A ROAD MAP TO CREATIVE WRITING CAREER

Is your head stuck at creative writing and questions like What is creative writing? How to be a creative writer? What are some good topic ideas? How to acquire a long term career in creative writing? – are revolving like butterflies around your head. Then read out this article that will clear the air and detangle your confused mind.

To make you familiar with creative writing, this article talks about the active aspects, elevated elements, and effective exercises that you can go through to establish yourself in the world of creative writing and the various dimensions that you need to explore to build up a steady career in the relevant field.

WHAT IS CREATIVE WRITING?

Creative writing is a lax term that encompasses a variety of extensive writings wrapped around different genres that goes beyond the boundaries of academic or technical writing.

In simpler words, any kind of writing that is articulate, expressive of your thoughts or feelings, or shares a personal experience can come under the umbrella of creative writing.

Creative creation, reminiscent of its label, is a writing that is out of the box and certainly paints a visual in the mind of its reader. It originates straight from the heart of the writer and unambiguously allures the heart and mind.

PURPOSE OF CREATIVE COMPOSITION

From sharing a human experience (about love, friendship, hate, or any other witnessed event) to unravel the truth about humanity or the universe- creative writing has unfathomable depths. Furthermore, the incorporation of morals often forms the core of the story, along with the requisite consideration of entertainment purposes.

Another motive that you need to keep in mind is that a story without a moral often seems spiritless and usually dissatisfies the reader. Therefore, a piece of writing should be based on a theme advancing towards the climax to illuminate the audience with an evident message.

At the same time, a good piece of writing should never cut corners in terms of entertainment as people generally expect a blend of the same in the created creation along with a lookout for an escape from the worries and tensions of the real world.

TYPES OF CREATIVE WRITING

Accommodating a wide range of creations, creative writing has a wide spectrum. A few main types of writings are enumerated below:

• Poetry
• Fiction (short stories, novels)
• Plays and dramas
• Speeches
• Memoirs
• Essays
• Movie and TV scripts

 BASIC ELEMENTS OF CREATIVE WRITING

A great piece of work is constructed upon the bedrock of constant and integral elements that can be molded as per the requisites of the composition. Here is a list of vital elements that need to be comprehended and incorporated to procure the knack of creative writing.

1. PECULIAR PLOT

Any kind of story is positioned on the strong base of a peculiar plot. A basic and unique plotline is essential to weave a story. Although remakes are also on the bandwagon, yet uniqueness often grabs attention.

Now, the ball is in your court whether you want to compose an original material or renovate a masterpiece in a whole new outlook.

2. INNATE NARRATIVE

Now, the plot needs an apt narrative style to be portrayed in the best possible manner. Ordinarily, the first person and the third person are often at the top on the priority list.

The details of each of the narrative style are explicated below:

• FIRST-PERSON

In the first case, the narrator is the first person- “I”, i.e. the main character narrates the story. So here we look at the story through the eyes of the main character.

• SECOND-PERSON

Second-person or usage of “you” and “yours” are typically pointless in case of creative writing, simply because the writer is sharing his/her own experience or perspective.

The stated narrative is generally used for instructional purposes like in exams, or in blog posts, etc.

• THIRD-PERSON

Third-person connotes to the usage of “he/she/they” as the narrator. The reporter or the speaker is omnipotent and well aware of the emotions and feelings of all the characters. This type of narration is well prevalent in the writing world.

3. CHARACTER PORTRAYAL

Who the character is? What are the catchy characteristics relevant to him or her? How stark instances affect and transform the character? These are the fundamental questions that need to be incorporated into the story to render an emphatic character portrayal.

All the major characters should develop prominently in terms of qualities, abilities, and strength as the wheel of the story rotates and proceeds further. From start to end, the pervasive development of the character needs to be done in a manner that the reader can draw a picture. Moreover, the reader should be able to comprehend the prominent characteristics of the character concerning the story.

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4. PRIME THEME

A story without a relevant theme is like a bird without feathers that can never fly and accomplish its real purpose of life. The target audience of the book is looking for a relevant theme, sermon, or message concerning the story to incite interest. Unable to locate the meaning in the book can dissatisfy the reader to a large extent.

Therefore, it is inherent to have a theme along with a relevant message or lesson to maintain the integrity of the story. It not only provides relevance to your story but also hooks the reader to strive to reach the endpoint promptly.

5. VIVID IMAGERY

Generally, images or pictures are easier to stay and retain in the mind for a longer time. Moreover, it generates the interest of the reader.

Now it is impossible to put a lot of pictures in a novel or a book. So in that case you need to paint the picture in the mind of the reader. How can you do that?

For that purpose, you need to create visual descriptions of characters and settings in the mind of the readers by using applicable figures of speech like similes, metaphors, and other comparisons.

The figures of speech facilitate you to paint the canvas for your readers, making them visualize the vivid imagery of each character and its surroundings in the story.

In this way, you can instruct your reader to perceive the cascade of events happening in your story with the fruitful imagery that will have a larger impact on the mind of the reader.

For instance, rather than saying “Life is good”, you can say “His life seems to be a bed of roses.”Here, the latter one beautifies the ordinary-looking former clause and hence glorifies your creative creation.

6. DIALOGUE DESCRIPTION

Dialogues provide the essential realistic appeal to your story. It not only feeds the story with realism providing a feel of everyday conversation and making the reader feel attached; but also supports and furthers the story and character delineation.

7. EMOTIONAL APPEAL

In an attempt to get relief from the 24*7 busy life fraught with facts and figures, the sentimental reader is searching for an emotional connection in your story.

Therefore, you should adorn your story with the emotional appeal to allure your audience and build a connection with them. Usually, readers are intrigued by the emotional plot and thus far more interested to read the whole story.

So, don’t forget to season your piece of writing with a pinch of emotional connection.

HOW DO I START CREATIVE WRITING?

Laying the foundation is always the most substantial as well as the most difficult step in any field. Perpetually, creative writing does get better with time and experience, yet the hard nut to crack remains how to initiate and start with creative writing?

Now, as you already know what is creative writing, you can kick start your career as a budding writer with short stories, simple poems, or bare essays setting your goals from a basic few hundred-word limit to maximizing it according to your own pace.

If you are a school or college going student you can always try to get indulged in literature classes, educational classes, and extra-curricular writing-based activities like creative writing competitions, magazines, newspapers, etc.

Contemporarily, you can attend varied workshops and submit your work for peer critique. While doing that, always keep in your mind there is no age bar for learning, and therefore accept the feedback with an open heart. It will guide you about your pitfalls and hence pave the path for improvement.

CREATIVE TOPICS

 As you are well acquainted with what is creative writing and how to start your writing, you may be confused and scratching your head about what topics to choose at the initial level. Thousands of ideas would be revolving around your head, yet you won’t be able to choose. Relatable?

Obviously, you want to give it your best shot but it’s better to commence with easy and simple ideas. Once you feel you have attained that aptitude and ability to write well, you can move on to complex and more creative ideas.

So, here I have clubbed together a list of 30 simple and fascinating creative idea prompts to resolve your topical confusion.

MYSTERY

1. Write a story about stranger things happenings around your house/ attic room.
2. Write a story about a missing stone from the mysterious mountains.
3. Write a story about a parallel world and its enigmatic impacts on the real world.
4. Write a story about a trap door present in the basement of your house.
5. Write a story about a secret well-wisher who knows everything about you and saves you from all the problems.

ROMANCE

6. Write a story about a blind date where a boy and a girl meet for the first time.
7. Write a quarantine love story in the lockdown.

8. Write a romance story where a crush turned into a lifetime blossoming love story.
9. Write a story eliciting that there is no such thing as a perfect date.
10. Write about love at first sight/ first love.

HOLIDAY AND ADVENTURE

11. Write about a visit to your dreamland/place.
12. Write how a last-minute trip with friends turned out to be full of adventures.
13. Write about an accomplished resolution.
14. Write about a week in a village with friends (but without mobile phones).
15. Write about a trip to a hill station on a bike, with a tent and a handful of food items and water.

 FANTASY

16. Write a story about a magic watch, which can pause and reverse time.
17. Write about a man with some superpowers.
18. Write a story about two people who are head over heels in love with each other, but one of them is immortal.
19. Write a story about a person who has the power to predict the future and which turns out to be true all the time.
20. Write a story about your latest fantasy.

 THRILLER AND SUSPENSE

21. Write a story about a priest who is trying to probe a paranormal secret.
22. Write a story about secret notes that follow wherever you go.
23. One day, you visit a friend and someone tells you that the friend is dead for over 5 years.
24. Write about a kid who looks at the ceiling of the house and talks to two other children.
25. Write a story about being stuck at an island where one by one all your companions are losing their lives.

   GENERAL

26. Write a story about a solitary girl who feels lonely even in a congested city.
27. Write a story about a tiny elf that you found in your storeroom.
28. Write a story about a person stuck in an elevator for a whole day.
29. Write a story about a place that you are visiting as an adult, and which you last visited as a child.
30. Write a story when you wake up to see there is no hair on your head.

Guys, these are just some helpful ideas for your benefit, but there is no compulsion, you can always move forward with your own out of the box ideas.

HOW TO ESTABLISH A LONG TERM CAREER IN CREATIVE WRITING?

After acquiring the knack of creative writing, you would want to convert your rousing passion into a long term lucrative profession to earn bread and butter. True?

Considering that, you may find yourself lucky as you have the opportunity to turn your fomenting passion into your profession. To have a job that you love doing wholeheartedly puts you in the category of the ones who are truly blessed.

Do you feel excited?

Great but at the same time let me show you the bigger picture. You must have heard this quote, “Rome was not built in a day.” In the same manner, you cannot become an established creative writer with a single publication or in a few days.

Even if you are good at writing, receiving recognition is a long haul which you need to pursue with an earnest belief in yourself.

Today, in the highly competitive and capitalist society, procuring a good position, without much experience is not a piece of cake, but rather exceedingly demanding and challenging.

So here, let me shed some light on how you can climb the success ladder step by step to become an accredited creative writer.

First of all, you need to speculate about a few questions- What are you writing? Who is your target audience? How are you planning to publish it? Answers to these questions will form the first step of your ladder that will shed some light on the road that you want to follow to step into the humongous world of creative writing.

Here is a list of a few options from which you can choose to procure a long term career in creative writing.

1. ARTICLE/BLOG WRITER

Self introspect to know your niche and passion- like travel, food, fashion, education, etc.- anything that you love doing and is irresistible to you.

As you are already aware of what is creative writing, you can start by creating your website and publishing about the same, or you can opt to publish on other online platforms.

In the long run, you can work for various companies, newspapers, and magazines and secure a stable job in a reverent company.

2. FREELANCER

Within the framework of freelancers, you have an immense scope to earn yourself a good fortune based on sheer hard work and determination.

Once you have made your presence known, you can band in with various organizations to procure work for feature news, online magazines, business portfolios, reviewing, etc.

It may take time to build up your presence on the internet so be patient and hang in there until you accomplish your dreams.

3. BOOK WRITER

Writing a book is nothing like a walk in the park, so it’s better to brush up your skills and practice enough compositions before you make up your mind to write a book that can be fictional or non-fictional depending upon your niche.

Writing a book is just a preliminary achievement, the main toil starts afterward when you need to publish and sell it in the market. Here, you are standing at a diversion of two streams and you can swim across any one of them – either you can band in with a good publishing house or you can self-publish yourself.

• Well-established publishing house

While signing up the first contract with a conventional publishing house, don’t yearn for exceptionally high advances because if your work fails to accomplish the stated goals, the next time would entreat you lower advances.

On the other hand, if you set up for mediocre advances and your work earns well, your advances for the next contract would amplify.

Furthermore, be prepared with another book before the deadline to mushroom your career and be in demand.

• Self-publication

The framework of self-publication puts you in the category of businessmen along with a writer. In this case, your work will be two-fold, i.e., first to write the book and then publish it by studying the fundamentals of the publishing industry.

4. SCRIPTWRITER

Are you fond of writing innovative dialogues and surprising stories, then you must give it a shot. You can make room for yourself by writing interesting and groundbreaking scripts for movies, plays, theatres, television shows, etc.

5. COPYWRITER

With the surging digitalization, the scope of marketing and advertising on social media and other digital platforms is mushrooming and creating ample opportunities for writers like you to sustain a steady career.

To walk this road, you can simply affiliate yourself with a specific company and write compelling product descriptions and services to break the deals.

Creating brochures, catalogs, pamphlets, etc. to advertise and oblige the target audience forms the heart of your job.

So outlay your creativeness and get going!!!

6. TRAINER

Teaching and training is another in-demand option for you if you have completely comprehended the fundamentals of creative creation. A master’s degree in creative writing along with a wide knowledge of creative writing programs is all you need to kickstart your own institute or to become a part of a conventional institute.

The crux is that there are plenty of fishes in the sea, you have to grab the right one for yourself. Also, make sure you are well prepared for stringent hard work and dedication to your work until you live up your dream to be a lucrative writer.

Further, read below to relish the additional tips to hone your writing skills.

ESSENTIAL TIPS

1. NEVER-ENDING APPETITE FOR READING

 A brainy and befitting quote by Francis bacon says that “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.” It rightfully states that reading is the preliminary step to be a full man. Henceforth, you should start reading and amplify your spectrum of knowledge.

You need to understand that a plethora of creative creations by conventional writers can open the window of inspiration and interests. Moreover, it will serve on your plate a paradigm of profound references to embellish your own stories and essays.

2. WRITE MORE EVERY DAY!!

As we all have heard – “Practice makes a man perfect”. Hence, you need to step out of your comfort zone and start writing every day. For that, you have plenty of options from diaries to stories, anything that flashes upon your mind.

Just make sure you create short term goals of writing every day and accomplish them by day end.

3. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Initially, to discover what you want to write, you need to know your audience. Any piece of composition cannot appease the whole population; therefore, it is always beneficial to know your target audience.

Additionally, knowing your target audience aids you to cut down the scope and extent of writing, and thus amplify your focus.

4. BRAINSTORM IDEAS

There is no such thing as a perfect time or space for writing. Anything-even an ordinary dog on the street could inspire you to write. So it’s better to be on your toes all the time and keep a handy notebook or a notepad on your mobile phone.

Any instance that incites or prompts your mind, pen it down and work upon it later.

Conversely, if you ever feel spiritless and run out of ideas, embrace nature for stimulating and exhilarating experiences.

5. REFASHION FORMER WRITINGS

It may sound unreasonable work upon the old compositions, but editing is forever a great option.

As a person gets better with time and effort, in the same manner, a written composition can be upgraded in terms of language, style, and innovation.

All you need to do is pick up any of your ordinary compositions and open up the window panes of your mind to redesign it in a whole new style.

6. STEAL THE THUNDER WITH AN ENCHANTING INTRODUCTION

A good start develops the requisite interest of the reader, mesmerizing him/her to reach the end of the book as soon as possible.

Therefore you have to captivate your readers with a scented beginning and set the stage for the forthcoming action.

For instance, a murder mystery novel could be given a thunder set off with the animate setting of a murder and then build up the chronology of flashback along with the resolution of the mystery.

7. IMAGINATIVE LANGUAGE

Imagination and innovation form the epicenter of creative writing and to create vivid imagery, you need to use the whimsical figurative language to bear a rhetoric effect in your creation.

Similes, metaphors, and comparisons along with alliterations and repetitions would facilitate you to fabricate an appropriate picture in the mind of your reader.

With all the knowledge you have gained through this article, start now and create your own path of creative writing…