with mistakes and missteps. Learn from them but don’t be too hard on yourself. With regular practice, your skills and confidence will grow. Keep writing, editing and improving each draft and soon these common mistakes will be a thing of the past!

Read More: Keys to Effective Online Learning: Success Strategies for Virtual Students

Frequently Asked Questions About Creative Writing

As an aspiring creative writer, you probably have a lot of questions about the craft. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions and their answers:

How do I get started with creative writing?

The best way to start is just to write! Pick a topic or subject you’re passionate about and start scribbling away or typing. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling or structure at first. Just let your creativity flow. You can always edit and revise later. Try free writing, where you write nonstop for 10-15 minutes without censoring yourself. See where it leads!

How can I improve my creative writing skills?

Practice makes perfect. Write regularly to strengthen your creative writing muscles. Read a lot, especially in the genre you want to write in. Study how other writers craft their prose. Take a creative writing class or join a local writing group to get feedback. Experiment with different styles, forms and subjects to expand your range.

What are some useful creative writing techniques?

Some techniques to try include:

•Show, don’t tell. Use vivid language and specific examples to show the reader what’s happening.

•Use dialog. Dialog makes stories come alive and reveals character. Read your dialog aloud to make sure it sounds natural.

•Establish a rhythm and flow. Use a mix of short and long sentences for a smooth flow. Repeat words, phrases or sounds for poetic rhythm.

•Use vivid imagery and metaphor. Describe sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures to engage the reader’s senses. Metaphors compare two things in an interesting way, like “her smile was a sunrise.”

•Leave room for the reader’s imagination. Don’t spell out every little detail. Leave parts up for interpretation. Readers will fill in the blanks with their imagination.

•Establish a compelling voice. Adopt a voice that fits your story or subject matter. First or third person? Casual or formal? Find your voice!

•Show character growth. Complex, layered characters who change in some way are the most compelling. Show how your characters evolve over the course of the story.

•Foreshadowing. Give subtle clues about what might happen later to create suspense. But don’t make the ending too predictable!

Does this help address some of your most burning questions about creative writing? Let me know if you have any other questions! I’m happy to help in any way I can.

So there you have it, some of the top tips to keep in your back pocket as you embark on your creative writing journey. Remember, write about what you know and love, find your voice, show don’t tell, and edit ruthlessly. But also don’t forget to have fun with it! Writing should be a joy, not a chore. If you follow these tips and write from the heart, you’ll be crafting creative pieces in no time. Now get to it – open that blank document and get those creative juices flowing. You’ve got this! The next great story is in you, just waiting to be told.

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When You Write

Essential Creative Writing Tips and Techniques

Creative writing has no written formula and no immutable laws, you just need a good imagination and good writing skills.

And you’re good to go!

Creative writing presents us with fewer tethers than other forms of writing. This means that we have more liberty when we want to express our imagination artistically.  

With all this freedom, defining and serving creative writing techniques is a bit hard, and some tips are frowned upon as they seem to infringe upon the liberties of some creative writers.

Still, some writers need guidance.

So, I have taken it upon myself to be this guide and dish out much-needed tips and discuss some creative writing techniques.

If you’ve been looking for guidance and insight, here’s a no-frills article full of practical tips on creative writing for you.

What Is Creative Writing?

Creative writing is writing that uses imagination , creativity, and mastery of the art of writing to evoke emotion in a reader.

It could be a fictional story, a nonfiction piece, or movie script, a play, a poem, et cetera. Creative writing oftentimes springs up from experimentation and good, imaginative use of knowledge and ideas.

One of the things that make creative writing different from other forms of writing is the underlying message or theme. Unlike other forms of writing, creative writing sometimes hides a message under the entertaining, saddening, or horrifying part of the written content.

Other archetypal elements of creative writing include creating an emotional connection with the reader (and sometimes evoking a response), having a deliberate point of view, using a narrative structure, and use of imaginative and descriptive language.

What Isn’t Creative Writing?

Whatever lacks the elements I just listed isn’t creative writing. Written pieces such as company reports, statements, and other professional communications aren’t regarded as creative writing.

Similarly, personal documents and communications such as emails, social media content, and personal communications all fit in the non-creative writing category.

In addition to that, research papers and pieces that are in the “Academic Writing” category do not qualify as creative writing.

Most often the type of content that I have listed is devoid of deliberate themes. Often, these types of pieces have goals similar to those prevalent in creative writing, but they’re presented differently.

But—as a reminder to myself or you, the reader—I would like to say that they’re blurred boundaries in some forms of content. For example, we can’t outrightly classify content such as blog posts as creative writing non-creative. Blog content belongs to a broader category that is as flexible as creative writing itself.

Therefore, you would have to analyze the elements of each blog post to see if they fit a particular category.

Forms of Creative Writing

Given the freedom that creative writing gets, it is just right that it takes many forms.

Here are some of the forms of creative writing:

This is one of the most popular forms of creative writing. Novels are also the first thing people think about when it comes to books (apart from academicians who are religiously into textbooks).

Novels are extended fictional works in prose that usually (or always?) come in the form of a story.

Most of them are in the range of 50,000 to 150,000 words, but some are told in less than 50,000 and others extend beyond 150,000.

Pieces that are too short to qualify as novels and too long to qualify as short stories automatically qualify as novellas and novelettes.

Novellas often fall in the range of 10,000-40,000 words, while novelettes generally have a word count of 7,500-19,000 words.

Word count boundaries are usually varied—and they are oftentimes at the discretion of the publisher or competition organizers.

Short Fiction

Short stories as the name suggests are on the other end (the shorter word count end) of the fiction word count spectrum. 

Short stories generally fall between 2,500 and 7,500 words but sometimes extend to 10,000 words.

Unlike novels, short stories tell stories with fewer characters, details, and backstories, among other deficiencies.

Then there are other forms of short fiction told in 1,000 words, and they’re called flash fiction and micro-fiction.

The unrestricted and spontaneous nature of poetry embodies the artistic multifariousness of creative writing.

Poetry is as emotional as it is rebellious—and word counts and rhyming rarely matter for poems, i.e., those in the free verse category.

There are different types of poems such as sonnets, haikus, sestinas, limericks, and free verses.

The spontaneous nature of poetry does connote lawlessness. The thing is, the different types of poetry originated from different cultures around the world and many come with rules.

However, for most of these types of poetry, the rules are adaptable. A few types such as haikus have specific rules on the number of lines or structure.

Plus, just because there aren’t many rules governing the structure, content, and length of poetry it doesn’t mean that you can brush aside the use of perfect grammar, the importance of POV, the need for a theme, and the need to evoke the reader’s emotions.

TV scripts, stage play scripts, and screenplays

This category comprises stage plays and scripts for films, television programs, and other types of video content.

A majority of content in this category has a lot in common with novels and short stories. Although different scripts have different formatting requirements, they carry a message or central theme and try to appeal to their audience’s emotions.

In a way, these scripts depart from the highly descriptive nature of novels and short stories.  There’s much more dialogue in scripts with a bit of stage or scene directions in stage plays screenplays.

Creative Nonfiction

Creative writing doesn’t always have to be works of fiction, some nonfiction also qualifies as creative writing.

Here are some of the works that can be called creative nonfiction:

• Lyric essays
• Autobiographies
• Humor Writing
• Literary Journalism

Tips and Techniques for Creative Writing

1. read widely and learn from other writers.

You can improve by focusing on looking at your writing only. If you want to be a good creative writer, you have to read.

When you read other people’s work, you discover other writing styles and get inspired in the process.

There are lots of reading resources on creative writing out there. You can find books, essays, blog articles, and video content covering different aspects of creative writing.

Some works will comprise fiction and nonfiction pieces (novels, short stories, poetry, lyrical essays. Et cetera) while others seek to cover interviews and personal essays that talk about the authors’ creative processes.

2. Benefit from Your Imagination

A wild imagination represents superiority for creative writers, especially fiction writers.

This is the only time you’re allowed to play god!

By using a crazy imagination you can conceive an exciting story, build a unique world, and come up with convincing, never-imagined-before characters.

Heck! You can even create your own language!

Be as imaginative as you can be, even going into a trance, and create a creative piece using your own rules!

3. Focus on Understanding and Improving Yourself as a Writer

You cannot improve something you don’t fully understand; therefore, you have to understand your strengths and weaknesses as a writer to become a better writer.

I wrote an article on this, explaining some general strengths and weaknesses that writers have.  As a creative writer, you have to identify problem areas such as bad sense of rhythm, dodgy flow, lack of creativity, et cetera.

As a creative writer, there are things you must have in your armory, such as a rich and relevant vocabulary, organized writing, and a unique writing style (which also happens to be the next tip on the list).

4. Develop or Discover a Unique Writing Style

Creative writers are better off seeking inspiration from other creative writers while trying to follow their path.

In short: study other writers, but develop your writing style. Take a look at all the best, and you’ll discover that most of them developed a unique style.

So, have your writing style. And, it should fit the niche you want to specialize in—if it’s horror, a befitting style. You could also focus on developing vibrant writing full of eccentric characters.

Likewise, you could become a writer who always writes in a specific POV.

5. Create Space for Creative Writing and Stick to a routine

Writing routinely and total focus are tremendously important for creative writers. If you’re a spontaneous writer who scarcely writes and only writes whenever they feel like it, you’re bound to fail as a writer!

You need to have a schedule and some working space. The ideas might come spontaneously and anywhere, but it’s hard to write without proper planning and a distraction-free setting.

It’s unproductive trying to squeeze writing into your day.

When you start writing routinely, in a ‘comfortable’ place, creative writing becomes natural. Even when you’re out of ideas experiencing writer’s block, you have to practice the habit of writing stuff daily—just write some fluff if you’re bored.

6. Know your audience

“Why do you write?”

The most popular answer to the question is, “because I love it!”

But if the question was rephrased and we asked “why do you publish your works?” the previous answer would be ‘half true.’

You write because it’s the love of your life and you publish for your audience. So, creative writing isn’t always about you, but your fans too.

You have to know what your readers are like. Even when you haven’t published a single piece, it’s easy to research readers’ interests using web-based analytics resources.

Armed with this knowledge, you can craft a piece that strikes a chord with your target audience, with a high potential of becoming a bestseller.

7. Always Start and End Strong

Our English teacher constantly reminded us that when she was going through our essays, she started with the introduction and summary before moving to the body.

“They’re the most important parts of your essay.” She’d always say.

Later, I found out that this applied to almost every form of writing.  

Your readers want your piece to either start with a bang or catch their attention. Once the reader feels underwhelmed, they won’t read all the way through.

Strong endings are just as important, but it doesn’t mean that you always have to end on a happy note. You can close on a sad note or give them a cliffhanger. 

As long as you effectively use your imagination and the end doesn’t turn out to be a clichéd one.

The Best Books on Creative Writing

• 1. Plot & Structure: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Plot that Grips Readers from Start to Finish by James Scott Bell
• 2. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
• 3. The Writing Life by Annie Dillard
• 4. On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser

Final Words

Writing—whatever form it takes—isn’t a simple chore, but as hard as it is, it is also fun!

The goal is always to become a better writer and learn different techniques that will make our content impactful.

Every writer should fear stagnation and continue learning. Utilize today’s easy access to resources, read, ask for help, and let your wild imagination run loose.

While there’s no fixed formula in creative writing, tips from experienced writers will help you improve in some areas.

So, always be inquisitive and reach out to other writers.

Crafting an original work of fiction, poetry, or creative non-fiction takes time, practice, and persistence.

Recommended Reading...

Crafting compelling game stories: a guide to video game writing, how to write a murder mystery: figuring out whodunit, good story starters for your next bestseller, 100 fluff prompts that will inspire creativity.

Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We try our best to keep things fair and balanced, in order to help you make the best choice for you.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

© 2024 When You Write

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Enchanting Marketing

Writing advice for small business

11 Creative Writing Techniques

Learn how to add pizzazz to any type of writing.

The articles below show you how to use creative writing tools in fiction or non-fiction. Each article features a series of examples so it becomes easier to apply the technique.

List of creative writing techniques

Click the links below to go to a specific section:

Personification

Show don’t tell

Repetition in writing

Contrast in writing

The rule of three in writing

Parallelism

1. Metaphors

Learn how to use metaphors and get inspired by these examples …

Learn how to use metaphors >>

Metaphor examples >>

Get inspired by over 10 simile examples by various authors …

Simile examples >>

3. Analogies

Get inspired by these analogy examples …

Analogy examples >>

Improve your writing style

Learn how to write better and find your voice. Get free writing tips in your inbox.

Get free writing tips >>

Get inspired by these imagery examples …

Imagery examples >>

5. Personification

Learn how to use personification to make your writing sparkle …

Personification examples >>

6. Show don’t tell

Get inspired by these examples of “show, don’t tell” …

Show don’t tell examples >>

7. Repetition in writing

Get inspired by these examples of word repetition …

Examples of repetition in writing >>

8. Contrast in writing

Discover how to use contrast in your writing …

Examples of contrast in writing >>

9. The rule of 3 in writing

Get inspired by these examples of the rule of 3 …

The rule of 3 in writing >>

10. Parallelism in writing

Get inspired by these examples of the parallelism …

Parallelism examples >>

11. Switch the point of view (POV)

Discover how to switch the point of view …

Point of view examples >>

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Creative writing examples

Learn how to inject creativity in any writing.

Creative writing exercises

Try these exercises to add a touch of creativity to your writing.

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Writers' Treasure

Effective writing advice for aspiring writers

Creative Writing 101

Creative writing is any form of writing which is written with the creativity of mind: fiction writing, poetry writing, creative nonfiction writing and more. The purpose is to express something, whether it be feelings, thoughts, or emotions.

Rather than only giving information or inciting the reader to make an action beneficial to the writer, creative writing is written to entertain or educate someone, to spread awareness about something or someone, or to express one’s thoughts.

There are two kinds of creative writing: good and bad, effective and ineffective. Bad, ineffective creative writing cannot make any impression on the reader. It won’t achieve its purpose.

So whether you’re a novelist, a poet, a short-story writer, an essayist, a biographer or an aspiring beginner, you want to improve your craft. The question is: how?

When you write great fiction, poetry, or nonfiction, amazing things can happen. Readers can’t put it down. The work you wrote becomes a bestseller. It becomes famous. But you have to reach to that level… first .

The best way to increase your proficiency in creative writing is to write, write compulsively, but it doesn’t mean write whatever you want. There are certain things you should know first… it helps to start with the right foot.

To do exactly that, here we have a beginners’ guide from Writers’ Treasure on the subject:

• An Introduction to Creative Writing
• How to Get Started in Creative Writing in Just Three Steps
• Creative Writing vs. Technical Writing
• Fiction Writing 101: The Elements of Stories
• Poetry Writing: Forms and Terms Galore
• Creative Non-Fiction: What is it?
• Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Creative Writing
• Common Mistakes Made by Creative Writers

For novelists: do you want to write compelling opening chapters?

Are you an aspiring novelist? Will your novel see the light of day? For that, you will need to make the first chapter of your story as compelling as possible. Otherwise, readers won’t even pick up your novel. That chapter can be the make-or-break point that decides whether your novel is published or not. It’s because good editors know how you write from the first three pages… or sometimes even from the opening lines.

To solve this problem, I created a five-part tutorial on Writing Compelling Opening Chapters . It outlines why you need to write a compelling opening chapter, my personal favourite way of beginning it, what should be told and shown in it, general dos and don’ts, and what you need to do after having written it. Check it out for more.

Need more writing tips?

Sometimes you reach that stage when you outgrow the beginner stage of writing but feel that you’re not yet an expert. If I just described you, no worries– Writers’ Treasure’s writing tips are here. Whether you want to make your writing more readable, more irresistible, more professional, we’ve got you covered. So check out our writing tips , and be on your way to fast track your success.

I offer writing, editing and proofreading , as well as website creation services. I’ve been in this field for seven years, and I know the tools of the trade. I’ve seen the directions where the writing industry is going, the changes, the new platforms. Get your work done through me, and get fast and efficient service. Get a quote .

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What is Creative Writing? (Definition + Tips for Getting Started)

by Ivy Shelden

on Sep 4, 2024

What is creative writing? And how do your favorite authors write such emotionally moving, beautifully descriptive prose?

This post will give you the answers you’re looking for.

As an avid reader and creative writer, I’ll help you understand creative writing, what it means, all its different forms, and how to get started penning your own creative work.

Ready to get started?

Let’s dig in.

What is Creative Writing? (& What it Isn’t )

At its heart, creative writing is all about storytelling and expression. It’s where imagination meets ink, and the human experience takes center stage. 

Through writing fiction, poetry, drama, and even creative non-fiction, writers have the freedom to explore and express thoughts, feelings, and experiences that are uniquely their own. 

In creative writing, the sky’s the limit — you could dive into the psyche of a Martian, sketch a dystopian future, or chronicle the life of a pebble. 

The main objective? 

To engage, to provoke thought, to entertain, and to evoke an emotional response in the reader.

Contrast this with technical writing or academic writing . 

These forms of writing have a different purpose and follow a different set of rules. 

For example, consider technical writing .

It’s used in fields like engineering or computer science to explain complex systems or processes in clear, straightforward language. 

Think user manuals, reports, or scientific articles. They’re about precision, consistency, and clarity rather than evoking emotions or telling stories.

Similarly, academic writing — the kind you’ll find in textbooks or scholarly articles — is typically analytical or persuasive, aiming to build a sound argument based on evidence and reasoning. 

Academic writing sticks to strict structures and formats, with the primary goal of informing or persuading rather than entertaining. 

If academic and technical writing is about precision, evidence, and clear communication, then creative writing is about exploration, expression, and emotional resonance. 

Exploring the Wide World of Creative Writing (Types & Genres)

So what are the different types of creative writing? Well, there are a lot — after all, human creativity is boundless. 

But here are the most common genres …

Fiction is all about imagining and crafting narratives that aren’t necessarily rooted in reality. 

Consider fiction writing in the form of a short story, novella, or novel. 

From the fantastical realms in Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” to the dystopian future of Orwell’s “1984”, fiction lets you construct alternate realities or tweak the real one just a bit to explore the ‘what ifs’.

Poetry is the art of condensing emotions and ideas into the fewest possible words, while still stirring deep feelings in readers. 

Whether it’s a Shakespearean sonnet or a free verse poem like Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass”, poetry uses rhythm, rhyme, and imagery to create a visceral experience. 

Poetry can be a wonderful way to explore complex emotions, ideas, or to just play with language.

Non-fiction

Creative non-fiction is about spinning engaging tales from the fabric of real life. 

Examples of creative non-fiction are Frank McCourt’s “Angela’s Ashes” or thought-provoking essays like Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own”. 

Non-fiction allows writers to explore the truth with a creative twist. 

It’s all about turning the lens of your unique perspective on the real world and sharing your insights in an engaging, artistic way.

Drama/Playwriting

Ever been moved by a performance on stage? 

Playwriting is the craft of creating stories meant to be performed. 

Think of the tragic elegance of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” or the modern powerhouse of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton”. Playwriting combines dialogue, action, and stage direction to bring stories to life in a very physical and immediate way.

Screenwriting

This is the art of writing scripts for film or television. 

As a screenwriter, you’re responsible for creating the blueprint for visual storytelling. 

Picture the mind-bending twists of “Inception” or the heartwarming tale of “Finding Nemo”. 

Screenwriting involves crafting dialogue and visual directions that help bring the director’s vision to life.

Songwriting

From Bob Dylan to Taylor Swift, songwriting is a form of creative writing many of us engage with every day. 

Songs can tell stories, express emotions, or capture a moment in time, all set to a melody that often enhances the meaning and impact of the words.

Flash Fiction

This is a writing style of fictional literature characterized by its extremely short length. 

Flash fiction stories are usually under 1000 words, and they challenge the writer to tell a compelling story with a clear narrative in a very confined space.

Every genre of creative writing offers its unique challenges and rewards, and each one can help you grow and evolve as a writer. 

So go ahead, dip your toes into these different pools and see which one feels right for you. 

14 Creative Writing Tips to Unleash Your Inner Writer

Ready to let your creativity off the leash? Here are some tips to get you started on your creative writing journey.

1. Carve Out Dedicated Writing Time

A daily writing habit can help keep your creative writing skill sharp and your creative juices flowing. 

Even if it’s just a few minutes each day, consistency is key. 

This dedicated time can also act as a mental space where you allow yourself to create and explore ideas without the interruptions of everyday life.

2. Embrace Freewriting

Freewriting is like stretching before a workout — it warms up your creative muscles and helps you limber up. 

It’s about letting your thoughts flow freely, without judgement or restraint, and can lead to unexpected insights and story seeds. 

You may find that this practice also helps to reduce writing anxiety by shifting focus away from perfection and towards the process of creation.

3. Experiment with Different Genres

Trying out various genres of creative writing not only helps you discover your strengths and preferences, but also enhances your versatility as a writer. 

It can also lead to unexpected discoveries. 

Maybe you’ve always thought of yourself as a novelist, but find that you have a knack for poetry. 

Keeping an open mind and being willing to experiment can lead you to exciting new creative territories.

4. Master the Art of Observation

Great writers are great observers. 

Paying close attention to the world around provides a rich source of inspiration for your writing. 

Write down interesting conversations, striking scenery, or even unusual smells. 

These small details can lend authenticity and vibrancy to your stories. 

So, the next time you’re on a crowded subway or strolling through a quiet forest, keep your senses alert and your notebook handy!

5. Practice Descriptive Writing

Creative writing is as much about showing as it is about telling. 

Practicing descriptive writing brings your characters, settings, and scenes to life. 

Try to engage all the reader’s senses — sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. 

This helps to create an immersive experience for your reader and make your writing more memorable.

6. Experiment with Writing Prompts

Writing prompts are a fantastic way to jumpstart your creativity, especially when you’re feeling stuck. 

They can take the form of a phrase, an image, or even a situation. 

Try writing a short piece based on a prompt and see where it takes you – it could lead you to a story idea you would never have thought of on your own.

7. Study Story Structure

Understanding the structure of a story — setup, confrontation, and resolution — is essential for crafting compelling narratives. 

Each part serves a specific function and propels the story forward. 

Read up on different narrative structures and consider how they could apply to your own writing. 

This foundational knowledge will serve you well no matter what genre you’re working in.

8. Create Complex Characters

Characters are the heart of any story. 

To create characters that feel real to your readers, they need to be fully fleshed out with their own desires, flaws, and contradictions. 

Invest time in character development, imagining your characters’ backgrounds, motivations, and fears. 

Remember, the most engaging characters are often the ones that readers can empathize with, even if they’re flawed.

9. Read Widely

The more you read, the more you’ll understand about different writing styles , narrative structures, and character development strategies . 

But don’t just stick to your favorite genres. 

Read widely — across different genres, cultures, and time periods. It will help broaden your perspectives, spark fresh ideas, and enrich your own writing.

10. Start a Writing Journal

A writing journal is the perfect place to store ideas, sketches, character descriptions, or just musings about the world. 

Over time, these entries can become a gold mine of inspiration for future writing projects. 

It’s also a great tool for tracking your writing progress and reflecting on your journey as a writer.

11. Seek Feedback and Support

Writing doesn’t always have to be a solitary pursuit. 

By engaging with writing communities, you can benefit from others’ experiences, receive constructive criticism, and also learn by critiquing others’ work. 

This shared camaraderie can be a significant source of motivation and growth.

12. Set Achievable Goals

If you want to get your writing published someday, you need to set tangible, achievable goals .

These could range from small, daily targets like writing a certain number of words, to larger aspirations such as completing a manuscript or getting published. 

Celebrating these milestones, no matter how small, will boost your confidence and drive to keep going.

13. Edit and Revise

Your first draft is just the beginning. 

Revisiting your work, reworking sections, and fine-tuning language are all part of the writing process. 

This is your chance to sharpen your narrative, enhance your characters, and ensure that your story is as compelling as possible. 

Remember, every great writer is also a great editor.

14. Embrace Failure and Persevere

Every writer, from Stephen King to J.K. Rowling has faced rejection and failure. 

Writing can be a journey of highs and lows, but every stumble is an opportunity to learn and grow. 

The most successful writers are those who persevere, who pick themselves up after rejections and setbacks, and who stay committed to refining their craft. 

Every word, every sentence, and every story you write is a step forward on your creative journey.

Follow the Ultimate Creative Writing Commandment

There’s one tip that is absolutely crucial to your creative writing journey…

The tip: Start writing . 

Like, today. 

Know that your writing doesn’t have to be perfect — but it does need to exist. 

Remember, there’s no right or wrong way to be creative. Your voice is uniquely yours, and the world needs to hear it.

So go ahead, let your imagination run wild, and let your creative work entertain and inspire. 

Happy writing!

This post was originally published on June 7th, 2023 by Ivy Shelden. It has been updated for clarity and comprehensiveness. 

Ivy Shelden

Ivy Shelden is Associate Editor at Smart Blogger. She spent 30+ hours researching creative writing to bring you the most comprehensive information about the topic.

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Top 10 Best Creative Writing Tips for Beginners

Discover the top 10 best creative writing tips for beginners. We asked Ruth, a talented creative writing teacher, for the best exercises, advice and tips for those who are new to this form of artistic expression. Get help with your non-fiction writing skills and learn how to create artistic prose.

Chloe Williams

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When it comes to creative writing, it can be very difficult to know where to start and how you can improve your skills. Fortunately, there's loads of exercises to explore which will help you turn your ideas into artistic writing!

One thing to remember is that you don’t need to have a degree in English literature or creative writing to be an exceptional writer! The truth is, anyone with a passion for writing can learn and develop their fiction and non-fiction writing skills. We have put together the top 10 best creative writing tips for beginners to help you through your creative writing journey!

Ruth V Jarvis is a skilled author, editor and script consultant. From inspiring students to helping them learn new skills, Ruth is passionate about sharing her approach to creative writing within her workshops at Articulate.

Articulate is set in the London School of Mosaic studio in Gospel Oak, North West London. When visiting London School of Mosaic you can explore a wide range of artistic skills, from beginners mosaic courses to creative writing with Articulate.

Within this inspiring corner of London, students can develop their skills in writing fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Get the most out of your creative writing within interactive and supportive creative writing workshops with Ruth.

Looking for the best tips and tricks for creative writing success? We partnered up with Ruth to find out her top creative writing tips for beginners!

Top 10 Best Creative Writing Tips for Beginners:

• Find the Best Environment
• Freewriting
• Know Your Characters
• Don't be Scared of Drafting
• Keep a Writing Log
• Never Stop Reading
• Explore Your Emotions
• Get Perspective
• Explore Ideas

1. Find the Best Environment

The first of Ruth's top tips is to find the best environment for you. This may be a coffee shop, library, park bench, cafe or in your own home, there is no wrong answers here. Finding the right environment is a personal journey that is well worth exploring!

'There are many ways to start a day's writing, at the heart is making sure you are somewhere you are comfortable and/or offers inspiration. Watching people and taking notes of actions and your environment can be a great spark for a story.'

For many beginners, a workshop may be one of the best places to find inspiration to get started on their creative writing journey!

Sharing ideas, discovering new authors and learning new skills with other creative writing enthusiasts can be an incredibly enriching and energising experience.

'Your style and stories will be unique, remember no two people are the same, value that and it will help to build your confidence.'

Ruth hosts a 12 week long women's creative writing group with the intention of giving women a space to get inspired, share their creativity and explore new skills.

'I have set up the Women’s Writing Group as a space where no subject is off the table. I hope it will be the start of women accessing confidence in their creative writing practice.'

Want a welcoming and artistic environment to build your creative writing skills? Then join Ruth as well as other like minded students to explore new skills and ignite your inspiration.

2. Freewriting

The best way to get started with writing is putting pen to paper and just writing! Ruth encourages beginners to incorporate freewriting into their creative writing process.

'Freewriting is a fantastic way to unlock ideas. When we wake in the morning, and there is little to influence us, our creative brain has free reign to express all the mind-boggling things it has been cogitating on whilst we sleep. We do some of our best problem solving when our heads are on the pillow.'

Freewriting is a fun and interesting way to explore fresh ideas. This exercise is sure to help beginners get their creative juices flowing!

3. Know Your Characters

When it comes to creating characters, it's important that you know them inside out! Ruth suggests that beginners get to know every aspect of the characters they are creating, from their desires to their struggles.

'Know your characters well. Put your protagonist into many situations, especially ones you are not going to write about; ask yourself how they would behave, and write short paragraphs. It is essential to understand your cast of characters in order to build nuance in their actions.'

Knowing everything about your character will help you create characters and stories that are relatable, believable and impactful.  

'The nuance of behaviours and how they manage relationships is key to believable characters.'

4. Don't be Scared of Drafting

Don't be scared of drafting and drafting again. Ruth encourages those who are new to the creative writing process to embrace drafting.

'Remember, your first draft is just that, a draft! Let it flow; try stuff out. The story will have changed by the end of even a meticulously edited first draft. Looking for perfection can hold back vital energy needed for completing eighty thousand plus words.'

Accepting that your first draft is just a draft relieves some of the pressure! Instead of worrying about your writing being flawless, you can concentrate on your ideas and the overall process of creating exceptional writing.

5. Keep a Writing Log

One useful tip Ruth shares with her students is to make sure they keep an accurate writing log. This will make sure you don't loose sight of the small details within your writing.

'Take down the tiny details for continuity: eye colour, birthdays, the name of a pub or a port from where a boat sailed. It will save you a lot of time. There is nothing more annoying than trawling through two-hundred pages of text to retrieve an answer.'

6. Never Stop Reading

For many beginners, the main reason they started writing in the first place was because they read something that moved them or inspired them.

'Never stop reading! Anything you can get your hands on. If you are writing in a genre like fantasy, crime, or horror, it is good to understand the tropes that the reader expects.'

Ruth suggests that reading will continue to inspire you and inform your work throughout the writing process.

7. Explore Your Emotions

For those who are interested in writing poetry, this tip is for you! Ruth believes poetry is often deeply linked to emotion and has some thought provoking advice for aspiring poets,

'poetry often comes from a deep connection to emotion. When you are inspired- write. Read back as you go to look for metre. Does its tempo convey the mood you are looking for?'

When you are feeling inspired or moved, strike while the iron's hot and write! Embrace your emotions and consider the right metre, rhythm and tempo for your writing.

8. Get Perspective

If writing fiction is your thing, Ruth has an insightful tip that will help you with your creative writing process.

'Don't always assume that you have the right character heading up your cast. It's great to take a balanced look at each one and discover what their angle is on the story. You may decide to look at a story from an investigative point of view of a journalist or police officer, you may switch from the protagonist to the antagonist, anything is possible. Explore and look for the unique angle.'

Ruth outlines how it can be beneficial for aspiring writers to look at their ideas, story and characters from a range of different angles. This allows you to get some perspective, take a step back and find opportunities to change, develop, evolve your writing.

9. Research!

Taking the time to really know your stuff is essential when writing! Ruth believes that research is an aspect of creative writing that should definitely not be ignored.

'Research, research, research. When you have a good idea, looking closely at all that surrounds the story is vital for it to stand up. Look at how the setting and era influence the characters lifestyles. What accents and colloquialisms do your characters use. Authenticity makes for quality non-fiction.'

10. Explore Ideas

Ruth encourages students to have faith in their ideas, no matter how big or small they are!

'No idea is not worth exploring. Give it a go. There are lots of ways a story can be told. Changing a location from the real world to a science fiction perspective or writing in poetry instead of prose are just a few ways a story can take flight. Keep writing your ideas down... You never know when they will come in handy.'

Whether you build upon your original idea of don't include it at all, exploring your ideas is always a beneficial part of the creative writing process.

Workshop with Articulate at London School of Mosaic

Ruth thrives through encouraging, inspiring and teaching students within her creative writing workshops.

She believes anyone with a passion for writing has what it takes to become a writer,

'Creative writing can be taught! Yes there are those that have what seems like a natural edge but nothing beats diligence.'

Whether you want to get into the specifics of how to introduce new techniques, skills and exercises into your creative writing process or you want to get inspiration and share ideas, Ruth is sure to have a workshop for you!

'New writers can often feel quite reticent about sharing their work in a public space; confidence to do so takes time, but that still doesn’t mean they should miss out on the opportunity to get some level of feedback.

Join Ruth and other like minded students in a creative writing workshop where you will have the opportunity to develop your understanding of creative writing techniques, exercises and approaches while also getting valuable feedback and advice.

Need more advice?

Everyone has their own reason for taking up creative writing. Perhaps you are a compelling storyteller and you want to develop your craft, or maybe you find freewriting a helpful form of therapy and beneficial for your mental health . Whatever your motivation is for creative writing, we hope you find these top 10 best creative writing tips for beginners helpful!

Take a read of some of our other amazing guides and best round ups below. We're sure you'll find something useful, oh - and don't forget to share the love.

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Top Creative Writing Tips: A Beginners Guide (2024 Updated)

Creative writing is a type of writing in which imagination, originality, and invention are used to convey a narrative through powerful written images with an emotional effect, such as in poetry, short story writing, novel writing, and other forms of writing. through the use of imagery, story, and drama, creative writing, a form of artistic expression, uses imagination to convey meaning. character development, narrative, and storyline are all important components of creative writing, which infuse its framework with creativity and tale. in this article, i will share some simple yet important creative writing tips that will surely help you..

Poetry, fiction (novels, short stories), scripts, screenplays, and creative non-fiction are all examples of this genre. Outside of the more formal realm of technical writing or academic writing, creative writing covers a variety of distinct genres and approaches.

What is Writing?

Writing may be defined as a method of communication between two or more people that involves the use of symbols such as alphabets, symbols, punctuation, and spaces to communicate in a form that is readable to the other person. We usually write using a pen or pencil or type on a keyboard. We generally write on white paper or a whiteboard when we use a pen and paper.

When we write using a keyboard, it is usually connected to a computer, a typewriter, or a mobile device. In today’s technology, we also have the option of using speech recognition for individuals who are unable to use their hands or are physically challenged.

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What is Creative Writing?

Creative writing is a well-known kind of content creation. This kind of content writing, as the name implies, prioritizes originality over other writing techniques.

Nowadays, many individuals want to be creative authors. Creative writing is any type of writing that goes beyond professional writing, such as journal writing, academic writing, or literature (technical forms), and focuses on narrative craft, character development, and literary tropes.

Though the term might be a little unclear, creative writing is generally defined as any form of writing that is unique and self-expression. A concentration on narrative craft, focusing on components such as character development, narrative, and plot, infusing its framework with creativity, innovation, and tale, is typically recognizable.

In this sense, creative writing can be defined as any work of current, original composition that is free of traditional norms and employs a wide range of techniques.

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Elements of Creative Writing

Here are the aspects that make up creative writing, and why they’re all equally vital.

Unique Plot:

The fact that creative writing usually includes a story of some type – and a distinctive one is what sets it apart from other genres of writing. Remakes are considered creative writing as well; however, most creative authors develop their own plots based on their own original ideas. There is no tale if there isn’t a storyline.

And, without a story, you’re just a journalist, scribbling facts on paper. Learn how to plot your novel and you’ll be able to write at a better level without having to spend as much time searching for your tale.

Creating a Character:

In order to write creatively, you’ll need characters. While it is possible to write a novel imaginatively utilizing the second-person point of view (which I will discuss below), you must still create the character in order to deliver the tale.

Character development is the process of discovering who a character is and how they evolve throughout the course of a tale. Readers should be able to fully comprehend your major characters from beginning to conclusion.

Theme Underpinnings:

Almost every tale contains an underlying theme or message, even if the author didn’t intend for it to be there. However, creative writing must have a subject or purpose in order to be complete. That’s one of the things that makes this type of work so appealing. You may also impart lessons by narrating a tale.

Illustrative Descriptions:

You don’t frequently read pages of details detailing the surroundings of where the events took place in a newspaper. Visual descriptions are often reserved for use in creative writing.

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Types of Creative Writing

Free writing:.

Just start writing in a notepad or on an electronic document. Allow unusual words and images to appear on the page. Nothing is off-limits! Freewriting, often known as stream-of-consciousness writing, is the apex of creative writing.

Any written log is referred to as a journal. A gratitude notebook, a memory journal, a dream journal, or a goals journal are all options. Many authors use concept diaries or all-purpose Omni-journals for anything from daily freewriting to brainstorming and project planning.

A diary is a sort of journal where you keep track of your everyday activities. Some diaries are formatted like letters (“Dear Diary…”). It’s a good idea to start maintaining a journal if you ever intend to write a memoir.

Letter Writing:

Writing a letter is a vital skill since the capacity to communicate effectively is becoming increasingly valuable. Because letters have a long history of being published, be especially cautious while sending emails to friends, family, and business partners. Writing letters to the editor of a news outlet is one technique to be published if you don’t have a lot of clips and credits.

Memoirs are publications that feature personal narratives (or stories) that focus on individual events. They are a type of creative nonfiction. A journey memoir, for example, may be written.

Personal essays, descriptive essays, and argumentative essays are all examples of writings that may be extremely creative (and not especially academic).

Journalism:

Some types of journalism are more innovative than others. Journalism used to be about objective reporting on facts, people, and events. To make their works more appealing or convincing, journalists nowadays frequently include opinion and narration into their writing.

It is a popular yet underappreciated style of writing, and it is unquestionably the most aesthetic. Form poetry, free-form poetry, and prose poetry are all options.

Write scripts for cinema, television, theatre, or video games to get your name on the big screen or on the stage. Be aware that cinema is a medium for directors, not for writers, yet it has the capacity to reach a non-reading audience.

Effective Creative Writing Tips

Writing is similar to other talents in that the more you practice it, the better you get at it. That is why it is critical to practice your creative writing abilities. Here are some fantastic creative writing tips to help you succeed in your writing endeavors.

Take Notes from The Greatest, but Don’t Imitate Them:

It’s crucial to read well-known authors as examples of what great writing and great writers may achieve. Seek for the genre’s highlights, depending on your writing style. If you want to create young adult literature, turn to classics like J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps world, or Judy Blume’s heartbreaking coming-of-age tales.

Study the works of Isaac Asimov and Neil Gaiman if you want to write science fiction. Consult J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy if you want to write fantasy books. Try H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King if you like horror.

However, don’t mistake the voices of these authors for your own. As a starting point, use your favorite novels. To be genuinely creative, you must have ideas, styles, and a point of view that are all distinct from others.

Make a Figure That is Inspired by Someone You Know:

According to Joel and Ethan Coen, they came up with the plot for The Big Lebowski by writing a hardboiled detective thriller starring their real-life buddy as the investigator. As part of a fantastic book concept, many authors have mined the qualities of a best friend, family member, or coworker.

So, the next time you’re in the company of individuals you know, scribble down a few notes about their behavior—either mentally, in a notepad, or on your phone—and see if it sparks any story ideas. It’s possible that a major supporting character, or perhaps the main character, is made up of individuals you know.

To Brainstorm, Use The Snowflake Approach:

It is a method for creating a novel from the ground up by beginning with a simple plot synopsis then layering in additional components. It’s suitable for a wide range of creative writing projects. You have to express a big-picture narrative concept in one line. “Two adolescents uncover a secret cave that houses valuables concealed by a bunch of crooks,” for example, might be the phrase.

The snowflake technique then asks you to turn that sentence into a paragraph, which you can then use to generate numerous character descriptions. Then you take those descriptions and utilize them to construct a series of tales involving those people, each of which ties back to the central notion of your “snowflake.”

Find a Place that Inspires You to be Creative:

Selecting an environment is one of the best creative writing tips. Allow the thoughts to flow and don’t stop until you’ve found a “boom” moment. The writers accomplish this by offering writing assignments that encourage creativity and by creating a forum where authors may interact with one another.

Consider enrolling in an intense writing program if you’ve never done it before. Even an online creative writing course can teach you how to write in a variety of styles, from character development to factual tales to poetry.

Freewrite for a While:

The process of writing without a defined framework, such as outlines, cards, notes, or editorial control, is known as this creative writing approach. Allow the words on the paper to be inspired by your stream of mind.

You could wind up with largely useless content the first time you try freewriting. However, you may utilize your freewriting exercise to improve your skills and ultimately unlock your creativity with writing practice.

Creative Writing Tips to be Remembered Before Writing a Piece of Content

Don’t undervalue your audience:.

You have a wonderful narrative, believable characters, and a perfect location, and you want to make sure that the reader understands every last detail. Great!

The only issue is that you could be tempted to give your reader a lot of personal information so that they view it precisely as you do. Although detailed details can be beneficial and successful, don’t go overboard. Keep your writing tidy and concise; don’t waste space with extensive, meandering descriptions of topics that aren’t relevant to your plot.

Wouldn’t it be great if editors got submissions and opted to overlook the errors and bad formatting because they thought the narrative had potential? The truth is that if your work is riddled with mistakes or fails to adhere to the required criteria, it will be discarded.

If you make a mistake and still spell a legitimate term, the computer will not alert you. When your lovely heroine meets the bog (guy) of her dreams, what happens next? What is the affluent doctor’s golf ball doing on his tea (tee)?

Use Powerful Words:

One of the amazing creative tips is to use terms that convey the idea if you want your writing to seem authoritative. But be careful not to go overboard: you don’t want to use terms that the reader won’t comprehend, and you want to employ powerful words rather than ones that are confusing or excessive.

Sure Your Commas are in Order:

While commas can be useful, many new writers tend to use them liberally in their sentences. Commas, when used wrongly, may break up your sentences and even change their meaning. Brush up on your high school grammar; it will improve your work on its own.

Get the Reader’s Attention Right Away:

Because that’s precisely what you want them to be, opening lines are sometimes referred to as ‘the hook.’ You grab the reader’s interest and hold it throughout the tale. To get your tale going, do something dramatic.

For example, “Mark’s back cracked audibly,” “Eliza didn’t understand she was becoming blind,” and “The gunshot that penetrated Henry’s back and crippled him was meant for a homeless man.” Each of these sentences prompts the reader to ask, “Why?” After this, the reader will continue reading until the solution is found.

Provide a Satisfying Conclusion for Your Reader:

At the end of your narrative, you can leave the reader guessing or wondering why, but attempt to resolve as much as possible. If your reader is still asking questions about what occurred to who and why after the last sentence, you still need to tie up the loose ends. It is definitely one of the best creative writing tips.

Frequently Asked Questions- FAQs

Q1. what are some creative writing examples.

Scriptwriting, copywriting, sketch and short story writing, and other types of creative writing are only a few examples.

Q2. What are the prospects for a career in creative writing?

Given the current state of the business, creative writing may be a lucrative career choice. However, unlike other types of content writing, it needs a high level of imagination as well as a thorough grasp of how information is seen online.

Q3. What are the best creative writing tips a novice writer can follow?

Read, read, and read some more. When you don’t have any references to draw from, it’s far more difficult to master creative writing. Reading is one of the most effective creative writing tips for improving your writing skills.

Conclusion:

That was only a small part of what creative writing and its professional elements entail. Overall, creative writing is the easy process of creating content that is only designed to keep audiences engaged rather than to rank, which is one of the primary reasons why many SEO strategies are ignored when it comes to creative writing.

Creative writing has a lot of potentials since the material created really engages the audience and persuades them to take action, whether it’s subscribing, clicking a link, like a post, sharing, commenting, buying a product, attempting a demo, or even signing up for a service.

Once you’ve mastered all the creative writing tips, anyone can confidently become an excellent writer. Many creative writing tips and approaches, many of which entail a variety of creative processes, are mentioned here.

Creative writing is all about using language in new ways, and it’s a great way to get through writer’s block . The basic notion of creative writing is the playful use of language. These creative writing tips and recommendations will help you come up with ideas for a narrative that could be the year’s best selling.

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Expert tips: Getting your creative writing juices flowing

Tapping into your creativity when under pressure is a daunting task, but there are many simple writing and idea-generation techniques that you can use to ease the pain.

Have you ever struggled to come up with creative, attention-grabbing copy to match that brilliant email campaign strategy you spent a week conceiving? It happens. After countless hours planning something, you can hit a creative wall when it's time to actually do that thing.

Sometimes you're overwhelmed with research material. Sometimes you're bogged down by the stress of aggressive deadlines. Sometimes your mental gas tank is just plain empty.

In this post, I'll share four of my favorite and most effective pre-writing creativity techniques to help you get ideas down. Just like the importance of stretching before a workout, think of these techniques as a mental warm-up before you write your first draft.

Before you begin: Analog or digital?

All of my early stage ideas and writing is done in analog—with pen and paper—before hitting the computer for my first draft.

I prefer this for several reasons:

• Promotes singular focus: There are no toolbars or tabs, I'm not bogged down by hundreds of settings and formatting options, I'm not constantly interrupted by notifications, and I don't fall prey to aimless surfing. There's only me, my pen, and a blank page. Free from digital distractions, I have a better chance to focus on a single task or idea.
• It's very freeing: When I'm trying to be creative, I don't think in a straight line. I don't work from left to right and top to bottom. My creative process is very unstructured. I scribble left-to-right and right-to left. I scribble in the margins; sometimes there are no margins. I doodle a bunny that ends up looking like a tiger. I write things that make no sense. It's hard to simulate this freeing lack of rules on a computer.
• There's less results-driven pressure: No matter what app I use, I'm cursed with a sense of finality. It always feels like a final product. Even brainstorming apps that are meant to give you a blank canvas to generate ideas produce things that look equally at home as a business presentation. But on paper, "final" and "perfect" don't even enter into the equation. It looks gloriously messy and feels like the intermediate step that it is. The informal nature of analog writing creates a far more relaxed atmosphere for creativity.
• "The feeling": This one's tough to describe. I simply enjoy the tactile experience of writing with a nice pen in a quality notebook—it becomes almost meditative. I simply don't get the same sensory engagement when trying to create early ideas on a computer.

But this is a very personal preference; maybe it's not for you. If you're accustomed to a screen and keyboard, do it. Or maybe a tablet is your creative buddy. These are simply tools. Tools aid the process; the process creates the product. It's about finding something that aids your process.

An old software developer colleague, despite his technical acumen, preferred using a large whiteboard to figure out complex designs. After hours of scribbling, his whiteboard would be completely covered with sketches rivaling a complex Ocean's casino heist blueprint.

So, let's get started.

Technique #1: Freewriting

This is one of my favorite pre-writing warm-ups: Select a topic to write about. It can be related to the email campaign you're working on or something completely unrelated.

Once you have your topic, write everything you can think of—without stopping. Don't lift your pen from the page or your fingers from the keys. Don't even worry about correct punctuation and grammar. If you start running out of ideas, write "Oh no! I'm running out of ideas…" Just keep writing.

Much of what you end up with will likely be unusable, but that's not the point. The point is to get ideas flowing. And if something is usable, that's a bonus.

Technique #2: Brainstorming

This creativity technique is very similar to freewriting—but less structured.

Like freewriting, you write non-stop without worrying about punctuation and grammar. The only difference is that you don't need to focus on a single topic. Write about anything that pops into your head, even if the ideas are completely unrelated.

Serious, goofy, profound, mundane… Don't discard any ideas; write them all down. Your goal is to ignore the critical part of your brain, ignore the rules of writing, and ignore doubt and judgment.

Free from the structured approaches that have been ingrained in us—especially in the business world—you can come up with unconventional ideas that your "sensible self" usually keeps at bay.

Technique #3: Listing

I love lists… I make lists on how to improve my lists.

During the creative process, I use lists to create categories of words and short sentence snippets that I can eventually use to write my first draft on the computer.

For example, let's say you're creating an email campaign to launch a new product. You can create several lists and jot down words and sentences related to your company's brand and history, your product's features, your product's benefits, your target audience, and any other relevant categories.

You don't need to use all the words and sentences in these lists. They're simply the building blocks to your copy.

Technique #4: Mind mapping

Similar to listing, mind mapping helps you come up with potential words. But it does so in a non-linear fashion.

You place your primary word/idea in the middle and draw a circle or box around it. Then you continue writing down words/ideas related to that central theme, creating a spider web-like diagram that provides you with a visual, non-linear overview of your words/ideas and how they relate with one another.

Mind mapping is one of the few creativity techniques that I prefer doing on the computer instead of paper. Software, such as SimpleMind (one of my favorites), lets you move and reorder entire sections from one branch to another—something you can't do on paper without creating a mess.

Image Credit: SimpleMind

Closing thoughts…

When your ideas aren't flowing, you can wait for inspiration to hit or you can grind away. Neither are particularly effective. The former rarely happens at opportune times; the latter can be counterproductive because the harder you try, the worse it can get.

But with some proper warm-up, you can get yourself into the proper headspace to create and discover le mot juste , the perfect words and phrases to express exactly what you're trying to convey.

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If you’re trying to write but can’t get the words flowing, free writing can jumpstart the writing process. Free writing is a no-pressure method of simply getting words on the page: similar to stream-of-consciousness, the writer simply lets their pen flow with whatever thoughts arise in the mind.

It might seem silly to just write what you’re thinking of. Like, right now I’m thinking about what I’m going to eat for dinner and whether I should clean my bedroom—how will I turn that into a poem or short story?

In reality, free writing helps get the mind thinking in language, and while you might be thinking about dinner now, you’d be surprised what leaps and connections the brain makes into interesting writing material. Let’s take a close look at the process of free writing and how it will benefit your work. We also provide free writing prompts to help get the juices flowing.

First, what is free writing?

What is Free Writing: Contents

What is Free Writing?

Benefits of free writing, how to free write, 32 free writing prompts, what to do with your free write.

Free writing (sometimes written as one word: freewriting) is a writing technique in which the writer journals their thoughts onto the page without letting their pen rest.

Free writing is a writing technique in which the writer journals their thoughts onto the page without letting their pen rest.

The idea is simply to keep the pen moving, and that every word and idea that arises in the mind is important to jot down, regardless of matters like grammar, meaning, and usability. In other words, you aren’t trying to write capital-A Art, you are simply putting words onto paper.

In freewriting, the writer:

• Focuses on simply generating raw material.
• Keeps the pen moving with whatever thoughts arise, including (and especially) thoughts that seem irrelevant or unrelated to the previous thought.
• Does not worry about the “value,” “merit,” or “publishability” of anything written down.
• Does not worry about spelling, grammar, syntax, or readability.
• Writes for typically no longer than 15 minutes.
• Creates a daily free writing practice, as the process gets easier and more rewarding when done regularly.

You aren’t trying to write capital-A Art, you are simply putting words onto paper.

A free write can be done with a prompt or simply with the writer’s mind in its most neutral state. Later in this article we provide some free writing prompts, but first, let’s examine the benefits of this writing technique.

If you’re not writing anything worth reading, what’s the point of free writing in the first place?

It might seem counterintuitive, but free writing can seriously improve your craft and help you write better poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. The benefits of this technique include:

• Getting the words flowing: it’s much easier to write towards a project if you’ve loosened up the “writing muscles.”
• Freeing the mind from self-consciousness: freewriting helps train the mind not to care about “is this good?”—a question that can be debilitating for any first draft.
• Experimentation and ideation: Because the goal is to write what arises in the mind, you might inadvertently write new ideas or come up with interesting uses of language that can then be employed in future writing. To put it a different way: language first; ideas follow.
• Stumbling into greatness: Similar to the above bullet, you might accidentally write something really good or useful, or have an epiphany that you might otherwise never have had.
• Setting down your thoughts, quieting your mind: By putting your freeform thoughts onto the page, you can quiet your mind into focusing on writing projects after you’ve finished your free write.

Language first; ideas follow.

Some critics argue that this technique emphasizes writing over revising, or that it encourages writers not to engage with the broader literary canon. However, both critiques miss the point of freewriting. Writers should still revise and edit their work, as well as read other writers: to do a free write is simply to get the words flowing, making it easier to tackle the projects a writer is working on.

The free writing process has been honed over time. Early advocates of the process include writers Dorothea Brande and Peter Elbow, but the process was really popularized by Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way .

Here’s our recommendation for how to free write:

• Set aside 10-15 minutes.
• Write with pen and paper. If you have a strong preference towards typing, you can do so, but we find that handwriting is better for waking the writing mind up.
• If you’re stuck on what to write, have some transitional phrases on hand. “How I feel about that is…” “What I’m trying to say is…” “And then…” or even just “I don’t know what to say.”
• Allow yourself to write nonsense. Write without the expectation of being “good.”
• Do not reread what you have written until after the writing session is over.
• Do not worry about spelling, grammar, writing style , “literary merit,” or legibility. You are not performing on the page, and the intent is not to be James Joyce or Virginia Woolf—there is no “good free writing” or “bad free writing,” it is simply writing.
• Do this once a day, preferably every morning, but certainly before you start work on a writing project.

Once you have finished your free write, you can reread your pages, or simply let them rest. Upon a reread, you might find sentences, phrases, or accidents of language that could be useful for future poems, stories, or essays.

Upon a reread, you might find sentences, phrases, or accidents of language that could be useful for future poems, stories, or essays.

Free writing is also a valuable way to get your thoughts down about a particular topic. Let’s say you want to write a braided essay about an event in your childhood. If you do a free write about that event, you will generate a lot of raw material that you can sculpt into that essay, and you might even stumble into feelings and recollections you wouldn’t have otherwise had.

Finally, if you want to practice free writing in a class setting, you may be interested in the Writing Circle Workshops offered by our instructor Susan Vespoli .

If you want to do a free write, but need some motivation, these free writing prompts will help get your pen moving.

General Daily Free Writing Prompts

• What have you been thinking about lately?
• What questions are you trying to answer in your life?
• Write down every sensation you notice, both inside your body and in the world around you.
• Do a free write in which you talk to God, the Universe, or a higher power.
• What feelings are you trying to avoid feeling?
• What do you want to manifest for the near future?
• Write down the first word that comes to mind. Then, follow whatever associations arise in your brain.
• What are you grateful for?
• What do you desire most right now?
• Write about a memory that is visually or emotionally intense.
• Confess something.
• In your head, place yourself somewhere you know very well, such as your childhood home or a street you visit often. Write down as many details about that place as possible.
• What has saved you?
• What is an important realization you have had recently?
• Where do you wish you were?
• Write about and interpret a dream you’ve had.

Creative Free Writing Prompts

• Get ekphrastic and write about a film, song, or work of art that inspires you.
• What is your heart a museum of?
• Where does your mythology begin?
• Write in the voice and persona of someone or something other than yourself.
• What is the song your body sings, and who can hear it?
• Whose name does your heart whisper in its sleep?
• What is the shape of your grief?
• Write a self-portrait .
• What gets brighter the darker it gets?
• Whose voices do you hear echoing underneath your own?
• Write what you see on the horizon of your life.
• What is the root of your evil?
• What does your healing look like?
• Fill in the blanks of a memory you only partially remember.
• Write from the summit of life itself.
• Your heart is a garden. What’s in bloom?

Here are some more writing prompts we’ve written. They’re for poets, but prose writers can certainly use most of them as well.

You don’t necessarily need to “do” anything with a free write. The point is to get your mind in a writing space so that you can better tackle whatever projects you’re working on.

However, some writers find free writing to be helpful for generating new work. If you wanted to, you could take what you’ve written and turn it into a poem, prose poem , essay, short story, etc.

If you’d like to put your stream-of-consciousness to use, here are a few tips on revising and editing your work.

1. Highlight Epiphanies

A byproduct of free writing is that the writer often taps into their unconscious and finds unexpected epiphanies. By epiphany, we mean a sudden realization, whether material or spiritual, that shifts the writer’s own perspective. Epiphanies can make the unfamiliar, familiar; the familiar, strange; the nonsensical or chaotic, suddenly ordered.

A byproduct of free writing is that the writer often taps into their unconscious and finds unexpected epiphanies.

An epiphany is often central to a good work of writing. Any sorts of realizations that occur within your free write, highlight them—and, in editing and revising, try not to divorce the epiphany from the context it’s written in.

2. Underline Interesting Word Choice and Syntax

Another interesting byproduct of free writing is the happy accidents that happen within language. By eschewing the rules of grammar, syntax, and linear writing, free writers might end up juxtaposing words, phrases, and ideas that you wouldn’t normally put together, you might come across good word choice that you can use or store for later writing.

Another interesting byproduct of free writing is the happy accidents that happen within language.

Many writers keep a journal of words, phrases, and ideas that they might use for later writing. So, don’t expect to use everything from one free write towards the same piece, but notice what’s interesting and unexpected in your writing, and save it for when you need inspiration or have a different epiphany about what to do with those words.

3. Identify Unnecessary Repetitions or Irrelevant Passages

As you begin to sculpt your free write towards a piece of writing, it will help to remove language that you don’t see as central to the free write itself. Here are some tips on omitting needless words :

• First, before you cut anything, save the full free write somewhere. You never know what you might lose if you permanently delete your writing from the face of the Earth. Make a copy or transcribe your writing, then work off of that copy or transcript.
• Identify the main topics and themes of the writing, including images or symbols that seem related to the central ideas within the writing. Many free writes have multiple themes, so you can even make a list of those themes and consider how one writing session might yield multiple pieces of creative work.
• Look for writing that doesn’t seem related to any of the themes you identified. The goal isn’t to identify “bad” writing, just writing that doesn’t seem relevant to those themes.
• Remove writing that isn’t artfully repetitive. Repetition can be a powerful literary device, but it’s best used when it enhances and underscores the most important ideas within the text.
• Start to remove words that are clearly redundant or unnecessary. Our article on omitting needless words has more tips to help with this.

4. Decide on Form

Will your free write turn into a poem, prose poem, short story, essay, article, or the seeds of a novel or memoir? The possibilities are clearly endless, but once your writing has been cleaned up a little, the forms it could take should start to emerge.

What those forms could be depend on what you like to write, so rather than go in-depth about the possibilities within poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, here are a few guides we’ve put together on different forms of creative writing:

• How to Write a Poem
• What is Form in Poetry?
• The Elements of Fiction
• The Art of Storytelling
• Literary and Genre Fiction
• How to Write a Personal Essay
• 10 Types of Creative Nonfiction

5. Revise and Edit Towards Your Vision

Once you have a sense of your themes, form, and vision for the work, let your creative instincts take the reins, and use your free write as a base for sculpting your next great piece of writing.

Hone Your Free Writing at Writers.com!

Free writing opens the writer up to happy accidents and exciting possibilities in language. Whether you want to free write with other writers or get feedback on the work you produce, take a look at the upcoming online writing courses at Writers.com , where you’ll receive the expert attention and workshopping you’re looking for.

Sean Glatch

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Tips on boosting creativity in writing and art

Unlock your full potential with these proven strategies to ignite your creative spark and elevate your work to new heights..

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Creativity is the beating heart of every writer and artist, the force that fuels innovation, self-expression, and inspiration. But even the most imaginative minds face creative blocks from time to time. Whether you're staring at a blank page or struggling to find the right brushstroke, unlocking your creativity is both an art and a science. Here are some powerful tips to help you boost your creativity in writing and art.

Creativity is an evolving, ever-changing process. There will be moments of frustration and times of triumph, but the key is persistence and experimentation.

EMBRACE THE POWER OF CURIOSITY:

Curiosity is a catalyst for creativity. Ask questions, explore new topics, and delve into areas you’re unfamiliar with. Writers, read beyond your usual genres—explore poetry if you love fiction, or dive into biographies if you prefer fantasy.

PRACTICE DAILY, EVEN IF IT'S BRIEF:

Creativity thrives on consistency. Set aside a few minutes each day to practice, whether it's writing a few lines or sketching something simple.

EMBRACE FAILURE AND LEARN FROM IT:

Failure is not the enemy of creativity; it’s part of the process. Many of the world’s greatest artists and writers experienced countless failures before achieving success.

STEP OUTSIDE YOUR CONFORM ZONE:

Creativity often flourishes when you're willing to take risks. Try writing in a new genre or adopting a different artistic style that challenges you.

SEEK INSPIRATION OF NATURE AND YOUR

Step outside, breathe in the fresh air and let nature's endless variety stir your imagination. Writers often find new ideas in the rhythm of a city or the quiet serenity of a forest.

COLLABORATE WITH OTHERS

Creativity can be contagious. Collaborating with other artists or writers exposes you to fresh perspectives and ideas. Co-write a story with a friend, join an art collective, or engage in online creative communities where ideas flow freely.

TAKE BREAKS TO REFUEL YOUR IMAGINATION

When creativity feels forced, it’s time to step back. Overworking your creative muscles can lead to burnout. Take short breaks, indulge in hobbies unrelated to your art, or meditate to clear your mind.

KEEP A CREATIVE JOURNAL

Carry a notebook or journal wherever you go, and jot down any thoughts, ideas, or inspiration that comes your way. You don’t need to write perfectly or follow a structure, just let the ideas flow.

A creative journal serves as a vault for inspiration and can help you connect ideas later.

Artists can also keep a sketchbook to capture rough drafts, ideas, or images that spark something in their imagination.

EXPERIMENT WITH DIFFERENT TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

Change your tools, and you’ll change your process. Writers, switch from typing to handwriting, or vice versa. Artists, try different brushes, digital tools, or even unusual materials like fabric or cardboard.

SET CREATIVE GOALS, BUT STAY FLEXIBLE:

While setting specific creative goals (e.g., writing a chapter a week or completing a painting a month) can provide direction, be flexible with the outcome.

Creativity doesn’t follow a rigid path, and your best work often emerges when you least expect it. Enjoy the journey and celebrate progress, no matter how small. Published By: vaishnavi parashar Published On: Sep 10, 2024 READ | Empowering homemakers: Career impact of makeup and beauty education

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Motion array, motion design, post production, photography, royalty free music, how to write great voice-over scripts: tips and tricks for video creators.

Voice-overs can make or break a video. Whether you’re creating a commercial, an explainer video, or just adding narration to your latest project, a well-crafted voice-over script is crucial.

With the rise of AI voice generators and text-to-speech tools, it’s never been easier to bring your scripts to life, but crafting the perfect script still requires a bit of finesse.

In this post, we’ll dive into some key tips and tricks to help you write great voice-over scripts that connect with your audience and enhance your videos.

Understand your audience

Before you start writing, you need to know who you’re writing for. Understanding your target audience is the first step in crafting a voice-over script that resonates. Are you creating a video for a corporate audience, or is your content aimed at a younger, more casual crowd? The tone and style of your script should reflect this.

For example, a formal tone is more appropriate for a corporate explainer video like this one from Salesforce. 

Notice how the script is clear, concise, and to the point, using professional language that matches the target audience.

On the flip side, a lively, upbeat tone works better for something like a YouTube promo video, such as Dollar Shave Club’s viral ad.

Here, the script is humorous, casual, and full of personality — perfect for the brand’s audience. Tailoring your tone to fit your audience ensures that your message is heard and understood.

Keep it simple and concise

When it comes to voice-over scripts, less is often more. Keeping your script simple and concise helps your audience stay engaged and ensures that the voice-over artist can deliver a natural, easy-to-follow performance.

Clarity is key. Avoid using jargon or overly complex language that might confuse your audience. Remember, your script isn’t meant to be read — it’s meant to be heard. A good rule of thumb is to write like you’re explaining something to a friend. This keeps your language natural and accessible.

For example, instead of writing, “The software solution offers a wide array of functionalities that enhance operational efficiency,” you could simplify it to, “Our software helps you work smarter and faster.” The message is clearer, more direct, and easier for the audience to grasp in a single listen.

Write for the ear, not the eye

Writing a script for a voice-over is different from writing text that’s meant to be read on-screen or paper. When you’re writing for the ear, you need to consider how the words will sound when spoken aloud.

One key aspect is natural language flow. Spoken language is often more relaxed and conversational than written language, with shorter sentences and more informal expressions. Also, consider pacing and timing. Your script should allow for natural pauses, giving the audience time to absorb the information and the voice-over artist room to emphasize key points.

A pro example is the Apple Watch Series 7 Introduction video.

In this video, the script is carefully crafted with short, punchy sentences that are easy to follow and clearly spoken. The pacing is spot on, with natural pauses that give the viewer time to absorb the information.

The language is conversational and straightforward, making it an excellent example of writing for the ear rather than the eye. The visuals complement the script perfectly, highlighting key features while the voice-over drives the narrative in a natural and engaging way.

Add creative elements

A great voice-over script doesn’t just share information but also engages the audience emotionally. One way to do this is by incorporating creative elements like humor or emotion into your script.

Humor can make your script more relatable and memorable, especially for more casual or consumer-facing content. On the other hand, emotional cues can help convey the tone and mood of your message, making it more impactful.

For instance, in a script for a heartfelt charity appeal, you might use softer language and emotionally charged words to connect with the audience’s empathy. On the other hand, a fun, playful tone might work better for a promotional video for a new product launch.

Creative storytelling is another powerful tool. Even in a short script, think of your voice-over as telling a mini-story. This helps keep your audience engaged from start to finish.

Tips for writing for AI voiceovers

With the growing popularity of AI voice generators and text-to-speech tools, more and more creators are using these technologies to add voice-overs to their videos. While AI can be a powerful tool, it also comes with its own set of challenges.

First, it’s important to understand the limitations of AI voiceovers. AI can find overly complex sentences or unusual phrasing more challenging, so it’s better to keep your script simple and straightforward.

Avoid long, winding sentences that might trip up the AI; instead, use short, clear sentences that are easy for to process.

You can also enhance AI delivery by writing scripts that sound more natural when spoken by an AI voice. For instance, using contractions like “it’s” instead of “it is” can make the AI voice sound more conversational and human-like. Similarly, incorporating natural pauses and varying the sentence structure can help create a more dynamic and engaging AI voiceover.

Revise and refine

Writing a great voice-over script is a process, and revision is a critical part of that process. Once you’ve written your script, take the time to review and refine it. This is where you can catch any awkward phrasing, ensure the pacing feels right, and make sure your message is coming through clearly.

It’s also helpful to get feedback from others. If possible, share your script with a voice-over artist or a colleague and ask for their input. They might catch things you’ve missed or suggest ways to improve the script.

Writing a great voice-over script takes practice, but by following these tips, you’ll be well on your way to crafting scripts that elevate your videos and bring your ideas to life. Remember, whether you’re using a professional voice-over artist or going for a more affordable voiceover resource , the key is writing clear, engaging, and tailored scripts for your audience.

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