Creative writing exercises

Just like there are a selected few of the world populace who make it to the finishing line in the Olympics, and yet the entire population is capable of being winning athletes; similarly every human being is capable of bringing about a creative product, but only few people make it to the recognizable position. This is because the maestros in any field constantly practice and hone their talents.

Yes, creative writing ability does exist in everyone. This is true in spite of the fact people gushing at the writer's work and feeling as if it takes a genius to write great works of literature. But, as all creative genius's would say like in every field - practice makes the man/woman perfect. In order to improvise on one's creative writing skills one should constantly indulge in creative writing exercises.

The exercises should be such that the writer is forced to go within the physical parameters of imagination, into something wild and different. They should not be ashamed of their fantasies and violent nightmares. Instead they should be penned down. Realize, the mind is a creative mill, it churns out raw products for the human being to put into correct order.

Amongst the most important creative writing exercises is the ability to maintain silence and listen to the heart and soul, listen to the mind's chattering; it has something important to say. A good writer is a good listener and observer. He/she puts into creative words what he/she experiences around him/her. So, primarily one should learn the art of meditating, by meditation does not mean forced concentration, but just letting go and being in the moment. Dive completely into the work and let it all flow naturally.

Creative writing exercises should be practiced earnestly everyday. Ideally, one should keep a couple of journals at hand. The exercises should include:

• Vocabulary building - Every day one should ensure to learn a minimum of one new word to upto three new words. You could take the dictionary and randomly open to any page and select a word. Then in the journal of vocabulary building you jot down the word with its exact pronunciation and meaning and write a coupe of sentences using the new word.
• Paragraph writing - The shortest story one can ever write is a paragraph, and calls for immense creativity to say it all in the least amount of words. Apart from the ability to say maximum in the minimum words, it also helps one to write on a variety of subjects. The idea is not to take a simple topic, but anything randomly selected - it could be single word.
• Maintaining a notebook of observations - This is an important exercise, as the human memory may not be able to store every single bit of information that you wish it to. Sometimes you need to incorporate an incident or a scene into your writing, then such a notebook functions as the reference point, at all times. Another need for this is that if you intend writing a novel or any other form of literature, then it makes interesting read when you can depict real life happenings, making the fictitious tale identifiable to the readers.
• Randomly write on a blank piece of paper - To let your creative juices flow freely you should spend sometime at the desk just writing all that flows out without worrying about grammar and punctuation. Let your mind run riot as it dictates its thoughts to you.

These are some of the basic creative writing exercises that would set you onto a firmer ground for pursuing a successful career in creative writing. 

Creative writing guides

While creative writing can be learnt and practiced at home, yet it is always better to have a guide to direct you, correct your errors and make suggestions, otherwise you would not know where your errors lie. The guide you select could also be a family member or a close friend or relative. The prime thing is that person should be a good critic and not a false flatterer.

There are people who offer their services on line as creative writing guides. You can post your works via email and they promptly reply to you after going through your work. This service you could avail off whether or not you enroll for and online creative writing course or not.

The main thing is that the creative writing guides should be very good with the language. Ideally, they too should have a creative bent of mind to be able to make suggestions. The guides should be objective in their readings, otherwise if they have limited vision they could be the worst critics.

One can also ask their teachers of professors who specialize in the subject of English to guide them in the realm of creative writing. This way one would be ensured of being corrected holistically, which implies technically for grammar and punctuation, and spellings, as well as creatively for the final output. They are also equipped to make further suggestions, as well as recommend areas for improvisation.

You can also seek out creative writing guides amongst established journalists and editors of various publications. In fact as guides they could probably put you up as interns, providing you with the probability of being published every once in a while.

There are times when the guide maybe disappointed with you output, and at other times very pleased. The important thing is not to get carried away by the admonitions or the praises. You should consider each piece of writing as the first ever and give it your hundred percent, constantly improving and improvising.

Creative writing ideas

Feeling bored and limited and feel like you've run out of creative juice… That is probably because you have not been practicing enough. The limitation occurs only because you have not done enough to stretch your mind. Or then, you have run out of creative resources.

Many creative writers maintain journals to refer back to whenever they run short of ideas. These journals contain topics, ideas, interesting footnotes such as quotes, idioms, interesting new words, etc. Whether you are in the beginning stage of your creative writing career or not, you should maintain a diary of creative writing ideas along with a miniature synopsis. These can be used as sub-plots when creating professional storyboards.

How does this happen? Well, with every idea you create a small tale, and this can be used as an incident in your story. For instance, if you have written a few lines about how you felt when you missed the train for a very important meeting, then the same feelings and emotions can be used to explain what your character is going through.

Given here are some creative writing ideas that you could jot down in the ideas journal. This should be a part of your daily creative writing exercise…

• The first step I took
• The first day at play school
• The first words spoken by a baby
• My first date
• My first day in college
• Getting into trouble at school
• My first heartbreak
• What if I win one-Crore
• What if I an stranded in a flood situation
• An accident I witnessed
• The day I hurt myself badly
• The day I back answered my parents
• Waiting for three hours for someone to arrive
• Riots in the city
• Cooking my first meal
• Going shopping
• Not finding what I want
• Getting fired
• Firing a household help
• Giving the beggar alms
• Going out of my way to help
• How did I feel when I lost something special
• Headlines that affect me
• My reaction when I am angry
• My first pet
• My mother
• My old home
• Shirting into new surroundings
  … The list is endless, but no matter what you should make it a daily routine to think up a minimum of three creative writing ideas and write a paragraph on each, as if a complete story.

 

There are many people who think that creative writing is beyond their ability, however in fact it is a talent that is possible for any one to polish. Yes, just about anyone who is literate can delve into creative writing. Or to go one step forward, anyone who can speak and write can definitely attempt to pick up a pen or pencil and write on paper all that their mind speaks.

One of the major discriminating factors between man and animal is the fact that man is creative - he/she has the ability to bring forth anything boring and humdrum into a creative existence, which maybe in the form of the written word or pictures drawn. But then, the fact is that a vast majority of people are not encouraged to train their creative skills.

While the excellence towards creative writing is something that needs to be honed from childhood, yet it is never to late for one to delve into wording their thoughts, imaginations and observations. It is all a matter of having confidence that your thoughts and imagination is worthless, and that is what will make you a successful writer.

Creative writing is a type of meditation, whereby the writer just gives himself/herself up to writing all that pours out of the mind. This type of writing permeates into every genre of writing, with only touches of it in the new age technical writing. This is because technical writing just requires one to compile information, it requires one to report vital information. In fact, even journalistic reporting does not require creative juices pouring forth, as it is about telling the readers what has happened, without dramatizing it.

Creative writing cannot be taught, yet one can be trained into a career of creative writing. What is the difference? Basically to write creatively you need to be able to push yourself beyond the realms of real existence. It is about creating something larger than life - to be able to create mental pictures through the words. This aspect cannot be taught. However, this aspect can be polished. One can be given exercises to discipline the thoughts and imaginations. One can be trained into means of effectively creating prose. And most important, creativity cannot be taught, but language discipline has to be mastered… Converting thoughts to reader-friendly great selling material. 

Online creative writing courses

 

Today the Internet has bought education to the household and the office desk. People can pursue courses they have always wanted to via the medium of the Internet. In fact, education at all ages has become a reality, and one need not worry about taking a sabbatical from their career in order to learn new skills. They can earn and learn, as long as they have the will to do so, as well as connectivity to the Internet.
One of the main advantages of online courses is that one can get certified by global institutes conducting online courses, thereby ensuring better prospects at the end of learning program. Another aspect is the convenience of learning in one's own setting, timing and comfort. These are also the benefits of taking up online creative writing courses.
The fact is that in India, creative writing is still a relatively new career prospect. Undoubtedly, the demand far outdoes the supply, yet there are not too many who are qualified enough to take up creative writing jobs. But the market for creative writers is constantly expanding, what with increasing outsourcing happening to India.

The primary benefit of taking up creative writing courses is that the modules provide a scope to improve language skills, lifting it to meet international standards and expectations, thus by the end of such a course it is easier to bag international projects than otherwise. Most of the online courses also function as the middle-party between employers and freelancers.

The cost factor of the online creative writing courses varies largely depending on the institute conducting the course. If it is a full-fledged global university then the fees is on the higher end, beyond the reach of many. On the other end of the scale there are some people who prepare lesson plans and provide guidance at no cost at all. 

When enrolling for any course that you are paying for on line, ideally you must first check the authenticity of the course provider. It should not so happen that you have made a payment via credit card only to realize that you have been conned. This you could do by asking someone to verify the existence of the institute based on the snail male address given. 

One of the major drawbacks when enrolling for online creative writing courses is the regularity and sincerity that you need to maintain. The deadlines are usually flexible and sometimes as students with no fixed deadlines, one tends to take advantage and prolong the course, sometimes not even completing it. In fact, you need to be more committed to such curses than otherwise. There are many online course providers who are very stringent about lessons and assignment submissions; and one would rather enroll for such a course.