Creative writing

1. CREATIVE WRITING
A GUIDE FOR STUDENTS.
Girl thinking clip art
Source: https://cutt.ly/oWoou4A

2. SO… WHAT IS CREATIVE
WRITING?
CREATIVE WRITING IS WRITING THAT EXPRESSES THE
WRITER’S THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS IN AN IMAGINATIVE,
OFTEN UNIQUE AND POETIC WAY.

3. PURPOSE
OF
CREATIV
E
WRITING To entertain
and
share
human
experience
Khaby Lame
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https://cutt.ly/1WooXga

4. UM…BUT HOW DOES CREATIVE WRITING BENEFIT
ME?
Confused boy
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5. CREATIVE WRITING ENHANCES
YOUR PROBLEM SOLVING ABILITIES
Creative writing cultivates your
imagination and creativity.
Imagination and creativity are
key
cognitive tools to help you
solve
simple and complex problems.
Problem solving stock illustration
Source: https://cutt.ly/1Wost2X

6. Creative writing is a tool
for self-expression
Writing offers a safe place to explore,
and this can be a highly beneficial tool
for learning how to express your
feelings.
Screaming woman sketch
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7. Quote by Voltaire
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Voltaire, French writer
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8. Creative writing boosts
your self-confidence
Writing gives you more
opportunity to assert yourself and
your opinions and develop your
“voice.” These developments can
really strengthen your self-
confidence.
Confident public speaker on podium
Source: https://cutt.ly/nWodcAC

9. TYPES OF CREATIVE
WRITING
Poetry
Plays
Movie and television scripts
Fiction (Novels, Novellas and short stories)
Songs
Speeches
Memoirs
Personal essays
Persian cat meme
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10. THE WRITING PROCESS
PREWRITING
- Organise your thoughts
- Brainstorm ideas
- Use a graphic organiser like a
mindmap
ROUGH DRAFT
- Begin writing!
- It doesn’t have to be perfect
REVISE
- Do your sentences make
sense?
- Are your details on topic?
- Is there anything you need to
add
EDIT
- Check for correct spelling and
punctuation
- Make any additions that will
make your paper better
FINAL COPY
- Write/type your final copy
- Give your paper an interesting
and suitable title

11. TIPS FOR CREATIVE WRITING
Source: https://cutt.ly/0WoFMn7

12. DO NOT RUSH THE
PROCESS Plan ahead. As soon as you
receive your creative writing
task, begin working on it. This
is to ensure that you have
enough time to undergo every
step of the writing process and
to do so in a relaxed manner as
this will likely minimise your
errors and grant you more time
to develop your writing piece.
Remember, you cannot rush
art!
“You can’t rush art” meme
Source: https://i.imgflip.com/34tdn7.png

13. SEEK
INSPIRATION
• It may be tremendously difficult to
start writing and to overcome
writer’s block, however, finding the
right inspiration may unlock your
inner writer.
• Some activities you could do are
taking a walk, seeking a change of
scenery by sitting in a coffee shop or
tranquil park, listening to certain
music, or watching a movie that
relates to the topic of your writing
piece etc. Seek inspiration by
stimulating your senses.
Woman writing while sitting on park bench
Source: https://cutt.ly/rWognOJ

14. IMAGINE!
IMAGINE!
IMAGINE!
The real engine of creative writing is
imagination so when you start
writing, be like Spongebob – “just use
your imagination” and allow it to run
wild and everything else will follow.
Spongebob imagination meme
Source: https://cutt.ly/xWogJvJ

15. DO NOT EXPECT
YOUR FIRST DRAFT
TO BE PERFECT
When you start writing, do
not be fixated on producing
a perfect first draft. Your
focus at this point should be
to translate whatever is in
your imagination into actual
words on paper. In fact, give
yourself permission to write
badly – words on a paper are
a sign of progress. Jennifer Egan quote
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C.J. CHERRYH quote
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16. SHOW, DON’T TELL
For prose, providing more details on characters’ feelings and
appearances can draw your readers in even more.
For example, when describing a character’s emotion, show the physical
presentation— e.g. “he looked sad” can become “his lips, quivering,
curled in a pout…”
Avoid using adverbs. Merely saying “they said violently” could go
further. Maybe strengthen the verb: “They barked” or “They spat.” Or,
add more imagery/action to the scene: “They barked, tongues twitching
and writhing, teeth gnashing together.”

17. USE GOOD AND
EXPRESSIVE VOCABULARY
• Always have a dictionary nearby to search
for synonyms for common words such as
“sad”. Be sure to use words in context and
double-check their meaning or else your
sentences may not make sense.
• Do not be verbose and make your sentences
too wordy with the intention of sounding
smart as the reader will pick up on this and
your writing may end up becoming
confusing and ineffective.
Descriptive words
Source: https://cutt.ly/ZWom334

18. AVOID CLICHES
AND THE
PASSIVE VOICE
• Remove any clichés (phrase,
expression, archetype) from your
work; they detract from the creativity
of your piece.
• If you’re looking to accelerate the
piece or minimize word count, use
the active voice. Rather than “it was
thrown by me,” use “I threw it”
instead.
Emoji saying “no”
Source: https://cutt.ly/AWoRmXP

19. Appeal to the senses—pretend you’re in
your piece
The setting should not be a mere backdrop. Touch on multiple senses in
your descriptions, specifying a sense of location, mood, atmosphere. Have
the characters interact more with their surroundings. What do they hear,
smell, touch? For example, maybe the sunlight isn’t just streaming in—
maybe it's blinding?
5 senses illustration
Source: https://cutt.ly/QWoTTnN

20. Give your piece a strong tone and a purpose
• Writing that has a strong narrative
tone and unique voices for every
character intrigues the reader. But
stay within your word range—every
word/sentence/scene should matter.
• With stories, you must have conflict.
Something happens. It could be
dramatic, like a murder mystery, or it
could be a coming-of-age tale where
something changes your character
internally in some way.
• Ask yourself why you're telling this
story. What do you want the reader to
take away? Writing with a purpose, a
message, and a set of themes in mind
will help you sharpen your focus and
increase the piece’s appeal to the
reader. Drama cartoon
Source: https://cutt.ly/pWoTX7o

21. ALWAYS PROOFREAD
YOUR WORK
• No one likes to read typos or run-on sentences. Read
over your work with a surgical eye and with spell check
on. Identify plot holes, missing transitional phrases,
grammatical bloopers etc. Pro tip: Read out loud for flow
and logic.
• Hand your work over to a tutor or friend to read so that
they can verify that it does not have any errors and that it
makes sense. Their nod of approval will make you more
confident to submit your writing.
Keep calm and just edit it
Source: https://cutt.ly/8WoYxTL

22. MAKE USE OF
ONLINE EDITING
TOOLS
There are available editing tools online to assist you in editing
your writing. Make use of them to ensure that your writing is
absolutely crisp and void of any grammatical errors that you
may have missed during your proofreading.
A list of editing tools to access online are:
• After the Deadline
• Autocrit
• Grammarly
• Hemingway App
• Slick Write
Grammarly logo
Source:https://cutt.ly/0WoJuiQ
Autocrit logo
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After the deadline logo
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23. MORE
TIPS
FROM
THE
PROS…
Inspirational quote for writers by C.S. Lewis
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24. J.K. Rowling holding one of her books from the Harry
Potter sequel
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S
Writing tips from J.K. Rowling
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J.K. ROWLING

25. Stephen King on importance of imagination
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Stephen King
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Stephen King on reading and writing
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STEPHEN KING

26. MAYA ANGELOU
Maya Angelou on creativity
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Maya Angelou
Source: https://cutt.ly/BWotPpw

27. REFERENCES:
• Tubal, M.C. (2017) Creative Writing. Available from Slideshare at https://www.slideshare.net/michaeltubal/creative-writing-
75744132?qid=a2e0aad7-6243-436d-8fb0-d93a79a92c2f&v=&b=&from_search=7 (Accessed 22 August 2021)
• Reyes, J. (2014) Creative Writing: The Process of Writing. Available from Slideshare at https://www.slideshare.net/JhengReyes/creative-
writing-the-process-of-writing?qid=29b03561-ac25-45c5-8401-aea20d3fb538&v=&b=&from_search=2 (Accessed 22 August 2021)
• Francisco, M.C. (2016) Creative Writing. Available from Slideshare at https://www.slideshare.net/englishIT/creative-writing-
65036352?qid=ed6e4d5b-375f-4631-ad7e-1e6375f0ab8a&v=&b=&from_search=4 (Accessed 22 August 2021)
• Rabo, A. (2018) Creative Writing. Available from Slideshare at https://www.slideshare.net/huwagtumawidmaynamataynadito/creative-
writing-102799006?qid=34f65d50-351a-4b6a-9b49-fdd94aa29d08&v=&b=&from_search=8 (Accessed 22 August 2021)
• Condina, L. (2019) Creative Writing. Available from Slideshare at https://www.slideshare.net/LeahCondina1/creative-writing-
190237909?qid=10ece73a-7290-49bb-b06e-e67b1eddc8ae&v=&b=&from_search=10 (Accessed 22 August)
• Bhatti, F. (2020) Creative Writing. Available from Slideshare at https://www.slideshare.net/FaizaArshadBhatti/creative-writing-
236706587?qid=a2fa808d-f315-4b43-8286-5aec12b660df&v=&b=&from_search=12 (Accessed 22 August)
• Fransen, C., 2021. 4 Benefits to Creative Writing To Help Your Children - SimpleK12.com. [online] SimpleK12.com. Available at:
<https://www.simplek12.com/reading-writing/4-benefits-to-creative-writing/> [Accessed 27 August 2021].
• Student Services. 2021. 8 tips to get you rockin' at creative writing. [online] Available at: <https://students.ubc.ca/ubclife/8-tips-you-rockin-
creative-writing> [Accessed 25 August 2021].

28. HAPPY WRITING!
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