Check out some books by your tutor Fiona Veitch Smith … (click on the book covers to find out more)
Hello everyone, welcome to the first session of our free online creative writing course. Over the next eight sessions we will be looking at different aspects of creative writing and trying our hand at various forms. I’d strongly encourage you to have a go at the exercises along the way, and please feel free to leave comments or ask questions at the end. If you have arrived on this page without first reading the home page and frequently asked questions page (on tab above) please go back and do so now. If you have read them, enjoy the course!
Creativity and Art
What is creativity? The Collins dictionary defines it as ‘the ability to cause something to exist’. Without getting into too much of an existential discussion, I would say that with every thought that is expressed, something has been created. It was Descartes who said: ‘I think, therefore I am’; well I would add, ‘I think, therefore I create’ (do you feel a God complex coming on?). But how do we express our thoughts? Sometimes we do it verbally, other times by body language and still again through what is loosely termed ‘art’.
Art takes place when a thought is expressed and fixed in a way that other people may experience it on an aesthetic level – through music, writing, painting, sculpture, choreography and so on. Many artists say that their best work takes place when they ‘by-pass’ the thought and simply express the feeling. This may be true, but for writers, who use a verbal medium, a feeling must first be converted into a thought before it can be put into words. Don’t over analyse the thought before you express it, as this way you can ‘channel’ the purest interpretation of the feeling, but some cognitive process needs to take place. Some writers prefer to mull over a thought and give it form before they put pen to paper – I’m one of them – but it’s good practice to try and switch off the ‘editor’ at least for the first draft. First response trigger exercises are useful in this regard and can release some unexpected words and images.
Exercise 1:
Write down your first response to these words or phrases:
- Blue ball
- And that’s when the sadness came
- Coffee
The first task of a good writer is to convert feelings into thoughts and then into words. This is the raw material that can then be converted into something more permanent. Some writers refuse to toy with their first drafts, believing their creativity will be diluted; I disagree. Allowing your critical mind to improve a piece of writing is where the craftsman meets the artist. Something produced only by the former will lack soul and something by the latter will lack form. Good writing is a combination of art and craft.
For public consumption
Art, of course, is highly subjective and one woman’s masterpiece is another woman’s unmade bed. We all have the ability to create, but whether or not our creation is ‘art’ must be left to the eye or ear of the beholder.
In this session we will look at how you can craft those creative thoughts into creative writing to share with other people. And that’s what sets ‘public’ writing apart from ‘private’ scribblings – there’s a perceived readership in mind. When I ramble on in my journal, I am the only one who will read it (hopefully!) so my only concern is getting my thoughts down on paper. The moment I want someone else to read it I begin to consider ways to improve the presentation and craft it into something more aesthetically pleasing. I consider which words may sound more colourful, whether or not my sentence structure is grammatically correct, whether I’m using evocative imagery, and so on.
Story, feeling or image?
What is it about those creative thoughts that you think might be of interest to other people? Do they speak of an eternal truth or a common experience? Do they make you laugh or cry? Do they suggest a story that will entertain or a poem that captures a moment that must be shared?
Exercise 2: In 50 words or less write down why you want to write then list three creative thoughts that you’ve had lately (each 10 words or less). These may be an image, a musing, a ‘truth’, a story, or so on. If you haven’t had any, take yourself for a walk and look around; what grabs your imagination? Browse through a newspaper or a magazine; do any stories or pictures catch your attention? Think back over your day; did anything funny, charming, shocking or unusual happen to you or someone you know?
Poetry or prose?
Some people are more suited to writing poetry than prose and some people do well at both. Although we won’t be discussing it in this course, other people are more suited to script. I’m one of them. I’ve had relative success as a prose writer and in fact have managed to earn a living from it, but it’s taken years of hard work to get to this point. I recently branched out into scriptwriting and found that I had much more of a natural ability. (If you’re interested in finding out more about scriptwriting, check out getting started in playwrighting). You may find that you’ve been trying to make it as a poet when actually you’re more suited to prose. Now I don’t want to pigeonhole anyone, but ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you more attracted to films than stills?
- Do you enjoy telling people ‘stories’ from your life?
- Do you prefer to read stories or poems?
If yes, to these, then you may be more suited to prose than poetry. If no, then the opposite may be true. If it’s ‘sometimes yes, sometimes no’ then perhaps you are suited to both. We shall be looking at how to write poems in more detail in session 7, but suffice to say, a poem is like a snapshot of a moment. If you can’t rest until you know what happened before and after, then prose may be your genre.
Exercise 3: Take one of the three creative thoughts you wrote down in Exercise 2, then list 20 separate words that communicate or describe that thought. Do not, at this stage, link the words into sentences. Once you have your 20 words use them in a poem of 16 lines or less. Then, take the same 20 words and work them into a short story of under 300 words. Which exercise came more easily? Which form has best communicated your creative thought?
Further Resources:
There are some excellent resources out there for creative writers. To get quick ‘starter’ images when your own well is dry I recommend The Writer’s Block by Jason Rekulak. I’m currently working through The Creative Writing Coursebook by Julia Bell and Paul Magrs and finding it very useful.
The next creative writing course session is how to write a short story. But before you move on to that, please feel free to leave a comment or ask a question in the box below.
Welcome to The Crafty Writer's free online creative writing course, presented by Fiona Veitch Smith, a freelance journalist, editor, author, playwright, screenwriter and writing teacher. I hope that you'll see a dramatic improvement in the quality of your writing as you work through this course.
Dear Teacher,
once i was done with exercise 2 i was too excited to write to you and so i did through your ”contact me” section, only to realize later that i couldve sent a feedback here too. Well also i didnt know that a harder exercise was yet to come, the one that has led me to believe that i am a pathetic poet even though in my real life ive tried writing poems more often than i have struggled with short stories.
I finished my story in 10 minutes with my brain been able to write the whole idea in just 250 words.With poem ( i dont even know if its worth calling a poem) i had a tough time.
Over all i enjoyed it , i loved the fact that i struggled and worked hard and im upbeat for the exercises to come.
Thanks
Regards!
Sofia
I’m sure you’re not a pathetic poet Sofia! Sometimes one form of writing comes more easily to us, that’s all. By the way, I’ve replied to your first email: check your in-box. Good luck with the rest of the course.
I am so glad I chanced upon this page. I am doing the exercises and enjoying them. I am doing a bit of writing now but that’s without any proper learning, just my own outpourings. Maybe I can improve upon it by going through these exercises.
Thank you so much.
Dear Shail, you’re most welcome. I hope your writing will develop as a result of doing the course. Just work through the sessions listed at the top of this page at your own leisure. There is no enrolment form to fill in. If you would like feedback on any of the exercises, please contact me. I charge ?5 per excercise payable by paypal. But you don’t have to get the feedback and can just work through the course on your own for free
Happy writing,
Fiona
Dear Shail, you’re most welcome. I hope your writing will develop as a result of doing the course. If you would like feedback on any of the exercises, please contact me. I charge ?5 per excercise payable by paypal. But you don’t have to get the feedback and can just work through the course on your own for free
Happy writing,
Fiona
Hi there,
Lol and I dunno if it’s a coincidence or not but one of the words in the first exercise evoked such a strong and lasting image in my mind that I ended up building a whole story around it!
Wow, those exercises were really very helpful! At first the poetry seemed overly dramatic and the prose really drab but when I took the elements of the poem and rewrote it as prose it transformed into a pretty decent piece
I guess I never really looked at writing from this point of view. To me it only involved sitting in front of the computer screen and forcing yourself to type out stuff, but doing all the exercises you mentioned was very different… and very interesting too
Thanks a lot for that!
And thanks for making it free too
I’m really looking forward to going through the entire course.
Thanks for saying thanks, Charvi! You’re exactly the type of writer I hoped to encourage with this course. And that you got a whole story out of it is awesome. Happy writing,
Fiona
hi fiona, i have just tonight found your site. it’s amazing! i’ve been looking for something like this for ages. i am however a little confused. it’s pretty typical for me. lol. am i meant to do one section a week? i’ve done level one, well exercises 1,2 and 3 tonight. then read again and think i’ve done it too quick. i’ve been so long just being ‘mum’ and not really using my brain, it’s being a bit greedy now. lol. do i have to wait until next week to do 2 or can i go ahead with it? say tomorrow? sorry if this is a stupid question.
sally.
You can do it whenever you like, Sally! The first course we ran was done in ‘real time’ – about 18 months ago. But now it’s up permanently and you can work through it in your own time. Ignore references to next week! Happy Writing.
Fiona
thanks. lol. just wasn’t too sure. i’m getting so into it. thank you,
sally. x
Hi,
I have just completed your first course. I enjoyed writing the poem, it took an hour and I felt it was completed. I also enjoyed the story but went totally off on a tangant. I didn’t use the words just the theme and feel I could just keep on writing. Am I supposed to e mail my writing to you or just work through the tasks? Thanks.
Heather x
Sorry, I have just read through your replies to other students. I would like you to look at my poem, which I like, and my short story (I think the end needs work.) I went back and rewrote task 2 and kept it within the 300 word limit and am pleased with that. I believe it is ?5 each for comments, via pay pal. Do I just e amil them to you.
PS I really enjoyed all of the tasks. Thank you for this free service. I was keen to join a writing class but the weekly commitment and my lack of income with a new baby at home stopped me.
Heather x
Hi Heather. By all means send your material to me, but be aware that I charge for everything I look at. Please see the services link at the top of the page for my rates.
Fiona
Hello,
I am a woman on disability and I am trying to change my life. I want to write a christian book and I am taking bible study on the internet so that I can do this,
but I don’t even know how to get started.
I am tired of gettin nowhere in life and just existing from one day to the next.
I was wondering where the free course was I didn’t see a place for signing up
I hope you can help me.
sincerely,
Patti Callahan
hi fiona,,
i am a first time writer and was glad that i “bumped” in to your free creative writing online course. i love to write childrens and short stories but i dont know how and where to start and when some ideas come to my head i feel like writing about them and later i feel that they sound so silly..
some of the other courses i looked through their cost is very high since i am not in uk,when i convert the english pound to sri lankan rupee its quite high…
and i would love to hear your comments but i do not know anythin about the pay now pay pals system of payment .
isnt there any other mode of payment…through a creit card or a cheque ???
thanx
waz from sri lanka
Stumbled on this from an google search for creative writing courses.. Great job, I intend to work through the eight lessons on my own. Are there any ongoing creative writing courses at CLL this summer? I didn’t get to see any on the CLL website. Rgds.
Hi Danny,
Glad you found us. CLL is closing for the summer and will start up again in October. There will be three creative writing courses: I’m teaching travel writing, Ellen Phethean will be teaching writing for children and Kathleen Kenny will be doing a general intro to creative writing. I’m also teaching a 10-week intro to creative writing course at Skylight http://www.crisis.org.uk/page.builder/skylightnewcastle.html dates to be confirmed. CLL is undergoing some structural changes because of how it is funded, so the programme for next terms is still being finalised. But keep checking. In the meantime, work through this course – it’s always online! Happy writing.
Hello,
What a great course! I intend to work my way through all of the excercises and I might even submit a few things here and there to be marked as your rates seem very reasonable. I found that writing down why I want to write was a real eye opener, (it went on for about 150 words though)
I suspect that my first response to ‘and that’s when the sadness came’ may be the opening paragraph of a short story, but then that’s my trouble – lots of patches but no quilt.
Anyhow I’ll plod on,
Sandra
Hi Sandra. I look forward to reading some of your ‘plodding’! I have dozens of patches which may or may not ever be made into a quilt. But some do. An exercise I did in a children’s writing course nearly 7 years has finally been turned into a two-part short story which will appear in Aquila magazine next year. Another ‘patch’ that I wrote in a short-story course has now been turned into a film that’s actually been produced. You never know what your bits and pieces can become – so keep them all!
really enjoying this course – many thanks for developing this site and offering this inspiring service. I am a PR professional, and so my experience of writing is only ever focused on corporate copy; trying to write creatively feels so incredibly different and far more enjoyable, so thank you for making this course so accessible and enjoyable. I’ll be spending the coming weeks doing all of the exercises you have set!