Creative Writing Tips for Beginners

Introduction to Creative Writing

Creative writing is an umbrella term for so many written pieces of art – fiction, poetry, screenwriting and more. You know the feeling of opening up a good book and being able to sense the passion and soul of the writer, because they’ve laid it all out for you in black and white.

Taking on creative writing gives you that chance to share your innermost thoughts. The activity is one of the only chances we get to really explore the corners of our mind and let our imagination run wild.

Think of a world without boundaries, a world where you can create a talking dinosaur, who wears a sombrero and adores his weekly hot yoga class! Anything is possible!

Benefits of Creative Writing

Self-expression and self-confidence. It takes a big leap to be able to let yourself go and express whatever you’re thinking. Often, we are too self-conscious to write anything deep and creative. Creative writing can unleash your inner writer and show you what you’re capable of. It’s also a great way of getting things off your chest and onto paper.
Explore your creativity. We don’t get many options to be creative on a daily basis, unless it’s part of our job. Creative writing almost takes us back to our childhood, when we weren’t scared to show off our creativity and our weird and wonderful thoughts.
Improve your mood. Writing is a sure-fire way to relaxation. It is known to de-stress and improve well-being. A happier you is a healthier and more productive you!
Improve your communication skills. When we write, we’re constantly persuading the reader. Persuading them to believe our character and our stories, and persuading them to keep reading. Writing helps you to eliminate abstractive thoughts and lay them out into solid sentences.
It’s a free hobby. Did I mention that writing costs nothing, aside from materials you probably already have? Whether you like the speed of a computer, or the tradition of pen and paper, you don’t need to buy anything else.

Creative Writing Tips for Beginners

Feeling a little daunted by the prospect of picking up your pen and letting everything that comes to mind flow through the ink? Maybe you haven’t done any writing from your imagination since school? Don’t let these drawbacks give you writer’s block! Here are some creative writing tips that can help you get started.

Creative Writing Exercises

Write whatever comes to mind (even if it doesn’t make sense!)

One amazing tip I got from Natalie Goldberg, author of “Writing Down The Bones“, was to create ongoing strings of words, even if they’re nonsensical. Goldberg suggests that you should keep the pen moving and don’t worry about grammar and punctuation, just keep writing whatever enters your brain.

The results will be a mess (trust me, I tried it!) but this exercise has a huge benefit. It helps you to push past that writer’s voice in your head that tells you “everything you write is stupid” and allows you to just write those stupid sentences. It helps your imagination to flow and, once you lose all self-consciousness, you can start to create magic.

Create your new favourite character

Another fun exercise is to build a brand new character, completely from scratch. This prompt is a way for you to really dig deep for some interesting traits. Don’t cheat and write about someone you know! This person has to be entirely fictional. Some traits you might want to think about are:

Nicknames
Appearance
Best memory
Have they done anything illegal? If so, what?
Favourite newspaper section
Superstitions
Are they a morning or a night person?

Creative Writing Classes

If you’re not always good at working alone, one of the best creative writing tips I have is for you to attend a class.

Creative writing courses are great because they’re specified to suit whichever area you want to focus on. Whether that’s novels or short stories and everything in between, there will be something for you.

These classes are your bridge between wanting to become a creative writer and actually doing it. They’re a great option if you’re not sure where to begin or don’t feel that you’re talented enough. Classes will generally go into areas such as how to create a compelling plot and characters, and how to make your dialogue and description jump out of the page.

Creative Writing Essays

You’ve done your warm-up and you’re ready for the marathon. Once you’ve tried some creative writing exercises and prompts, it’s time to sit down and write some lengthy prose. This part of the process takes persistence and self-discipline.

I recommend setting yourself a timer and resisting looking at the internet – memes and cat videos are a big distraction! Write about whatever interests you, whether that’s fiction or non-fiction. Just take time out of the day and put pen to paper. You could amaze yourself when you discover what you can come up with!

Make Money from Creative Writing

The life of an artist isn’t always one that is filled with money. If you decide to become a full-time writer, there is the chance that funds will be tight at times. Unless you make it big or even manage to sell some of your work, you often have to give up riches for your art.

However!… That’s not to say that you can’t make money from creative writing! There are numerous ways you can put your talent to financial uses.

Become a teacher. Often, the student becomes the master. When you write, you develop your own style and your favourite methods. Why not pass your knowledge onto budding creative writers? You can hold classes of your own or become a speaker on the subject. You can do this through blogs, podcasts, social media and doing gigs as a keynote speaker.
Write an eBook. Getting a book published can be an almost impossible task, and many of the best authors have been rejected hundreds of times! Persistence and self-belief is key. You can move the process along by writing an eBook and selling it yourself online. Self-publishing is a relatively new and lucrative phenomenon. You have to do lots of promotional work, but the payback could be great!
Get a writing gig. The great thing about being a writer is that you can do it from anywhere! Use your skills to become a freelance writer and write short stories and articles for other people. Combine your freelance career with travel and you have a lifestyle to be truly jealous of!

Pick up your pen and get lost in a world created by you. For this hobby, there are no rules and anything goes!