Tips to Excel in Creative Writing
Do you love to read novels, stories, scripts, fiction, and other such interesting content? Of course, a lot of people read books, novels, epic stories. But, are you as good at writing as reading? Can you write these stories or fiction if someone asks you to do so? We love to hear the dialogues in fiction series and movies. All thanks to the popular scriptwriters, who use their brilliant writing skills to create engaging dialogues.
Creative writing is far different from the regular academic essays. You cannot just throw a thesis statement, list some evidence, and write the examples and illustrations to prove the argument. In fact, creative writing is more about drawing the attention of the audience with engaging words and interesting points. In this post, we'll walk you through the necessary steps to becoming a professional creative writer. Before that, let's have a look at the meaning of creative writing and what does it involve.
What is Creative Writing?
Have you ever read the novels? We love to read novels because they are written in an engaging tone. Right from the beginning, you get to read the sentences that make you curious to know what happens next. While some stories start with a special scene, others feature an interesting question. Either way, the writer manages to capture your attention and tempt you to read more.
Creative writing is all about keeping the reader's engagement throughout the story. Whether you are writing dialogues or a fiction plot, you must add emotions to make your piece look original. So, how do you that? Where do you start? If you are searching for the answers too, you have come to the right place! By the end of this post, you will be able to craft the best creative writing piece.
1. First Paragraph Must be Eye-Catching
We live in a world where everyone is so busy with their hectic working schedule that getting time to read novels is a hard nut to crack. Have you ever started to read a novel only to close the book since the first paragraph seemed quite boring?
People don't need to write the entire book to judge your writing. The first paragraph is sufficient to decide whether they should read more or pick another storybook. The first paragraphs of your story must have something unusual, unexpected, some action, thriller, and anything as long as it increases the reader's curiosity.
2. Developing Characters
You must know all the details of your characters you are portraying in the story. Just the name, location, age, qualification, and interest are not enough. You must know their secrets, pets, illnesses, sleep patterns, strengths, weaknesses, favorites, phobias, mistakes, love life, children, and everything. The more you know about the characters, the more real they look in the stories. However, your readers do not want to know all these details about the characters. What they need to know is:
- Appearance: Write the visual description of the characters. How they look, what are their special features, etc.
- Actions: Sure, it is easy to write the adjectives to describe the personality of your characters. But, this doesn’t create engagement. You must show the real personality of your characters by describing their actions.
- Interests: Mention all the hobbies and interests of your characters. What do they love to do in their free time? What is their specialty? What fascinates them the most? What is their career preference?
To name a few, there were three points you must consider while describing the characters.
3. Select the Point of View
Point of view refers to the perspective you use to narrate the story. Decide whether you want to use the first person, second person, or third person to write the story. You can write a story from the first person’s point of view where the characters tell the story. On the contrary, the narrator of your story can be the reporter.
4. Prepare the Plot
Once you are done choosing the characters, point of view of the story, and the introduction; the next step is to decide the plot. This is the main part of your creative write-up. Your goal is to engage the readers. Drawing their attention is not enough. The readers will stop reading the plot if they find it boring or quite normal.
There must be turning points, unexpected actions, drama, emotion, entertainment and other such interesting elements that keep up the engagement of your readers. Here’s what your plot must have:
- Conflict
- Exposition
- Transition
- Flashback
- Explosion
- Climax
- Falling action
- Resolution
If you find it quite difficult to come up with an interesting plot, try brainstorming. Think about the real-time stories you have heard or seen. Add drama, emotions, and some actions to the plot.
5. Create Tension
Conflict is one of the most important parts of the stories. The tension between your characters, the conflicts they have, the secrets they are hiding, the mystery which isn't revealed until the end and other such elements are responsible for adding life to your content.
A good writer is the one that manages to surprise their readers. Your story should be tempting enough to encourage readers to read till the end. For example, your story can be about a mysterious murder, the criminal of which is revealed in the end.
6. Proofread Your Story
When it comes to creative writing, not everyone is able to come up with a perfect plot that attracts readers. Whether it is a fiction story or a real report, it should be engaging enough to tempt the readers to read on. It is also important to check the content for grammar issues and ensure that it is flawless.
Once you are done writing the story, take professional help to get your content checked and proofread. Make sure that your write-up is free of grammar, spelling, punctuation
, and sentence construction issues. That's it! These steps will help you craft the best creative write-up. Good luck!
Author: Frank Taylor