LESSON I: Creative Writing vs. Other Forms of Writing.

Definition of Creative Writing

 Creative writing is the artistic expression through written word. It is used to express the writer’s
ideas and emotions in an artistic manner. Unlike other forms of writing, it uses a language that
aims to entertain and captivate the audience.
 Creative writing is art in its pure form. A major difference between Creative Writing and other
kinds of writing is the use of language. It uses color, depth and is suggestive.
 Creative writing involves a lot of creativity, much more than non-creative ones because it
conveys information more powerfully. The intent of creative writing is not to inform the readers
but to stir emotions.
 Creative writing has a plot, a unique plot of some sort. In comparison, there could be or not be
one for other forms of writing. Yes, remakes are considered creative writing, but they have their
unique idea behind them.
 Creative writing always has an underlying message, even if the author did not intend for it.
Other forms may not leave you with a theme or message.
 Visual descriptions are part of creative writing. It keeps the audience connected with visuals and
pictures in newspapers and magazines. Creative writing allows people to imagine themselves in
the character’s shoes.
The table below shows the comparison between creative writing and technical writing to fully
understand what creative writing is.
Technical Writing Creative Writing
Forms/Samples Research journals, proposals, reports, Poetry, fiction, drama
guidelines
Objective Aims to instruct and inform the Aims to entertain the
readers readers
Content Show facts Reflects the writer’s
imagination
Audience With specific target audience Broader audience
Diction Formal Informal
Structure systematic Artistic

Creative works can be classified as poetry, fiction, and drama.

Poetry: a word arranged in a rhythmic pattern. It is used to express one’s creative thoughts and
feelings through a specialized and heightened language.
Fiction: It is a story that is mainly drawn from the writer’s imagination rather than using facts or valid
historical information.
Drama: A type of literature that takes advantage of people’s visual and auditory senses. It is not
limited to what you read or imagine like in poetry and fiction but it brings your imagination to life.
LESSON II: The Language of Creative Writing
In creative writing, the writer must consider the language to be used which will make the
creative work different from other forms of writing. The language of creative writing is different if
compared to technical writing and academic writing. Words are flowery, expressive, and more
interesting. This is to capture not just the mind but also the heart of the audience and to make the
readers feel a different reading experience.

Figures of Speech
Writers use figures of speech and figurative language to create images that would deepen the
reader’s comprehension of a text. Figures of speech and figurative language create the so-called
figurative images which increase reading pleasure.

Figures of Definition Sample Text

Speech/Figurative
Language
Simile Indirect comparison of two “Then she burst into view, a girl lovely
things using “like” or “as.” as morning and just as fair.”
(Waywaya, F. Sionil Jose)

Metaphor Direct comparison between two Everything that exists, aromas, light,
objects metals, were little boats that sail toward
the isles of yours that wait for me…”
(If you forget me, Pablo Neruda)
Personification Attribution of human qualities to “Because I could not stop for death,
a thing. He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And immortality.”
(Because I Could Not Stop For Death,
Emily Dickinson)
Hyperbole Exaggeration “Well now, one winter it was so cold
that all the geese flew backward and all
the fish moved south, and even the
snow turned blue. Late at night, it got so
frigid that all spoken words froze solid
afore they could be heard. The people
had to wait until sunup to find out what
folks were talking about the night
before.”
(Babe, the blue Ox, retold by S.E.
Schlosser)
Alliteration Repetition of the first consonant “Leap up, like that, like that, and land
of neighboring words. so lightly”
 (Home Burial, Robert Frost)
Allusion Use of person, place or thing as “The morning wind
reference.
Onomatopoeia Use of words that mimic sounds. “Boy, I rang that doorbell fast when I
got to old Spencer’s house.”

Diction
Diction refers to language and word choice of the writer. It shows the level of formality of a text which
helps in shaping the perception and view of the readers. There are three levels of diction. These are
formal, informal, and colloquial.
Levels Characteristic
Formal Diction Academic/Scholarly Language
Informal Diction Conversational Language
Colloquial Diction Slang Language, Captures regional dialect

LESSON III: Introduction to Poetry

Poetry
Poetry is a word composition arranged in a rhythmic pattern. It is used to express one’s creative
thoughts and feelings through a specialized and heightened language. Poetry has unique characteristics
if compared to other forms of creative writing which include the following:
1. it expresses creative thoughts in much briefer way than a short story or novel.
2. It uses elements such as rhythm, imagery, verse and meter, and poetic devices.
3. It has a musical quality.
4. It has structure.
5. It is used to express intense personal emotions and experiences.
6. The content of the poem shows the universal truth and connotes a deeper meaning.
7. It does not use everyday language.

LESSON IV: Elements of Poetry

Poetry is a combination of words in lines, rhyme, tone, voice, theme, language and emotion which
makes it a creative means to liberate the poet’s thoughts and feelings.
Theme
The theme is the summarized statement containing the main thought or meaning of the poem.
Tone
Tone refers to the attitude and mood of the poem. It is the overall atmosphere of the poem which
influences the emotional response of the reader.
Rhyme
Rhyme is the link between music and poetry. It adds music quality to the poem which gives the readers
reading pleasures. The following are the different types of rhymes:

Types Characteristic Sample

True rhyme Rhyme that occur on the “Here Captain! Dear father! This arm
words beneath your head!
 It is some dream that on the deck,
You’ve fallen cold and dead.”
(Oh! Captain My Captain, Walt Whitman)
Internal rhyme Rhyme that occur within “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I
the lines pondered, weak and weary”.
(The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe)
Off rhyme or slant Not a true rhyme but the “In the sun and in the snow,
rhyme sound of the words is Without pleasure, without pain,
alike. On the dead oak tree bough”.
(The Gallows, Edward Thomas)

Line and Meter

The line is the line of words in poetry. The verse is the line of a poem arranged in a metrical pattern.
Stanza is referred as the “unit of poetic lines”. There are different stanza forms. Below are the
following:
Forms Number of Lines
Couplet 2
Tercet 3
Quatrain 4
Quintet 5
Sestet 6
Septet 7
Octave 8

The meter is the poetry’s measured accents and syllables arrangement. It is the systematic sound
pattern of a poem.

Metrical Patterns Characteristics

Accentual Meter Lines have the same number of stresses and
varied count of syllables
Syllabic meter Lines have the same number of syllables
and varied count of stresses
Accentual- Syllabic meter Lines have the same number of syllables,
both stressed and non-stressed; arranged in
fixed order
Free Verse Lines have irregular number of stresses and
syllables

Genre
The following are the three types of poetry:
Type Characteristic Sample forms
Descriptive Poem Focuses on details Didactic poem
Narrative poem Tells a story Epic, ballad
Lyric poem Expresses the feelings and Ode, sonnet, dramatic
thought of the poet monolog