INTRODUCTION

Welcome to this blog about Creative Writing. First and foremost, I recommend you to check your basic knowledge about the discipline by filling out this form. When you finish, come back and keep reading this introduction. We have plenty of time.

Hopefully, you have landed your mind under the realm of Creative Writing. This blog will show you some tools and tricks that you can use to improve your writing and creative skills.

I also recommend you have a look at the following old article written by John Barth about the possibility of teaching Creative Writing and your role as a writer in your learning process.

Since there is no standard definition of what is Creative Writing, I will give you a working definition:

“Creative writing is an academic discipline that deals with the process of creating an original piece of writing from a creative point of view. This piece can be prose or verse, and it can be fictional or non-fictional.”

This blog is meant to show you some tools that you can use to improve your writing and creative skills.

Every week I will write a blog post that will explain one specific topic about Creative Writing. Some of the topics covered will be: how to write a short story, how to write a flash fiction story, how to write a sonnet, how to write a non-fiction article, etc.

Moreover, in every week's blog post, there will be a writing prompt, that will help you kickstart the task to create your own sonnet, your own short story, and so on.

There is a post I recommend you to save on your favorites called “Links and Resources” where you can find a lot of information about Creative Writing. The parts of this section are: Websites (where you can find other blogs and websites with resources), Videos (with lessons and explanations about writing different material), Podcasts (that I have listened to and found interesting to improve my writing), and Literary Magazines (where you can read stories and poems written by other people or where you can submit your own for publication).

If you are still not sure about the possibilities of Creative Writing, check out this presentation.

HOW TO WRITE A SHORT STORY

Step 1:

Start from the end. Most writers would agree that it is easier to begin your short story if you know where it ends. In that way, your character should start at the opposite side of the climax that you are aiming towards. Write it down.

Step 2:

Think of an effect that you can create on your reader. This is a piece of advice recommended by Edgar Allan Poe in his philosophy of composition. Write it down.

Step 3:

Stick to the ONE rule: one main character, one setting, and one unit of time (typically one hour or one day). Write it all down.

Step 4:

Decide how you are going to hook your readers. Your first line is decisive to raise interest in your readers so that they keep reading. You can start in the middle of an action, or with a question, or a conflict. Here are some ideas about how to begin your hook. Yes, write your hook down.

Step 5:

Write your first draft. Since you know your beginning, middle, and ending, now you can write your story. Do so without correcting anything and not paying attention to mistakes that you might be making on the process. Let your creativity flow through the page. More than at any other step of this process, write away. This is the first draft of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

Step 6:

Let your story cool for a day or two without looking at it or changing anything. It is vital that you let it breathe and that you distance yourself from the story. Put on your editor hat and read it as if somebody else would have given it to you, asking for your opinion. What things are working? What can be improved? Edit as much as possible with the objective of enhancing the story.

Step 7:

Read the edited version out loud. It will give you a sense of how your story sounds and surely help you improve that version. Edit away.

Step 8:

When you think that your story is ready to send it to some friends for their advice, see if they understand what you want to transmit with your story. Ask them questions about the doubts that you might have. It is very important that you listen to them attentively since each one is a potential reader that might pinpoint a possible mistake of your story.

Step 9:

Congratulations, your story is ready!

If you want more information about how to write a story, here are some resources that you can use:

- Reedsy. Excellent information about how to write a short story. Some of the steps have been taken from here.
- OpenCulture. Here are some tips about how to write a short story from story master Kurt Vonnegut.

LINKS AND RESOURCES

WEBSITES

• Writer’s Digest. Known by their A5 monthly booklets, they have one of the most comprehensive source of materials for aspiring writers.
• NaNoWriMo. Acronym for National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo is a non-profit organization and a community where writers join to share their projects. Once a year, they encourage writers to create a novel within the timespan of a month.

VIDEOS

• Short story. In this hour-long video, you will learn how to write your first short story of 300 words. Acclaimed writer Mary Robinette Kowal teaches at BYU University.

• Poetry. This is a Ted talk, and therefore an 18-minute-long crash course about how to write a poem. Daniel Tysdal debunks poetry.

PODCASTS

• Writing Excuses: While they focus mostly on novel and fantasy writing, I would recommend this podcast to any writer out there. They run 15 minutes nuggets of information "because you are in a hurry, and we are not that smart." I recommend cherry-picking the episode depending on what you want to learn and do the exercise/writing prompt that they propose at the end of each chapter. If you want to learn how to write your own novel from idea to end, tune in to Season 10. It is hosted by New York Times bestseller Brandon Sanderson and by acclaimed writers Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Howard Tyler.
• The Story Grid PodCast: How to write a novel from the perspective of an experienced professional editor. This podcast will give you an insight into what goes on behind the scenes of a publishing company and why manuscripts get rejected. Experienced editor Shawn Coyne helps amateur writer wannabe Tim Grahl in every step of writing his adventure novel. Very insightful episodes of an hour of length where we learn alongside with Tim the knowledge accumulated by Shawn over 30 years of experience.

LITERARY MAGAZINES

• The New Yorker. One of the most well-known literary magazines, with more than a million readers a day.
• Ploughshares. Published by Emerson College and based in Boston, Massachusetts. Not only they publish short story fiction, but also poetry and essays.