Love creative writing? Ou guest blogger Betty Sims does. Read on to learn more.
Some people are just born to write and I’m one of them!
From the time I was able to spell CAT, I’ve always loved putting pen to paper to express my thoughts or create new worlds and experiences far beyond my own. As an adult, I spend a good deal of time writing and blogging professionally and composing inspirational self-help books.
Whether it’s a novel, short story, poem, biography, or blog, creative writing affords me the opportunity to impact the world with original compositions that inform, evoke emotions, or solicit a response.
When I write, I am free to share my story, opinion, or point of view without fear of rejection or reprisal and offer readers a chance to change their world through words.
Creative Writing: Reasons Why I Love It!
Here are seven reasons why I love creative writing:
1. Creative Writing Provides An Emotional Outlet
Creative writers have the ability to compose words that evoke emotion, convey a specific message, and create images much like an artist paints with a broad brush or precise pen. Language is their canvas and words their tools of the trade. Writers can craft and create new concepts and explore uncharted territories of the mind, heart, and spirit and master an almost unlimited range of narratives for novels, short stories, and poetry. Words stimulate the senses, pique the curiosity and so engage the reader that they are compelled to react in a way that they may have never imagined. The reader becomes part of the story, empathizing with each character, transported into every scene, and reacting to every spoken word.
2. My Writing Offers A Venue for Adventure
Words woven together like an intricate tapestry tell stories that provide the reader an opportunity to live outside their comfort zone, to dare to soar above the mundane and to experience a part of life to which they might not otherwise venture. Consider the travel editor who shares descriptions of exotic tropical isle like Belize, the majestic trees of a redwood forest, or the stark, frozen tundra in Alaska. The reader is transposed to a place in their mind that they may never set foot upon and the mere description of a faraway land compels the would-be traveler to book a highly-anticipated excursion motivated by expertly crafted words.
3. Writing Can Be Therapeutic
Writing with wild abandon, birthing your innermost thoughts through prose, and expressing oneself through creative writing and journaling can be cathartic. Writing can set you free from the remembrance of a painful past or give you a platform from which to launch unfulfilled dreams and aspirations. The more we release pent-up emotions and innermost conflicts, the more we can experience overall mental, psychological, and physical wellbeing. Within our hearts and minds lies so many thoughts, ideas, and strong emotions that are not easily expressed verbally; but through creative writing, we can release those thoughts, ideas, and yes, strong emotions without fear of rejection, intimidation, or in some cases, retaliation.
4. My Medium for Self-Expression
What you have on the inside must come out—it is a gift to the world. Writing releases that inner you—the one nobody knows. When I write, I can become anyone I choose–a heroine fighting for injustice in the early 1900s, a svelte model hungry for fame and living in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, or a raven-haired gypsy traveling on a colorful but dusty caravan to quaint hamlets and villages. Creative writing allows me to “try on” someone else’s life if just for a moment and live out every fantasy and every whim.
5. Problem Solving Made Simple
I love creative writing because it gives me a chance to test theories and hypotheses on paper before sharing them openly. While writing, I can explore theories from a personal perspective, research those theories to test their validity and make corrections and revisions accordingly. Researching and then developing key players and characters in fictional stories helps me better understand the human psyche and aids my ability to solve problems and work out solutions to complicated situations while remaining neutral. Someone is searching for answers to life’s dilemmas and their answer lies between the pages of a book you can write, a poem you’ve penned, or a select passage you’ve chosen to selflessly share.
6. The Written Word Records History and Preserves Memories
Creative writing is not always fictional, but sometimes it’s necessary to just tell facts. Much of my writing is to record events or relay intricate and exciting details of my life or the lives of others. History, no matter how seemingly insignificant to some, is sacred and meaningful to others. Lessons learned at our mother’s knees, parables taught to us by our fathers and grandfathers, and the intimate sagas of our sisters—these are the accounts that must be recorded and preserved so that future generations might benefit from yesterday’s experience and wisdom.
7. Creative Writing Provides Purpose for Living
Every human being was created for a purpose. Creative writing is one of the ways you can find your purpose and fulfill your destiny. Being able to express yourself through the words can validate, affirm, and certify you as a person of worth, one who is making a positive contribution to your school, your family, your neighborhood, the community, the nation, or the world-at-large. When you feel small and insignificant or when your environment offers very little in the way of personal peace, a bigger world awaits you: a world where the pen is truly mightier than the sword, a world where you can conquer every foe—real or imagined, and a world where you can be anything your mind tells you can be—all because of the power of creative writing!
Conclusion: Just Do It!
If you’re interested in creative writing, just do it! Get a pad and pen and begin to write down your thoughts, your aspirations, and your dreams. Journaling is also a great way to develop your writing style and improve your composition skills. Keep a journal to create a daily entry of activities, emotions, and ideas. Feel free to express yourself with pen and paper when you can’t verbalize your feelings. Take several creative writing courses and learn about sentence structure, how to develop a story, or embellish a character. The more you write, the more you’ll want to write, and the better you will become at composing words that create worlds of understanding for readers young and old.
Creative Writing Ideas and Prompts
Until next time, write on…
If you enjoyed these Reasons Why I Love Creative Writing,
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I appreciate it!
Sincerely,
Jill
journalbuddies.com
creator and curator
Author bio: Author Betty Sims is a freelance writer in Orlando, Florida. A blogger and contributing writer for Jofelo.com, a manufacturer of Handmade Leather Journals. Betty also writes inspirational and self-help books. Her work has been published in newsletters, reports, and periodicals for colleges and universities, financial institutions, healthcare facilities, and corporations.
