ON BEING A CREATIVE WRITER

Just what is “CREATIVE WRITING?

Are you writing CREATIVELY when you’re telling the story of an incident that you remember from your youth?

OR, is it when you describe a beautiful sunset or ocean waves?

MAYBE, it’s when you give your reader a description of your great grandmother.

OBVIOUSLY, it is when you write a short story that has never been written before.

OF COURSE, it is when you write a poem that warms the heart of your reader.

There are hundreds of ways to produce creative writing.  For as long as they lived, I wrote letters to my great grandmother and both of my grandmothers.  (I still have some of their letters among my memorabilia and I wouldn’t trade a million dollars for the love they represent.)  My handwritten letters were long and included the description of events in my life and our family.  I wrote specifically about my feelings concerning ordinary daily events.  I was WRITING CREATIVELY.

By the way, I strongly encourage you to take time today to handwrite a long letter to each of your grandparents.  Not only will that be good practice for you, but it will bring joy to each of them.  Their response will touch your heart.

The first year after my college graduation in 1960, I accepted a contract to teach CREATIVE WRITING to eighth grade students in the small town of Ceres, California.  I had no idea what the course outline should be; neither did my principal or superintendent.  I knew it could be an exciting course.  In the end, I was amazed at the wonderful writing that the students' ideas and creative thoughts put on paper.

What did I do to help them write creatively?  One day I played classical music that portrayed a rainstorm in the Grand Canyon and asked them to write a description of the rainstorm.  I wanted them to capture the picture that came to their minds while they listened.  Another day, I led a discussion about trees then asked them to write a paragraph, prose or poetry about trees.  One day I put some words on the black board and asked them to write about one of the subjects:  shoe, tire, house, grass.  Every time I was amazed at some of the wonderful writings they turned in.  I still have some of their writings.  Even the boys who were usually disruptive in class with their show off antics turned in wonderful poetry and prose.  ANYONE CAN WRITE CREATIVELY.

What can you write creatively about?  Well, just look around yourself right now.  Whether you’re sitting in a library, your room, in a park, on a street or in a classroom, your eyes can see something that you can write about creatively.  Wherever you are, there is such a subject. How about the person who just walked by? Or the dog following the elderly man? Or the teenage boy who just turned his head to watch the girl nearest him?  Or the shelves of library books?  Or the teacher with a couple of wrinkles in her brow as she reads a student’s paper?  Or the myriad of posters hanging on your wall?  Anyone or anything that you see or hear, is a subject for writing creatively.

That which gives you a thought can be the basis for a short story, a descriptive poem, a character description, a silly poem, a heart-warming poem.  The ideas are endless.

CREATIVE WRITING is what you make it.  After you’ve begun to WRITE CREATIVELY, you are a writer.  If you KEEP WRITING, one day you might just have written something that brings you praise from people around you; and, who knows, you might just happen to be another financially famous author.