CREATIVE WRITING SKILLS
CLS 1323
What is Creative Writing?
Creative writing is writing that involves the imagination & invention in form & content.
It means fiction, poetry, and drama.
The fiction may be long or short, the poetry
may take many different forms, and the drama may be for the stage or the movies or
television.
Uses made-up materials of one kind or another.
Why do we write?
not only to convey facts or info
mainly to please the reader or audience
aesthetically by playing with the imagination
Some light & superficially entertaining -
some very profound & can reveal great truths about the human condition (human nature &
experience).
Types of writing
Fiction & Non Fiction
Technical & Popular (Popular culture)
Formal & Informal
Definition?
Examples?
Fiction vs. Non Fiction
A literary work is often a blend of fact & fiction.
A literal account of someone’s adventures in
Vietnam is not a novel, it is a memoir or part of an autobiography.
The same author might be moved by certain
experiences in Vietnam to create a work of fiction.
In such works the facts can be adjusted to improve the story.
When writing fictionalised stories, the writer CAN derive ideas from real life although real life stories come under the category of non-fiction.
Fiction vs. Non Fiction (Cont…)
Writers draw heavily on their own experiences.
Young writers are often advised to make use of the materials with which they are most
familiar – and violate the truth in favor of a higher truth.
Who are the writers?
Objective writers describe in a more scientific manner.
Subjective writers depend more on the thoughts and feelings of their characters.
