Creative Writing

Definition
Creative writing, a form of artistic expression, draws on the imagination to convey meaning
through the use of imagery, narrative, and drama. This is in contrast to analytic or pragmatic
forms of writing. This genre includes poetry, fiction (novels, short stories), scripts,
screenplays, and creative non fiction

Elements/ Components of Creative writing

Voice: An author’s unique style and way of saying things. You should be able to recognize
an author’s written voice the way you recognize a person’s spoken voice. In creative writing,
one goal is to develop your written voice. Your voice should come across as natural, clear,
and consistent, as unique to you as a fingerprint. Wordiness, awkward use of language,
awkward sentence structure, and lack of clarity all serve to muffle the voice of the author.

Characters: The people or actors (e.g. animals, inanimate objects, forces of nature) who
carry out the action of the story. Character development is the art of imagining and portraying
characters in enough detail that they seem real both to the author and the audience.

Character can be revealed through the character's actions, speech, and appearance. It also can
be revealed by the comments of other characters and of the author.

Certain types of characters appear in many stories.

 The protagonist is the central character (person, animal, or personified object) in the
plot's conflict.
 The antagonist is the force in conflict with the protagonist. It may be society, nature,
or fate, as well as another person. It can also be the protagonist's own self, if he or she
has an internal conflict.
 A character foil is a character whose traits are in direct contrast to those of the
principal character. The foil therefore highlights the traits of the protagonist. The foil
is usually a minor character, although if there are two protagonists, they may be foils
of each other.
 A stereotype is a character that possesses expected traits of a group rather than being
an individual. Using stereotypes is usually considered an indication of poor quality,
especially in cases such as members of minority groups, people with disabilities, or
women. However, stereotypes can be useful in furthering the story quickly and are
acceptable in minor roles if they do not provide hurtful portraits of the groups in
question.

Character development is showing the multitude of traits and behaviours that give the literary
character the complexity of a human being. The amount of character development affects the
quality of the story:

 A flat character is not fully developed; we know only one side of the character.
  A round character is fully-developed, with many traits--bad and good--shown in the
story. We feel that we know the character so well that he or she has become a real
person.

Character development is a continuum with perfectly flat characters at one end and very
round ones at the other. Every character lies somewhere on this continuum. Round characters
are usually considered an indication of literary quality. However, characters in folktales are
almost always flat, and flatness is appropriate for minor characters in modern literature for
children. A character foil is often flat, even if the protagonist is round.

The amount of change in a character over the course of the story also affects its quality:

 A static character is one who does not experience a basic character change during
the course of the story.
 A dynamic character is one who experiences a basic change in character through the
events of the story. This change is internal and may be sudden, but the events of the
plot should make it seem inevitable.
 There is also a continuum of character change in a story, with very static characters at
one end, and very dynamic ones at the other. Every character lies somewhere on this
continuum. Dynamism in the protagonist is usually considered an indication of
quality, but many characters, especially in stories for younger children, have only the
mild amount of change which can be expected from growing and maturing from day
to day.
 A character may thus be round and dynamic, round and static, or flat and static. A flat
character cannot usually be dynamic, because you do not know enough about the flat
character to notice a change. If a character seems flat and yet seems to change, it is
usually because the characterization is not well written.

Point-of-view: The narrator’s perspective on the characters and occurrences in the piece of
writing. Whose voice is telling the story? Most fiction is written in first person, an eyewitness
account, or in third person, where the narrator describes things that happened to other people.

Point of view depends upon who the narrator is and how much he or she knows.

Point of view may be:

 First person - uses "I" - A character is telling the story.

 Second person - uses "you" - The author speaks directly to the reader. Second
person is seldom used; it is found most often in nonfiction today.
 Third person - uses "he," "she," or "it" - The author is telling about the characters.
There are three third person points of view:
o Limited omniscient - We are told the thoughts and feelings of only one
character (sometimes, but very seldom, of two or three characters).
o Omniscient - We are told everything about the story, including the thoughts
and feelings of all the characters, and even information in the author's mind
which no character knows.
o Dramatic or objective - We are told only what happens and what is said; we
do not know any thoughts or feelings of the characters. It is called "dramatic"
 because it includes the words and actions, just what you would see and hear if
it were in a play or film.

Plot

Plot is the sequence of events which involves the characters in conflict.

The sequence of events is called the narrative order:

 The most common type of narrative order is chronological. In this case, the events
are told in the order they happen.
 A flashback occurs when the author narrates an event that took place before the
current time of the story. The opposite effect, a flash forward, is even rarer.
 A time lapse occurs when the story skips a period of time that seems unusual
compared to the rest of the plot. There is no standard amount of time that might
constitute a time lapse; it depends upon the reader's sense that a longer than usual
period of time has passed since the previous episode.

Conflict is the struggle between the protagonist and an opposing force. There are several
types of conflict:

 Internal conflict, or person-against-self, occurs when the protagonist struggles

within himself or herself. The protagonist is pulled by two courses of action or by
differing emotions. This is often considered a characteristic of fine literature because
it frequently leads to a dynamic change in the protagonist.
 Interpersonal conflict, or person-against-person, pits the protagonist against
someone else.
 Conflict of person-against-society happens when the protagonist is in conflict with
the values of his or her society. This is a difficult concept for small children to grasp.
 Conflict of person-against-nature takes place when the protagonists is threatened by
an element of nature.
 Conflict of person-against-fate occurs when the protagonist must contend against a
fact or life or death over which people have little control, such as death or disability.
Some literary critics, however, see this conflict as a type of person-against-nature.
 Several types of conflict may be present in any one story.
 Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between two types of conflict. If a teenager is
arrested by a policeman for breaking a law, the conflict is probably person-against-
society. If, however, a personal animosity develops between the two, so that the boy
taunts the policeman and the policeman harasses the boy because they dislike each
other, the conflict becomes person-against-person. Likewise, if a character is attacked
by a strange dog, the conflict is person-against-nature. But if the dog knows and
dislikes the character, it could be considered person-against-person. If the protagonist
is diagnosed with a fatal disease, he or she has a conflict with fate or nature, but also
probably has an internal conflict in learning to accept his or her fate.
Most plots have certain common elements:

 A story commonly begins with exposition, an explanation of the situation and the
condition of the characters. The exposition is usually woven into the action.
 A plot usually begins with a problem which the protagonist must meet or solve.
During the story, tension is built through a series of complications, incidents which
either help or hinder the protagonist in finding a solution. This is the rising action.
 The climax is the peak or turning point of the action; at this point we know the
outcome.
 The denouement or falling action is the part after the climax. It gives any necessary
explanation and ends with resolution, the sense of at the end of the story that it is
complete.
 The ending of the story may be either open or closed:
o In a closed ending, the most usual one, readers feel that they know what will
happen. The various parts of the plot are tied together satisfactorily, and the
reader feels a sense of completion.
o In an open ending, readers must draw their own conclusions; they do not
know what will happen.
o A cliff-hanger is an abrupt ending at an exciting and often dangerous time in
the plot. Its purpose is to keep the reader reading. It is usually found at the end
of a chapter, but occasionally a book will end this way. (Not all open endings
are suspenseful enough to be called cliffhangers.) Recently, books in some
science fiction and fantasy series have ended in cliffhangers, which encourage
the reading of the other books in the series.

Other elements which may be found in plots include:

 Suspense is a state of tension, a sense of uncertainty, an emotional pull which keeps

the reader reading. All plots need some suspense to sustain interest.
 Foreshadowing is the planting of hints about what will happen later in the story. It
prepares readers for the outcome and reassures them when the suspense is very high.
Good foreshadowing is subtle and often contributes to high quality in a story.
 Coincidence, the concurrence of events which happen by chance, is a fact in real life.
However, real life is not a plot that moves from problem to climax to resolution. In
fiction, coincidence seems contrived; it weakens the plot. Coincidence in a plot is
acceptable if it is carefully but subtly foreshadowed.
 Inevitability is the sense that the outcome is necessary and inescapable. It had to
happen, given these characters and this situation; it is not contrived. It is a sign of high
quality in writing.
 Sensationalism is unrelieved suspense; it often includes violence and may produce
fear in the reader. Readers often like it, as the popularity of horror books and films
attest, but it is usually considered a sign of poor quality.
 Sentimentality is the opposite of sensationalism; it is the overuse of sentiment (a
natural concern for another person) that produces a tear-jerker. It is dwelling too much
on the "cute" and the "precious." Like sensationalism, it is a sign of poor quality but is
often popular.
Setting

Setting includes the place and the time period in which the story takes place. Setting may or
may not have an important influence on the story:

 An integral setting is essential to the plot; it influences action, character or theme.

 A backdrop setting is relatively unimportant to the plot; it is like the featureless
curtain or flat painted scenery of a theatre.
 Readers may interpret the importance of the setting differently; one may say that the
setting is integral because the story must happen in a big city; another may say the
same thing is backdrop because it may happen in any big city. (The former statement
is probably more accurate, but either is acceptable if the meaning is clear.)

Setting can clarify conflict, illuminate character, affect the mood, and act as a symbol. The
setting itself can be an antagonist in a person-against-nature conflict.

Theme

Theme is the underlying meaning of the story, a universal truth, a significant statement the
story is making about society, human nature, or the human condition.

A book's theme must be described in universal terms, not in terms of the plot. The plot is the
way the universal theme is carried out in that particular book. Themes can be applied to the
reader's own life or to other literature.

Although themes can convey important messages, they should never be overtly didactic.
Didacticism is preaching and teaching so explicitly that readers lose pleasure in the story and
reject its message.

The primary theme is most important theme in the story; books usually have one primary
theme. There may be other secondary themes as well.

Types of themes:

 An explicit theme is one that is stated openly in the book. It is stated in universal
terms in the book itself.
 An implicit theme is one which is not directly stated, but which the reader can infer.
Many times, readers will not notice that an explicit theme is directly stated, but they
can often infer the theme anyway.

Themes must be clearly stated; one word is not usually enough. To say that a book's theme is
"friendship" is not clear. It may mean, "Friends are a person's most valuable possession." It
may also mean, "Friends can never be trusted if their own interests are opposed to yours."

An understanding of theme is dependent upon one's previous experience of life and literature.
At the same time, theme in literature can enlarge one's understanding of life.

Not every good book has a significant theme; some books' value lies in the pleasure they
give, rather than the message they bring. Books of humour, for instance, may or may not have
a significant theme.
Style

Style is the language used in a book, the way the words are put together to create the story.

 Most books use standard written style. This style sounds natural, but when carefully
analyzed, it is clear that it is more formal than most speech. Sentences are complete;
expressions like "um," "you know," and "like--," are avoided; contractions are used
less often than in ordinary speech. Lots of conversation may be included, but the style
as a whole does not sound like speech.
 In conversational style, the language is more informal, it sounds more like the way
people really talk. The narration as well as the character's speeches sounds
conversational.
 Dialect is easiest for children to read if word order or a few unusual words and
expressions are used to suggest a difference from normal speech. Other languages
may be suggested in the same way through speech patterns and foreign words.
Foreign and unusual words should be explained naturally in context. An eye dialect,
in which words are spelled the way they sound, is sometimes very hard to read.
 An ornate or unusual style is sometimes used, especially in some high fantasy and
historical fiction. Older editions of traditional literature and older poetry may also
have such styles.

Writers use many devices of style to make stories interesting.

 Imagery is the most frequently used device. It is an appeal to any of the senses--taste,
touch, sight, sound, and smell. It paints pictures in our mind.
 Figurative language uses words in a nonliteral way, giving them a meaning beyond
their ordinary one.
o Personification gives human traits to animals, nonhuman beings, or inanimate
objects: "The trees bowed before the wind."
o A simile compares two different things, using the words "as," "like," or
"than": "The snowbank looked like a huge pile of marshmallow syrup."
o A metaphor is an implied comparison stating the resemblance between two
things: "Her presence was a ray of light in a dark world."
 Devices of sound can increase pleasure and clarity. Books which use many such
devices should be read aloud. Poetry is particularly rich in such devices.
o Onomatopoeia is the use of words that sound like their meaning: a skirt
"swishes," a bat "cracks," a hasty eater "gulps" his food.
o Alliteration is repetition of initial consonants: "the soft surge of the sea."
o Consonance is repetition of consonants sounds anywhere in the words: "The
sight of the apple and maple trees pleased the people."
o Rhyme is the repetition of a stressed sound, usually the final syllable: "His
aim was to blame the dame."
o Assonance is repetition of vowel sounds in a phrase: The owl swept out of the
woods and circled the house."
o Rhythm is the recurring flow of strong and weak beats in a phrase: "Chicka,
chicka, boom, boom! Will there be enough room?" Meter is the regular
rhythmic pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables found in a line of poetry.
The less regular rhythm sometimes found in prose is often called cadence.
  Puns and other plays on words add interest and humor: "By the time the milking was
finished, the new farmhand was thoroughly cowed." Puns are said to be "the lowest
form of wit," but people usually enjoy them even as they groan.
 Hyperbole is exaggeration: "He was frightened out of his wits." Understatement is
the opposite: "He was upset when he learned he had AIDS."
 Allusion is an indirect reference to something outside the current literary work: "He
was a veritable Hercules." The reference may be to something in literature, history,
modern culture, or another area. Allusion is often difficult for children to recognize
because they lack the necessary background knowledge. The proponents of "cultural
literacy" believe that all children should acquire a common fund of knowledge in
order to understand allusions.
 A symbol is something--a person, object, situation, or action--which operates on two
levels, the literal and the symbolic. For instance, an engagement ring is a real object,
but it is also stands for the abiding love of the engaged couple. Symbols add depth
and meaning to a story. Symbols may be universal (as the engagement ring) or
specific to a particular story.

Qualities which should be avoided in style include triteness (dull, stale, overused
expressions), condescension (talking down to children, making them feel unintelligent or
immature), didacticism, sensationalism, and sentimentality. In poetry, avoid a too regular
meter which can become a sing-song rhythm.

Tone

Tone is the author's attitude toward what he or she writes, but it may be easier to understand
if you think of it as the attitude that you (the reader) get from the author's words. It is the
hardest literary element to discuss; often we can recognize it but not put it into words. The
easiest tone to recognize is humour. In describing tone, use adjectives: humorous, mysterious,
creepy, straight-forward, matter-of-fact, exciting, boring, etc.