CREATIVE WRITING

LESSON 1. IMAGERY
Writing creatively would mean activating the minds and imagination of the readers effectively. One can
tell that a literary piece like poem, essay, or a story is effective when it is made to evoke meaningful
responses and ideas from readers.

What is an Imagery?
Imagery is a descriptive language used to appeal to reader’s senses: touch, smell, taste, sound,
and sight. This language makes the work interesting.
The following are the types of imagery:
1. Visual Imagery – appeals to your sense of sight. Ex: The crimson fruit glistening on the tree
delights me.
2. Auditory Imagery – appeals to your sense of hearing. Ex: The melodious chirping of birds awakens
me every morning.
3. Olfactory Imagery. This appeals to your sense of smell. Ex: The sweet scent of sampaguita on her
newly washed fabrics made the ambience more calming.
4. Gustatory Imagery appeals to your sense of taste. Ex: The sweet and sour flavor of Chef Merly’s
chicken satisfied our craving taste buds.
5. Tactile Imagery appeals to your sense of touch. Ex: The warmth of the sun that caresses her skin
made her feel a little more alive than ever.
Generally, imagery is an author’s use of vivid and descriptive language to make a literary text more
colorful and appealing. This can be possible through using sensory images to trigger and to deepen the
reader’s understanding of a work. There are five major types of imagery. (1) Visual imagery refers to
graphics, visual scenes, pictures, or the sense of sight. (2) Auditory imagery pertains to sounds, noise,
music, or sense of hearing. (3) Olfactory imagery refers to the sense of smell, odors, aromas or scents.
(4) Gustatory imagery pertains to the sense of taste and flavors. (5) Tactile imagery refers to physical
texture or sense of touch.

LESSON 2. DICTION
Anon (2018) defined diction as a style of speaking or writing which is determined by the choice of words.
What makes a text a good one or a bad one is the choice of words used by the author. Thus, diction
separates a good writing from a bad writing.1 Proper diction depends on several factors. Firstly, the word
must be correct and accurate. Secondly, words should be appropriate to the context in which they are
used. Lastly, the choice of words should be such that the listener or reader understands easily. One reason
why a communication process becomes successful or not is because of diction. Proper diction is
important so readers and listeners could get the message across. On the other hand, the wrong choice of
words can easily confuse listeners or readers or divert them with what you intend to mean. This
eventually results in misinterpretation of the message intended to be conveyed and generally in
miscommunication.
Anon (ND) wrote Four Types of Diction2:
1. Formal diction. This uses words in formal situations such as press conferences and presentations.
2. Informal diction. This uses words and conversation such as writing or talking to friends.
For you to understand how formal and informal diction affects the message, consider the examples below:
Formal: Hello, young man. It is nice to see you. How are you today? Informal: Hey, kid. Nice to meet ya.
What's up?
In the first example, the speaker uses longer words such as "pleasure" and "acquaintance" as well as
longer sentences. By contrast, the informal speaker uses words like "kid", slang like "ya" and very short
sentences. Though both examples convey the same information, they do so with different levels of
formality.
3. Colloquial diction. This uses words common in everyday speech which may be different in different
regions or communities.
A. Words: Anon (2015) also emphasized on regional differences: One famous colloquial difference in the
United States is the way a someone refers to a carbonated beverage. There are regional borders that
separate the usage of the words ―soda, ―pop, ―soft drink, and ―Coke (used as a generic term and not
just to refer to the brand). 3
Contractions: Words such as ―ain’t and ―gonna are examples of colloquialism. These are not widely
used in English speaking countries.
4. Slang diction. This is the use of words that are newly coined, or even impolite. Also, it is a language
peculiar to a group of people.
Anon (ND) stated that one of the characteristics of slang is that it changes through time. Here are the
examples of modern slang terms:
A. Bae: A term of endearment, meaning "before anyone else," used between romantic partner that can
also be used between close friends Ex: "Bae, you always be my number one."
B. Coin: Another way to refer to money. Ex: "She's earned a lot of coin by just selling online."
C. Epic: If somewhat was "epic," it was highly enjoyable. Ex: "His latest movie was epic."
D. Fierce: Usually attributed to Beyoncé, "fierce" signifies a strong, independent person. Ex: "I love him
to death. He’s so fierce!"

LESSON 3. FIGURES OF SPEECH

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE/ FIGURE OF SPEECH
Sebranek (1996) stated that a figure of speech is a phrase or word having different meanings than its
literal meanings. It conveys meaning by identifying or comparing one thing to another which has
connotation.
The following are the examples of Figures of Speech:
Personification This occurs when writers give human traits to inanimate objects.
The sun smiled down on us.
The wind holwed in the night.
Metaphor An expression that makes a comparison between two seemingly unlike things.
All is a walking dictionary.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Simile A figure of speech that uses the word like or as to make a comparison between two unlike things
 She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; -George Gordon, Lord
Byron
She is as kind as an angel.
Hyperbole An expression that greatly exaggerates facts and ideas for humorous effect or for emphasis
My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires and more slow -Andrew Marvell
I will die if she asks me to dance.
Paradox A statement that seems contradictory in ordinary experience but reveals the hidden truth
The child is the father of the man.
I have to be cruel in order to be kind.
Allusion An indirect reference to a person, place, event of a literary work with which the author believes
the reader will be familiar
Chocolate cake is my Achilles heel.
His smile is like kryptonite to me. (Superman’s weakness)
Synecdoche Occurs when a part is represented by whole or conversely
My fiancé bought me a new set of wheels. (Wheels-car)
The hired hands do all the hard work. (Hired hands- workers)
Oxymoron Two contradictory terms used together
There is a real love hate relationship developing between the two of them.
The comedian was seriously funny.

Metonymy The use of linked term to stand in for an object or concept.

The pen is mightier than the sword. (Pen stands for the written word and Sword for military
aggression)
The White House will be announcing the decision around noon today.
Pun The manipulation of words that have more than one meaning, brings humor to the expression
I don’t like this pizza very much, There’s mushroom for improvement.
I want to expresso my love.
Irony A contrast between the situation and what is reality, a difference between the surface meaning of
something that is said and the underlying meaning
The fire station gets burned.
Awesome! Another homework packets!