Unit 1 – Creative Writing

WEEK 1 – 2 DISCUSSION

1. INTRODUCTION TO CREATIVE WRITING

As the denotative meaning of CREATIVE, it is relating to or involving the imagination or original ideas,
especially in the production of an artistic work.
Creativity is the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. Creativity is characterized by the
ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between seemingly
unrelated phenomena, and to generate solutions.

WRITING
This refers to an act of a writer that expresses his thoughts, feelings and emotions with the means of
letters and words.
According to Aristotle;
Words spoken are symbols of affections or impressions of the soul; written words are symbols of words
spoken. And just as letters are not the same for all men, sounds are not the same either, although the
affections directly expressed by these indications are the same for everyone, as are the things of which these
impressions are images. (1938: 115)

CREATIVE WRITING
A form of writing that is made by original composition and which is written with the creativity of mind.
The purpose is to express something, whether it be feelings, thoughts, or emotions.
Creative writing can be fiction and non-fiction. A writer sits down to commit an act of literature.

ROLE OF A CREATIVE WRITER

1. Give importance to relevant list, data and evidences of creative writing.

2. To share any experiences to others.
3. Express your own thoughts, feelings and emotions.

1.1 IMAGINATIVE WRITING VS. TECHNICAL WRITING AND OTHER FORMS

IMAGINATIVE WRITING
A form of writing that expresses the writer’s thoughts and feelings in a creative, unique, and poetic way.
Examples: poetry, fiction such as short stories, and novels.

TECHNICAL WRITING
A form of writing technical communication or documentation in science and technology or applied
science that helps people understand a product or service. Technical writing uses technical vocabularies and
highlights processes, classification and interpretation.
Examples: user manuals, legal analysis, summary of experiments for journal publications, technological
marketing communications.

ACADEMIC WRITING
A form of writing that writer expresses and shares ideas with critical thinking; it has vocabularies that
are brought out by critical thoughts. It presents proofs and reasons out of research. It broadens and
strengthens the quality of education.
Examples: theses, term paper, reflection papers.

“All hard work and sacrifices will pay off”

Prepared by: Ms. Ma. Rebecca S. Olorvida
Creative Writing
SHS HUMSS, Faculty Member
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TECHNICAL AND IMAGINATIVE WRITING
Technical Writing Creative Writing
Content Factual, straight-forward Imaginative, metaphoric or symbolic
Audience Specific General
Purpose Inform, instruct, persuade Entertain, provoke, captivate
Style Formal, standard, academic Informal, artistic, figurative
Tone Objective Subjective
Vocabulary Specialized General, evocative
Organization Sequential, systematic Arbitrary, artistic

1.2 SENSORY EXPERIENCE

1.3 LANGUAGE
(ELEMENTS OF CREATIVE LANGUAGE)

Imagery is a figurative language used to represent objects, actions, and ideas in a manner that appeals to the
senses. It uses vivid descriptive language to add depth to work. Imagery creates mental pictures in the reader
as he/she reads the text.

In Creative Writing, writer uses aesthetics through SENSORY DETAILS. Sensory Details are used to intensify
the writer’s expression and beautify a statement, context or a concept.

Sensory
Details
Internal External
- Emotions - Gustatory
- Imagination - Tactile
- Judgment - Olfactory
- Illusions - Visual
- Humor - Auditory
Memory

LITERAL LANGUAGE – This means exactly what it says in a statement or a sentence.

Example: He ran fast.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
This is a form of language that creates pictures in the mind of the reader or listener. One meaning of
"figure" is "drawing" or "picture". These pictures help convey the meaning faster and more vividly than words
alone. We use figures of speech in "figurative language" to add color and interest, and to awaken the
imagination.
Example: He ran like the wind.

FIGURES OF SPEECH
This is a figurative language in which words are used out of their literal meaning or out of their ordinary
use.
Both imagery and figures of speech beautifies a piece of literature.

“All hard work and sacrifices will pay off”

Prepared by: Ms. Ma. Rebecca S. Olorvida
Creative Writing
SHS HUMSS, Faculty Member
Basic Types of Figures of Speech:

1. Simile – It is a stated comparison (formed with “like” or “as”) between two fundamentally dissimilar
things that have certain qualities in common.
o He was busy as a bee.
o “I would have given anything for the power to soothe her frail soul, tormenting itself in its invincible ignorance
like a small bird beating about the cruel wires of a cage.” – Lord Jim by James Conrad.

2. Metaphor – A figure of speech that is an implied comparison between two unlike things that have
something in common.
o All the world’s a stage.
o “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”

3. Onomatopoeia – It uses words that imitate sounds associated with objects or actions.
o Hiss of a snake
o “Water plops into pond” – Lee Emmett

4. Personification – It endows human qualities or abilities to inanimate objects or abstractions.

o Look at my car. She is a beauty.
o “When well-appareled April on the heel of limping winter treads.” – Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

5. Apostrophe – One figure of speech that addresses an absent person or thing that is an abstract,
inanimate, or inexistent character.
o Oh, Rose, how sweet and how bright you look.
o “O happy dagger, / this is thy sheath. / There rust and let me die.” – Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare.

6. Hyperbole – It is the use of exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis or exaggerated effect.
o My grandmother is as old as the hills.
o “Above all was the sense of hearing. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearten! And observe
how healthy – how calmly I can tell you the whole story” – The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

7. Alliteration – It is when an initial consonant is repeated.

o Twinkle, twinkle star.
o “I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.”

8. Synecdoche – A figure of speech in which part of something represents the whole or it may use a
whole to represent the part.
o Sails = Whole ship
o Boots = soldiers

9. Metonymy – It is when one word or phrase is substituted for another which it’s closely associated to or
when something is described indirectly by referring to things around it.
o Let me give you a hand ( hand pertains to “help”)
o The pen is mightier than the sword. (Pen pertains to literature as written works and sword pertains to military
force)

10. Oxymoron – It is a figure of speech where incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.
o “Why, then, O brawling love! O loving hate!”
o O anything, of nothing first creates!”

11. Paradox – It is a statement that appears to contradict itself.

o “My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky;
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old.
12. Litotes – A figure of speech that uses double negative words in a something that literally means
positive.
o You are not as young as you used to be.
o She is not unkind.

“All hard work and sacrifices will pay off”

Prepared by: Ms. Ma. Rebecca S. Olorvida
Creative Writing
SHS HUMSS, Faculty Member
 13. Irony – A figure of speech in which a contradictory statement or situation that reveal a reality different
from what appears to be true.
o Go ask his name: if he be married. My grave is like to be my wedding bed”
o Wow, thanks for expensive gift...let’s see: did it come with a Fun Meal or the Burger King equivalent?

14. Rhetorical Question – A figure of speech in the form of question that is asked to make a point rather
that to elicit an answer. By the implication the answer is obvious; it is a means of achieving an
emphasis stronger than a direct statement.
o Are you kidding me?
o O, Wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

15. Allusion – A figure of speech that uses a brief reference to some person, historical event, work of art,
or Biblical or mythological situation or character.
Types of Allusion

1. Geographical Allusion
Example: The Mayon Volcano is the Fujiyama of the Philippines
2. Biblical Allusion
Example: The Judge became Solomon in the hearing of two ladies who are claiming that they are
the mother of the little girl.
3. Mythological Allusion
Example: Balagtas described Florante in the ‘Florante at Laura’ as an Adonis
4. Allusion in Literature
Example: She’s a Sisa whose very concern of her lost child.
5. Modern Allusion
Example: My boyfriend seems to be Edward Cullen.

Other Forms and Types of Language

SLANG – This refers to words that are used informally and often only among subgroups. Slang is often short-
lived: it may go out of date among the group that uses it after a few months.

IDIOM – A fixed phrase whose meaning cannot be deduced from the meanings of the component words. "To
kick the bucket" is an idiom in English that has nothing to do with kicking or buckets. It means "to die."

DICTION – It is the choice of words used by the writers. Good writing makes good use of diction.
Poor: The first poem in the book is a masterpiece in itself and quite a work of art.
Better: The first poem in the book is a work of art.

Poor: There were four children playing in the yard.

Better: Four children were playing in the yard.

SYNTAX – It is how the words are arranged in a sentence or line.

EUPHEMISM – A literary device that a word or series of words which replaces sad, unpleasant or shocking
ideas with softer and nicer expressions. For instance: “departure from life” is a euphemism for “death”.
o She was less favored by beauty
o Tears were my only company.

THEME – It is the topic or central idea, which is universal in nature. It is an underlying truth. It may be what the
reader thinks the story is about or what the work says about a given subject.

“All hard work and sacrifices will pay off”

Prepared by: Ms. Ma. Rebecca S. Olorvida
Creative Writing
SHS HUMSS, Faculty Member