Creative Writing
This section of the website is about creative writing
and I hope that you’ll find the articles to be of value to your creative
writing practice, whether or not you give Women Writing for (a) Change a
try.
Creative writing takes many, many forms and all are welcome at Women
Writing for (a) Change. Just some examples of creative writing include:
journal entries, short fiction, book-length fiction, memoir, creative
non-fiction (essays/opinion) and drama. I’m sure I have missed something,
because there are as many forms as your creative brain can conjure!
People are drawn to creative writing for a number of different reasons.
Journal writers are dedicated to capturing the details of their lives and
their feelings about what is going on. They often fill volumes and volumes
of journals over time. I know one woman who has given special instructions
to her best friend about what to do with her journals if anything happens
to her. Journals are very personal…so keeping them private can be an
important consideration if the writing is to be truly honest.
Poets generally love to play with words. Many believe in an economy of
words…using fewer words to tell a story than would be used if the same
story were told as a fiction or creative non-fiction piece. Some people
have been turned off poetry because of being forced to read Beowulf and
Chaucer in high school…or by teachers who subscribed to the theory that
there is only one interpretation to a poem. My attitude is that the poem
means what the reader thinks it means. I also subscribe to belief that
poetry should be understandable rather than an arcane conglomeration of
words that only mean something to the poet himself or herself.
Creative non-fiction is a fairly new name for essays, personal narrative
and opinion pieces that are meant for an audience. Did you know that you
can now get an MFA degree is Creative Non-Fiction? It’s true. My
alma-mater, Goucher College in Towson, Md., offers one. Creative Non-Ficti
on can be humorous or deadly serious.
Memoir also fits into the category of Creative Non-Fiction. One maxim says
“write what you know.” Well, you certainly know yourself and your life. So
memoir can be a great place to start your creative writing practice. Think
back to when you were 6 or 13. Write about a memorable event. Your piece
could be humorous or poignant….but we all have experiences that we can
write about. Chances are, you are not alone in your experience and your
piece will strike a nerve in others. I’ve seen it happen over and over
again.
Following in this section are more articles on creative writing. From time
to time, I hope to feature guest artists speaking of their practices…what
motivates them, what bums them out.
I hope you will check out the articles that follow. Please provide
feedback if you find them helpful or have ideas for improvement.
Blessings,
Anni Macht Gibson
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