Tips on Creative Writing + 15 Bonus Prompts

Tips on Creative Writing + 15 Prompt Ideas

Hello and welcome. If you are looking to improve your creative writing, you have come to the right place. This blog post is all about tips and suggestions and includes some bonus practice prompts, too.

See This Quick Tip to Start Your Writing Off in a Fabulous Direction

Yeppers…

The plot of your story is the true point of your story creation—it’s what happens between the pages and what keeps readers hanging on for more.

If you don’t have a plot, you don’t have a story. It’s as simple as that.

Consider this:

In creative writing, a plot is the sequence of events that make up a story, whether it’s told, written, filmed, or sung. The plot is the story, and more specifically, how the story develops, unfolds, and moves in time.

With that in mind, I suggest you write your first draft and practice the habit of focusing on the plot and not on grammar, editing, or your end product.

In fact, your initial word choice is just not that vital to your plot.

Remember… my #1 tip for fiction writing and creating great stories is this:

Story plot first.
Refinement later

(This advice is particularly useful for beginners.)

Of course, understanding what a plot is and what it does isn’t enough to help you create a good one…you’ll need to do a little more work to achieve that. Here you will find 6 tips to help you develop the plot of a story.

Now…

Grab your pen, pencil, or your computer and get writing. It’s the only way to achieve what you see out to create with your story.

Tips on Creative Writing
and a Few Tricks, Too 🙂

Need even more tips on how to improve your creative writing skills? That’s easy peasy. Just start by following these six essential creative writing tips. Enjoy!

Tip #1 – Commit to Regular Practice

The old saying, “Practice makes perfect,” is correct. If you want to improve, you must take the time to practice regularly.

Skilled creative writers don’t suddenly become gifted overnight – they work hard to manifest that creative vision into words that touch people. With regular practice, you have the chance to improve your creative writing skills, too.

Commit to writing regularly, and stick with it.

Tip #2 – Read More Creative Writing

Nearly every great writer will tell you that they spend a significant amount of time reading. Want to improve your creative writing skills? Start reading and studying the works of others. You’ll see things you like, and you’ll see things you don’t. Both will help you become a better writer yourself.

When a piece of writing moves you and grabs your attention, determine what kept you engaged.

If you find yourself bored, think about what could have been done better. You’ll learn valuable lessons that will help you create writing that engages your readers.

Tip #3 – Cultivate Joy in Writing

When people read a piece of writing, they want to feel something. Accomplishing this means you need to cultivate joy and love in your craft. When people pick up something you’ve written, that joy should flow through your words.

Bonus Creative Writing Tip: No matter what you write, whether it’s a creative poem, a song, or an essay for school, make sure your love and joy come through in the creative writing process – read here 7 Reasons Why I love Creative Writing.

Tip #4 – Carve Out Time for Daily Writing

Write every day! We suggest spending at least 30 minutes writing each day and coming up with a word count goal you want to meet each day. As your skills improve, you can increase the word count.

Remember, whether you feel that what you write is good, bad, or somewhere in the middle, it still will help you on your journey to better creative writing skills. Put your daily writing time on your schedule, and try not to miss it. You’ll be surprised at how much progress you see after just a few weeks of regular practice.

Tip #5 – Skip the Clichés

Obvious ideas and clichés are boring. Writing should engage your audience, and tired clichés will lose the interest of your readers. If you can’t avoid a cliché altogether, try to come up with a creative, new way to twist the idea, so it keeps the attention of the audience.

Tip #6 – Read Works Aloud

One of the best things you can do to improve your creative writing is to read every work you write aloud to yourself. If you find yourself stumbling across words, rewrite that part. You’ll be able to hear if your writing makes sense and drives home what you’re trying to say.

Remember, you want your creative writing piece to create vivid scenes, characters, and images in the minds of readers.

Does your writing come alive when you read it aloud? If not, keep working on it and improving your craft until it does.

15 Creative Writing Prompts

You’ll find a huge selection of creative writing prompts across our website. As you work on improving your creative writing skills, we’ve put together a few of our favorite prompts to help you as you put our creative writing tips into practice. Try using them in your daily writing practice as you hone your craft.

Write a story about everything going wrong for an entire day.
You answer a knock at the door and there’s an alien there. What does it look like and what do you do?
What would happen if your dog or cat or other pet started talking? Write a story about it.
Image a dinosaur was in your yard. What would you do?
Write a story about an adventure on your own private island.
If you could have any animal for a pet, what would you have and why?
Describe some creative ways you could make money.
Write a story about the oldest and the youngest people you know.
What is your greatest accomplishment in life thus far? Why?
If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be? Why would you change it?
What would you like to be famous for and why?
Write about one of the most important lessons you have learned in life.
If you could meet anyone from the past, who would it be?
If you were rich, would you change as a person?
Describe the most irritating commercial on TV. Why don’t you like it?

I hope you found some wonderful inspiration in the above list of creative writing ideas. However, if you need more story writing ideas we’ve got loads more of them for you here on our blog.

Final Thoughts about Your Own Creative Writing Practice

Creative writing is a pretty broad term, and the genre includes songs, plays, short stories, poetry, and more. This style of writing should encourage deep thinking, present fascinating ideas, and evoke emotion in readers.

Writing creative pieces involves free-thinking, tapping into your feelings, and finding your own personal style. It’s an entertaining form of writing that allows you to use storytelling to share human experiences.

Now…

There’s more to creative writing than a great imagination.

You also need practice and dedication. Even if you have great ideas, developing creative writing requires regular practice.

That’s precisely why we put together this list of helpful tips that will help you take your creative writing skills to the next level.

So make time for your writing practice as often as you can. I know you’ll be glad you did.