Creative writing is more than just passing on information to a reader; it’s about the expression of thoughts, of emotions and of feelings too, and tends to be aimed at fiction writing, although it can be used for non-fiction and poetry. Think about some novels you might have read recently; did you notice how the writer conveyed their own thoughts and feelings, using their imagination?

Creative writing could be thought of as a form of freedom; readers can lose themselves in a story that has been written in a way that makes them feel like they are there, in a way that they can feel the emotions, live the story and get to know the characters. Writers get to express themselves in a creative and imaginative way, not to mention unique.

Any kind of writing is hard work but it can also be incredibly rewarding, not just in monetary terms but in the satisfaction you get from seeing a book through to the end, of seeing it go on sale and of having people read and enjoy your creation.

Getting Started

So many people think that writing is easy; they’ve read hundreds of books, surely they can just sit down and write one themselves. We all believe ourselves to be fluent, to be literate to the extent that we can all push a book out. Try it; see what happens. I guarantee that you will get as far as the title and, if you’re really lucky, maybe the first few lines of the first chapter.

Writing a novel depends on many things; they must be constructed properly and they must mean something. By all means, try it but don’t get disheartened if you come to a crashing halt; it happens to the best writers. Don’t forget, many successful novelists spend many months, sometimes years, writing a best-selling novel; they don’t sit at their computers and reel it out in a week. Creative writing takes real effort and perhaps the most important thing to remember is to start small. Don’t try to write an epic novel or a trilogy the first time around; forget writing a huge saga that spans many generations and don’t even think about writing a huge adventure series. If you’ve never written anything, start with a short story. If all you have written is non-fiction, don’t think that a fiction story will be dead simple; it’s a whole new ball game.

You will start with great intentions but don’t be surprised if you wind up staring at the computer screen, gazing out of the window while you try to think of something or chewing on your pen. One simple way to get started is set yourself a short exercise to do – a set number of words, don’t think about the quality of the writing, just do it. You might be quite surprised at what you come up with and, whatever it is, it can be shaped into something much more.

In part 2 you will find a few tips and tricks to help you along.