CREATIVE

WRITING &
ACADEMIC
WRITING
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To differentiate creative writing from

other types of academic writing
EXPECTED
OUTCOMES To understand the different genres of
creative writing
To learn the initial steps in writing
creatively
To be familiar with other techniques of
creative writing
 Explaining Key Concepts 3

The Difference between Creative Writing and

Academic Writing
Generally, the writing process is a series of
basic steps that lead to organize thought
communicated to a reader. It involves presenting your
opinions, impressions, and insights clearly about a
preferred subject or theme. However, the kind of
writing that you do as means of self-expression is quite
different from the writing that you submit as a school
requirement.
 “
4

There are many genres of creative writing. These are

some of the most popular ones:
Poetry
a. Long, epical poems
b. Short, lyrical poems
c. Free verse poems
 A. Fiction 5

Novels
Novelettes
Short Stories
Prose B. Creative Nonfiction
Essays
Literary reportage
Letters, diaries, journals
Biographies and autobiographies
Travelogue or travel essays
Blogs
Memoirs
Articles and/or review about miscellaneous subjects like
food, art, film and other points of human interest
 “
6

Drama
Tragedy
Comedy
Although the basic principles (clarity, conciseness,
coherence, and readability) for both academic and creative
writing are the same, you will realize that they differ in
terms of the strategies employed as well as the development
of tone and style.
Some helpful strategies you can adopt when you 7

begin writing:
-Read all forms of writing, even those that, at the onset, have no
bearing or relation to whatever you want to write about-even ”pulp”
or “trash” literature. Reading always helps generate all sorts of
ideas.
-Keep a notebook handy. You’ll never know when an idea will come
along. Write in your notebook your observations, impressions, and
the lines that you hear from someone.
-Learn to appreciate the magic and power of words, their meanings
and their vagueness. People who love to say and hear words
generally have better chances of putting something on paper.
 8

- Observe how people talk and relate to one another. Listen to their
conversations. Make guesses about their characters and
personalities and watch out for their mannerisms and ways of
talking.
-Clip articles of interest from newspapers and magazines. You’ll
never know when you can use them.
-Read anecdotes, song lyrics, Facebook posts, and descriptions of
people, films, painting, dance, and music. Many of these may not be
used, but some may be developed into scenes, others into stories
eventually.
-When you have written something, read it aloud or even record it.
This is a good way to spot errors in your language and sentence9
constructions, the dialogues or descriptions that are not working,
or phrases that are awkward.
- Ask somebody to check your work, even if the piece is not yet
finished. Other people can see our faults better than us.
-Keep an open mind about criticisms. Writing is never static. What
you have written is not the final one, and it can still be improved
and developed through time and practice.
-Understand the possibilities of intertextual forms. What you write-
whether a poem, a story, or a play-may, in one way or another, be
connected to other types of literature. Also, writers use references
that influence readers and add layers of understanding to a text.
These references may have basis in the readers’ previous
knowledge and experiences.
 “
10
A Writer’s Journey To Memoir Writing
(An Excerpt)
John Jack G. Wigley
I developed an early love for literature as a child. When I was nine
years old, while most boys my age would play tumbang preso or
siyatong, or climb guava trees and catch spiders under the scorching
heat of the midday sun, I would get the storybook my mother gave me
during Christmas and holler at the young kids, about four or five years
old, to come and gather around the wooden staircase of Lolo Jessie.
 “
11

I would borrow the kiddie blackboard, ruler, and chalk of

my neighbor and read aloud the passages from the
storybook. I would bang on the board if I saw inattentive
kids who seemed uninterested in listening to my retelling
of Why the Pineapple Has Many Eyes or Chicken Little. I
would ask the kids who said what and what happened to
whom in the story.
 “
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They would answer in unison as I flashed illustrations from

the book. I was fascinated by the stories that I was reading
to them, totally lost in the world of Pina, the disobedient
child; and Chicken Little, the innocent fowl who thought
the world was over after an acorn fell on his head.
One day, I thought to myself, I will be writing my own
stories.
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REVIEW EXAMINATION
1. How did the author become interested in art
of writing?
2. What were the first books that he read that
got him into writing?
3. Does the author’s story remind you of a
similar experience? Share it with a partner.
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Prepared by:

KAREN N. TAÑALES