How to Write a Creative Story

Writing a creative story can be fun, rewarding and personally satisfying. If you're good at it, your readers will appreciate you and you could even make money from your creative story writing. These tips are not fool-proof. Successful writing requires practice, time and attention. Give these simple suggestions a try and you will be on your way to writing a creative story.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Time to write
• A computer or notebook and pen
• Imagination

1. Pick a subject. One important aspect to writing a creative story is having something to write about. Draw from your personal experiences or borrow interesting stories from the people around you. Pick and choose details that could be a good starting point for your story. These tidbits can be great pieces for your next creative story.

2. Decide on your characters. After you've decided on a theme, or main idea, for your story you want to consider which type of characters would be best suited for the story. For example, if you want to write a romantic comedy make sure you craft characters that are likable and funny. If you are going to write a creative story about someone suffering a personal loss, you want to make sure that you create characters that have insight and understanding or personal loss or perhaps the characters don't have insight and you need to reveal this. Allow your characters to come to life on the page. Let your readers know, through description, what the characters look like and who the characters are by using dialogue. The old phrase 'Show, don't tell' is very important when writing a creative story. The readers want to learn about the characters incrementally. The reader wants to 'discover' the character through descriptions and dialogue not from your telling what and who they are.

3. Create a beginning, middle and end to the story. You want the beginning of the story to give the reader background information related to the characters and the plot of the story. The middle will develop the main event of the story and the end will provide a resolution of the main theme or plot of the story. Give the readers as many details as possible to create drama, interest and enthusiasm for the lives of the characters.

4. Remember to use your imagination. For example, you have come up with an idea for a creative story about a recent trip you took on a cruise. Perhaps the cruise was special but not spectacular. By using your imagination you could write a creative story using the cruise as a jumping off point. Perhaps, the story can become a mystery about a chance encounter between a woman and a long lost friend who now becomes a mysterious love. Your imagination is limitless. Use it when writing your story.

5. Write and rewrite. Make sure that you take the time to revise the story. Sometimes you need to put it down and walk away for a day or two. Be willing to go back and modify any parts that are either boring, don't make sense or are just plain unnecessary to the story.Even the most talented writers set time aside to re-write. Very few authors have a flawless story on the first draft.

Tips & Warnings

• Take an on-line writing course.
• Join a local writing group.
• Find a friend who also likes to write and pair up to be each others writing partner.
• Have tons of fun with your creative story.

[davida8575]

on 9/16/2009 Thanks for the advice. Pretty good ideas.