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.
This is a great course! I love it! It helps me out a lot. Thks! If I also study from the book the creative writing course, its also good right?
Hello Fiona,
Just to say thank you for this free online course. You are so generous!
You’re most welcome, Ohita. I hope you get something out of it to help your writing.
Hello Fiona, thank you for this. I’m glad I signed up. I totally enjoyed this session and I look forward to the next. Actually, I can’t wait????????????.
I particularly found the exercises really helpful and prompted me to even write!
P.s – the poem came quickly, I’ll work towards the short story before our next session.
Thanks!
That’s good to hear, May. Happy writing!
Thanks for the free course
You’re welcome, Jessica. I hope you enjoy it.
Hello Fiona, Thank you for so kindly offering your expertise and guidance to the greater world so that people like me who have never had a creative writing class (not even one in school or college) can finally gain a little bit of skill and confidence in this, an area I have always felt so poor at.
One powerful realization that hit me as I walked through these first few exercises is that the process must be big and powerful, because, it gave me the sense that because it took a few minutes to identify any recent interesting thought or experience, it made my life seem a little smaller in perspective. But that does not concern me. To the contrary, I feel that this means creative writing must lend one a very powerful perspective indeed.
Hi Audra, yes, creative writing can be a window on our souls. Be gentle with yourself. And happy writing.
I am just really excited that maybe this story I have inside my head may actually come out written and saved
I am an amateur photographer. I’ve been wanting to write about how my photography has helped me cope with depression. I have so many ideas in my head. I want to start writing all my thoughts and make them into something people can read and relate to. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing this course for free, I will be following each step and hopefully I can finally get the stories out of my head and into a page.
Nice little exercises. Made me think even though I’ve been writing for a while. Thanks.
Wow!
I’ve been in need of something to jump start my writing. I’m amazed at how much has already poured out of me in these first 3 exercises!
Thank you!
I’m delighted to hear it, Kristin. Happy writing!
Thank you so much for creating this FREE creative writing course! I’m thoroughly enjoying the exercises and I appreciate the resource recommendations. I’m hoping to successfully navigate your lessons and graduate to paid courses where I can receive that much-needed feedback. Once again, thank you for lending some of your expertise to us neophytes
You’re welcome Arianna. I hope this neophyte gets immense pleasure and enrichment from the course. Happy writing!
I love this course, it helped me a lot. Thank you!
I’m very pleased to hear that Shirley. I hope you grow from strength to strength with your writing.
Is this a free or we have to pay for this course for further levels
It’s free. There are no further levels. Check out F.A.Q. (frequently asked questions) above.
Thank you so much for this course. I am loving it. It makes me feel alive to write again. The first exercise in particular really jump started something important. I can hardly wait for tomorrow. OK I need to finish the poem. It is currently everything I expected lol. Yes I have my direction.
I am delighted you’re coming to life again! Releasing your creativity does that. Happy writing.
Thank you for this blog. This is what I need to really know if I can and want to write. I just recently discovered that I want to write but I don’t know my genre. English is not my native language as well. Lately, it relaxes me every time I write these ideas in my head on a paper. But the funny thing happens, my mind can’t stop thinking. At least now I am less grumpy because now I know how do I want to express my different emotions.
I’m very glad to hear you feel you can express yourself now Ivy. Happy writing.
I moved to USA one year ago. I studied in Brazil, got my bachelor as an editor, but not used to write, although I always thought about this. When I did my master I saw that I love to write as I love to read. I think this course will be very useful for me, because I intend to put on paper everything I see in my new life, here in America.
Good luck with that Nara.
Thankyou so much. This is so helpful.
I’m loving this course it’s helping me be more creative with my writing thank you for doing this!
You’re most welcome, Julie. Happy writing!
Thank you for this course, Fiona.
I found it easier to write prose than I did in writing poetry. Can I use prose on my blog writings?
Hello Mercy. I’m glad you’re finding the course helpful. Yes you can use prose in your blog writings. Prose is essentially any writing for fiction or non-fiction. So your blog will be non-fiction prose.
Hello Fiona, I’m Tim. I’ve actually put out a couple of books. I am back to writing again after taking care of family that has now passed. I’m doing these courses to help regenerate my skills and hopefully make a better writer than I was before.
Hi Tim, welcome back to the world of writing! I hope you find some inspiration here and are able to get back into the saddle.