When it comes to creative writing, there's nothing worse than writer's block. You might want to start writing a story or some poetry, but nothing comes to mind.
Fortunately, with so many different types of creative writing out there and so many genres to explore, there's nothing better for getting those creative juices flowing than exploring different kinds of writing. If you're based in Charlotte, consider finding an english tutor near me to improve your English writing skills.
To give you some ideas, here are just some of the different types of creative writing you can do and some of the more popular genres that you may be interested in exploring.
The Different Types of Creative Writing
This list of types of creative writing certainly isn't exhaustive so it might help to know what kinds of writing we wouldn't usually consider creative writing.
Technical writing, academic writing, journalism, business writing, legal writing, and instructional writing shouldn't be thought of as creative writing. This isn't to say that these don't require creativity or good writing.
Creative writing usually includes types of writing that exist mainly because the writer wanted it to exist. They're typically products of a writer or artist's self-expression.
Here are a few examples of the kinds of works that we could class as creative writing to give you a better idea.
Fiction: Imagined Creative Writing
Fiction is probably the first type of creative writing that many people will think of. Fiction tends to include stories with a narrative.
Within fiction and many other types of creative writing, there are several genres you could explore, but we'll get to them later on in the article.
Fiction works are among the most popular and if you think of a famous writer, especially famous contemporary writers, you'll likely be thinking of a novelist.
However, even within fiction, there are a few different types of content that a writer could produce.
Novel
The novel is probably the most common and famous type of fiction. Novels are usually classified by length and you'll see the other types of fiction also refer to the length of the work.
Novels include long and complex prose rather than explaining the narrative through poetry or another style of writing.
A novel is typically between 40,000 and 100,000 words but that doesn't mean novels can't be longer or shorter than this.
Short Story
A short story is fairly self-explanatory given its name. For writers, short stories offer a good way to practice writing without committing to the length of writing required for a novel.
This isn't to say that writing short stories is just for practice. There are many great writers whose body of work includes short stories as they offer opportunities to write more focused narratives. For structured support, writers in Chicago can seek an english tutor near me to help with grammar and style.
Flash Fiction
Flash fiction is shorter than both novels and short stories. Flash fiction focuses on telling a story within a small number of words (usually less than 1,000).
This doesn't mean that the story is unfinished. Within this restrictive word count, a writer can experiment with different writing styles, structures, or genres.
Flash fiction would be shorter than this article. Just imagine trying to tell a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end.
Some of the best advice for writers is to try out writing short stories and flash fiction as they offer opportunities to write without committing to the hefty word counts required to write a novel.
Poetry: Aesthetic and Rhythmic Creative Writing
The examples of fiction that we've just seen are all written in prose. Generally, prose refers to writing in sentences, paragraphs, and chapters.
Poetry is different because the words fit within a structure. Poetry can be written in lines and stanzas much like song lyrics.
Certain types of poetry have structural forms like rhythm and meter. Meter in poetry is how syllables are stressed, making poetry far more musical.
Poetry can also include rhyme. This isn't to say that all poetry has to rhyme, but there are certain kinds of poetry where a rhyme scheme is essential.
Lyric Poetry
Lyric poetry is probably the kind of poetry that a lot of us imagine. This is poetry that's written in verses, follows a rhyme scheme and a meter, and uses lots of vivid language.
Lyric poetry tends to be short, too, and gets its message across through lots of different devices like alliteration, onomatopoeia, and rhyme.
Narrative Poetry
Narrative poetry is used to tell a story. Historically, poetry was a popular form of telling stories. Epic poems like Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey" are popular examples of narrative poetry. Epic poems are to poetry as novels are to prose.
Narrative poetry can also include ballads, which tell a story rhythmically and were likely set to music initially. The term ballad is also used in music for certain types of songs.
Haiku
A haiku is another popular type of poetry that famously uses the 5-7-5 syllable pattern. There are more features to haikus than just the syllable structure, though.
A haiku often includes a reference to the season, known as a “kigo”. The “kireji” or a cutting word to create a pause or add emphasis and it's very common for haikus to mention nature and the seasons.
This isn't to say that these conventions can't be broken, but you might find that imposing restrictions is a great way to boost your creativity when writing.
Drama: Creative Writing to be Performed
Drama can refer to a type of creative writing and also a genre within creative writing. In this instance, we're referring to creative writing for the performing arts like stage, TV, or cinema.
Play
A play is a scripted performance for the stage. A written play will include the script with the dialog, stage directions, and other instructions for the performers.
While often talked about and studied as books, many of William Shakespeare's works were plays and written to be performed on stage.
Screenplay
A screenplay is a written document used in film or television. While the script will include mostly dialogue and instructions for actors, the screenplay will include scene descriptions, action lines, character dialogue, characters and their introductions, transitions, and sluglines.
Every TV show or movie you watch will have started out as a screenplay.
Nonfiction: Creative Writing That Really Happened
Not every literary work needs to be fictional and there are ways to write literature while covering real events and people. Here are just a couple of the kinds of nonfiction writing you could do.
Memoir
A memoir is a biographical piece of writing that is usually written about the author by the author. However, it's increasingly common, especially with celebrities, to have their memoirs and books ghost-written by an author.
Memoirs will tell somebody's personal story while also adding emotional events and personal perspectives.
Arguably, the most famous memoir or non-fiction is "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank, commonly referred to as Anne Frank's Diary.
Personal Essay
Personal essays can include anecdotes and be written from a more intimate perspective than an academic essay. Either way, you should learn how to create an essay outline before starting any essay as planning is an essential part of every kind of creative writing.
Unlike writing an essay at school or college, a personal essay is a form of creative expression where the writer can provide a subjective perspective on certain topics and ideas.
Famous writers like George Orwell and Virginia Woolf wrote personal essays exploring themes like writing and literature.
The Different Genres and Settings in Creative Writing
Once you've chosen the kind of creative writing, you need to think about what genre your literary work will have. For this article, we're classifying genre as the setting, themes, and narrative devices within one of the types of creative writing we've mentioned earlier.
Generally, fictional and dramatic works will have a fairly obvious genre, but you could also apply one of these genres to your poetry. When getting started with creative writing, the genre, target audience, and type of creative writing are all hugely important considerations to make before you get started.
Fantasy: Creative Writing with Wizards, Monsters, and Magical Worlds
The fantasy genre includes magical elements, mythical creatures, and even fictional worlds and universes.
There are many subgenres within the fantasy genre, but there are two main ones that we'd like to highlight here.
High Fantasy
High fantasy generally takes place in fully fictional worlds that exist outside of our own or in parallel to it.
Famous examples of high fantasy include the works of J.R.R. Tolkien including The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit as well as George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire which was famously adapted into the Game of Thrones TV series.
Urban Fantasy
Urban fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that features all the magical elements of fantasy while taking place within our world.
You could include the Harry Potter series in this genre.
Science Fiction (Sci-Fi): Creative Writing About What Might Happen to Us
The science fiction genre tends to cover theoretical narratives with technological advances beyond what we know today.
Hard Science Fiction
Hard science fiction focuses on grounding the narrative in a realistic and believable setting by building worlds that could exist given our current understanding of science.
A lot of the best tools for writers feel like they're out of a science-fiction novel, especially now that there are writing tools built using AI and advanced computing!
Famous hard science fiction books include "The Martian" by Andy Weir and "Rendezvous with Rama" by Arthur C. Clarke but there are obviously many more.
Space Opera
The space opera genre is a sci-fi subgenre that's more adventurous and fanciful and often imagines events and technologies far beyond our current technologies.
Novels like Frank Herbert's "Dune" are a fine example of a space opera. You could also include "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams, which was originally a radio play, then a novel, then a movie, and breaks with a lot of space opera conventions by being comedic.
Mystery/Thriller: The Gripping Genre that Plays with Your Mind
While there's a lot of overlap between mysteries and thrillers. A mystery could be said to focus on solving a crime or mystery whereas a thriller is more about high emotional stakes.
Most works in these genres will share a lot of qualities, though.
Horror: Terrifying Creative Writing
Horror is the genre focusing on the emotion of fear. Supernatural horror terrifies readers by including things like ghosts, vampires, and supernatural beings.
Psychological horror evokes fear in the reader without the use of overtly terrifying elements like monsters or violence.
Romance: Creative Writing for the Heart
Most literary genres are based around a core emotion and the romance genre naturally leans towards love and relationships.
Romance can take place in historical settings by romanticizing the past or tell contemporary stories of relationships.
Elevate your English proficiency and unleash your creative potential across diverse writing genres by enlisting the expertise of a private english tutor. With personalized guidance and tailored lessons, embark on a journey of linguistic exploration and expression, honing your skills to craft compelling narratives, persuasive essays, and captivating stories that resonate with impact and imagination.
The boundaries between genres are often quite blurry and your writing can include elements from multiple genres!
Learn More About Creative Writing with Superprof
With so many different types of creative writing and so many genres to explore, you might be feeling a bit lost.
Don't worry! There are plenty of great creative writing tutors on Superprof that can help you improve your writing or even help you with english classes near me.
With many offering the first session for free, there's no reason why you can't try a few different options out before picking the right one for you and your favorite genres.
Enjoyed this article? Leave a rating!
Loading...
