CREATIVE WRITING

Writing is a form of personal freedom. It fess us from the mass identity we

see all around us. In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of
some under culture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as
individuals.
Writing of any sort is hard but a rewarding work. Youll gain a huge amount
of satisfaction from a finished piece. Being creative can also be difficult
and challenging at times but immensely fun.
1. Creative Writing
It is a writing that expresses the writers thoughts and feelings in an
imaginative, often unique and poetic way. Creative writing is guided
more by writers need to express feelings and ideas than by
restrictive demands of factual and logical progression of expository
writing.
1.1

Take, for instance, the following example:

The mountains are beautiful.
What, exactly, does beautiful look like?
The mountains are stacked like dominos, their white caps
crisscrossing the western sky.
In another example, the writer is describing her grandmother:
She was very pretty.
What does pretty look like? Is very pretty prettier than just
pretty?

Imaginative/Creative Writing vs. Technical Writing

Creative writing is written to entertain and educate. We enjoy

reading novels and stories not because they are necessary to
read but because we get a certain pleasure from reading them,
the pleasure which cant be got from reading technical writing. It
sometimes follows a given set of rules, and sometimes throws
caution to the winds and breaks all of them.
Technical writing is wholly written to inform and sometimes to
trigger the person reading into making an action beneficial to
the one of the writer. It has its own set of rules, conventions, and
dos and donts.
1.2

goose bumps, and makes you taste, hear and smell what the
writer tastes, hears and smells.

Sensory Experience

Sensory detail is using imagery incorporating the five senses

sight (visual), sound (auditory), smell (olfactory), taste
(gustatory), and touch (tactile). As humans, we learn about the
world and our surroundings through our senses. A reader needs
to feel engaged in the written world you are creating. Writing
that incorporates sensory images engages the reader and
makes the writing come alive. It quickens the pulse, gives you

Grandmothers painted crimson lips were always smiling, her high

cheekbones and deep; topaz eyes reminded me of Elizabeth
Taylor.
This example describes a Thanksgiving dinner:
The turkey was good.
What does good taste like?
The Thanksgiving turkey was moist and tender, the apple stuffing
permeating each bite of delicate white meat.
In narrative essays, you want the reader to experience what you
experienced. Telling an audience something looks beautiful or
tastes good is vague; you need to create a sensory image of what
beautiful or good means to you, and how the reader should
view beautiful or taste good. The only way to do this is through
sensory imagery. Look at the following short paragraph describing a
boy helping an elderly woman up a flight of stairs:

Grandmother Workman reached over and grabbed her grandsons

arm. He was nervous because the staircase was so steep, but she
leaned against him and they began to climb.

allows the reader access to see into the story on a different

level.
Types of Imagery

Now, look at the same scene, but here, the writer has incorporated
sensory detail:

a. Visual Imagery describes what we see: comic book

images, paintings, or images directly experienced through
the narrators eyes. Visual imagery may include:

Grandmother Workman lurched over and grabbed the pale skin of

Randals thin forearm with her leathery hand. The folds and
creases beneath her skin coiled themselves out like electrical
wiring, like the bloated, roughly-textured relief map of the world
that his mother just posted above his bedside table. Randal
looked ahead toward the winding spiral staircase, fidgeted with a
small hole in his baseball jersey, and bit his lip. His mouth filled
with the sweet, coppery taste of blood as she leaned in closely
toward him, breathing her hot breath on the damp hair at the
base of his neck. She smelled of wet cigarettes and bacon. As
they slowly climbed the long, steep staircase, the only sound was
his grandmothers labored breathing and the mournful creak of
the wooden stairs.

Color, such as: burnt red, bright orange, dull yellow, verdant green
and Robins egg blue
Shapes, such as: square, circular, tubular, rectangular, and conical
Size, such as: miniscule, tiny, small, medium-sized,
large, and gigantic.
Pattern, such as: polka-dotted, striped, zig-zagged,
jagged, and straight.
Imagery using visuals:

Note: As you write your narrative, your reader didnt experience what
you experienced. To engage your reader, work on incorporating sensory
detail into your narrative, and watch your writing come alive.

(In this example, the experience of the night sky is described in depth with color
(black as ever, bright), shape (varied constellations), and pattern (sprinkled).

1.3

Language

A. Imagery
Imagery is about description, but it is the kind of description
that brings depth to otherwise flat depiction. It brings the
narrative to life. It is designed to enhance sensory
experiences. Imagery is language used by poets, novelists
and other writers to create images in the mind of the reader.
Imagery includes figurative and metaphorical language
to improve the readers experience through their senses.
Imagery in fiction isnt just about describing actions or telling
the reader what is happening. Instead the use of imagery
allows the reader to identify with the story, the characters
and the themes by making the reader see everything in their
mind, just like a picture or a movie. Good use of imagery

The night was black as ever, but bright stars lit up the sky in
beautiful and varied constellations which were sprinkled across
the astronomical landscape.

b. Auditory Imagery describes what we hear, from music

to noise to pure silence. Auditory imagery may include:

Enjoyable sounds, such as: beautiful music, birdsong,

and the voices of a chorus.
Noises, such as: the bang of a gun, the sound of a
broom moving across the floor, and the sound of
broken glass shattering on the hard floor.
The lack of noise, describing a peaceful calm or eerie
silence.

Imagery using sounds:

Silence was broken by the peal of piano keys as Shannon began
practicing her concerto.
(Here, auditory imagery breaks silence with the beautiful sound of piano keys.)

c. Olfactory Imagery describes what we smell. Olfactory

imagery may include:

Fragrances, such as perfumes, enticing food and drink,
and blooming flowers.
Odors, such as rotting trash, body odors, or a stinky wet dog.

After the long run, he collapsed in the grass with tired and
burning muscles. The grass tickled his skin and sweat cooled on
his brow.
(In this example, imagery is used to describe the feeling of strained muscles,
grasss tickle, and sweat cooling on skin.)

B. Figures of Speech

Imagery using scent:

A figure of speech is a word or phrase that has a meaning

something different than its literal meaning. It can be
a metaphor or simile that is designed to further explain a
concept. Or, it can be a different way of pronouncing a word
or phrase such as with alliteration to give further meaning or
a different sound.

She smelled the scent of sweet hibiscus wafting through the air,
its tropical smell a reminder that she was on vacation in a
beautiful place.
(The scent of hibiscus helps describe a scene which is relaxing, warm, and
welcoming.)

d. Gustatory Imagery describes what we taste. Gustatory

imagery can include:
Sweetness, such as candies, cookies, and desserts.
Sourness, bitterness, and tartness, such as lemons and limes.
Saltiness, such as pretzels, French fries, and pepperonis.
Spiciness, such as salsas and curries.
Imagery using taste:
The candy melted in her mouth and swirls of bittersweet
chocolate and slightly sweet but salty caramel blended together
on her tongue.
(Thanks to an in-depth description of the candys various flavors, the reader can
almost experience the deliciousness directly.)

e. Tactile Imagery describes what we feel or touch. Tactile

imagery includes:

Temperature, such as bitter cold, humidity, mildness,

and stifling heat.
Texture, such as rough, ragged, seamless, and smooth.
Touch, such as hand-holding, ones in the grass, or the
feeling of starched fabric on ones skin.
Movement, such as burning muscles from exertion,
swimming in cold water, or kicking a soccer ball.

Imagery using touch:

Examples of Figures of Speech

Alliteration is the repetition of beginning sounds. Examples

are:
Sally sells seashells.
Walter wondered where Winnie was.
Blue baby bonnets
Anaphora is a technique where several phrases or verses
begin with the same word or words. Examples are:
I came, I saw, I conquered - Julius Caesar
Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition! King John William Shakespeare
With malice toward none; with charity for all; with
firmness in the right, - Abraham Lincoln
We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. Winston Churchill
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in words that are
close together.
A - For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels
named Lenore (Poe)
E - Therefore all seasons shall be sweet to thee
(Coleridge)
I - From what Ive tasted of desire, I hold with those who
favor fire (Frost)
O - Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn
(Wordsworth)

U - Uncertain rustling of each purple curtain (Poe)

Euphemism is a word or phrase that replaces a word or

phrase to make it more polite or pleasant. Examples are:
Homeless instead of bum
Letting him go instead of fired him
Passed away instead of died
Hyperbole uses exaggeration for
Examples are:
Ive told you a hundred times
I could do this forever
She is older than dirt

emphasis

or

effect.

Irony is using words where the meaning is the opposite of

their usual meaning.
After begging for a cat and finally getting one, she found
out she was allergic.
Dramatic irony is knowing the killer is hiding in a closet in
a scary movie.
Naming a Chihuahua Brutus

Metaphor compares two unlike things or ideas. Examples are:

Heart of stone
The world is a stage.
She is a night owl.

Onomatopoeia is a word
describing. Examples are:
Whoosh
Splat
Buzz

Oxymoron is two
Examples are:
Kosher ham
Small crowd
Free market

that

contradictory

sounds

terms

like

what

used

it

is

together.

Personification is giving human qualities to non-living things

or ideas.
The flowers nodded

Snowflakes danced
The wind howled

Simile is a comparison between two unlike things using the

words "like" or "as."
Like peas in a pod
As blind as a bat
As wise as an owl
Synecdoche is when a part represents the whole or the whole
is represented by a part. Examples are:
Wheels - a car
Coke - any cola drink
Army - a soldier

2. Reading and Writing Poetry

A. POETRY ASSUMPTIONS
That a poem is to be read for its "message,"
That this message is "hidden" in the poem,
The message is to be found by treating the words as symbols
which naturally do not mean what they say but stand for
something else,
You have to decipher every single word to appreciate and
enjoy the poem
B. STRUCTURE and POETRY
a. STANZAS: Stanzas are a series of lines grouped together
and separated by an empty line from other stanzas. They are

the equivalent of a paragraph in an essay. One way to

identify a stanza is to count the number of lines. Thus:

couplet (2 lines)

tercet (3 lines)

quatrain (4 lines)

cinquain (5 lines)

sestet (6 lines) (sometimes it's called a sexain)

septet (7 lines)

octave (8 lines)

b. FORM: A poem may or may not have a specific number of

lines, rhyme scheme and/or metrical pattern, but it can still
be labeled according to its form or style.
Three most common types of poems according to form:
1. Lyric Poetry: It is any poem with one speaker (not
necessarily the poet) who expresses strong thoughts and
feelings. Most poems, especially modern ones, are lyric
poems.
2. Narrative Poem: It is a poem that tells a story; its
structure resembles the plot line of a story.
3. Descriptive Poem: It is a poem that describes the
world that surrounds the speaker. It uses elaborate
imagery and adjectives. While emotional, it is more
"outward-focused" than lyric poetry, which is more
personal and introspective.
Types of poems that are subtypes of the three styles above:
a. Ode is usually a lyric poem of moderate length, with a serious
subject, an elevated style, and an elaborate stanza pattern.

b. Elegy is a lyric poem that mourns the dead. [It's not to be

confused with a eulogy.]It has no set metric or stanzaic pattern,
but it usually begins by reminiscing about the dead person, and
then laments the reason for the death, and then resolves the
grief by concluding that death leads to immortality. It often uses
"apostrophe" (calling out to the dead person) as a literary
technique. It can have a fairly formal style, and sound similar to
an ode.
c. Sonnet is a lyric poem consisting of 14 lines and, in the English
version, is usually written in iambic pentameter. There are two
basic kinds of sonnets: the Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet and the
Shakespearean
(or
Elizabethan/English)
sonnet.
The
Italian/Petrarchan sonnet is named after Petrarch, an Italian
Renaissance poet. The Petrarchan sonnet consists of an octave
(eight lines) and a sestet (six lines). The Shakespearean sonnet
consists of three quatrains (four lines each) and a concluding
couplet (two lines). The Petrarchan sonnet tends to divide the
thought into two parts (argument and conclusion); the
Shakespearean, into four (the final couplet is the summary).
d. Ballad is a narrative poem that has a musical rhythm and can
be sung. A ballad is usually organized into quatrains or
cinquains, has a simple rhythm structure, and tells the tales of
ordinary people.
e. Epic is a long narrative poem in elevated style recounting the
deeds of a legendary or historical hero.
Other types of poems include:
f. Haiku is a Japanese poetry form. A haiku poem consists of three
lines, with the first and last line having 5 moras, and the middle
line having 7. A mora is a sound unit, much like a syllable, but is
not identical to it. The word haiku is derived from hokku.
g. Limerick is a very structured poem, usually humorous &
composed of five lines (a cinquain), in an aabba rhyming
pattern; beat must be anapestic (weak, weak, strong) with 3 feet
in lines 1, 2, & 5 and 2 feet in lines 3 & 4. It's usually a narrative
poem based upon a short and often ribald anecdote.

D. SOUND PATTERNS
Three other elements of poetry are rhyme scheme, meter (ie.
regular rhythm) and word sounds (like alliteration). These are
sometimes collectively called sound play because they take
advantage of the performative, spoken nature of poetry.
a. Rhyme is the repetition of similar sounds. In poetry, the most
common kind of rhyme is the end rhyme, which occurs at
the end of two or more lines. It is usually identified with
lower case letters, and a new letter is used to identify each
new end sound. Take a look at the rhyme scheme for the
following poem:
I saw a fairy in the wood,
He was dressed all in green.
He drew his sword while I just stood,
And realized I'd been seen.
Internal rhyme occurs in the middle of a line, as in these
lines from Coleridge, "In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud"
or "Whiles all the night through fog-smoke white" ("The
Ancient Mariner"). Remember that most modern poems
do not have rhyme.
Non-rhyming devices
Alliteration is the repetition of consonants,
particularly those at the beginning of words.
Assonance is the repetition of similar vowel sounds
regardless of where they are located in the word.
Consonance is the repletion of consonantal sounds;
usually refers to sounds within words.
Onomatopoeia a word that sounds like the object or
action it describes.
Muting sound devices
Run on line is one in which the grammatical
construction or the meaning continues to the next line.
Slant Rhyme also called off rhymes are similar but
not identical in sound. Examples: Stone gone.
c. Rhythm is a systematic variation in the flow of sound.

d. Meter is a system of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Meter
Iamb (Iambic)
Troche (trochaic)
Spondee
(spondaic)
Phyrric (phyrric)
Anapest
(anapestic)
Dactyl (dactylic)
Amphivirch

unstressed, stressed
Stressed, unstressed
2 stressed

Example
accept
widow
heartbreak

2 unstressed
2 unstressed, stressed

in the
disappoint

Stressed, 2 unstressed
Unstressed,
stress,
unstressed

happily
exist

The Number of Feet

The second part of meter is the number of feet contained in a line.
Thus:
one foot=monometer
two feet=dimeter
three feet=trimester
four feet=tetrameter
five feet=pentameter
six feet=hexameter (when hexameter is in iambic rhythm, it is
called an alexandrine)
Poems with an identifiable meter are therefore identified by the
type of feet (e.g. iambic) and the number of feet in a line (e.g.
pentameter). The following line is iambic pentameter because it (1)
has five feet [pentameter], and (2) each foot has two syllables with
the stress on the second syllable [iambic].
That time | of year | thou mayst | in me | behold
Thus, you will hear meter identified as iambic pentameter, trochaic
tetrameter, and so on.
Irregularity
Many metered poems in English avoid perfectly regular rhythm
because it is monotonous. Irregularities in rhythm add interest and
emphasis to the lines. In this line:

The first foot substitutes a trochee for an iamb. Thus, the basic
iambic pentameter is varied with the opening trochee.

(In other words, blank verse has rhythm, but no rhyme, while free verse
has neither rhythm nor rhyme. So, you may find it difficult to find regular
iambic pentameter in a modern poem, though you might find it in
particular lines.)
2. Reading and Writing Fiction
Fiction Writing

Blank Verse
Any poetry that does have a set metrical pattern (usually iambic
pentameter), but does not have rhyme, is blank verse. Shakespeare
frequently used unrhymed iambic pentameter in his plays; his
works are an early example of blank verse.
Free Verse
Most modern poetry no longer follows strict rules of
meter or rhyme, especially throughout an entire poem. Free verse,
frankly, has no rules about meter or rhyme whatsoever!
Memory
Memory,
You must be my enemy.
Often, you let me down.
You bring me pains.
Memory, you are heartless.
Sometimes, you make me cry.
You are cruel.
Memory,
You are my friend.
Sometimes, you bring me joy and laughter.
You bring me strength.
Memory,
You are following me,
Or I am following you?
You follow me like my shadow.
Memory,
Who are you?
By: JanphaThadphoothon

A. Definition of fiction
Fiction tells an untrue story in prose. Fiction is untrue in the
sense that it is at least partly made up. It is an artistic creation
that stands on its own no matter how much it makes use of
characters, events, and settings from life.
B. Forms of Fiction
a. Short Story refers to a work that is from 2000 to 6000 words
from eight to 24 pages. The short story limits the authors
ability to develop character, interrelationships between
characters, setting, and plot.
b. Novella is a halfway between a story and a novel. It is often
thought of as beyond 5o and 150 manuscripts pages.
c. Novel is more than a story that has been expanded beyond
250 pages or it should be. The writer can introduce many
more characters than in the story or novella, and some of them
can change and develop over the course of time.
C. Elements of Fiction
a. Setting
- Where, when, who
- Scene as the diver plot
- Beats
- How to arrange and order scenes
- Keeping the story moving and keeping
interested
- Alternation of fast action and slow action
- What scenes are needed, which are useless
Discovering your Place - the place is character

the

reader

Interior Place interior setting has come to mean, basically, an

indoor place. Good writers understand that the objects people
own comment on them at times even define them.
Exterior Place the relationship between character and
exterior setting is more mysterious. The things we own can
own us in return.
b. Character and Characterization
Iceberg Theory is the idea being that whats unstated must
nonetheless exist clearly in the authors mind for a character
to have sufficient depth. Much of what readers know about any
given character is never stated explicitly but is submerged in a
way the character speaks and moves and thinks and all of
this, in turn, is shaped by the authors knowledge of each
character.
c. Point of View
First Person employs the I voice and sometimes the we
voice. This point of view implies intimacy and makes a
dramatic story even more immediate. First person protagonist
narrator often heightens readers sympathy with certain
characters because the storytelling appears more personal.

Shifting, Multiple-person points of view can reach beyond

catharsis to illustrate the multiplicity of truth. Such complex
narrative strategy requires a lot of the reader much in the way
multimedia art stimulates audience members to use various
physical senses and understanding of temporality.
Persona person is born of persona. Successful fiction
requires the writers understanding about the standpoint,
character and tone of the narrative persona (the speaker, the
actual teller of the story). It is the personality assumed by the
narrator.

d. Plot Development
Dramaturgy means the management of plot and action; the
architecture of a story as distinct from such other aspects as
language, character and theme.
Curve of dramatic action is conventionally described as
rising to some sort of climatic peak and turning point and then
falling to some sort of resolution or denouement.
Various plot patterns

Second Person affords a different kind of intimacy, whether

we imagine you as a listener, as the narrators alter ego, as
a particular third party or as an anonymous character tracing
his or her way through the story.
Third Person the most common forms of contemporary
fiction.
In third person narrative, the story is told from the point of
view of a participation in the action, although that character is
not directly speaking. It does not allow more latitude than first
person for physical and emotional description. In the third
person omniscient narrative, the omniscient speaker often
knows more (about the tomorrow, for instance, or about the
motives of mirror characters) that can be expressed in third
person limited.

1. Flashback simple method of inserting an episode that

occurred previous to the main floe of the plot.
2. Multiple Flashbacks sometimes used when the author
wants to suggest a complicated set of clues leading to a
symbolic or a literal trial.
3. Flash-forward or prolepsis gives the reader a sudden,
clear glimpsed into the future.
4. Frame story refers to a tale told by a character
appearing in a larger work such as narration in Canterbury
Tales and Arabian Nights.
5. Figure Eight loops time around a central moment or
keeps returning to the same image or central event. A
story begins at one point in time, then leaps backward,
returning gradually, in scenes, to the storys opening, and
then continues forward to show more scenes that follow

the events of the opening and have been irrevocably

affected by it.
6. Reverse order marches the characters into the past. This
technique depends on the power of the stories behind the
story.
7. Out of sequence works best when the information is
scrambled, or given out of sequence.
8. Chronological order is a narrative device used in our
oldest stories. The innovative writer Gilbert Sorrentino
favors chronological order because then the reader
doesnt know what is going to happen.
e. Theme, Tone, Symbol and Style
Theme also called central concern, serves as a reminder
that we are not dealing with something as logically specific as
a thesis or as ethically concerned as a moral.
Tone is a variable regardless of the subject matter. It is the
coloring of the emotion.
Symbol is any detail that takes in a range of meaning
beyond and larger than itself.
Style is determined by four factors: (10 diction word voice,
(2) syntax (sentence structure), (3) the balance of narrative
modes dialogue, thoughts, action, description, and
exposition, and (4) tense (present or past).
One of the form poems is a shaped poem. A poem that has a
shape of a diamond is called Diamante Poem, which has
seven lines.

Anger (1)
Mad, Violent (2)
Burning, Tormenting, Destroying (3)
Fear, Shame, Hostility, Rage (4)
Fighting, Hurting, Kiling (3)
Low, Ugly (2)
Darkness (1)
Love
Beautiful, Carefree
Giving, Supporting, Helping
Kindness, Compassion, Unity, Cooperation
Sharing, Caring, Forgiving
Peaceful, Merciful
God