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Strive To Be A Creative Writer

By Amrit Hallan

What does creative writing mean? Let us see first what "creative" means.

My dictionary says, "Creative is something characterized by originality and expressiveness." That was my computer dictionary. My Encarta dictionary defines "creative" as "Using or showing use of the imagination to create new ideas or things."

And this is what Ernest Hemingway had to say about creativity:

"From things that have happened and from things as they exist and from all things that you know and all those you cannot know, you make something through your invention that is not a representation but a whole new thing truer than anything true and alive, and you make it alive, and if you make it well enough, you give it immortality. That is why you write and for no other reason that you know of. But what about all the reasons that no one knows?"

Creative writing simply means telling something ordinary in an extra-ordinary manner and I believe every one of us has a stream of creativity flowing inside. If we remove the obstacles, if we thwart away the surrounding distractions, we can all mould our imagination in whatever manner we want to.

Although we all have our ways to be creative, the following steps can help us channelize the flow.

RELAX

No creativity flourishes under stress. If some people say they perform better under crisis, then they are simply handling the situation at hand, and not being creative. Creativity in itself is a bird of freedom. It needs the vast sky to fly high, and to fly in all the directions. Stress makes us rigid and desperate.

OPEN UP

Creativity seems outrageous sometimes. To write better, you have to be an impartial observer (although you must have your views) and a good listener. Even if you don't agree with something, give it a full hearing. If an ideology doesn't suit your pallet, try to understand to dislike it better. The more you open up to new sensations and ideas, the better equipped you are to write.

BE DESPERATE

Ok, I know this totally contradicts what I wrote above, but here, being desperate means, desperate to write, not desperate to succeed -- there's a big difference. Success -- legitimate success -- is like a plant. It takes its own time to blossom and deliver the fruits. You should be desperate to write. For the so-called normal world, creative people are slightly insane. They are like that because they are always obsessed with their art. If creative writers don't get to write as much as they want to, they feel miserable. So become desperate even if you have to pretend in the beginning. They often say that you become what you do everyday. Be desperate to write everyday.

BE DISCIPLINED

Without discipline, nothing can be achieved. Discipline is like a mountain stream that carves its way through the mountain rocks incessantly and eventually becomes a river. Discipline is nothing but a regulated regularity. A wise person has said genius is one percent imagination and ninety-nine percent perspiration. As I mentioned above, to be truly creative, you have to relax. To relax, you need to practice your art so much that from effort, it becomes a habit. Once it becomes a habit, creativity manifests itself on its own. Don't let your creativity become a slave to your changing moods and the surrounding environment. Despite all distractions and adversities, you have to discipline your mind and focus on your writing.

READ

What goes in, comes out. You generally write what you read, and what you think. If you are a writer, your thinking depends a lot on what you read. Read literature that motivates you to aspire. Believe me, good literature is like an infection. The more you read, the more you want to write.

DON'T READ

But don't read to avoid writing. Many people read in search of an escape route when they cannot unleash the wild horses of creativity. They want to hide behind the wall of reading. They are always waiting to finish reading this or finish reading that before settling down to write. Never read at the cost of your writing. If you feel the current environment is not conducive for creative writing, please refer to the point "be disciplined".

BELIEVE

Believe in yourself that you are a creative writer. Unless you believe in yourself, you cannot write with confidence, and this I have personally felt. Whenever I used to read a well-written article, I used to think, "Ah! I'll never be able to write like this." I actually could not write when I thought like that. You have to have conviction. I don't mean to say you should be boastful all the time, but if you want to be creative, think yourself as a creative writer with creative ability. This, you'll only be able to do if you practice your art well, and with sincerity.

PERSEVERE

This is the most vital point, and the hardest to follow. Sometimes we give up when the destination is just round the corner. As F. Scott Fitzgerald has said, "Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over." Almost all successful people know how to persevere, and how to strive persistently. This takes us back to the point where I said you have to be desperate. Once you are desperate, you don't give up easily.

Happy writing!

Copyright © 2008 Amrit Hallan
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