If you want to be a good creative writer, you must know how hard it can get sometimes, to think of interesting stories or characters for your next story. Creative writing is not really much to do with skill, as it is to do with imagination and creativity. Here are 5 creative writing tips that will help you become a better creative writer.
1. Read and Analyze
The first thing that any creative writer needs to do, and you probably would have heard this from a thousand other people, is to read a lot. No matter how much time it takes, it is important that you spend those hours behind a novel to improve your own skills. Don’t just read, but also analyze what you read. Focus on the style as well as the use of imageries used by the author. If there is a particular author you like and admire, make sure to read as much of his or her work as you can. Figure out what aspects of the author’s storytelling you admire, and work on incorporating similar traits in your writing.
2. Set a Time
You need to make sure that the time you spend on your writing is the most creative time of your day. First, you will need to take a few days to figure when exactly you are at your creative best. For most people, this time is early in the morning – before the day starts and you begin to get busy with other work. Others write well late at night, after the rest of the family have gone to bed. You need to figure out if you are an early morning person or a late night person. It is not important to stick to the stereotypes, though. Maybe you write well at odd hours like late afternoon. Don’t be afraid to experiment!
3. Develop a Vivid Imagination
Perhaps one of the most important attributes a creative writer needs to have is a vivid imagination. While developing your story or your characters, it is very helpful if you have a good imagination that can help you devise settings that are very entertaining and engrossing. The ability to think outside the box and conjure up ideas that are novel is priceless in creative writing. If you have an inherent sense of imagination, good for you. If this is a problem, we advise you to read more creative writing stories. Also, being alert in your everyday life can help you too. Observing people and places around you can give you a sense of imagination and creativity.
4. Be Cruel
Introducing unexpected twists is a very effective way of making your story interesting and gripping. One such way to do this is by being cruel. Yes, this sounds like a very cruel idea, but it has proven to be effective more often than not! (Game of Thrones, anyone?) No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters are, make awful things happen to them. Let them suffer, make them go through excruciating situations, so that the readers will see what your characters are made of. Doing this will make the readers root for their favourite characters, and in the process, your story will become a hit!
5. Face Criticism
Any sort of criticism is good for your writing. It’s a great tool for writers, especially if it is constructive advice. But once in a while, harsh criticism will be thrown at you. This is a part and parcel of life as a writer. Instead of hitting back or sulking, the best thing to do is to face it. Especially as a creative writer, some of your imagined work may not go down too well with some people. But, this must not pull you down. In order to be a good creative writer, it is essential that you develop the ability to face criticism. Once you take all the good and bad criticism alike, your writing will improve greatly.
Image credit: Enokson on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Pranay.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Pranay Kanagat is a freelance writer who has a love for writing on various subjects. In particular, he enjoys creative writing. He is also studying for an Engineering degree.[/author_info] [/author]