What Is Creative Writing?
A girl named Mia looked at a plain gray rock on the sidewalk. She said, "That rock is asleep. It's dreaming about being a mountain." That sentence is creative writing! Creative writing is making up stories, ideas, and pictures with words.
What You'll Learn
- What makes writing 'creative' - How to invent a character - How to use your five senses in a story - How to write your own tiny tale
Stories Come From Everywhere
You can write about a real thing, like your dog, but make it creative by imagining what your dog is thinking. Or you can write about something totally made up, like a dragon who is afraid of the dark. Both are creative writing, because YOU are deciding what happens.
Give Your Character a Want
Every good tiny story has a character who WANTS something. A mouse wants cheese. A kid wants to stay up late. A cloud wants to be blue instead of gray. Once your character wants something, the story can begin.
When you write, ask: What do I see? What do I hear? What do I smell? Instead of 'the forest was scary,' try 'the trees creaked and something growled far away.'
Beginning, Middle, End
Every story has three parts. Beginning: who is in the story and what do they want? Middle: what problem gets in the way? End: how does it get fixed? A story about a lost sock could be: sock falls behind the dryer (beginning), sock is scared and lonely (middle), a kid finds it and it becomes a puppet (end).
Which sentence is the BEST example of creative writing?
What should a character in your story have to make it interesting?
Match each story part to what happens in it.
Terms
Definitions
Drag terms onto their definitions, or click a term then click a definition to match.
Write a Tiny Talking-Object Story
Pick one object near you right now (a pencil, a shoe, a spoon). Give it a want (example: the pencil wants to write a poem instead of homework). Write 4-6 sentences: who it is, what it wants, what problem shows up, and how it ends. Draw a picture of your object with a face.
Flashcards — click each card to reveal the answer
Want to keep learning?
Sign up for free to access the full curriculum — all subjects, all ages.
Start Learning Free