Creative Writing 101 - Lesson 1

In an attempt to sort out my writing block, I've found a few free online writing courses I'm going to do. I'm starting with this one.


WHY DO YOU WANT TO WRITE?

1. Do you just love creating stories and writing them down?

I do. I dream some very strange dreams, and sometimes they trigger stories. I have lots of different characters and plots in my head and I want to make them into stories, so that other people can read and enjoy them. When I try and speak them, it's nothing but random ramblings. I want to be able to separate them and make them into good pieces of work.

2. Maybe you want to earn some extra income from your writing.

Who wouldn't want some extra money? And who wouldn't want to be able to do it by doing something they love and enjoy?

3. Would you like to be a full-time, professional writer?

I've always wanted to be a writer. I would love to be able to support myself through my writing. I was always told though, that writing isn't a proper career, and that I needed to do something else. I think it's knocked my confidence a little.

4. Do you have a story (or more) you are bursting to tell?

Hundreds. My brain is buzzing, constantly.

5. Is there something important you want to say, and you think creative writing is the best way to express it?

Not really. I use writing to get out things that are bothering me though. I can often be found scribbling a sentence in my code when I'm in a situation that's annoying me. Just to get it out.

6. Were you good at writing at school, and would like to develop that talent?

My handwriting was atrocious, and still is. But my creative writing wasn't too bad. I was told in high school that my writing was appalling and I'd never be published. Sometimes I want to go back to that teacher with the big stack of books that have my name in them.

7. Have you tried selling a story or novel and been disappointed?

I enter competitions and things, and I've had some stuff published in anthologies. I've been paid for one, but it cost me more than I was paid to get a copy of it. I've never submitted work to publishers though. Too scared, I think.

8. Perhaps you'd like to be famous, like J.K. Rowling or Stephen King.

I'm not sure. I'd like to be well-read, but the idea of fame is kind of scary.

9. You feel a bit powerless in real life, so you'd like to create your own world.

Oh definitely. My depression makes it hard for me to control things. In my stories I'm in control. I decide the way things turn out. It's very satisfying. I just wish I had more control over my own life.

10. You want to teach a moral or an idea, and you think coating the pill with fiction will make it more palatable.

Not really. I have my opinions, and my own morals and ethics, but I don't want to push those down other peoples' throats. They can believe what they like.

There's nothing in this next bit for me to answer, but the information is very true, and I thought I'd share it with any other writers who read my blog.

ADVANTAGES OF CREATIVE WRITING

1. There is always satisfaction in learning to do something well.

2. There is enormous pleasure in planning, producing and polishing a project.

3. Creative writing is a pastime open to a wide variety of people. You need not be especially fit, rich, goodlooking or unusual.

4. Creative writing can be practised in quiet moments with a minimum of equipment. A powerful computer and printer is very useful, but you can still be a writer if you have access to a pencil, pens and paper.

5. You can write at home, if you like, or during the lunch-hour at work.

6. You can preserve characters, memories or ideas for yourself and others.

7. Creative writing can be used to pass on knowledge.

8. Writing is power. You create your own world, or your own version of the existing one, and in that world you are God.

9. Writing is a useful outlet for all those heists you planned and were too respectable to carry out.

10. Finally, writing will teach you discipline and give you a great deal of enjoyment.


DISADVANTAGES OF CREATIVE WRITING

1. To take up creative writing you will probably have to give up something else, even if it's just watching the Friday movie on TV.

2. It can be difficult to concentrate on your plot if the family is rioting in the same room.

3. Like any other pastime, writing can take over your life - if you let it.

4. Some writers find it difficult to get family and friends to take their work seriously.

5. It's hard work.

6. You can end up with a variety of aches and pains and even, after years of determined keyboarding, intractible RSI.

7. Creative writing is a rather "invisible" talent. To share it with someone else, that person must have the time and inclination to spend a good deal of time listening or reading. Other talents, such as musicality, cooking, painting and dancing are easier to share!

Note how there are more advantages than disadvantages?

WRITING EXERCISE: Choose one of the basic types of writing covered in this lesson. Write an informal essay or letter explaining why this kind of writing appeals to you and outlining a project you would like to produce. Use your natural style, and try to write steadily and without stopping.

Fan-fiction is a creative form that's reasonably new, as far as I'm aware. It's certainly new in my own sphere. Since the popularity boom of the internet though, it's everywhere. Almost any television show or movie or book that you can think of has fan-fiction somewhere on the internet. I love the idea of taking characters that I'm familiar with and creating new stories for them. They come with their own background, their own history, their own stories, their own interaction with other characters. It gives you a basis to start with, a stepping stone, a launch pad. I've started fan-fiction before. Somewhere in my archives of semi-started projects, there's a Harry Potter story and a Buffy the Vampire Slayer story. One day I'll get around to finishing them. My problem is that they're intended to be novels. In this rambling informal essay, I'm meant to be outlining a project I'd like to produce. I'm going to start with a short story. I'll choose a television show or movie that I'm familiar with, and draft a short story for one or some of the characters. At least, I'll attempt to. I'm certainly a fan of enough different shows to have a wide choice available. I guess it depends on the genre I want to work in.

Any suggestions for fan-fic topics? Keep your eyes peeled for the results. I promise I'll post something, eventually.