Creative writing can refer to any form of writing, but it is not simply the expression of information. It aims to express thoughts, feelings and emotions.
Let’s take a look at several foreign definitions:
“Creative writing is writing that is written in an imaginative, often unique and poetic way. Expressing the author's thoughts and emotions."
"Writing is a form of personal freedom that liberates us from the publicity we see around us. What the author ultimately writes about is not a culture. The most important thing is to save yourself and preserve your personality.”
Creative writing covers fiction and non-fiction, such as novels, poems, plays, movie scripts, memoirs, etc. Creative writing is a teaching model used in literary creation in the United States and other countries. The main purpose of this model is to cultivate new writers.
Seven core elements of creative writing:
1. Punishment:
Stories are about challenging difficulties. Increasingly serious problems will push the protagonists to the limits of their abilities. Success can only exist in the ending, and the middle can have a positive turn for the better, but it's usually followed by something worse. Good stories usually have a big problem early on that isn't resolved until near the end.
2. Relevance:
This mainly comes from the audience’s identification with the protagonist and the problem, which will lead to understanding, sympathy, and hope for its success. Bock summarized the story problems of relevance into eight points: ① Life is in danger ② Life goes bad ③ Rare opportunity ④ Save someone ⑤ Achieve goals ⑥ Defeat bullies ⑦ Get rid of bad luck ⑧ Find a partner.
A likable character will have a very clear characteristic, that is, he is really good to others, and can even give up his own interests sometimes. He can appear to be a selfish asshole, but do heroic things and face death without fear, and audiences like this character.
3. Originality:
Most people don’t actually expect writers to create a new type of work. They are more inclined to see the type they have seen before. Some new and interesting things have been added to the story. Creating something new and novel in a more familiar package is usually more marketable.
Don’t worry about your creativity being “plagiarized”. From the conception to the completion of the work, the author will always find that his work will not be as unique and novel as he imagined, and there will also be huge differences in the same type of work. .
4. Credibility:
What the audience likes to see are characters who are related to each other and take mutually restrictive actions when facing challenges. What interests the audience is not the fantasy world, but the impact of novel elements on the characters in the play. The best plot must quickly enter the storyline in a relatively simple and easy-to-understand scene.
Considering the character's situation, the audience will understand why the character chooses to do this or that. The "rules of conduct in the story" should also be simple, clear and easy to understand.
5. Changing destiny:
The story should focus mostly on external risks rather than the inner world. Including but not limited to: ① Death threats ② Terrorist crimes ③ Imprisonment and slavery ④ Family safety ⑤ Love obstacles ⑥ Career crisis ⑦ Disillusionment of ideals ⑧ Other unpleasant things.
The protagonist should be subject to various constraints from life from the beginning of the story, and be forced to grow up due to external challenges. The characters may try to solve the problem without changing themselves internally, but it doesn't work. New situations force them to take new steps to change from the inside out.
6. Entertainment:
Most writers do not put entertainment first, but the audience will pay for a work and usually first consider its entertainment value. . Experience captivating stories, gain subjective enjoyment, and escape from real life to some extent.
The emotions of entertainment certainly don’t just mean laughing happily, but also include: fear, shock, desire, excitement, romance, comfort, etc. Relevant factors include funny, rich, beautiful, famous, high-end, betrayal, conspiracy, spectacle, exotic, etc.
7. Significance:
Significance is to give the audience something worth remembering and cherishing, including a new perspective on the world, inspiration and emotion, understanding of others, and giving the audience something to remember and cherish. Life provides guidance, freedom from loneliness and more.
In fact, many questions do not have simple and clear answers, but the telling of the story will still make people think, and excellent authors will subtly show the significance through fascinating plots.