Creative Writing

Types of Creative Writing

Let's start at the very beginning: what are the different types of creative writing?

In literature, there are four key types of creative writing:

• Fiction (novels and short stories)

• Creative non-fiction

• Poetry

• Scriptwriting (plays, films, and TV shows)

Each of these creative writing forms has its own styles and conventions that make them unique and interesting.

Other Creative Writing Types

Literary works are not the only writing forms that can be classed as creative. Some others that often use creative writing include:

• Speeches

• Blogs

• Advertising

• Essays

• Journal entries

• Letters and emails

Creative Writing Examples

We'll now look at some examples of creative writing. For simplicity's sake, we'll focus on the four main types of creative writing.

Fiction

The Great Gatsby is a fictional novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. Here's an excerpt:

Fitzgerald uses the first-person narrator of Nick to tell the story of the novel and as such, we see the events and relationships in the novel through Nick's eyes.

The novel follows a plot, explores different themes (such as The American Dream, love, power, and class disparity), and has a strong sense of setting, which we see in the excerpt above.

Fitzgerald also uses a lot of figurative language, such as anthropomorphism. Examples include describing the earth as 'lurching' and laughter as 'spilling' and 'tipping'. There are also many descriptive adjectives ('brighter', 'yellow cocktail music' 'cheerful').

Fitzgerald's language is very emotive, and his creative use of descriptions and comparisons makes the writing all the more engaging.

Creative Non-Fiction

Travel writing is a common form of creative non-fiction, and we'll use Bill Bryson's The Road to Little Dribbling as an example. This book is just one of Bryson's many travel guides and was written in 2015.

This travel book is non-fictional, as it is Bryson's own account of his travels across England, but it is still creatively written rather than fact being his only focus. Bryson himself is the 'main character' in the book, and the other characters are the people he interacted with during his travels.

The book's plot is his adventure across England, and the purpose is to entertain and inform, as Bryson provides factual information and creative storytelling.

Throughout the book, he creates a sense of setting by describing the places he visited in great detail. In the excerpt above, we see an example of this detail in how he describes the Tudor Rose as 'the world's most endearingly terrible restaurant'. This line includes hyperbole and juxtaposition, making the description humorous and effective.

Fig 2. Travel writing is an example of creative non-fiction.

Poetry

There are many great and well-known American poets whose poetry illustrates the conventions of creative writing. Here's an example from Langston Hughes' poem Harlem, written in 1951:

All poetry is a form of creative writing. In this example, we see some common conventions of poetry, such as the poem's structure, and its rhyme scheme (although not all kinds of poetry follow a rhyme scheme).

Hughes uses figurative language consistently throughout the poem, and we can see five examples of similes, which is quite a lot for such a short poem. In some ways, the whole poem is an example of figurative language as it is all describing a 'dream deferred'. This creative use of language also evokes many striking images in the reader's mind.

There are also multiple examples of enjambment, which creates an almost melodic effect when you read the poem.

Scriptwriting

Scriptwriting can take several forms, such as film scripts or scripts for television, but for this example, we'll look at scriptwriting for the stage. This is an excerpt from Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, written in 1959:

The script for Death of a Salesman is an example of fiction as it is not based on a real story or person. We immediately get a glimpse into the characters' lives, and there is no narrator like there would be in a novel or short story. Instead, we see some stage directions in the excerpt, which give us more information about the manner and tone of voice used by the characters.

The stage directions also give us a sense of setting as we are told that Linda hears Willy 'outside the bedroom'. This suggests that this portion of the play will happen in their bedroom.

This is only the play's opening, but Miller has already created a sense of plot by building tension in Willy and Linda's interaction.

Creative Writing Prompts

Now that you've learned a bit more about creative writing and have seen examples of each type of creative writing, here are some prompts to consider for your writing.

• A character is exploring an abandoned building and walks into an empty room, only to discover signs that there has recently been a person living in the room. What do they find? What are their thoughts? Do they encounter the other person?

• Imagine a love story. Easy right? Now try to write one without any of the usual love story clichés or tropes. Your story does not have to be about romantic love.

• Write a journal entry of a person who has been stranded on a boat without power that has drifted out to see. How long has this person been on the boat? What sorts of experiences have they had? What are their feelings?

Fig 3. Thinking about different scenarios, no matter how far-fetched they might seem to us, is a great way to spark inspiration for creative writing.

Creative Writing Topics

If you want to practice your creative writing but don't feel like following a prompt, you might want to try writing about a whole topic rather than a specific idea. Here are some more general topics to get you started on your creative writing journey:

• A deserted beach

• A childhood memory

• 100 years in the future

• The animal kingdom

• The mysteries of space

• Cooking something new

• A Halloween party