Creative Writing Deconstructed: An Exercise for Freelancers and Fiction Writers

Creative writing begins at the desk, continues on our walks or bike rides through the neighborhood, dominates our thoughts at school or work, and never really ends. There is plenty of material for a writer trying to be creative; it can be an "Idiot's Guide" book or just a piece we find while surfing the internet. This article will not define it; instead we will work on discovering the muse within us.

I said creative writing begins at the desk. In truth it can begin the first time we put a word down in a notebook at school, or reading a book and wondering if we could do the same, or even seeing the success a loved one had in the art field. Generally, when we begin to write creative fiction or non-fiction we find a convenient place to put words to the page. This can be a desk in the basement or one in our bedroom, writing at night when the world is asleep and we are exploring the mind.

We all need a start in the process of being creative. Photography and painting can still be applied to creative writing; this is about exercising the imagination and finding new ways to express ourselves. All a creative writer really needs is a pen and pad or a computer. A pen and pad is better because, though we can scribble out what we write, it will be harder to let the inner critic destroy what hope we had.

We can read a story and write down our own in a journal form. This is an exercise. Perhaps we just want to journal about life and express ourselves. We can look back at the way our mind was working by digging our these notebooks. If we choose to be serious about our creativity a group is needed. I joined a group called "Artist's Way" which is one of the better resources for creative writers. All that is asked from the author of "Artist's Way" is that we write out three pages in a notebook, go on art dates by ourselves, then meet with a group and tell where we succeeded and where we did not.

We will find that these "Artist dates" can be as simple as going to a library by ourselves or walking through the neighborhood with music playing. This is key to being creative: we have to develop a way of finding life. And these dates make the process of writing much easier.

Creative writing works for so many because it allows us to find out what we are thinking about the most. It can be as simple as writing about hating a job, or as complex as discovering a short story in us that we never thought was there. There is no cut-and-dry way to do it; we may want a career, just to have some fun, or we hope to express ourselves-and whatever the case it is ok. If we stop writing a void will fill in us.

So we sit at our desks, look at one we've written, and begin dreaming. Eventually the pen will find the pad again, or the keyboard will light on fire because of the speed of our writing. Creative writing is like discovering an old book that changed our lives years ago: It will always have a resonance deep within us.