Alone in front of the blank document open on your computer, you painfully line up one sentence, then another, but impossible to find the next one... Which author has never experienced the famous blank page syndrome when writing their manuscript? Inspiration is fickle, so you can't afford to wait for it to write every scene. Sometimes it's also your writing style that hinders you: you don't know how to translate the ideas born in your mind onto the page.
Alone in front of the blank document open on your computer, you painfully line up one sentence, then another, but impossible to find the next one... Which author has never experienced the famous blank page syndrome when writing their manuscript? Inspiration is fickle, so you can't afford to wait for it to write every scene. Sometimes it's also your writing style that hinders you: you don't know how to translate the ideas born in your mind onto the page.
Writing a story indeed has nothing to do with writing an administrative document or a simple e-mail. Fictional stories require a completely different type of writing, which we call creative. Luckily, creative writing can be learned! The more you master it, the more comfortable you will be in the phase of writing your manuscript, both in terms of efficiency and quality.
WHY CREATIVE WRITING
Creative writing is distinguished from journalistic writing, which is more factual and concise, or from academic writing, which is more scientific and rigorous. Indeed, focused on creativity, storytelling and emotion, it aims to promote literary expression . The principle ? Play with words to free your imagination while working on your pen.
Creative writing is also an Anglo-Saxon concept (in English creative writing ) that designates a method for improving one's mastery of different literary genres (novel, poetry, theater, etc.). Born in English-speaking universities, his teaching is gradually spreading around the world, particularly in France through creative writing workshops , or even dedicated university courses.
THE USEFULNESS OF CREATIVE WRITING
Trying workshops or even creative writing training can bring you many benefits:
Have fun: Creative writing is above all a way to write without the pressure of a concrete goal, like finishing a novel.
Develop your creativity: the different creative writing exercises stimulate your imagination through various fun constraints.
Overcome blank page syndrome more easily: freed from the fear of judgment or the worry of writing a perfect first draft, your thinking stops being paralyzed and allows your pen to unleash its full potential!
Work on your style: the constraints imposed by the different workshops or creative writing exercises encourage you to find original solutions and thus help to perfect your writing style.
HOW TO PRACTICE CREATIVE WRITING
GETTING STARTED WITH WRITING GAMES
Good news: there are as many creative writing workshops as there are writers! All creative writing games and exercises are good for improving your practice and thus your style. Here are some tips and examples of workshops:
· Practice automatic writing: this exercise consists of writing whatever comes to mind without thinking, aligning text on the page for a given time (for example, five minutes).
· Write the same scene from several points of view: this will allow you to practice varying the “voices” of your characters.
· Start from a known work of fiction: why not parody your favorite novel or imagine the sequel to the last film you watched?
· Write a scene or dialogue containing conflict: this exercise will help you work on narrative tension, an element found in many novels and which is essential in certain subgenres, such as thrillers or detective stories.
· Vary literary genres: if you have never explored genres other than the novel or short story, have fun writing poems or a play.
If you want to find more ideas for workshops to develop your literary creativity, we have dedicated an article to writing exercises .
INTEGRATE CREATIVE WRITING INTO YOUR DAILY LIFE
Like any profession, creative writing can be practiced and its mastery is not innate. This is also one of the reasons why, on Édith & Nous, we offer Proofreading and Correction workshops for your novel, carried out by book professionals.
The equation is simple: to write better, you have to… write. Writing a novel is certainly a time-consuming activity, but you can however integrate some creative writing practices into your daily life:
Keep a diary: why not go back to your childhood and try again expressing your emotions and feelings in a little personal notebook? This exercise, in addition to leading you to work on your style by encouraging you to write daily, will also constitute a useful release of steam and a source of introspection.
Try new things: if you have the opportunity, try to get out of your comfort zone. Try thrilling activities, escape into nature, dare to meet new people... Your life is often your first source of inspiration: as long as it's busy!
Write down your dreams: sleep can also be a surprising source of ideas for a novel. Your dreams, much more creative than reality, can help you invent adventures, or even an entire plot. Several novels have also been inspired by dreams, such as the famous Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
Write at unusual times: Have you noticed that the brightest ideas always arise when you are least ready to write? So go in search of this unexpected creativity by trying to write in the middle of the night, or on the contrary as soon as you wake up, or even at the time when you would be least likely to write.
CREATIVE WRITING, A TRUE ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE
AN INCREASINGLY POPULAR EDUCATION
The history of creative writing as an academic discipline begins in English-speaking faculties, but its teaching is increasingly spreading throughout the world.
Often provided by a professional writer , each training, in its own way, teaches writing techniques (applicable to all literary genres or to a specific genre such as the novel), provides concrete advice and teaches how to put them into practice through exercises.
Some great authors have themselves followed such training, which helps to legitimize their effectiveness: Philip Roth, Flannery O'Connor and even Katherine Pancol have followed training in literary creation .
TRAINING IN FRANCE
If you are interested in the creative writing method, know that you can discover it in France, either in the form of free workshops (the famous writing workshops ) or within academic training.
Currently, there are several university courses training in creative writing in France:
Eight master’s degrees in creative writing :
Toulouse II University – Master's degree in literary creation, writing professions course
University of Le Havre – Master in Letters and Literary Creation
University of Paris 8 – Master in Literary Creation
University of Cergy-Pontoise – Master of Arts, Writing professions and literary creation course
University of Clermont – Master in Letters and Literary Creation
University of Paris-Saclay – Master’s in Research and Literary Creation
University of Limoges – Master in Literature Production
Polytechnic University of Hauts-de-France – Master Arts, Letters and Civilization, Creative Writing course
A university degree (DU) at the University of Aix-Marseille
University workshops , offered in particular by Sciences Po Paris
Creative writing is a practice that needs to be worked on: Rome wasn't built in a day, just as you don't become Stephen King in a snap of your fingers! By devoting some of your daily time to practicing your pen, you will quickly notice the improvement in your creativity and style. These two pieces of luggage will be your best allies when you start writing a novel!