Creative Writing Guide

One question that every writer needs to ask themselves is how can they make a good story even better? What changes can they make that will enhance their story, make it more gripping and engaging? One (not so) simple technique is to just take the time to revise your story once you have “finished” it.

Of course, like most things in life, this is easier said than done. There is a skill to knowing how to revise your story, the secret to which will be revealed in the tutorials below.

This is the fifth video in Keith Gray’s Creative Writing Masterclass Series (produced by The Scottish Book Trust)

Featured Article by Harriet Silkwood

TO EDIT

Most of the reviews you receive will be editing reviews. To edit means to polish a finished piece by changing word choices to be more precise and concise, and to work on sentence structure; in addition to eliminating any errors in grammar, punctuation and mechanics.

To Revise

To revise means “to see again.” This is at the heart of writing well. Take a fresh look at what you have written by distancing yourself from the work and evaluating it from a reader’s point of view. Read your reviews carefully, with an open mind. They may show you something you hadn’t realized. You may take the character in a new direction or give him a new problem. You are revising if you decide to kill the perpetrator instead of letting him get away. You are changing something.

The two can overlap, but they are very different. Inexperienced writers sometimes think they are revising when they are really editing. You need to do both, so be careful not to confuse one with the other. Unless you are one of the rare ones who write the perfect first draft.

Revising comes before editing, because you can waste time perfecting a paragraph that you later decide to delete. You can correct errors as you move along, especially if doing so makes you more confident or comfortable. But the more time and energy you invest in editing early on, the harder it may be to make major changes that would enrich your work. When something looks perfect, you’re not going to like changing it, or maybe cutting it completely.

Writers usually benefit from setting the drafts aside for a time so that later they can see their work more objectively. What looks good when you are excited does not necessarily look good the morning after.

Think beyond the first plot, character and situation idea that popped into your head. Don’t be afraid to change direction. Originality is very important to fiction writing.

What is not on the page can be even more important than what is there.

One of the most difficult tasks in revision is to look for what you have left out. No matter how good a draft looks, ask yourself if something is missing.

Share your work with other readers and ask them to let you know if there is anything they find confusing or want to know more about. Providing readers with this kind of specific direction can get you a much more focused review than simply asking “What do you think?” When not given direction, some readers may keep reservations to themselves because they suspect they are being asked to approve a finished product.

Checklist for Revising

• Is the purpose clear? Does the work stick to its purpose?

  Does it address the appropriate audience?

• Is the tone appropriate for the purpose, audience, and occasion?

  Is the subject focused?

• Does it make a clear point?

  Is each paragraph unified and coherent?

• Does the work follow an effective method of development?

  Is the beginning effective?

• Is the ending effective?

Harriet is a Moderator/reviewer of new writers and has written many newsletters and articles on the subject of novice writing and reviewing with common sense and encouragement. Her portfolio can be found at http://www.Writing.Com/authors/storytime She is an author on a site for Creative Writers ( http://www.Writing.Com/ )

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Harriet_Silkwood

Other Tutorials in This Series

1. How to Come Up with Ideas and Inspiration for Your Story
2. A Few Ideas for Successful Character Development
3. How to Develop the Plot of Your Story
4. The Importance of Setting in a Story
5. How to Revise Your Story

Your story’s setting helps create the context and mood of your tale while simultaneously adding life and texture to your story. Used properly your setting can help create the mood of your story or even act as a kind of background character, subtly shaping and leading events. As such, knowing how to bring your setting to life is a crucial element to writing a rewarding and engaging work of fiction.

Below we present a variety of useful resources to help you learn the subtle art of using and creating a realistic setting. We start with a video by Keith Gray which is an excellent introduction to this topic. We then feature an article by Dawn Arkin which has some solid ideas and tips on how to incorporate setting into your tale. Finally, we end with a brief overview of the book ‘Setting’ from the ‘Elements of Fiction Writing’ series, a guide worth considering if you wish to learn more about this topic.

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Let’s state the obvious - a story needs a plot. A good setting, interesting characters, witty dialogue, none of it adds up to a story if there is no plot. So one of your first jobs as a writer is to figure out the plot of your story. And, once again, here is Keith Gray to offer some useful tips on how to us out.

Conflict - the Key Ingredient of a Plot

The key to a plot is conflict - there has to be some problem that your main character has to deal with. Look back over the qualities and traits of your main character and look for problems that can fit into his particular personality and qualities.

For instance, imagine that your main character loves his family and his main ambition in life is to be a good parent. On the other hand, your main characters family and friends put tremendous pressure on him (social, financial, etc.) to have a successful career. Here is an opportunity for a plot.

Maybe your main character is offered a job promotion which will win the respect of his family and friends, but will greatly limit the amount of time and interaction that he can spend with his kids. The story would deal with whether or not he takes the job, the consequences of that choice and how he deals with them.

Alternatively, perhaps he is about to leave his successful job with its prospects for future promotions and status to be a teacher in his kids school - a job which provides him more time with his kids, but which creates tension with his family and friends. Here the story would focus on how your main character deals with his decision and whether or not he is able to maintain it.

Three Aspects of a Story

Keith talks about three aspects of a story - Dilemma, Confrontation, and Resolution. The dilemma is the problem that your main character faces - the issues and/or concerns that he or she will have to deal with in the story.

The first part, then, of the plot is revealing this dilemma. Of course, the dilemma does not need to be totally revealed all at once, but some aspect of it must be set out towards the beginning of your tale. Eventually your story will need to transition into the confrontation or conflict which arises from the dilemma. And finally, you need to resolve that conflict.

Remember to work your characters personalities and qualities into the three aspects of this story. An interesting dilemma and engaging confrontation are not nearly as interesting as the peculiar ways in which human beings deal with their trials and tribulations. Also, work at least as hard on the resolution of your story as you do on the dilemma and confrontation. All too often an author dreams up a truly engaging dilemma and confrontation, but falls short on the resolution. Don’t just have the man in the white hat come in and save the day, be creative and imaginative.

Keith Gray’s Creative Writing Guide

1. How to Come Up with Ideas and Inspiration for Your Story
2. A Few Ideas for Successful Character Development
3. How to Develop the Plot of Your Story
4. How to Determine Your Story Setting
5. Drafting (and Redrafting) Your Story

Next tutorial: How to Develop the Plot of Your Story

Visit Keith’s and The Scottish Book Trust’s Websites:

• www.keith-gray.com
• www.scottishbooktrust.com

A story, first and foremost, is about the people and characters who live through and respond to the events that take place in a tale. They are the one’s whose fears and fantasies, actions and reactions we experience and wonder about. But how do you create interesting, realistic characters who will bring your story alive? It is those questions (and others) that Keith Gray addresses in today’s Creative Writing video tutorial.

Points to Remember

Important Questions to Think About

1. What comes first - the plot or the characters?
2. How do you create a character?
3. Where do characters come from?
4. Who is going to be the ‘hero’ of your story (the protagonist/main story) - who is your story going to be about?
5. How do you build 3-dimensional, realistic characters?
6. How do you bring your characters to life?

Types of characters

1. Protagonist
2. Friends
3. Enemies
4. Supporting Characters

3 Sources for characters

1. Imagination - made up by you
2. Observed - people that you have observed in your life
3. Autobiographical - close to you, your personality, interests, etc.

Facets of a character

1. Appearance - height, physical features, color of their hair, eyes, etc.
2. Character traits - talent, ambition, a personal secret, a personality flaw or idiosyncrasy, etc.
3. Friends and family - parent, sibling, spouse, colleagues, friends, etc.
4. Best friend and worst enemy - who do they confide in, who do they despise and why?
5. Name - fit into the purpose and personality of the character and the story.
6. Extra touches - obsessions, a lost object or loved one, habits, personal possessions, pastimes, etc.

Bringing your character to life

1. Action - what does your character do? How does he or she respond to a given situation?
2. Emotions - how does your character feel, what emotions characterize them, what situations bring out those emotions?
3. Thoughts - what does your character think about and why?

Keith Gray’s Creative Writing Guide

1. How to Come Up with Ideas and Inspiration for Your Story
2. A Few Ideas for Successful Character Development
3. How to Develop the Plot of Your Story
4. How to Determine Your Story Setting
5. Drafting (and Redrafting) Your Story

Next tutorial: How to Develop the Plot of Your Story

Visit Keith’s and The Scottish Book Trust’s Websites:

• www.keith-gray.com
• www.scottishbooktrust.com

One of the most difficult aspects of writing a good story is coming up with the ideas and inspiration necessary to make a story interesting and engaging. Whether it’s a clever bit of dialogue, an unexpected plot twist or simply a memorable character, it all starts with an idea.

There are, however, numerous techniques that you can employ to help you come up with these creative ideas, as Keith Gray (online writer in residence at The Scottish Book Trust) explains to us in this short video:

Points to Remember

• First develop your ideas and inspiration and then start writing (facing a blank page without any clear cut ideas or direction can be a rather frustrating and counter-productive experience).
• Find a variety of places which help you to think up ideas and come up with inspiration for your stories. Possible locations include cafes, parks, nice walks, and historically significant locations.
• Read (and reread) other books, stories and authors (particularly those you enjoy the most). In addition noting their writing styles and techniques, look for ideas for characters, plots, dialogue, scenes, etc. Don’t copy their ideas, just use them in new and creative ways to help you create your own story.
• Make sure that your work space is conducive to writing and being ‘productive’. It should be enjoyable to work in and contain all the materials you need to write.
• Good movies and other ‘non-written’ stories and media can also be sources of inspiration.
• Revisit previous works that you’ve written and rework them. Alternatively, use them for ideas of new stories and ideas. For instance, perhaps you can take a minor character in one book and make him or her the main character of another story. Similarly, you can build off of side-themes and events and develop them more fully in new works.
• Don’t forget the real world when looking for inspirations. News stories, historical events and personal experiences (yours or your friends and families) can all be the source of good ideas.
• Make sure to organize your ideas and inspirations - you don’t want to forget them when you are actually ready to start writing. Invest in a notebook or something similar and jot down those ideas that you want to remember so that you are can easily retrieve them when you most need them.

Keith Gray’s Creative Writing Guide

1. Coming Up with Ideas and Inspiration for Your Story
2. A Few Ideas for Successful Character Development
3. How to Develop the Plot of Your Story
4. How to Determine Your Story Setting
5. Drafting (and Redrafting) Your Story

Next Tutorial: A Few Ideas for Successful Character Development

Important note: HowToWrite.net does not recommend cheating as a way of starting a writing career - even if it worked for others and even if you don’t think you’ll get caught. Better to try the writing short stories and selling them to your friends method (which was Keith’s second foray into writing).

Visit Keith’s and The Scottish Book Trust’s Websites:

• www.keith-gray.com
• www.scottishbooktrust.com