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Writing involves putting

little marks on paper via a
computer, pen, pencil, or
crayon. But writing is
more than mere scribing.
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What is

?
 = the branch of English Studies that
involves teaching and learning how to
write creatively, right?

Yeah, but…
 Isn’t all writing “creative”? Why call it Creative
Writing?

 Can it really be taught? Isn’t it about talent and a

mysterious ability to summon the muse?
 What’s it doing in a university? How do you evaluate it?

 How does it relate to Rhetoric and Composition, Literary

Studies, Linguistics, Technical Writing? Isn’t writing in
these fields creative also?
 What’s more important: the writing of literature or the
study of it?
 Isn’t all language
creative, really? Why
even have a distinct
field called Creative
Writing? Can’t business
reports, department
memos, shopping lists,
Facebook status updates,
even check-writing all be
“creative”?
 Did you know…

In some of its earliest appearances in higher ed,

Creative Writing was offered to help students
understand literature better. I.e., it was in the
service of literature studies.

The idea was that by writing some fiction, poetry,

or drama themselves, students would better
understand the masterpieces of literature.
 Why write?
• Creative writers have a story to tell.

• Creative writing is a crucial today as it was to

the Egyptians sweating over their papyrus and
the medieval monks hunched over their
illuminated manuscripts. Perhaps the qualities
that would seem to make writing passé are the
reasons it’s more important than ever.
 ca t eg o r ie s …… .
Two main
The Least You Need to Know….

Writing is a way of communicating a message to a

reader for a purpose.
Traditionally, the forms of writing are divided into
narration, description, expository, and persuasion.
Creative writing is a kind of writing that uses
language in imaginative and bold way
You can be a creative writer. I promise.
What, Me Write?

I write because….
1. I want to communicate ideas
2. I have a story to tell.
3. I am a unique person.
4. It satisfies my soul..
5. I speak with passion.
6. I want to learn something.
7. I need to fulfill a dream.
8. I have information to share.
9. I want to be famous.
10.I want to make money
1. Convey a message. How can you know what you mean until
you write it? The act of writing allows you to make
unexpected connections among ideas and language. Creative
writing helps you get your ideas across in fresh, new ways
2. Tell a story. “I have an ordinary life,” you say. “nothing
special ever happens to me.” But you don’t need special
events to be a writer; it’s what you do with the everyday that
matters. That’s the beauty of writing- it allows you to make
the mundane into the material.
3. Express My Individuality. Write John Updike compares
being a creative writer to a sailor who sets a course out to sea.
A creative writer is an explorer, a groundbreaker. Creative
writing allows you to chart your own and boldly go where no
one has gone before.
4. Gain Personal Satisfaction. It is a delicious thing to write, to
be no longer yourself but to move in an entire universe of your
own creating.
5. Express Emotions.
6. Gain Knowledge. Writing is a way of thinking and learning.
Creative writers have a unique opportunity to explore ideas and
acquire information.
7. Fulfill a Dream. Writing creates a permanent, visible record
of your ideas for others to consider and ponder. Writing gives
you taste of immortality.
8. Share Information. Writing is a powerful means of
communication because it forms and shares human thought. In
an open society, everyone is free to write and thereby share
information with others.
9. Became Famous. Want to become the
head weenie at the roast? Writing is legal and
accessible way to leave your footprint in the
sands of time.
10. Earn a Living.
Creative vs.
Technical
Writing Writing
What is Creative Writing?
SHOW
do NOT
TELL.
What is the color of the rose?
 The rose is red.
The sky wept with
blood, letting it drip
over the rose, giving
it a fiery and fierce
color.
The boat drifted away.

The little boat gently drifted

across the pond like the sun
slowly fades away at night.
I love you.

I love you to the

moon and back.
The car runs fast.

Like a cheetah in full

blast, the car runs fast
that even the wind would
be envious of its speed.
The sun rises in the east.

The sun gently climbed the sky

leaving its bed behind the
mountains in the east.