Creative Writing for Fun

Often we think of creative writing as something only special people can do. In fact, just about anyone who has a love for words can enjoy this hobby. It's all about being unique, and it can be a great outlet and hobby. So, if it isn't so bad, why don't many people express themselves through it?

Creative writing is a broad term. It covers many aspects including stories, poems, and fiction. You can use words just about any way you choose. It is simply an expression of your thoughts and ideas onto paper. You can find yourself lost in your thoughts or pouring your emotions onto paper. It is all about expressing whatever you want, however you want to express it.

Are you up to this challenge? This simple hobby can be a great way to relieve stress. It is a good outlet for your emotions, feelings, and ideas. So, knowing this, how does one begin?

It is as simple as grabbing a couple pieces of paper and a pencil. Write down what feelings you have, what thoughts are going through your mind. Quick, simple notes at this point. Perhaps being in a quiet room with only your thoughts would help you. No distractions, now, just write whatever comes to your mind.

Now that you have done this, just how will you make it into something worth reading? From what you have written, how do you feel about writing a poem to encompass your ideas? Perhaps, you can combine these thoughts into a piece of fiction or even into a short story? Once you are at this point, you can already feel the impact writing has on you.

For some, this seems to be nothing but a bore and seems more like a chore then a hobby. But, for others they are empowered to write. A feeling of expression and release can overcome a person and they can feel their hands moving without thought or concern. Yet others can just not find the words to get onto paper. Developing your own love for creative writing is all about finding your own style and writing personality.

How will you write? Will you use humour to convey your message? Or, will you write an i nformative piece that shows how you felt about the experience? Will you consider writing your life story or perhaps write about the world around you? Creative writing can lead you down the road of understanding your feelings and experiences. It can open up a world you know nothing about. Beyond all doubt, creative writing is a means to develop your own sense of being.

If you do not feel confident in your creative writing abilities, you can take a class or two, or several for that matter to help you develop your abilities. Often these classes are available to just about anyone through libraries and community colleges. They are relatively inexpensive and can provide some great ways to write creatively. These classes often show you different ways to get your thoughts expressed through your words on paper.

There are several books that can be checked out at most libraries that can also provide great exercises to help one become more poised for creative writing. While no one can write the words for you from your thoughts, you can learn how to get those thoughts out and how to express what you want to express. This is often a recommended class for students in high school and college. In fact, way back into grade school you were probably using creative writing as well.

Probably the best way to find out what is inside of you is to try it out. If you love to write and it makes you feel good, then that is the ultimate goal. Not everyone who writes creatively will become the next great writer. In fact, most people who write creatively never publish a single thing. They simply use creative writing as a way to let out emotion and express themselves. In all its forms, creative writing is a unique and amazing hobby, or even career, to have. While it takes a lot of work and often even more patience, creative writing can be just the outlet and hobby you need.

Writing Your Life Story

This may be a daunting task and maybe you have no idea how to take on such a large task. Like most creative writing projects, writing your life story begins with brainstorming.

Brainstorming is important in any writing process because it gets the creative juices flowing and exercises your brain with free flowing thoughts and ideas. Begin with a notebook and a pen or pencil, and start poring over your memories.

Nothing has to be in any particular order during the brainstorming process; all of that work is done later as you begin writing your life story. Right now, as random thoughts come to mind, you want to jot them down as quickly as possible before you lose them.

They don’t have to be complete sentences, as long as you will be able to read the thought and make sense of what it means later. This is not a 5-minute project and could go on for several days, weeks and months. Simply have your notebook at the ready and add to it as things spring to mind – the time you got lost in the zoo and your mother found you standing in front of the monkey cage crying, and the time you first held your brand new baby in your arms.

Everything can be relevant during the brainstorming process. You can always eliminate things later when you begin writing your life story, but you want as much material as possible to work with at the beginning.

Once you feel you’ve run out of thoughts (and remember, you may have more memories pop up as you begin to write that you can add to the list), you can begin in one of two ways. You can take the thoughts you’ve jotted down during your brainstorming process and organize them in chronological or a sensible order before you begin writing your life story. This is a very organized, well planned way to accomplish the task.

Alternatively, you may wish to take each idea you’ve jotted down and work out the anecdote in detail, not taking the order into regard at this time, and get together all of the stories you are going to include within the larger picture.

If you are feeling stuck try to remember the different homes where you have lived. Start with your earliest memory and go through the various rooms. What can you recall? Then go on to the next house and gradually work your way up to the present time.

Then think about pets you or your family have owned. What does this bring back to you?

Think about your special birthdays – who was there? How was the occasion special?

Think about your sibling’s special days – what can you remember?

All of these processes will (hopefully) spark a multitude of memories for you and eventually, you will have pages of material with which to work. Remember that this is a very rough draft, and certainly not a finished product.

If you’ve opted to put together the anecdotes, you’ll need to either arrange them in a way that makes sense or put them together in sequential order, connecting them into one large story with transitions from one to the next.

If you have already completed the work in order, you need to reread what you’ve written to see if it flows well enough to be read sensibly and if there is anything you’d like to add or remove.

Writing your life story isn’t about being a perfect writer, but if anyone is ever going to read it, you do need to do your best to make it a pleasant experience. That means being conversational, using common and simple language, and checking for correct grammar, sentence structure, spelling, and punctuation.

Most of all, though, writing your life story is about sharing experiences with others, whether family or strangers, that you think will enhance their lives and perhaps teach lessons. Write in a style of your choosing, putting your personality into the project.

Remember that writing your life story is something you want to do, and if it ever feels like work or you aren’t enjoying it, you can set it aside for awhile and come back to it when your desire returns. It is a freeform, creative writing project, and you shouldn’t feel forced to do it if your desire for expression is not there.

As you fill up the pages, you’ll find that writing your life story is a pleasant experience because it will bring back old memories you’d filed away and forgotten, allowing you to relive many of the best moments of your life. It can also help you look back objectively at the mistakes you may have made and let go of any regrets or grudges you’ve held onto for many years.

You’ll realize what the essence of your life has really been and be proud of the memories and advice you can share based on the things you’ve seen and done.

Writing your life story will probably involve at least two revisions before it is a satisfactory product and, depending on how much of a perfectionist you are, may require even further proofing and editing. You may be slow at the revision process or breeze through it. The project could last a few weeks, months, or for some, even years.

The finished product, though, is always worth the wait and the toil behind the task. So, if you feel it would be fun and worthwhile to share some of your history with your children, grandchildren, and generations to follow or to perhaps even publish your memoirs, don’t hesitate to sit down and begin brainstorming so you can start writing your life story!