Creative Writing Intro

Creative Writing Intro

Sr. Humanities

Open Ended

How do you determine what is a "good" book?

Good Writing

Okay, so we read a lot about how to read literature. It's all one story, right?

So what happens when we want to write our own story? How do we make a story told over and over again good?

Good Writing

Or maybe we should ask what makes something worth reading? How do I write something someone else would want to read?

The answer? According to E.M. Forster, in his book Aspects of the Novel, good writing is surprising yet convincing.

Surprising, Yet Convicing

Surprising - something happens that surprises us, is unexpected or fresh.

Convincing - it feels real, like something we could experience too

Surprising, Yet Convincing

Okay.

But.

Like.

How?????

Be Specifically Yourself

"Be Yourself! Be Yourself! Be Yourself!"

Specifically You

We are all unique snowflakes :)

But truly, our own view of the world is 100% unique to us. Yes, it is influenced by the people around you. Yes, it is influenced by the media we consume. But that voice in your head is a voice no one has ever heard before. And unless you write something down, will never be heard again.

Specifically You

Let's tackle being specific first.

Example

Let's look at a poem by Elizabeth Bishop titled "Letter to NY (for Louise Crane)"

Pay attention to when the poem shifts from generalities to specifics.

(Page 1-2 of your packet)

Specifics

The poem surprises us because it is specific to these two women, and yet we all believe the emotions presented are ones that we could feel too.

I wish I could doom a person I hate to live a life where "most of the jokes you just can't catch, like dirty words rubbed off a slate." I also have experienced this sensation first hand.

But I never heard it described that way before. It was so specific I couldn't help but feel the exact pinpoint hurt it expresses.

Specifics Leads to the Universal

When writing we make think to ourselves that we have to write something that the average person will understand. But do we? Look at the books you currently read. Are those broad vague representations of life or are they super specific, even world-building?

Strangely, the more specific you are the more universal it feels because you are given a complete picture. You know exactly the feelings presented because they are presented specifically.

Open Ended

What qualities make a "bad" book, in your opinion?

On Sentiment and Sentimentality

Often when a book is labeled as "bad" it is because it falls into the traps of sentimentality and melodrama.

Review the definitions of Melodramatic & Sentimental on pg. 31.

Sentiment and Melodrama

For both Sentiment and Melodrama the writer is depending on a reader's stock emotional response derived from general cultural or human experience, rather than creating an exact and believable context for that response within the world of the story.

Shakespeare's Sonnet 116

Read Shakespeare's sonnet 116. How does this poem avoid the sentimental?

No Sentimental For Me!

Sometimes a student takes the rule of no sentiment to mean be wild and crazy or make a setting that is far beyond their knowledge. Take for instance a writer deciding to set their story in a trailer park, the characters drunk and always shouting at each other.

Have they actually avoided sentiment or just following a different stereotype?

Afraid of Sentiment

Some authors are afraid of sentiment, unwilling to take any emotional risks.

But that defeats the purpose of writing: "to put some complex, urgent emotion down on the page."

So what now?

Step One: Notice

Really notice things.

Indeed, the very individual nature of noticing is your greatest strength as a writer.

You have a unique view of the world around you. Pay attention to it.

Open Ended

Let's practice. Describe this room to someone who has never been here. Use vivid and specific descriptions to give the reader the best view of this room. Avoid the general!