8 tips for getting started with creative writing

Tip 7: Practice Overcoming Writer’s Block

At some point in their writing journey, every writer has reached a point where writing doesn’t feel fun anymore.

There are lots of different causes for writer’s block. You might be unsure what to write, afraid of failing, or simply burned out from writing too much.

It’s important to find ways to overcome creative blocks, so you don’t end up putting down your pen for good.

One useful technique is to change your environment. If you normally write at home, try writing in a coffee shop or in your local library.

Another technique is to try a different activity for a while. Go for a walk, take a shower, do your dishes, or try another hobby. Before long, you’ll find yourself wanting to write again.

Perhaps the most underrated method is to simply take a break from writing. Give yourself permission to stop for a while—it’s always okay to take a step back.

Tip 8: Study Writing Craft

Many new writers falsely believe that writing can’t be taught; you’re either good at it or you’re not.

But the truth is that creative writing is a craft, just like woodworking, oil painting, or ballet. You wouldn’t expect anyone to be naturally good at ballet without years of training, so why is writing any different?

One way to learn new creative writing techniques is by reading craft books . Some great books to start with include On Writing by Stephen King, Story Genius by Lisa Cron, and The Creative Writer’s Handbook by Philip K. Jason.

These books can help you learn the basics of how to write well. For example, you can learn how to construct high-quality sentences, how to avoid passive voice, and how to use poetic devices.

The more you learn, the more powerful your writing will become.

Tip 9: Invent Your Own Process

When you’re just starting out as a writer, it can be tempting to copy someone else’s writing process.

Maybe you heard an interview with a bestselling author who said you have to outline a story before you draft it. Or maybe you found out your favorite author writes 1,000 words every day, and now you think you have to write 1,000 words every day too.

But it’s important to remember that no two writers have the exact same writing process. What works best for someone else might not work for you.

There’s no right or wrong way to be a creative writer. Your job is to find a writing process that makes you feel fulfilled, productive, and inspired—and if your favorite writers don’t write the same way, that’s perfectly okay.

Tip 10: Don’t Aim for Perfection

There’s a good chance your writing is never going to be perfect. Mine definitely isn’t!

Remember that writing is about the process, not the product. Even if the final product is never perfect, the process has helped you grow as a writer—and hopefully, it’s also been a lot of fun.

You should decide what your main goal for writing is. Maybe it’s writing stories you might be able to publish someday. Maybe it’s telling stories about characters you rarely see in existing stories. Maybe it’s simply a fun new hobby.

Whatever your goal is, remember that you’re already on your way to achieving it. You don’t need to aim for perfection in order to succeed.

There’s no secret to getting better at creative writing. The process is very simple—it just takes a lot of hard work.

All you have to do is follow this two-step process:

• Step 1: Write consistently
• Step 2: Ask for feedback on your writing

The first step is fairly self-explanatory. Whenever you’re learning a new skill, it’s important to practice it. The more you write, the more you’ll learn about how to be a successful creative writer.

The second step is the one that receives more pushback from writers because it requires a lot of courage and vulnerability, but it’s just as important as the first step.

If you don’t get feedback, you could write every day and still never improve. That’s because most people can’t spot the weaknesses in their own stories.

You can ask for feedback from your friends, family, or writing groups. They can help you see your work from a different perspective and identify areas for improvement.

As long as you write consistently and listen to the feedback on the work you’re producing, you’ll be able to create a positive cycle where you create better and better stories over time.

If you want to improve your creative writing skills, there are numerous resources you can use to find help.

One great method is to join a writing community where you can share your work and get feedback from other writers.

You can look for free critique groups online, on websites such as Scribophile and Critique Circle. Or you can start your own group with your friends.

You can also consider joining a local writing class or retreat. Many schools and community centers offer classes and workshops you can join.

Another option is to use creative writing tools. ProWritingAid can give you AI-powered suggestions about how to improve your prose and make your writing shine.

Good luck, and happy writing!

Be confident about grammar

Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

Hannah Yang

Hannah Yang is a speculative fiction writer who writes about all things strange and surreal. Her work has appeared in Analog Science Fiction, Apex Magazine, The Dark, and elsewhere, and two of her stories have been finalists for the Locus Award. Her favorite hobbies include watercolor painting, playing guitar, and rock climbing. You can follow her work on hannahyang.com, or subscribe to her newsletter for publication updates.

Get started with ProWritingAid

Drop us a line or let's stay in touch via:

Creative Writing Ultimate Guide

I don’t know about you, but when I start learning a new skill, I want to know everything about it right away. How do I get started? What do I need to get started? How could this new skill transform my life?

Being an incessant researcher of new pastimes, I love a good master post. So, I’ve made one today for one of my favorite things in the world: creative writing .

I wrote this for people who are just getting into creative writing, but even if you’ve been writing for a while, stay tuned—some of the tricks and resources in this post will be helpful for you, too.

Need A Fiction Book Outline?

What is creative writing?

Creative writing examples, how to start creative writing, creative writing prompts, creative writing jobs, creative writing degrees, online creative writing courses.

Creative writing is imaginative writing. It’s meant to entertain its readers and get some emotional response from them. You’ll note that I said imaginative , but I didn’t say fictional writing, because while fiction is a subcategory of creative writing, it doesn’t define creative writing. All fiction is creative writing, but not all creative writing is fiction.

While technical, legal, or academic writing might be focused on conveying information in the most efficient and clear manner possible, the goal of creative writing is slightly different. You still want to communicate effectively and clearly, but you also want to put some pep in there. Creative writing uses tools like metaphor and imagery to evoke an image, emotion, or both from the reader.

Another way to look at it: if you were to say what makes creative writing distinct as a form, you could say it’s the artsy one.

Creative writing covers more than just fiction, or even just novels . Here’s a quick rundown of some types of creative writing you might encounter.

Novels (which fall under the ‘fiction’ umbrella) are a type of creative writing where the reader follows a character or characters through a plot. A novel might be a standalone, or it might be part of a series.

Example: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

2. Short Stories

Short stories (which also fall under the ‘fiction’ umbrella) follow a character through a plot, like you’d see in a novel, but short stories are, well, shorter. Generally, short stories run between 1,000 and 10,000 words, with works under 1,000 words falling under the subcategory ‘flash fiction.’

Example: The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Poetry is a form of writing which focuses heavily on imagery, metaphor, symbolism, and other figurative tools. It also involves a lot of technical work with form; meter and rhythm are commonly used to enhance meaning. You can generally tell what poems are by looking at them, since they’re usually divided into groups of lines (stanzas) instead of paragraphs, like you might see in other forms of creative writing.

Example: Little Beast by Richard Siken

Related: Where to Publish Poetry

Plays are written for the stage. They include stage direction, brief scene descriptions, and character dialogue, but there’s often not a lot of prose. Plays are intended to be watched by an audience instead of read, so whatever prose exists, it is intended for the people participating in the play.

Example: Hamlet by Shakespeare

Songs are similar to poetry in terms of their structure and use of figurative language, but songs are meant to be performed. People don’t generally read song lyrics without listening to it, and the instrumentation and production often enhance the meaning of a song. Songwriters also use music theory to play with meaning—at a basic level, for example, minor chords generally convey sadness, while major chords generally convey happiness.

Example: Let it Be by the Beatles

6. Memoirs & Personal Essays

Memoirs and personal essays are a form of creative writing where an author draws on their real lived experience to create a narrative. Memoir specifically sometimes plays with chronological order and specific technical fact in favor of symbolic resonance—the author is getting at an emotional truth rather than a literal or objective truth.

Example: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

7. Journaling

Not everyone uses journaling as a creative writing exercise—some people want to log their daily activities and be done with it—but if you’ve ever poured your heart out about a breakup to the nonjudgmental pages of a notebook, you’ve probably already done some creative writing!

Want to find more examples? I wrote on this topic for another site, and it includes even more examples of creative writing for you to try.

Now that you know what creative writing looks like, let’s talk about how to get started, even if you’ve never practiced creative writing before.

1. Try stuff on until something fits

Take a look at the list above (or do a Google search for ‘types of creative writing’ and see if there’s anything else you might be interested in—I won’t be offended) and pick one that seems fun. If you want to try, for example, a screenplay, but you’re not sure how to write one, read a bunch. Get a feel for how they work.

Maybe you do that and decide you don’t want to write screenplays after all. Okay! Try short stories. Try poetry. Try songwriting. Practicing different forms will make you a more well-rounded writer in the long run, and you might be surprised at what resonates with you.

2. Practice, practice, practice

Once you’ve found a form or a few forms that suit you, your job as a newbie is simple: practice. Write whatever you want as often as you can and, if possible, for your eyes only. Create a relationship between yourself and your craft.

Some say you should start with short stories before jumping into novels so you can practice completing narrative arcs. That might work great! But if you hate writing short stories, just practice with writing novels.

If you have an idea that feels a little too advanced for you, that’s probably what you should be working on, since it’ll teach you a lot about the craft along the way. Don’t be intimidated, and don’t worry about anyone else’s opinions (this includes any fretting about publishing). Your singular goal here is to create, and your secondary goal is to challenge yourself.

3. Join some kind of writerly group

But hold on, you might be thinking. How do I know I’m not getting worse the more I practice? How do I know I’m not just churning out garbage?

At some point, especially if your goal is to publish , you’ll want feedback on your work. And while it’s important to have the support of your loved ones, it’s also important to get feedback from other writers.

I do not recommend sending your very first manuscript to an editor or well-established writer for feedback—their feedback, generally aimed at moderate to advanced writers, is probably going to devastate you at the fledgling stage. I do recommend finding other writers at approximately your skill level to bounce ideas off of and exchange critiques. These other writers can be found online or at local writing circles—check your local public library for creative writing workshops.

Have you picked out a form of creative writing to try, but you just can’t come up with any ideas? Try using a creative writing prompt to get those creative gears turning. These are totally for you to use however is most helpful: use the prompt as-is, tweak it a little, whatever works.

Prompts are a great way to explore different types of tones in writing and hone your own personal style as an author!

Use this FREE tool: Writing Prompts Generator

Looking to make some money with your creative writing endeavors? Here’s a few options to kickstart your job search:

Ghostwriting

As a ghostwriter, your job is to write the story your client assigns you . This might be a fictional novel, or it might be a memoir. The client often has specific requests for content, length, and so on. The catch? Your name is not on the book. You’re not allowed to say that you wrote it—the client’s name or pen name usually goes on the author line. You can find ghostwriting gigs on sites like Upwork or Fiverr.

Marketing does involve some technical elements like copywriting, but creative writers have a place in marketing, too. Brands need catchy slogans, funny commercials, and even social media gurus to run entertaining Twitter accounts. For more ideas on how to market your upcoming book , check out our post on the topic.

Columnist/Blog Writer

You can also look for work as an op-ed columnist or blog writer. This might be something you do for an existing website, or it might be a blog you start from scratch on Wix, SquareSpace, or Tumblr.

You might have heard of people getting creative writing degrees, or at least you might have heard some of the discourse surrounding these degrees. Off the bat, I want to say that you don’t need a creative writing degree to be a writer. It doesn’t make you a ‘real’ writer, and it doesn’t indicate your seriousness toward the craft.

If you do want to get a creative writing degree, though, you’re looking (broadly) at two options:

Undergraduate writing programs

This is your BFA in creative writing. Not all colleges offer them—many (like my alma mater) offer a creative writing concentration or focus as part of an English degree. So you might graduate, hypothetically, for example, with a degree in English with a concentration in creative writing. Some colleges don’t offer a major, but they do offer minors.

Check to see what sorts of courses your college or prospective college offers. Do you have to be an English major to take their creative writing course? Does their creative writing course offer guidance in the type of creative writing you want to pursue? For example, my alma mater offered a creative writing concentration with two tracks, one for fiction and one for poetry. There was also a separate film studies concentration for aspiring screenplay writers and film students.

Graduate writing programs (a.k.a., the MFA)

MFA programs can be extremely competitive and prohibitively expensive, not to mention that you’re obviously not guaranteed to come out of them a better writer. They can be a great tool, but they’re not a necessary one. Look at it this way: are you willing to get this MFA if it means you might come out of it without a successfully published novel? If so, proceed.

If you want to pursue an MFA, do your research. Don’t go straight for the Iowa Writers Workshop application page and hope for the best—investigate the universities that look appealing to you, see if your interests align with theirs, and make that application fee count.

Going to college isn’t the only way to take classes on creative writing! If you’re looking for more cost-friendly options, the Internet is your friend. I’ve linked to a few places loaded with creative writing courses to get you started.

1. Intelligent.com: The Best 10 Online Creative Writing Courses

2. Coursera: Best Creative Writing Courses and Certifications

3. Self-Publishing School: Best Self-Publishing Courses

4. Our Programs: Fiction Write Your Book Program

Are you ready to try an online creative writing course? Are you ready to start some creative writing prompts? Or, are you think you’re ready to go for a full creative writing project of your own? Here is a resource to help you get started:

Join the Community

Join 100,000 other aspiring authors who receive weekly emails from us to help them reach their author dreams. Get the latest product updates, company news, and special offers delivered right to your inbox.

VIDEO COURSE

Finish your draft in our 3-month master class. Sign up now to watch a free lesson!

Learn How to Write a Novel

Finish your draft in our 3-month master class. Enroll now for daily lessons, weekly critique, and live events. Your first lesson is free!

Blog • Perfecting your Craft

Posted on Sep 26, 2019

20 Writing Tips to Improve Your Craft

About the author.

Reedsy's editorial team is a diverse group of industry experts devoted to helping authors write and publish beautiful books.

About Savannah Cordova

Savannah is a senior editor with Reedsy and a published writer whose work has appeared on Slate, Kirkus, and BookTrib. Her short fiction has appeared in the Owl Canyon Press anthology, "No Bars and a Dead Battery". 

“The pen is mightier than the sword.” Writer Edgar Bulwer-Lytton made this keen observation nearly 200 years ago, but it remains just as true today. Writing is one of the most powerful forms in existence, and a simple story can change countless lives — which is why so many of us choose to be writers in the first place.

But sometimes it can be difficult to find the right words, to tell the story the way you want, or to start writing in the first place . That’s why we’ve compiled these 20 essential writing tips for writers like you: artists who want to hone their craft to perfection, so they can tell their stories effectively to the world.

Some of these tips are narrative-related, while others are more about the mentality and setting you need in order to write. But all have one crucial thing in common: if you take them to heart, they’ll help you improve your craft — and maybe even pen the book of your dreams .

If you prefer your tips in watchable form, check out this video on great writing tips that no one else will tell you.

1. Even pantsers need to plan

Let’s begin with an age-old question : are you a plotter or a pantser?

If you’ve never heard these terms before, allow us to explain. Pantsers are writers who “fly by the seat of their pants,” i.e. start writing without preparing too much and simply trust that everything will work out. At the other end of the spectrum are plotters , who plan and outline extensively before they begin to write.

Which is the better way forward? Well, it’s different for everyone — what works for you may not necessarily work for another writer you know.

However, experience has taught us that a little bit of planning goes a long way. That’s why we always advise some form of preparation, even if it’s just a few nuggets of your plot, before you dive into writing. So create an outline today , if you haven't already!

2. Keep your outline in mind

Once you’ve prepared that outline, it’s important to actually use it. This may seem obvious, but it's seemingly one of the hardest-to-remember writing tips out there!

Many writers find themselves led astray by subplots and secondary characters, wandering into rambling chapters that don’t really go anywhere. Then when they try to get back to the main plot, they find they’re already too far gone.

Keeping your outline in mind at all times will help you avoid these disastrous detours. Even if you stray a little , you should be able to look at your outline and articulate exactly how you’ll get back to what you planned.

This is especially crucial late in the writing process, when it can be hard to remember your original vision — so if you have doubts about your ability to remember your outline, definitely write it down.

3. Introduce conflict early

Of all the core elements in your story, conflict is perhaps the most important to emphasize. Conflict lies at the heart of every good narrative, so make sure readers know what your conflict is within the first few chapters!

The best way to do this is through an early inciting incident to kick off your story , wherein the main character has a revelation and/or becomes involved in something big. For example, in  The Hunger Games , the inciting incident is Katniss volunteering for the Games — which kicks off her personal and political conflict with the Capitol.

Finally, remember that there are many different types of conflict . So if you have no idea what your conflict, it’s probably just unconventional. For instance, your conflict might be one that unfolds within your narrator (character vs. self), or against some larger force (like character vs. technology). Once you do figure it out, try to introduce it early!

4. Control the pacing

Nothing ruins a good book like poor pacing. So make sure you control the pacing in your story, lest readers lose interest and put down your book in frustration!

In order to combat slow pacing , you’ll need to increase the tempo by:

A) Cutting down lengthy sentences and descriptions, and B) Increasing action and dialogue.

The first strategy works for one simple reason: it gets rid of filler and fluff. In extreme cases, you may have to cut a great deal of exposition in order to get to the beating heart of your story. (See writing tip #18 to help you with this.)

As for the latter, it might seem like adding more content is counterintuitive to a quicker pace. But because action and dialogue move the story forward in a concrete manner, you can always rely on them to improve slow pacing.

5. Fine-tune your dialogue

Speaking of dialogue , it's pretty critical to most stories, both in terms of plot and drawing in readers. Indeed, a conversation between characters is usually much more impactful than a narrator relaying similar information.

But dialogue loses its impact if the conversation goes on for too long — so for better, sharper dialogue, be concise . Say you’re writing a story in which two characters have an argument. You might be tempted to go on for paragraphs to convey emotion, tension, and meaning, but all this can fit into just a few sentences. Like so:

“Nice of you to show up. What were you doing, if not getting groceries?” “Thanks for the warm reception. I had a meeting. Kind of an important one.”

For more dialogue-specific writing tips, check out this post — or the video below!

6. Show, don’t tell

In a similar vein, while you may have already heard this advice , it bears repeating: show, don’t tell as often as possible. For those who aren’t really sure what that means, it’s easiest for us to, well, show you! Here’s a passage from Sally Rooney’s Normal People that exemplifies this rule:

He wakes up just after eight. It’s bright outside the window and the carriage is warming up, a heavy warmth of breath and sweat. Minor train stations with unreadable names flash past… Connell rubs his left eye with his knuckles and sits up. Elaine is reading the one novel she has brought with her on the journey, a novel with a glossy cover and the words "Now a Major Motion Picture" along the top.

As you can see, it’s pretty hard to completely eliminate telling from your prose — in fact, the first sentence in this passage could qualify as “telling.” But the rest is “showing,” as it paints an evocative picture of the scene: the bright, warm carriage in the train that's rushing past other stations, the girl reading the glossy novel in the opposite seat.

If you can use all five senses to convey the scene, all the better. Tell us not just what the central character sees, but also what they hear, smell, taste, and feel in order to truly immerse the reader in the scene.

FREE COURSE

Show, Don't Tell

Master the golden rule of writing in 10 five-minute lessons.

7. But don’t reveal TOO much

While you want your scene-by-scene descriptions to be as “showy” as possible, don’t reveal too much to readers about your plot and characters. This is the idea behind Hemingway's  “Iceberg Theory,” which posits that you should only provide readers with “the tip of the iceberg” — the most essential part of the story.

Many writers create elaborate histories for their characters, or have long-reaching plans for them beyond their current works. But readers only need to know the “here and now,” so to speak. Giving them too much information will overwhelm them, and likely cause them to put your book down in favor of something simpler.

So while you might include a bit of backstory or foreshadowing every so often, it’s best to keep most of this info to yourself. This also works on another level, in that you can reveal tantalizing drips of information as the story progresses, which will pique readers’ interest rather than lose it. (Two writing tips for the price of one!)

8. Consider your themes

On a related note, the underwater part of the “Hemingway iceberg” not only consists of backstory, but also important themes. This is another aspect to contemplate during the writing process: what are you trying to say about society and/or the human condition? And how can you convey those themes in a subtle yet effective way?

Common literary themes include love, loss, and the importance of doing the right thing. Your themes will depend on your genre and subject material, but they may also relate closely to your personal beliefs and experiences. Try to embrace this, as writing what you know is a great way to infuse your story with genuine emotion.

9. Be careful with POV

Your narrator is your reader’s gateway into the story, so be careful with point of view. Don’t make your narrator’s voice too specific, as they need to speak in an accessible and relatable way for readers — and a non-stereotypical way if they happen to speak in a certain dialect. (For help with this, you might consider getting a sensitivity reader .)

Also remember that, while omniscient narration is the most flexible way to tell your story, it also requires the most discipline as an author. An omniscient narrator can easily move too rapidly among storylines, causing mental whiplash for readers.

To avoid this , remember our tip about having your outline in mind at all times! That way, even if you have an omniscient narrator, they shouldn’t get too far off track.

10. Write as often as you can

Now we’re getting into the more process-based writing tips. Write as much as possible is one of those tips you’re surely tired of hearing, but the reason it’s so common is because it works!

The only way you’re ever going to finish writing a book is by sitting down and writing it , so work on your story as often as you can. Write whenever and wherever you have a bit of downtime — on the bus, in a long line at the grocery store, waiting for your laundry, etc. It might feel strange to write on your phone rather than on a laptop at your desk, but you’ll get accustomed if you do it often enough.

If you can't figure out what to write, we have some awesome writing prompts to give you creative inspiration , writing exercises to flex those writing muscles , and even writing scholarships (if you're a student) to help you out! You can also check out these great opening lines , our guide to getting started with creative writing or watch the video below to inspire you.

11. Ask yourself questions

One way to ensure you’re doing your best, most creative writing is to question yourself constantly . It’s easy to get complacent with your writing, even if you’re technically meeting your word count goals . But if you’re always challenging yourself, you’ll see every bit of potential in your story and fulfill it as you progress.

A few good questions to ask yourself might be:

• Have I given my characters realistic goals and motivations that manifest throughout the story?
• How does each scene contribute to either the plot or our understanding of the characters ?
• Is there a big reveal , and if so, am I building toward it sufficiently?
• Does the perspective /narration style feel true to the story I’m telling?

12. Write now, edit later

That said, don’t challenge yourself so much you become too paralyzed to write. When in doubt, just skip over it, or write a crappy version of it for now. Write now, edit later is the approach of countless authors, and if it works for them, it can work for you too!

We won’t really touch on editing here, since this is a list of writing tips, not editing tips. But if you’re interested in the “later” part, you can check out this guide on how to edit a book. And remember: you don't have to go it alone — the Internet is chock full of writing groups willing to give you constructive criticism , not to mention great tools to edit and get the job done.

13. Read your work out loud

Many of the best writers' and editors' writing tips include reading aloud what you write in order to check it for inconsistencies and awkward phrasing. This tactic particularly helps weed out long, unwieldy sentences, and it's a godsend when you're working out how to write speech that sounds true to your characters..

For bonus points, you might even stage a reading with a group of friends (or fellow writers) where each person reads the dialogue of a different character. This will give your writing more “distance” and help you see its flaws more easily. If you do stage a reading, remember to take notes, so you can remember what to fix afterward!

14. Make it short and sweet

As Polonius said, brevity is the soul of wit, so keep your writing as short and sweet as you can. This will both entice readers and help you avoid flowery prose , which tends to be a dealbreaker for readers and agents alike.

Of course, if you’re writing literary fiction, you do want your writing to sound intelligent. How can you do this without going on for paragraphs at a time? The answer is by making strong word choices, especially when it comes to verbs . Don’t dilute your story with adverb-y sentences — get down to business and tell us what the characters are doing.

15. Get rid of distractions

Yes, this is probably one of the hardest writing tips to follow — especially for those of us who enjoy working from noisy coffee shops and taking frequent Netflix breaks . But the more you eliminate distractions, the better your writing will become. Here are some ideas on how to enter deep focus mode:

• Write on a computer with no WiFi
• Use the Pomodoro technique
• Set your phone to airplane mode or put it in a different room
• Work in a quiet space, like your local library
• Avoid working alongside friends, unless they really do increase your accountability (but be honest with yourself about this!)

16. Work through crises of confidence

In every writer’s life, there comes a point where they second-guess their entire endeavor. This will no doubt happen to you, too — maybe you’ll notice a major plot hole halfway through, a theme you have no idea how to incorporate, or you'll simply hit a creative wall .

Fear not: every writer who’s ever completed a book has gotten through this. But how can you work through such writerly crises without bashing your head against the wall?

If you ask us, the best solution is to return to your early notes and original outline. Look back to see if there’s anything there that can help you — you may have forgotten about some critical component, or it may help you see things in a new light.

And if that doesn’t work, you might just need some time away from this particular project. Take a break for a day or two, then come back to it with fresh eyes. But whatever you do, don’t give up! Remember, every writer’s been through this same thing. Think of it as your initiation, and refuse to let it break you.

17. Listen to feedback

Now for another one of those writing tips that we all struggle with. Throughout the process of writing, and definitely after you’re finished, you should share your work with other people: your friends, family, writers’ groups (both in person and on the Internet ), and your editor(s).

Accepting and actioning critical feedback is one of the most difficult parts of being a writer. Yet it’s also one of the most important skills to have. Because the feedback you receive from friends and second readers is the only window you have into other people’s views — until you publish and it's too late.

So try not to view criticism as harsh, but as helpful. It might just save you from literary infamy later! On that note…

18. Kill your darlings

Sometimes you’ll pen a passage that’s so beautiful, so nuanced, so masterfully constructed that you want to frame it — but it doesn’t really contribute anything to the larger work. It’s a distraction, and you know in your heart that your book would be better off without it.

What to do now? You probably know the answer, even if you don’t want to admit it: you have to kill your darlings. This most often refers to removing an irrelevant or otherwise distracting passage, but it may also be your title , an element of your narration, or even an entire character.

In any case, if it doesn’t add to the story, consider dropping it. Of all our writing tips, this one is perhaps the most important for writers of short stories and flash fiction , since you don’t have any room to waste! Remember, you can always save it to re-use later.

19. Just keep writing

How do prolific, successful authors manage to turn out so many books? Basically, by keeping calm and carrying on. Stephen King writes 2,000 words every single day, even on holidays. Jane Austen wrote each day just after breakfast without fail. Kafka wrote in the wee hours of the morning, barely sleeping as a result.

Now, Jane Austen never had a smartphone distracting her, so that was kind of an unfair advantage. But you do still need to at least  attempt  a similar lifestyle, and keep writing with as much consistency and focus as possible!

This is one of the best writing tips we can give any author, fiction or non-fiction, short-form or long. Remember that it’s a marathon, not a sprint, and keep your head down until you hit that final blessed page.

20. Keep publishing in mind

Last but certainly not least on this list of writing tips, we’ll cover the potential of publishing your book once it’s finally finished. Though it's the final step in the process, thinking about it as you write can really motivate you! Not to mention it's good to have some idea of your plan when you cross that finish line.

For example, if you go the traditional publishing route , you should consider how you might pitch your book to agents. What makes your story unique, and why would they want to represent it? If you start writing with the aim to publish, you can consciously highlight these elements in the story.

On the other hand, if you’re thinking about self-publishing , the adventure truly does begin once you’ve finished the manuscript ! After a round or two of editing and getting a book cover, you should be set to put your book up on Amazon and start selling.

There are pros and cons to both these sides. Luckily, if you’ve gotten to this point, the hard part is over; you’ve managed to write the book of your dreams, and now what you do with it is up to you!

And if you haven't quite gotten there yet, know that it's never too late. Writing is a lifelong challenge, but it's also one of the most rewarding things you can pursue. So go forth and tell the story you've always wanted to tell — we believe in you. ✍

Did we miss anything? Tell us your best writing tips in the comments below!

3 responses

Kalyan Panja says:

03/08/2019 – 07:19

Thanks for sharing this inspiring article which can help many to decide on the choices they make to write better and engaging articles.

Lost-Identification says:

13/08/2019 – 12:16

Do you have any recommendations for a book to help improve writing? I've been reading books like, "The Anatomy of Story" by John Truby, "Dialogue: The art of verbal action for the page, stage, and screen" by Robert Mckee, and just reading a wide genre of books.

↪️ Phil Slattery replied:

16/10/2019 – 04:32

Read The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. It has been a Bible for some great writers since the 1930's. It's updated periodically. It is short, concise, and clear; exactly what writing should be. It helped me immensely. A very concise guide that helped me immensely with punctuation is Webster"s New World Guide to Punctuation. Wonderfully concise and clear work. This won't cover every debatable nuance of punctuation, but it will cover everything you need to write well.

Comments are currently closed.

Continue reading

Recommended posts from the Reedsy Blog

100+ Character Ideas (and How to Come Up With Your Own)

Character creation can be challenging. To help spark your creativity, here’s a list of 100+ character ideas, along with tips on how to come up with your own.

How to Introduce a Character: 8 Tips To Hook Readers In

Introducing characters is an art, and these eight tips and examples will help you master it.

450+ Powerful Adjectives to Describe a Person (With Examples)

Want a handy list to help you bring your characters to life? Discover words that describe physical attributes, dispositions, and emotions.

How to Plot a Novel Like a NYT Bestselling Author

Need to plot your novel? Follow these 7 steps from New York Times bestselling author Caroline Leavitt.

How to Write an Autobiography: The Story of Your Life

Want to write your autobiography but aren’t sure where to start? This step-by-step guide will take you from opening lines to publishing it for everyone to read.

What is the Climax of a Story? Examples & Tips

The climax is perhaps a story's most crucial moment, but many writers struggle to stick the landing. Let's see what makes for a great story climax.

Join a community of over 1 million authors

Reedsy is more than just a blog. Become a member today to discover how we can help you publish a beautiful book.

We made a writing app for you

Yes, you! Write. Format. Export for ebook and print. 100% free, always.

1 million authors trust the professionals on Reedsy. Come meet them.

Enter your email or get started with a social account:

• Creativity Techniques

26+ Creative Writing Tips for Young Writers

So you want to be a writer? And not just any writer, you want to be a creative writer. The road to being a legendary storyteller won’t be easy, but with our creative writing tips for kids, you’ll be on the right track! Creative writing isn’t just about writing stories. You could write poems, graphic novels, song lyrics and even movie scripts. But there is one thing you’ll need and that is good creative writing skills. 

Here are over 26 tips to improve your creative writing skills :

Read a wide range of books

When it comes to creative writing, reading is essential. Reading allows you to explore the styles of other writers and gain inspiration to improve your own writing. But don’t just limit yourself to reading only popular books or your favourites. Read all sorts of books, everything from fairytales to scary stories. Take a look at comics, short stories, novels and poetry. Just fill your heads with the knowledge and wisdom of other writers and soon you’ll be just like them!

Write about real-life events

The hardest thing about creative writing is connecting emotionally with your audience. By focusing your writing on real-life events, you know that in some way or another your readers will be able to relate. And with creative writing you don’t need to use real names or details – There are certain things you can keep private while writing about the rare details. Using real-life events is also a good way to find inspiration for your stories. 

Be imaginative

Be as crazy and wild as you like with your imagination. Create your world, your own monsters , or even your own language! The more imaginative your story, the more exciting it will be to read. Remember that there are no rules on what makes a good idea in creative writing. So don’t be afraid to make stuff up!

Find your writing style

Thes best writers have a particular style about them. When you think of Roald Dahl , you know his books are going to have a sense of humour. While with Dr Seuss , you’re prepared to read some funny new words . Alternatively, when you look at R.L.Stine, you know that he is all about the horror. Think about your own writing style. Do you want to be a horror writer? Maybe someone who always writes in the first person? Will always focus your books on your culture or a particular character?

Stick to a routine

Routine is extremely important to writers. If you just write some stuff here and there, it’s likely that you’ll soon give up on writing altogether! A strict routine means that every day at a certain time you will make time to write about something, anything. Even if you’re bored or can’t think of anything, you’ll still pick up that pencil and write. Soon enough you’ll get into the habit of writing good stuff daily and this is definitely important for anyone who wants to be a professional creative writer!

Know your audience

Writing isn’t just about thinking about your own interests, it’s also about thinking about the interests of your audience. If you want to excite fellow classmates, know what they like. Do they like football , monsters or a particular video game? With that knowledge, you can create the most popular book for your target audience. A book that they can’t stop reading and will recommend to others! 

Daily Exercises

To keep your creative writing skills up to scratch it is important to keep practising every day. Even if you have no inspiration. At times when your mind is blank, you should try to use tools like writing prompts , video prompts or other ways of coming up with ideas . You could even take a look at these daily writing exercises as an example. We even created a whole list of over 100 creative writing exercises to try out when you need some inspiration or ideas. 

Work together with others

Everyone needs a little help now and then. We recommend joining a writing club or finding other classmates who are also interested in writing to improve your own creative writing skills. Together you can share ideas, tips and even write a story together! A good storytelling game to play in a group is the “ finish the story” game . 

Get feedback

Without feedback, you’ll never be able to improve your writing. Feedback, whether good or bad is important to all writers. Good feedback gives you the motivation to carry on. While bad feedback just gives you areas to improve and adapt your writing, so you can be the best! After every piece of writing always try to get feedback from it, whether it is from friends, family, teachers or an online writing community .

Enter writing competitions

The best way to improve your creative writing is by entering all sorts of writing competitions . Whether it’s a poetry competition or short story competition, competitions let you compete against other writers and even help you get useful feedback on your writing. Most competitions even have rules to structure your writing, these rules can help you prepare for the real world of writing and getting your work published. And not only that you might even win some cool prizes!

Keep a notebook

Every writer’s best friend is their notebook. Wherever you go make sure you have a notebook handy to jot down any ideas you get on the go. Inspiration can come from anywhere , so the next time you get an idea instead of forgetting about it, write it down. You never know, this idea could become a best-selling novel in the future. 

Research your ideas

So, you got a couple of ideas for short stories. The next step is to research these ideas deeper. 

Researching your ideas could involve reading books similar to your ideas or going online to learn more about a particular topic. For example, if you wanted to write a book on dragons, you would want to know everything about them in history to come up with a good, relatable storyline for your book.

Create Writing Goals

How do you know if your writing is improving over time? Simple – Just create writing goals for yourself. Examples of writing goals might include, to write 100 words every day or to write 600 words by the end of next week. Whatever your goals make sure you can measure them easily. That way you’ll know if you met them or not. You might want to take a look at these bullet journal layouts for writers to help you track the progress of your writing.

Follow your passions

Writing can be tedious and many people even give up after writing a few words. The only way you can keep that fire burning is by writing about your true passions. Whatever it is you enjoy doing or love, you could just write about those things. These are the types of things you’ll enjoy researching and already know so much about, making writing a whole lot more fun!

Don’t Settle for the first draft

You finally wrote your first story. But the writing process isn’t complete yet! Now it’s time to read your story and make the all-important edits. Editing your story is more than just fixing spelling or grammar mistakes. It’s also about criticising your own work and looking for areas of improvement. For example, is the conflict strong enough? Is your opening line exciting? How can you improve your ending?

Plan before writing

Never just jump into writing your story. Always plan first! Whether this means listing down the key scenes in your story or using a storyboard template to map out these scenes. You should have an outline of your story somewhere, which you can refer to when actually writing your story. This way you won’t make basic mistakes like not having a climax in your story which builds up to your main conflict or missing crucial characters out.

It’s strange the difference it makes to read your writing out aloud compared to reading it in your head. When reading aloud you tend to notice more mistakes in your sentences or discover paragraphs which make no sense at all. You might even want to read your story aloud to your family or a group of friends to get feedback on how your story sounds. 

Pace your story

Pacing is important. You don’t want to just start and then quickly jump into the main conflict because this will take all the excitement away from your conflict. And at the same time, you don’t want to give the solution away too early and this will make your conflict too easy for your characters to solve. The key is to gradually build up to your conflict by describing your characters and the many events that lead up to the main conflict. Then you might want to make the conflict more difficult for your characters by including more than one issue in your story to solve. 

Think about themes

Every story has a theme or moral. Some stories are about friendship, others are about the dangers of trusting strangers. And a story can even have more than one theme. The point of a theme is to give something valuable to your readers once they have finished reading your book. In other words, to give them a life lesson, they’ll never forget!

Use dialogue carefully

Dialogue is a tricky thing to get right. Your whole story should not be made up of dialogue unless you’re writing a script. Alternatively, it can be strange to include no dialogue at all in your story. The purpose of dialogue should be to move your story forward. It should also help your readers learn more about a particular character’s personality and their relationship with other characters in your book. 

One thing to avoid with dialogue is… small talk! There’s no point in writing dialogue, such as “How’s the weather?”, if your story has nothing to do with the weather. This is because it doesn’t move your story along.  For more information check out this guide on how to write dialogue in a story .

Write now, edit later

Writing is a magical process. Don’t lose that magic by focusing on editing your sentences while you’re still writing your story up. Not only could this make your story sound fragmented, but you might also forget some key ideas to include in your story or take away the imagination from your writing. When it comes to creative writing, just write and come back to editing your story later.

Ask yourself questions

Always question your writing. Once done, think about any holes in your story. Is there something the reader won’t understand or needs further describing? What if your character finds another solution to solving the conflict? How about adding a new character or removing a character from your story? There are so many questions to ask and keep asking them until you feel confident about your final piece.

Create a dedicated writing space

Some kids like writing on their beds, others at the kitchen table. While this is good for beginners, going pro with your writing might require having a dedicated writing space. Some of the basics you’ll need is a desk and comfy chair, along with writing materials like pens, pencils and notebooks. But to really create an inspiring place, you could also stick some beautiful pictures, some inspiring quotes from writers and anything else that will keep you motivated and prepared. 

Beware of flowery words

Vocabulary is good. It’s always exciting when you learn a new word that you have never heard before. But don’t go around plotting in complicated words into your story, unless it’s necessary to show a character’s personality. Most long words are not natural sounding, meaning your audience will have a hard time relating to your story if it’s full of complicated words from the dictionary like Xenophobia or Xylograph .

Create believable characters

Nobody’s perfect. And why should your story characters be any different? To create believable characters, you’ll need to give them some common flaws as well as some really cool strengths. Your character’s flaws can be used as a setback to why they can’t achieve their goals, while their strengths are the things that will help win over adversity. Just think about your own strengths and weaknesses and use them as inspirations for your storybook characters. You can use the Imagine Forest character creator to plan out your story characters. 

Show, don’t tell

You can say that someone is nice or you can show them how that person is nice. Take the following as an example, “Katie was a nice girl.” Now compare that sentence to this, “Katie spent her weekends at the retirement home, singing to the seniors and making them laugh.”. The difference between the two sentences is huge. The first one sounds boring and you don’t really know why Katie is nice. While in the second sentence, you get the sense that Katie is nice from her actions without even using the word nice in the sentence!

Make the conflict impossible

Imagine the following scenario, you are a championship boxer who has won many medals over the year and the conflict is…Well, you got a boxing match coming up. Now that doesn’t sound so exciting! In fact, most readers won’t even care about the boxer winning the match or not! 

Now imagine this scenario: You’re a poor kid from New Jersey, you barely have enough money to pay the bills. You never did any professional boxing, but you want to enter a boxing competition, so you can win and use the money to pay your bills. 

The second scenario has a bigger mountain to climb. In other words, a much harder challenge to face compared to the character in the first scenario. Giving your characters an almost impossible task or conflict is essential in good story-telling.

Write powerful scenes

Scenes help build a picture in your reader’s mind without even including any actual pictures in your story. Creating powerful scenes involves more than describing the appearance of a setting, it’s also about thinking about the smell, the sounds and what your characters are feeling while they are in a particular setting. By being descriptive with your scenes, your audience can imagine themselves being right there with characters through the hard times and good times!

There’s nothing worse than an ending which leaves the reader feeling underwhelmed. You read all the way through and then it just ends in the most typical, obvious way ever! Strong endings don’t always end on a happy ending. They can end with a sad ending or a cliff-hanger.  In fact, most stories actually leave the reader with more questions in their head, as they wonder what happens next. This then gives you the opportunity to create even more books to continue the story and keep your readers hooked for life (or at least for a very long time)! 

Over 25 creative writing tips later and you should now be ready to master the art of creative writing! The most important tip for all you creative writers out there is to be imaginative! Without a good imagination, you’ll struggle to wow your audience with your writing skills. Do you have any more creative writing tips to share? Let us know in the comments!

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

Related Posts

Comments loading...

Creative Writing Tips: A Beginner’s Guide to Creative Writing

This post may contains affiliate links. If you click and buy we may make a commission, at no additional charge to you. Please see our disclosure policy for more details.

Stories truly do make the world go round. I have a firm belief that storytelling is one of the most important parts of human culture.

You can’t even turn around without some method of storytelling impacting your life: whether it’s in books or the lyrics to an unforgettable song or the script of a movie or just two people sharing about that wild thing that happened to them last week. But if you want to capture a story, really keep it and hone it and make it unforgettable, you need to write it down.

So we need to talk about creative writing.

The task of learning to be an amazing creative writer can be a bit daunting, but let’s break it down. We’ll cover tips on how to improve your writing skills and polish those gems of stories you have swirling around your imagination.

Table of Contents

What Is Creative Writing?

Creative writing is when you tell a story, usually fiction or poetry, that draws off ideas and imagination. It can anything from short stories, whole full-length novels, poetry collections, memoirs, or scrips and plays. The voice, style, and genre of creative writing can be vastly different. No two people are the same, so it makes sense that everyone’s writing is different too.

The important part of creative writing is the “creative” part. Of course, everything is rooted in what you know in the real world, including real experiences and settings and concepts, but how can you tell that in a creative and innovative way, full of rich imagination and sensory descriptions?

Creative writing means fantasy books and poetry with ethereal metaphors. Creative writing means fictional romances and children’s whimsical nursery rhymes. Creative writing means imagination.

10 Tips to Get Started In Creative Writing

1. write what you want to read.

It’s easy to get stuck in the thinking that your writing will only be worthwhile if it’s like some other famous writer’s or if it fits the same themes other people have made popular. But writing is hard work.

If you’re going to pour your blood, sweat, tears, and passion into this, you need to like what you’re doing. So chase stories that make your heart beat faster. Write the things that make you a little giddy inside with excitement. Write for yourself first, your audience second. It will keep your motivation alive and help you write more authentically and passionately.

2. Speaking of Which…Know Your Audience!

If you aim to be published someday, you need to know who you’re writing for. Otherwise, your work (be it a short story or a creative essay or a novel) will be hard to place on submission to publishers.

Save yourself the headache later and figure out what genre, age-range, and style your work is. This also helps to hone your voice. If your writing style is upbeat and full of quips and romantic catastrophes and laughs, you might want to write a romcom instead of a military sci-fi novel.

Genre crossovers can be utterly epic, so you don’t need to lock yourself down in rules all the time. But if you’re starting out, keep it simple! Learn the rules before you break them.

3. Writers Must Be Readers.

The best way to know your audience is to know what other books are out there. We’d be awfully suspicious if we went out to eat at a bakery only to hear the chef never a bread, ever.

So no matter what you’re writing, make sure you’re reading widely and voraciously, and challenging yourself in other genres and styles. Read outside of what you write too! It can spark all sorts of delicious ideas. Reading also keeps your own creative juices flowing.

The last thing you want to do is burn yourself out from writing every spare second and not imputing creativity into your life. Learn from the bests. Read a book.

4 . Capture Your Readers’ Attention

What makes your story different? What makes your voice stand out? Why are you telling this story? Some of these questions can be hard to answer and saying “um, because I want to” is sometimes valid enough.

But in a world crammed with stories, you need to stop your reader from looking away. Write epic first sentences and fill your pages with scintillating characters for the reader to love.

Your first sentence is your hook, but every sentence after that should still be powerful and interesting. If you’re bored writing, your audience will be bored reading.

5. Develop Your Style By Writing And Writing Some More .

Seriously “practice makes perfect” does actually work, as annoying as it is to be told that. If you squint sideways at the first thing you ever wrote, maybe it’s not so bad. But also chances are you want to bury it under 50ft of sand. That’s fine! But keep writing. Find your voice. Find your style.

Experiment with everything until you figure out what clicks. It’s fine to be in awe of your author heroes, but don’t try to be them.

You don’t have to be the next George RR Martin or JK Rowling to write a novel that captures the attention of the world. And if you’re not sure how to find your style? A good way is to just keep writing. Channel the styles you admire but twist it to make it your own and let it happen naturally.

6. You’re Allowed to Write Badly

First drafts are allowed to be bad! As Ernest Hemingway said, “The only kind of writing is rewriting.” You seriously can write your ambitious and glorious ideas super badly and then work on rewriting, honing, and refining them later.

Sometimes it’s easier to dump your feelings onto the page and then sort through for the gems. Know when to kill your darlings (NOT just your characters…” kill your darlings” means cut unnecessary prose and wordy sentences and scenes that don’t push the story along!). First drafts need to exist, not be perfect straight away.

7. Learn How to Edit

Because everything needs editing. Even if you write a piece that seems perfect…uh, no. It needs editing. And you do need outside help for this. A fresh perspective will point out things you didn’t consider before.

Sometimes they’re mistakes, but sometimes they’re just ways to make your work better. Try not to think of criticism as pointing out your failures. Think of it as improving what you’ve already got.

If you’ve made a chocolate cake and someone suggests putting caramel frosting on it, it doesn’t mean your chocolate cake was awful. It just means it could be even better.

8. Use The 5 Senses to Make Your Writing Stronger

This has always been my favorite writing tip! Ever read something and felt it was bland and grey? You can avoid that by leaning into the sensory description.

Describe smells and tastes, describe tactile feelings and visual stimuli. Describe the smell of walnuts and cranberries as you walk into the grandfather’s kitchen and the way the floorboards buckle by the stove and the rough texture of his homespun shirt.

These sorts of details make the scene feel real to a reader. It draws them in and paints a picture. But don’t overdo it. A few powerful details are better than two pages describing a teacup. Keep it powerful and to the point.

9. Find A Writing Group

Writing can be lonely, and there’s nothing more demotivating than losing the spark to write because you’re doing it in solitude. Find your people!

Critique groups can be great for pushing you to be a better writer, but find friends who’ll also encourage you and cheer you on. It’s not weak or selfish to need encouragement. We writers are here for the long haul, and I would be totally lost without my writing friends.

10. Don’t Quit

Writing is hard, and sometimes it feels like the more you learn, the harder it gets. But it’s a craft to conquer, a skillset to hone, and you only fail at it when you pack it up for good. So kick the self-doubt mindset (not easy to do, but you have to work at it!) and realize rejections are inevitable but not a reflection of your worth.

Some days you’ll power out incredible and inspirational sentences. Other days your brain feels like a potato and you write nothing. This is fine! Find your pace, your style, your people – and don’t quit.

Good Books to Read About Creative Writing

The more you know about a topic and the more you practice, the easier it is to take the plunge to become a master of the skillset. So if you’re looking for some books that cover creative writing in details, with perspectives from professionals who’ve achieved success, try some of these:

• Creative Writer’s Handbook by Megan Cullis
• How Writing Works: A Field Guide To Effective Writing by Roslyn Petelin
• Go Teen Writers: Edit Your Novel by Stephanie Morrill and Jill Williamson
• Bird by Bird : Some Instructions on Writing And Life by Anne Lamott
• Save The Cat! Writes A Novel : by Jessica Brody
• Zen In The Art Of Writing by Ray Bradbury
• The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Expression by Becca Puglisi

About the Author

CG Drews is a YA book blogger with the goal to read every book in existence. She’s aiming for immortality for this. When not reading, she writes novels and blogs at paperfury.com.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

A How-to blog for Writers

A Comprehensive Guide to Creative Writing for Beginners

In creative writing, you need to put your imagination on paper. It is the quality that sets one piece of writing out from another! 

Regular writing is different from creative writing. It differs from other types of writing, including academic, technical, journalistic, and professional writing. 

In creative writing, the focus is largely on the unique work, which includes literary elements.

In this guide, we will walk you through what creative writing is, creative writing types, and how to improve your creative writing skills. 

Let’s get started!

What is Creative Writing?

The term “creative writing” refers to literary or imaginative writing. Creative writing does not aim to provide factual information. 

For instance, a novel could have a lot of social, political, or psychological information. Creative writing requires efforts to please the reader. 

In creative writing, the author communicates his emotions through poetry, character development, and other creative writing techniques.

Types of Creative Writing

These are the types of creative writing:

• Novels 
• Short stories
• Screenplays & TV scripts
• Personal essays
• Autobiographies 
• Humor writings

How to Improve your Creative Writing Skills?

• Develop reading habit

Reading will help you learn different styles of writing. So you should develop a reading habit. 

Pay close attention to the specific words, adjectives, adverbs, metaphors , and phrases used by the writer. 

However, if you find a word that you do not understand, you can use an online dictionary. 

These are the perks of developing a reading habit:

• Widespread your knowledge
• Boost your creativity level
• Exercise your brain
• Master basics of grammar 

If you learn the primary grammar rules and practice them, your writing will be improved to a great extent. 

Therefore, you should spend some time studying the basics of grammar and sentence structure. In this way, you can learn how to use punctuation in the best-fit place. 

• Learn how to simplify the complex text

As a creative writer, your written text should be easy to read and understand. You how to simplify complex content, regardless of how complicated it is?

The plan is simple and easy.

You should replace all hard-to-read sentences with short sentences and use simple vocabulary. 

However, if you are a newbie and struggle to write a text that is easy to read and scan, you do not need to worry anymore. 

An online text rephraser tool can help you simplify complex sentences and avoid jargon. A paraphraser is powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) that breaks long and complicated sentences into short and sweet sentences.

In addition, the rephrasing tool replaces all difficult words with simple synonyms and improves the sentence structure.

 The tool creates different versions of the same text. In this way, you can master different writing styles to convey the same theme. 

Most importantly, an online paraphraser does not change the central meaning of the text. Instead, it maintains the true meaning of the text. 

In simple words, an online paraphrasing tool can help you write easy-to-read sentences and enhance text readability. 

• Criticize other literary works 

This is a very interesting step. While reading other authors’ works, you should try to underline the writing flaws of the writer. 

Note down where the story needs some improvements. In this way, you can become a better storyteller. 

It would be best to do monthly book reviews on the books you finished. Following this tip can help you become an amazing creative writer. 

• Find a top-notch writing environment 

When it comes to the flow of ideas, a writer’s life often goes through cycles of boom and bust. When you are having a “boom” time, keep coming up with ideas, and do not stop. 

These creative bursts often happen at writing workshops or even at retreats for writers. 

They do this by sharing writing exercises that are meant to make people more creative and by giving writers a place where they can be around other writers. 

If you have never taken part in an intensive writing program, you should think about doing so. 

Even a course on creative writing that you take online can teach you useful ways to write about everything from creating characters to writing nonfiction stories to writing poetry.

• Set a specific deadline for yourself

If you want to finish a particular project on time, you should mark it on your mobile phone calendar to find yourself accountable.

After that, you must set a certain amount of words per day. In this way, you can better deal with the closest deadlines. 

• Rewrite famous stories or plays

It might be challenging to start from scratch when creating fresh characters or a narrative. 

You can pick up a famous story or play to improve your creative writing skills. Try to conclude a story from a brand-new perspective. 

• Revise your first draft 

Once you finish your writing, you should have a cup of coffee and relax. After some time, you must come back to your written copy with a fresh pair of eyes. 

It’s time to revise the first draft and polish it. You can remove all grammar mistakes from the copy and make the sentence flow better.

In this way, you can convey your message clearly and directly to your readers. 

• Get feedback

Asking for genuine feedback is always a great way to fine-tune your writing skills. 

Have a clear idea of the areas you want the proofreader to pay particular attention to, such as the argument’s persuasiveness, structure, or conclusion.

Contact your close friend or classmate for feedback. 

Final Thoughts 

Creative writing allows you to express your imagination. Many writers love creativity and enjoy creative writing.

On the other hand, many writers struggle with it. 

So if you are one of them, you can follow the above-mentioned tips to improve your creative writing skills. 

So what are you waiting for?

Practice these tips and write a remarkable creative copy that impresses your readers. 

Best of luck!

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Creative Writing 101

You love to write and have been told you have a way with words. So you’ve decided to give writing a try—creative writing.

The problem is, you’re finding it tougher than you thought it would be.

You have a great story idea , but you’re not sure how to turn it into something people will read.

Don’t be discouraged—writing a compelling story can be grueling, even for veterans. Conflicting advice online may confuse you and make you want to quit before you start.

But you know more than you think. Stories saturate our lives.

We tell and hear stories every day in music, on television, in video games, in books, in movies, even in conversation.

• What is Creative Writing?

Creative Writing is prose that tells a story featuring someone who wants something.

That person runs into trouble and begins an adventure, a journey, or a quest, faces obstacles, and is ultimately transformed—for the good or for the bad.

While Creative Writing can also educate and/or entertain, but it does its best work when it emotionally moves the reader.

• Elements of Creative Writing

Writing a story is much like building a house.

You may have all the right tools and design ideas, but if your foundation isn’t solid, even the most beautiful structure won’t stand.

Most storytelling experts agree, these 7 key elements must exist in a story.

Plot (more on that below) is what happens in a story. Theme is why it happens.

Before you begin writing, determine why you want to tell your story.

What message do you wish to convey?  What will it teach the reader? 

Resist the urge to explicitly state your theme. Just tell the story, and let it make its own point.

Give your readers credit. Subtly weave your theme into the story and trust them to get it.

They may remember a great plot, but you want them thinking about your theme long after they’ve finished reading.

2. Characters

Every story needs believable characters who feel knowable.

In fiction, your main character is the protagonist, also known as the lead or hero/heroine.

The protagonist must have:

• redeemable flaws
• potentially heroic qualities that emerge in the climax
• a character arc (he must be different, better, stronger by the end)

Resist the temptation to create a perfect lead. Perfect is boring. (Even Indiana Jones suffered a snake phobia.)

You also need an antagonist, the villain , who should be every bit as formidable and compelling as your hero.

Don’t make your bad guy bad just because he’s the bad guy. Make him a worthy foe by giving him motives for his actions.

Villains don’t see themselves as bad. They think they’re right! A fully rounded bad guy is much more realistic and memorable.

Depending on the length of your story , you may also need important orbital cast members.

For each character, ask:

• What do they want?
• What or who is keeping them from getting it?
• What will they do about it?

The more challenges your characters face, the more relatable they are.

Much as in real life, the toughest challenges result in the most transformation.

Setting may include a location, time, or era, but it should also include how things look, smell, taste, feel, and sound.

Thoroughly research details about your setting so it informs your writing, but use those details as seasoning, not the main course. The main course is the story.

But, beware.

Agents and acquisitions editors tell me one of the biggest mistakes beginning writers make is feeling they must begin by describing the setting.

That’s important, don’t get me wrong. But a sure way to put readers to sleep is to promise a thrilling story on the cover—only to start with some variation of:

The house sat in a deep wood surrounded by…

Rather than describing your setting, subtly layer it into the story.

Show readers your setting. Don’t tell them. Description as a separate element slows your story to crawl.

By layering in what things look and feel and sound like you subtly register the setting in the theater of readers’ minds.

While they’re concentrating on the action, the dialogue , the tension , the drama, and conflict that keep them turning the pages, they’re also getting a look and feel for your setting.

4. Point of View

POV is more than which perspective you choose to tell your story: First Person ( I, me ), Second Person ( you, your ), or Third Person ( he, she, or it ).

Determine your perspective (POV) character for each scene—the one who serves as your camera and recorder—by deciding who has the most at stake. Who’s story is this?

The cardinal rule is that you’re limited to one perspective character per scene, but I prefer only one per chapter, and ideally one per novel.

Readers experience everything in your story from this character’s perspective.

For a more in-depth explanation of Voice and POV, read A Writer’s Guide to Point of View .

This is the sequence of events that make up a story —in short, what happens. It either compels your reader to keep turning pages or set the book aside.

A successful story answers:

• What happens? (Plot)
• What does it mean? (Theme: see above)

Writing coaches call various story structures by different names, but they’re all largely similar. All such structures include some variation of:

• An inciting incident that changes everything
• A series of crises that build tension
• A resolution (or conclusion)

How effectively you create drama, intrigue, conflict, and tension, determines whether you can grab readers from the start and keep them to the end.

6. Conflict

This is the engine of fiction and crucial to effective nonfiction as well.

Readers crave conflict and what results from it.

If everything in your plot is going well and everyone is agreeing, you’ll quickly bore your reader—the cardinal sin of writing.

If two characters are chatting amicably and the scene feels flat (which it will), inject conflict. Have one say something that makes the other storm out, revealing a deep-seated rift.

Readers will stay with you to find out what it’s all about.

7. Resolution

Whether you’re an Outliner or a Pantser like me (one who writes by the seat of your pants), you must have an idea where your story is going.

How you expect the story to end should inform every scene and chapter. It may change, evolve, and grow as you and your characters do, but never leave it to chance.

Keep your lead character center stage to the very end. Everything he learns through all the complications you plunged him into should, in the end, allow him to rise to the occasion and succeed.

If you get near the end and something’s missing, don’t rush it. Give your ending a few days, even a few weeks if necessary.

Read through everything you’ve written. Take a long walk. Think about it. Sleep on it. Jot notes. Let your subconscious work. Play what-if games. Reach for the heart, and deliver a satisfying ending that resonates .

Give your readers a payoff for their investment by making it unforgettable.

• 14 Types of Creative Writing 

Novels are fiction by definition. Lengths typically fall between 75,000 to 100,000 words. The author must create a story that can carry an entire book.

Novellas usually run between 10,000 and 40,000 words and typically follow a single character’s point of view. Otherwise, they tend to feature the structural and narrative elements of a full-length novel. Example: Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome.

Short Story

Short stories, including super short micro or flash fiction—which can be as short as just a few words, are usually between a thousand and five thousand words and thus must telescope the creative writing techniques and properties of a novel. This creative writing type gained popularity during the 19th century in literary magazines, and many such magazines still carry short stories.

Narrative Nonfiction

Also known as Creative Nonfiction, this form displays techniques and literary styles such as story and tone to convey emotion in nonfiction narratives. A common example is a personal essay.

Biographies capture the stories of individuals whose lives can provide a lesson to readers.

Autobiography

An autobiography is written by the author, about the author, following a chronological account of their life.

As opposed to an autobiography, a memoir emphasizes takeaway value to the reader and is thus theme-oriented. Readers should be able to see themselves in the anecdotes chosen to show life transformation. Creative writing techniques similar to those in a novel will bring the story to life.

Poets use traditional structures such as rhyme, rhythm, and subject matter to tell their stories. They can also experiment with prose-poetry or free verse.

Song lyrics

Song lyrics are another form of poetry, the aim being to tell a story in the fewest, most evocative words possible.

Speeches require creative writing to keep audiences engaged.

A blog is usually based on the writer’s own life and interests. The best ones tell stories readers relate to and interact with.

Journaling, usually intended for the author’s eyes only, can become, in essence, a creatively written diary.

Screenwriting

Screenwriting is a form of scriptwriting specific to television shows, films, and other visual media. Screenwriting relies heavily on dialogue to tell a story, but not exclusively. The writer must include action and response takes.

Playwriting

Playwriting is a form of scriptwriting specific to theater productions, again relying heavily on dialogue and action. Playwriting also requires stage direction suggestions for lighting, sound, and actors.

• 11 Creative Writing Tips

In How to Write a Novel , I cover each step of the writing process:

Come up with a great story idea .

That may sound obvious, but make sure it’s compelling enough to draw you back to the keyboard every day.

Determine whether you’re an Outliner or a Pantser or a Hybrid.

If you’re an Outliner, you prefer to map out everything before you start writing your novel.

If you’re a Pantser, you write by the seat of your pants, putting, as Stephen King advises, interesting characters in difficult situations and writing to find out what happens.

I cover both types and how to structure a novel here .

And though I’m primarily a Pantser, I never start writing a novel without an idea where I’m going — or think I’m going.

Create an unforgettable main character.

Resist the temptation to create a perfect character, even if it’s a superhero. Main characters must exhibit human flaws to make them relatable.

For more on character development, check out my blog posts Your Ultimate Guide to Character Development: 9 Steps to Creating Memorable Heroes , How to Create a Powerful Character Arc , and Character Motivation: How to Craft Realistic Characters .

Expand your idea into a plot.

Regardless of whether you’re a Panster or an Outliner, you need some semblance of a structure.

Dean Koontz calls this the Classic Story Structure (in his How to Write Best-Selling Fiction ):

• Plunge the main character into terrible trouble
• Everything the character does to get out of trouble makes things worse until…
• All appears hopeless
• The qualities the main character develops trying to fix the trouble make him heroic enough to succeed in the end

Conduct your research.

The best fiction must ironically feel believable.

You must research to add flavor and authenticity.

One caveat : Resist the urge to show off your research by loading your story with every esoteric fact you’ve learned. Add specifics the way you would season food. It enhances the experience, but it’s not the main course.

Choose your Voice and Point of View.

Point of View (POV) is more than simply deciding what voice to use:

First Person ( I, me ), Second Person ( you, your ), or Third Person ( he, she, or it ).

It also involves deciding who will be your perspective character, serving as your story’s camera.

The cardinal rule is one POV character per scene .

For a more in-depth explanation, read my post A Writer’s Guide to Point of View .

Start in medias res (in the midst of things).

Grab the reader by the throat on page one.

Avoid what’s called throat clearing—too much scene setting and description. Get to the good stuff—the guts of the story .

The goal of every sentence, in fact of every word , is to compel the reader to read the next.

Intensify your main character’s problems.

Do not give him a break. Remember, conflict is the engine of fiction.

(For more on conflict, read my post Internal and External Conflict: Tips for Creating Unforgettable Characters )

Your main character’s trouble should escalate with his every attempt to fix it.

Make the predicament appear hopeless.

You’ll be tempted to give your protagonist a break, invent an escape, or inject a miracle. Don’t do it!

This darkest, bleakest moment forces your hero to use every new skill and muscle gained through battling those obstacles.

The more hopeless the situation appears, the more powerful your climax will be.

Bring it all to a climax.

This is where your hero faces his toughest test yet. The stakes must be dire, the prospect of failure catastrophic.

The tension that has been building throughout crescendos during an ultimate confrontation, and all the major book-length setups are paid off.

Note: the climax is not the end. The real conclusion ties up loose ends and puts the journey into perspective.

Leave readers wholly satisfied.

A great ending :

• Honors the reader for his investment of time and money.
• Aims for the heart.
• Keeps your hero on stage till the last word.

Don’t rush it.

A fully satisfying ending drops the curtain with a resounding thud.

• More to Think About

1. Carry a writing pad, electronic or otherwise. I like the Moleskine™ notebook . 

Ideas can come at any moment. Record ideas for:

• Anything that might expand your story

2. Start small. 

Take time to learn the craft and hone your skills on smaller projects before attempting to write a book . A book is not where you start; it’s where you arrive.

Journal. Write a newsletter. Start a blog. Write short stories . Submit articles to magazines, newspapers, or e-zines.

Take a night school or online course in journalism or creative writing. Attend a writers conference.

3. Keep perfectionism in its place. 

Reserve it for the editing and revision stage.

While writing, take off that perfectionist cap and just get the story down. At that stage, perfectionism is the enemy of progress.

• Time to Get to Work

Few pleasures in life compare to getting lost in a great story.

Learn how to write creatively, and the characters you birth have the potential to live in readers’ hearts for years.

Faith-Based Words and Phrases

What You and I Can Learn From Patricia Raybon

A Guest Blog from Stephen King—Yes, that Stephen King

Before you go, be sure to grab my FREE guide:

How to Write a Book: Everything You Need to Know in 20 Steps

Just tell me where to send it:

Writers' Treasure

Effective writing advice for aspiring writers

How to Get Started in Creative Writing in Just Three Steps

• Creative Writing Tips

For reference, look at Daily Writing Tips’ awesome article Creative Writing 101 . There are quite a few steps given there. I will be adding my own touches to them.

So, without any further ado, here are the three steps for you to climb and emerge as victor (sorry, couldn’t resist it).

Know the Genres and Subgenres of Creative Writing

It might not seem important now, but if you know the genres and subgenres of creative writing, you’ve done yourself a great service. Why? Because many great authors specialize in one big broad genre such as fiction or poetry or non-fiction. That is why… you see that great novelists write only novels, great short-story writers write only short stories, great poets only write poetry and so on. You don’t want to become “Jack of all trades; master of none.” And you can only specialize by knowing all of them.

Note : Now, of course, there are exceptions. Some novelists do write short stories and vice versa. But these types of authors are not common; they are rare. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t step outside of your broad genre and be afraid to experiment with other ones, it’s just to say that you should, first and foremost, go with the one you like most.

So do yourself a favour and read on the creative writing genres. They’re all known, of course. Fiction is branched into four sub-genres, of which only two are really popular: novels, novelettes, novellas and short-stories.

If you want to dig under the surface, you will find more and more sub-genres. Stories under 1000 words are called micro-fiction. Recently a new type of sub-genre has come into light: Twitter fiction , fiction of 140 characters. The people who make such fiction must be talented, because I can’t seem to close up a story under 1000 words. Concise writing , of course, is the issue.

Then there is poetry . I don’t write any poetry now, because I find it harder than writing fiction and hence I specialized and chose fiction as my broad genre. There are many sub-genres under poetry. Sonnet, haiku, ballad, tanka, pantoum, roundel, etc. My head hurts just looking at so many forms. Wow.

Creative Non-fiction . It’s strange that non-fiction is a part of creative writing, but then, as goes a saying, the truth is sometimes better than fiction. Memoirs, autobiographies, biographies, essays and journals, etc are all part of non-fiction.

Pick Out Your Own Genre

This is sometimes easy work, and sometimes hard work. It took me nearly a year to find out my own genre: writing fiction. Before I was experimenting with all forms without success and in vain (yeah they say the same thing). As soon as I started writing only fiction, my writing improved.

Every writer has his own genre of which he seeks to become the master of. It shouldn’t necessarily be fiction or a popular form. It can be as obscure as can be. Only enjoyment should be gained out of it, at least at the beginning. (You’re free to make money from it if you’re really good enough!)

It might be fun sometimes to step out of your genre and write something fun. I tried this with essays and it was a success. But remember that you should first write inside your genre and then after some time do what you like.

Start Writing (Regularly)

If you don’t know how to write for a period of time, check out the Daily Writing Tips article . Their idea of notebooks and finding ideas works for me.

It doesn’t matter whether you write once a day or a week or a month or anything else. Your writing should not be set on a schedule in which you can’t match your other work. “Write Every Day” is outdated advice now… the newer and better advice is “Write Regularly as much as you can inside your genre.” If you continue the practice… you should start seeing results. Never break off from your work. I tried it one time and the results were not uplifting. It took me a whole month to get back to my earlier standard.

Bottom line is: just write (regularly), and you’re started in creative writing! You can say with pride, “I’m a writer.” Just write. That’s it.

But what’s the purpose?

If your purpose is to get published and make money from your writing straight away, I’m sorry to say that you will be bitterly disappointed. Even the best authors’ first novels were proper garbage (not my words; their words) unless they were edited previously. So you might as well give up creative writing if you only want the money.

But if your purpose is to enjoy your ride and perfect your writing and just be pleased by writing, then you are welcome inside the camp of writers. You’re a writer. So you might just as well do—do what?—write.

Tomorrow we will look into the differences between creative writing and technical writing .

This post is the second instalment in the series “Creative Writing 101.”

Share this:

Further reading:.

• Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Creative Writing

19 thoughts on “How to Get Started in Creative Writing in Just Three Steps”

• Pingback: Creative Writing vs. Technical Writing | Writers Treasure
• Pingback: Fiction Writing Elements to Focus On | Writers Treasure
• Pingback: Creative Non-Fiction: What is it? | Writers Treasure
• Pingback: Why You Should Write Like You Talk (And How I Defeated Writers’ Block) | Writers' Treasure
• Pingback: Creating Writing | Creative Writing Tips
• Pingback: Creative Writing | Aurora Rising

I am trying to become a writer, and I am in the midst of struggling through a bumpy point right now. I am seeking outlets, other kindred spirits to connect with in order to get into focus with my plans. I am online regularly, seeking information and outlets……

when writing express yourself through your thougt, imagination,feeling or emotion. if it is something on history you make some research work. feel free to write without thinking of what people may say it is your work

I love to see my thoughts turn into words. But for some reason I cannot seem to write any story, just general writing I know and understand. I also have a hugh problem with, what is called, grammar!

I just want to write better to be understood. I have my own writing style because of my serious problem with english grammar, so I created my own way of understanding english grammar.

The logic of the words within the sentence, sentence structure and of course editing. How much do you charge for your service? [email protected]

I love to write my thoughts down, I also have a bad time with grammar. How much do you charge? [email protected]

I’m sorry, I don’t see the point of “picking your own genre”. You don’t really give a reason for this point, other than saying: “As soon as I started writing only fiction, my writing improved.” While I don’t doubt that this is true, it is merely your own personal experience. If I enjoy writing several different genres, why shouldn’t I switch between all of them equally? A bit more explanation on this point would be appreciated, thank you.

Well as they said, “Jack of all Trades, master of none”, it is better to find what you work with best rather than play around with all the genres willy nilly, because using the genre you are best with, will allow you to convey what you want to say more easily and your focus will be on being creative rather than actually trying to figure out how to write a short story or a novel, etc. Similar to how an Artist will stick with particular mediums, Watercolour is far different to Oil paints and so the Artist will stay with they are familiar with, the best way to convey what they feel.

The quoted phrase actually originated as “Jack of all trades, master of none; but better than master of one”, the last bit just being dropped for ease and eventually forgotten and misinterpreted.

Hi haven’t you heard they say little knowledge is dangerous. it is true for the point you are trying to make, since it is never easy for anyone to master a number of genres equally, except to master them all equally poorly. the best thing is what’s been said above; pick your genre and be an expert in it and leave the rest to whom who can make the best out of them.

• Pingback: My start – My View

those worried about grammar , i think if you read and write more often ….you are likely to improve your grammar

writing down raw thoughts,ideas ,emotions does work .you may refine it later ,but the raw idea in itself is half the work.

regular writing helps one to express ideas more clearly i also think what drives you to write determines the quality of work if you are doing it to get published , you put yourself under pressure you will constantly feel inadequate

I like creative writing but I don’t how to start, please I want someone to guide me how to write please thank you

• Pingback: The Complete Beginner's Guide to Writing | The Writers

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Related Post

Pen and paper vs. computer – which do you use pen and paper vs. computer – which do you use.

There was a time when every notebook I used to buy I filled it up with words. Nothing but words. There were stories , information about sports I was interested in (at the time) and a whole lot of other idiotic stuff. Whole pages and pages were drowned in words, and I used to love my notebooks.

A year or two later however, we got a new computer. I improved my typing skills (and learned touch typing). I also learned to use programs like Microsoft Word for writing. Henceforth I was using this almost exclusively for my writing. My notebooks, which were once so full that there wasn’t even space to copy down a phone number, now were empty. What happened?

The thing that happened was that I had changed my writing medium from pen and paper to the computer .

But of them is better for your writing? Which is better – pen and paper or the computer keyboard ?

(more…)

• Top Ten Tips to Fight and Defeat Writers’ Block
• Writing Tip: Experiment with Free-writing
• Writing Tip: The Importance of Word Count
• The Big Picture of a Novel – Part III
• Proofreading: Catching Contextual Spelling Errors

Common Mistakes Made by Creative Writers Common Mistakes Made by Creative Writers

Are these mistakes really unavoidable? No, not at all. By avoiding these mistakes, your writing will be better, and you will see that by not making them, you became a better writer.

So to solve this problem I created a list of creative writing mistakes to avoid. By being conscious of the mistakes, you can be careful and not make them in your fiction, articles, reports, etc.

• Why You Should Write Like You Talk (And How I Defeated Writers’ Block)
• 100 Writing Mistakes to Avoid: A Review
• Dos and Don’ts of Writing a Compelling Opening Chapter
• Who Else Wants to Master the Creative Writing Skills?

Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Creative Writing Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Creative Writing

• 1. Why reading up on grammar, spelling and punctuation is the sign of a good writer 2. The myth of proof reading and editing, and how to debunk it 3. Why your first draft won’t be up to scratch, and why revising works 4. And why getting rid of flowery prose, adverbs and unnecessary adjectives is good

So, without any further ado, here we go!

• Editing and Proof Reading – Busting the Myths
• Common Mistakes Made by Creative Writers
• No Method? No Problem!

Expert tips: Getting your creative writing juices flowing

Tapping into your creativity when under pressure is a daunting task, but there are many simple writing and idea-generation techniques that you can use to ease the pain.

Have you ever struggled to come up with creative, attention-grabbing copy to match that brilliant email campaign strategy you spent a week conceiving? It happens. After countless hours planning something, you can hit a creative wall when it's time to actually do that thing.

Sometimes you're overwhelmed with research material. Sometimes you're bogged down by the stress of aggressive deadlines. Sometimes your mental gas tank is just plain empty.

In this post, I'll share four of my favorite and most effective pre-writing creativity techniques to help you get ideas down. Just like the importance of stretching before a workout, think of these techniques as a mental warm-up before you write your first draft.

Before you begin: Analog or digital?

All of my early stage ideas and writing is done in analog—with pen and paper—before hitting the computer for my first draft.

I prefer this for several reasons:

• Promotes singular focus: There are no toolbars or tabs, I'm not bogged down by hundreds of settings and formatting options, I'm not constantly interrupted by notifications, and I don't fall prey to aimless surfing. There's only me, my pen, and a blank page. Free from digital distractions, I have a better chance to focus on a single task or idea.
• It's very freeing: When I'm trying to be creative, I don't think in a straight line. I don't work from left to right and top to bottom. My creative process is very unstructured. I scribble left-to-right and right-to left. I scribble in the margins; sometimes there are no margins. I doodle a bunny that ends up looking like a tiger. I write things that make no sense. It's hard to simulate this freeing lack of rules on a computer.
• There's less results-driven pressure: No matter what app I use, I'm cursed with a sense of finality. It always feels like a final product. Even brainstorming apps that are meant to give you a blank canvas to generate ideas produce things that look equally at home as a business presentation. But on paper, "final" and "perfect" don't even enter into the equation. It looks gloriously messy and feels like the intermediate step that it is. The informal nature of analog writing creates a far more relaxed atmosphere for creativity.
• "The feeling": This one's tough to describe. I simply enjoy the tactile experience of writing with a nice pen in a quality notebook—it becomes almost meditative. I simply don't get the same sensory engagement when trying to create early ideas on a computer.

But this is a very personal preference; maybe it's not for you. If you're accustomed to a screen and keyboard, do it. Or maybe a tablet is your creative buddy. These are simply tools. Tools aid the process; the process creates the product. It's about finding something that aids your process.

An old software developer colleague, despite his technical acumen, preferred using a large whiteboard to figure out complex designs. After hours of scribbling, his whiteboard would be completely covered with sketches rivaling a complex Ocean's casino heist blueprint.

So, let's get started.

Technique #1: Freewriting

This is one of my favorite pre-writing warm-ups: Select a topic to write about. It can be related to the email campaign you're working on or something completely unrelated.

Once you have your topic, write everything you can think of—without stopping. Don't lift your pen from the page or your fingers from the keys. Don't even worry about correct punctuation and grammar. If you start running out of ideas, write "Oh no! I'm running out of ideas…" Just keep writing.

Much of what you end up with will likely be unusable, but that's not the point. The point is to get ideas flowing. And if something is usable, that's a bonus.

Technique #2: Brainstorming

This creativity technique is very similar to freewriting—but less structured.

Like freewriting, you write non-stop without worrying about punctuation and grammar. The only difference is that you don't need to focus on a single topic. Write about anything that pops into your head, even if the ideas are completely unrelated.

Serious, goofy, profound, mundane… Don't discard any ideas; write them all down. Your goal is to ignore the critical part of your brain, ignore the rules of writing, and ignore doubt and judgment.

Free from the structured approaches that have been ingrained in us—especially in the business world—you can come up with unconventional ideas that your "sensible self" usually keeps at bay.

Technique #3: Listing

I love lists… I make lists on how to improve my lists.

During the creative process, I use lists to create categories of words and short sentence snippets that I can eventually use to write my first draft on the computer.

For example, let's say you're creating an email campaign to launch a new product. You can create several lists and jot down words and sentences related to your company's brand and history, your product's features, your product's benefits, your target audience, and any other relevant categories.

You don't need to use all the words and sentences in these lists. They're simply the building blocks to your copy.

Technique #4: Mind mapping

Similar to listing, mind mapping helps you come up with potential words. But it does so in a non-linear fashion.

You place your primary word/idea in the middle and draw a circle or box around it. Then you continue writing down words/ideas related to that central theme, creating a spider web-like diagram that provides you with a visual, non-linear overview of your words/ideas and how they relate with one another.

Mind mapping is one of the few creativity techniques that I prefer doing on the computer instead of paper. Software, such as SimpleMind (one of my favorites), lets you move and reorder entire sections from one branch to another—something you can't do on paper without creating a mess.

Image Credit: SimpleMind

Closing thoughts…

When your ideas aren't flowing, you can wait for inspiration to hit or you can grind away. Neither are particularly effective. The former rarely happens at opportune times; the latter can be counterproductive because the harder you try, the worse it can get.

But with some proper warm-up, you can get yourself into the proper headspace to create and discover le mot juste , the perfect words and phrases to express exactly what you're trying to convey.

We use cookies to improve performance and enhance your experience. By using our website you agree to our use of cookies in accordance with our cookie policy. Read Privacy Policy .

Mailbird for Mac

Sign up to get early access!

Search the Blog

• Soft Skills

Creative Writing For Beginners: Unlock Your Creativity

Unleash your imagination and enhance your storytelling skills with creative writing. Discover techniques, prompts, and tips!

SkillSuccess

An online courses community for people interested in creating a meaningful life through learning things you care about.

Access all courses in our library for only $9/month with All Access Pass

Unleash your imagination and enhance your storytelling skills with creative writing. Discover techniques, prompts, and tips! Read more.

About This Course

Who this course is for:

• Beginners who want to explore creative writing
• Individuals looking to unlock their creativity and imagination
• Busy individuals seeking to fit writing into their lifestyle
• Aspiring writers who eventually want to write full time or get published

What you’ll learn:

• Techniques for character development and creating compelling narratives
• Online writing classes designed to enhance your creative writing skills
• Crafting personal essays that resonate with readers
• Creative writing tips for beginners to overcome challenges and unleash creativity
• Exploring different forms of writing, including short stories, poetry, and creative nonfiction
• Nurturing your writing process and developing a consistent writing routine
• Enhancing your storytelling skills and writing engaging fiction
• Top tips from experienced writers to elevate your creative writing abilities
• Mastering the art of writing poetry and experimenting with poetic forms
• Developing effective writing techniques to captivate your readers
• Unlocking the power of creative nonfiction to tell true stories with artistic flair
• Improving your communication skills through the art of writing

Requirements:

• No prior knowledge is required to take this course

Discover the art of creative writing with our beginner-friendly online course. Develop essential creative writing skills, from character development to writing techniques. Explore various forms of writing, such as personal essays, short stories, and poetry. Get started on your writing journey and learn top tips from experienced creative writers. Enhance your communication skills and unleash your imagination. Enroll in our creative writing class and embark on a transformative writing experience today!

Our Promise to You

By the end of this online course, you will have gained the knowledge and skills necessary to embark on a successful creative writing journey. 

10-Day Money Back Guarantee. If you are unsatisfied for any reason, simply contact us, and we’ll give you a full refund. No questions asked.

Enroll now and elevate your writing skills with our transformative creative writing course. Start your journey as a creative writer and unleash your imagination!

Course Curriculum

Course Review

I appreciate the time and effort you put into this course. It was very educational and straight to the point. Thank you.

Great course!

I really enjoyed this course. I’m currently writing my first novel, and it helped me to set goals for writing daily, frequently engaging in creative exercises, and overall just taking my writing to the next step.

Great for someone who wants to write creatively

Good course for someone new to creative writing.

This is a fantastic course for the basics of writing. She is clear, concise and motivating. Great course!

Great refresher!

I haven’t seriously written in months. This was the first course I was interested in on skillsuccess.com. In fact, creative writing courses were the sole reason for joining skillsuccess.com. I enjoyed the exercises suggested in the course and will be looking up the mentioned books.

Related Courses

Novel Writing Master Class

Fiction Writing: Write And Publish Your First Novel

How To Write A Book: My 7 Day Book-Writing Blueprint

Join our newsletter and get your first course free!

Congratulations! You get one free course of your choice. Please check your email now for the redemption code

Are you interested in higher education?

All Rights Reserved

Insert/edit link

Enter the destination URL

Or link to existing content