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Creative Writing Basics

The term Creative Writing is used quite broadly but actually refers to the way one expresses their emotions, feelings, thoughts and ideas. It is not just limited to writing out of the box or writing something that's extremely interesting. Creative Writing is an unbound form of writing and is only bounded by the personal limitations of the writer. In fact, the writers who can be extremely creative in their thoughts and ideas are the ones who churn out the most mesmerizing works. As a result, Creative Writing has been termed as one of the most difficult writing disciplines to master. Moreover, creative writing also requires a writer to delve deep into their own minds and connect with various kinds of fictional characters in another world. Another important aspect of creative writing is that it cannot be enforced or learnt. While one can learn and master the steps and processes, the thoughts and ideas need to come from deep within in order for them to be interesting enough to captivate the readers. Therefore, it is important to understand these 10 things about creative writing which act as a set of guidelines or principles for any successful creative writer.

1. Discover your paths and figure out your own strengths and weaknesses

The first and foremost aspect about creative writing is that every writer needs to discover their own path and figure out their own strengths and weaknesses. While there may be tons of creative writing classes to help you go about the same, none can actually enter your mind and bring out the best in you. All they can offer you with is a way or a stepping stone to bring out this hidden creativity and ideas from within.

2. Make sure that you have fun while you're at it

Writing should always come as a hobby or a pastime, if one is to be successful at it. If you don't enjoy and are not captivated by the art of writing, you will never be able to churn out a piece which compels the reader to turn page after page. As a result, having fun while writing is simply a must. Thus, ensure that you write only on topics which you love and can spend hours drooling over. The simple logic behind this reasoning is that if you do not like something, you shall never be successful in making others like it through your works.

3. The main word is CREATIVITY

The primary focus of creative writing should be "creativity" and not imagination. Creativity simply demands one to enter a surreal reality while imagination might simply restrict them to unreality. Moreover, there are no seams in creativity. Keep away from those who say that you are creative as they are simply stopping you from evolving to the next level.

4. Do not count your chickens before they actually hatch

It is great to be creative and have a parallel line of thinking. People love you for it and it makes you feel on top of the world. However, you really need to get moving and start penning those thoughts and ideas into words. Always ensure that you start immediately as thoughts in your mind are useless but penned into words, they are worth millions.

5. Creative Writing? Really???

And who said that only creative writing requires creativity. Even the most boring journals would need some amount of creativity so that they can be penned down into words. The main difference between creative writing and any other form of writing is that the former requires a lot more skill, practice and steely dedication to make the end product interesting for the readers.

6. Stimulate your creative senses

Always remember to write only when you are at your creative best. Some are the beasts of the night while some function the best when they have the warmth of the sun around them. Some need the chirping of the birds or the roar of the sea and yet others need to be all alone and locked down before they can start off with lateral thinking. What ever is your thing and whatever turns you on is a must for writing a creative masterpiece. Make sure that you are at your creative best by stimulating and tingling those creative senses and thoughts before you write.

7. Do not be all sugary or coat your characters with wills of gold

Another aspect that is a must for every creative writer is to understand that all is well is not always good. You need to be a sadist at times in your work and introduce negative characters and sad instances to make your plots interesting. Let's face it. Life isn't completely rosy and people you come across are not always angels. You need to ensure that your plots resemble real life in some way or another and thus being completely preachy is not always good while being somewhat of an antagonist just might get your stories to sell.

8. Behind every unsuccessful writer, there is a man or a woman. But behind every successful one, there are two.

Always remember that creativity is not just about brooding all alone or by yourself. If you feel you cannot get the hang of the way things should proceed in your plot or novel, bounce off your thoughts and ideas across to others close to you. One or two might actually end up adding a twist or a turn to your story which might just give it the edge. Well, it may not happen in the end, but no harm in trying right?

9. Creativity is always there within you. A cough or a sneeze cannot kill it.

Stop complaining and stop giving lame excuses about the tiny flame which extinguished the moment you heard a noise. Creativity is not something which comes and goes. It is always there within you. All that is needed is to stop giving excuses and start concentrating again.

10. Finally, creative writing is not a job or a task. It is most definitely not the means of earning money.

The moment you start looking at creative writing as a job or a means of earning your livelihood, poof, the idea has gone. Writing should not be about a task or about something you do as a daily routine. Writing is something which is there to invigorate and revitalize the writer. It is the karma and the mantra which makes you tick. So stop looking at it like it's just another thing you do. The idea is to look at it as THE thing that you do.

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