{"id":427,"date":"2013-12-09T00:00:08","date_gmt":"2013-12-09T00:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.princetontutoring.com\/?p=427"},"modified":"2015-01-13T21:45:39","modified_gmt":"2015-01-13T21:45:39","slug":"so-you-want-to-be-a-writer-creative-writing-101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.princetontutoring.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/so-you-want-to-be-a-writer-creative-writing-101\/","title":{"rendered":"So you want to be a writer? Creative Writing 101"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.princetontutoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/ja09_books_creative_writing.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-430 alignleft\" alt=\"ja09_books_creative_writing\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.princetontutoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/ja09_books_creative_writing-300x227.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"227\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.princetontutoring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/ja09_books_creative_writing-300x227.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.princetontutoring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/ja09_books_creative_writing.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Possess a passion for the written word? Better yet, possess a passion for creating your own combinations of words, ideas, meanings, stories? You\u2019re not alone. Besides being the favorite pastime of this blog\u2019s author, creative writing has enjoyed a renewal of popularity amongst middle and high school students, with good reason. Writing is perhaps one of the greatest channels for creativity, and creativity is quickly earning its place in the classroom as one of the best methods for instruction.<\/p>\n<p>My goal is to help you creative writers out there learn ways to transform your current scribblings into something you might bring in to a college creative writing class. Anyone can write, but few know truly how to <i>write. <\/i>Here are a few ideas about how to train your creative writing muscle, and train it to do great things.<\/p>\n<p><em>[Continue reading for writing tips!]<\/em><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Write often.<\/b> This is the ultimate golden rule of writing. In my own personal experience, I notice how my writing becomes stale or overly wordy if I do not creatively write with habit. You do not have to write a short story a day necessarily. You can journal for example (one of the <i>best <\/i>methods of keeping up your writing!), or jot down a few sentences. Try keeping a writing journal that is distinct from your day-to-day journal, one which contains ideas, paragraphs, sentences, character names, and anything else that strikes you as writing-worthy.<\/li>\n<li><b>Read short stories.<\/b> This is equally as golden as the previous rule. That\u2019s right: published, real life short stories. The only way you can learn how to find your own writing style is to learn about the writing styles of professional writers. Some of the best advice I\u2019ve been given has been the following by one of my professors: \u201cRead these essays to learn how <i>not <\/i>to write.\u201d\u00a0 But reading short stories can also give you a greater grasp on narrative economy, characterization, and plot devices. Check out some of my personal favorites: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.randomhouse.com\/boldtype\/ohenry\/0902\/brockmeier_ceiling.html\">The Ceiling<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/jordansebastianbonner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/Moore.pdf\">People Like That are the Only People Here<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/archive\/2003\/04\/21\/030421fi_fiction\">What You Pawn I Will Redeem<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><b>Write what you know. <\/b>Think about your favorite authors. Where did they get their ideas from? Real life! There is an art to writing what you know as apart from writing autobiography, and certainly you will have to learn this distinction in your future writing years. But you must write from your own experiences. Don\u2019t feel like you have any? I\u2019d dare to prove you wrong. Think about the old lady next door: what\u2019s her story? The broken-down shed in the backyard? The convenience store around the corner? Anything can be written about. Just go out and snatch it.<\/li>\n<li><b>Establish a routine. <\/b>When are you best able to write? Find a time of day when the juices are flowing best, and stick to it. Some writers write just before breakfast, some just before bed. Stick to a routine\u2014be it journaling each morning for five minutes, or writing a paragraph in the cafeteria each day\u2014and you will be able to track your own productivity along the way. The more you are in touch with your writing self, the more in tune you will be with your style and tendencies.<\/li>\n<li><b>Read writing guides, especially what great writers have to say about their writing. <\/b>They are greats for a reason; usually they can pass on some great advice. Check out what <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/interviews\/3441\/the-art-of-fiction-no-72-joyce-carol-oates\">Joyce Carol Oates<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2013\/09\/25\/faulkner-writing_n_3984603.html\">William Faulkner<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brainpickings.org\/index.php\/2012\/09\/19\/zadie-smith-10-rules-of-writing\/\">Zadie Smith<\/a> have to say about creative writing. Also consider <a href=\"http:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/12530.The_Writing_Life\">Annie Dillard\u2019s The Writing Life<\/a>: a book which changed my writing life!<\/li>\n<li><b>Be open to criticism.<\/b> It\u2019s hard to hear from a teacher or friend that your story \u201creally isn\u2019t all that great.\u201d Do <i>not <\/i>be discouraged. As a young writer, you certainly face the daunting task of adding your small words to a very large corpus of competing creative writers. But there is no greater opportunity: you <i>have <\/i>something unique to contribute. Listen to criticism; apply it if you wish; and your writing will only ever benefit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Stay tuned for next week\u2019s post, which will focus on <a title=\"Writing Creatively\" href=\"http:\/\/blog.princetontutoring.com\/2013\/12\/writing-creatively\/\">writing creatively<\/a>\u2014far different (believe it or not) from creatively writing!<\/p>\n<p>About the author: <em>Kathleen McGunagle is a senior in Princeton University\u2019s English department and Interdisciplinary Humanities Certificate Program. Concentrating in British Renaissance Literature, she will be writing a thesis this spring on Shakespeare and epistolary culture. Kathleen is an Academic Peer Adviser at Princeton, tutor through Princeton Tutoring, and avid performer. She has recently returned from a year of study at Worcester College, Oxford.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Possess a passion for the written word? Better yet, possess a passion for creating your own combinations of words, ideas, meanings, stories? You\u2019re not alone. Besides being the favorite pastime of this blog\u2019s author, creative writing has enjoyed a renewal of popularity amongst middle and high school students, with good reason. Writing is perhaps one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[46,47],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.princetontutoring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.princetontutoring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.princetontutoring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.princetontutoring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.princetontutoring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.princetontutoring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":898,"href":"https:\/\/www.princetontutoring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427\/revisions\/898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.princetontutoring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.princetontutoring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.princetontutoring.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}