Tag Archives: creative writing

Unique Creativity – Use your voice!

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The wonderful thing about being individuals is that we are all blessed with our own unique story to tell.

Ten people could experience the exact same situation but none of their experiences are the same.

We are shaped by our past experiences. We view things differently because of how we were raised, what we have experienced in the past, and our knowledge base. This is a gift.

If you find a story that you want to tell, don’t be afraid to tell it. The fact that it has been done before doesn’t matter. It hasn’t been told by you.

The key to this is to make sure that you are using your unique voice and not consciously or unconsciously copying what has already been done. Use your perspective to see things from different angles.

This goes for all areas of creativity. While writing tells stories, so do pictures and other visual arts. You can tell a story with a five course dinner.

Whatever your outlet is, get in there and practice. The more you are exercising your creativity, the louder and more distinct your voice becomes. The louder and more distinct your voice becomes, the more comfortable you will be with it.

Remember no one can be creative the way you can be creative!

Creativity Sundays – Get creative with how you get creative.

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So you have fallen behind on those resolutions or plans you had for the new year. Perhaps your creativity challenge is a day late (a little like this post). Or maybe you are a couple days of your “everyday” challenges.

Don’t worry. Today is a new day. Start over.

Don’t be afraid to alter your challenge. Instead of saying you are going to write or draw or compose everyday, try saying that you will simply create everyday. Make a conscious effort to be creative everyday. Or look at why you have fallen off and adjust accordingly.

Don’t be so hard on yourself. It will stifle your creativity.

So today, if you are bogged down by your usual forms of creativity, try something new. Step completely outside of your box. Do things a little differently.

Get creative with how you get creative!

Creativity Sundays: Expand your vocabulary!!!

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No matter what you method of being creative, it is always very important to expand your vocabulary. You can never know too many words.

Granted, as a writer, it is possible to use too many complicated words when simple ones will do. However, you still should know the complicated ones and what they mean.

Wordplay is fun. Creating art based on a new word is fun.

Here are some words you may or may not know. Attempt to use a few of the ones you aren’t familiar with in your next creative project or add them in to a current project.

officious
impassive
monstrosity
sanguine
conspicuous
toothsome
fervent
fruition
nuance
segue
treacherous
rampage
sumptuous
seamy
neurosis
leaven
culpable
zany
coddle
lacerate
goblet
brusque
menagerie
fractious
eccentric
braggadocio
heresy
glean
uncivilized
sensationalism
placate
recompense
hazy
insinuate

Want to find new words on your own?

  • Get a dictionary app or follow one on social media. Most post words of the day.
  • Open a dictionary to a random page and pick out a word you don’t know.
  • Take words you do know and look them up in the thesaurus for alternatives you may not have thought of.
  • Learn a new language.
  • Keep your eyes and your ears open.

Creativity Sundays – What is Creativity?

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What is creativity?

What does it mean to you?

When I think of creativity I think of:

  • it is characterized by originality
  • innovation
  • setting prototypes
  • it is primal
  • imaginative
  • unique
  • inventive
  • authentic
  • revolutionary
  • instinctive

I don’t think there is one definition that works for everyone.

Begin your process by exploring your creativity.

What does creativity mean to you? How do you express it?

Highlight all the ways you exercise your creativity.

30 in 30: Day 30 – I hope you didn’t need a prompt to finish…

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I hope you didn’t need a prompt to finish.

But if you do…

Write about accomplishing a goal. No matter how small it is, write about what it means to either you or your character.

Happy Writing!

30 in 30: Day 29 – Embrace change

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Change something about your project today. Change your character in some way. Alter their perception or change their mind about something important. Change your direction. Turn left when you were clearly supposed to go right. Change the way you write a poem. Pick today to rhyme. Change the way you approach an essay. If you typically do a lot of research, go off the top of your head today.

 

Embrace change today and have some fun with it!

30 in 30: Day 28 – What is your background?

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Write out the background for either yourself or one of your characters. It could be about you or the character personally, as in their history. Or it could be about genealogy and ancestry. Be sure to relate this to who you or your character is currently (present moment in the story). Make connections. See how it ties together. Insert the sense of discovery with it.

Have fun!

30 in 30: Day 27 – Insert your favorite dish

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Give something edible a staring role. Take the focus off of conflict, drama, or whatever else is going on in your writing and focus on the food.

Make sure to use all five senses.

Most of all, make sure to have fun writing!

30 in 30: Day 26 – Give Thanks

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Really simple… the topic is being thankful and grateful.

Work it in.

Work it out.

Have some fun!

30 in 30: Day 25 – Better late then never…

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Insert a bit of lateness in your piece. It can be an ode to how you feel about timeliness or it can be a bad habit your character has. A poem about time works too. Heck, you can even make a list of excuses as to why you are late.

 

Have fun with it!