We all write for different reasons. Some choose to journal, in order to articulate what is going on in their head. Others choose to write research papers or analytical ones to teach the intellectual community. Journalism and narrative journalism are crucial to inform the public. Others choose to write creatively. This form of writing is often overlooked, but it gives readers a chance to connect through emotion.
Creative writing is a practice I wasn’t exposed to until my freshman year of high school; and it was just a brief introduction to the idea of creative writing that we covered in less than a month. My freshman English teacher, Mr. Thomas, was passionate about learning to create allegories. He wanted us to know how to create stories indirectly, to make the reader think. I still knew little about the practice. Flash forward four years later and I’m taking a creative writing course in college that is changing the way I perceive creative thought, process it, and write it. Before I begin to explain to you why creative writing needs to be a part of your everyday routine (and yes, I mean like brushing your teeth), I need to teach you what good creative writing is.
Examples of good creative writing are Ernest Hemingway’s “Cat in the Rain” or George Saunders “Sticks” and my favorite “A History Of Everything, Including You” by Jenny Hollowell. These pieces of creative writing are stories that are connecting their readers through the art of apprehending a sensory emotional experience. These authors are making you see what they are feeling by transporting you into the scene at hand; they are not simply telling you what happened. “The Practice of Creative Writing” by Heather Sellers is a brilliant book that explains these important but often overlooked lessons about creative writing. Sellers explains, “We create images, and creative writing shows instead of telling” (Sellers page 136). In trusting our eyes and writing was is seen, not what is thought or felt will expose the brain to become more perceptive. As the movie buff that I am, it’s as if you are being transported right into the scene that is being descripted; you have to engage all of the five senses. Write what you smell, write what you taste, write what you hear, write what you touch, and write what you see. Images are the opposite of thought because thought is a nonvisual mental activity.
Thinking about creative writing as a ritual might come across as intense but start with this. Anchor yourself in time and space before you write. Dedicate 10 minutes every morning right when you wake up (or before you go to bed) and write in a journal. These can be reflective pieces or events that happened that day. This practice if more therapeutic than it is creative writing, but it gives you the chance to experience the art of writing and practicing what you are capable of articulating. Give yourself a chance to visual your story in your mind, or better yet a single scene. Practice this. Connect the reader through emotion. Keep in mind what Sellers explains, “Creative writing isn’t about simply knowing. It’s about knowing through seeing and experiencing something alive” (Sellers page 137).
To end I’ll leave you with this. Write what you see.
BOOK: “The Practice of Creative Writing” by Heather Sellers.