How To Develop Your Own Personal Course In Creative Writing
Posted on | February 23, 2009 | No Comments
Some excellent writers have never taken a formal course in creative writing. They write because they love the activity of writing. However, as with all endeavors, there’s always room for improvement. While you may have developed confidence along the way, thoughts lurk in the back of your mind, urging you to take the next step in developing better writing skills.
You know your strengths and weaknesses, but may shy away from a formal course in creative writing simply because you feel that writing class may be too generalized and possibly a waste of time and money. Finding that just-right course in creative writing might prove difficult enough to put you off the idea for good. Writers do tend to be independent-minded people! Does this sound like you?
This article is written for you, with a plan to help you develop your own personal course in creative writing. Each of the elements are designed to let you focus on different aspects of the creative writing process. Pick and choose whatever strikes your fancy on any given day. After thoroughly exploring each area, assign yourself a final paper, consisting of a short story.
Before beginning your personal course in creative writing, there are two books I’d highly recommend for your reference library. The first is ‘The Rhetoric of Fiction’, by Wayne C. Booth, a classic text in rhetoric. The second is ‘Ourselves Among Others’, a compilation of essays and fiction from multi-cultural perspectives, published by Bedford Press, a subsidiary of St. Martin’s. This book is an excellent resource for developing critical thinking skills. With a bit of searching, you should be able to locate both through a used book store.
Now, on to the exercises of your course in creative writing. Again, address each in whatever order suits you. Work at your own pace, but once begun, complete one lesson before moving on to another.
1.You’ve heard the adage, ‘show, don’t tell’. This is an essential component of writing which draws your reader into the story. This is a facet of writing that many writers find difficult. Your goal in this lesson of your course in creative writing is to let your descriptions form imagery of settings and characters which allow the reader to gain a subtle, but distinct impression of the place or person you’re describing. You want to avoid simple, unequivocal descriptions. This detracts from your reader’s interest. For example, compare these two descriptions:
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