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Traditional Forms of Creative Writing

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Writing

The forms of writing you see today are the ones modified and worked upon over time. Creative writing is a form of writing different from the technical or academic one like research paper writing. This form of writing analyzes the writer’s creative ability at play.

This type of writing is self-expressive and original. For example, a newspaper report is a form of writing but not a creative one. Its sole purpose is to present facts to the readers and not to express his views. Similarly, even in a research paper writing, the writer’s sole purpose is to focus on his topic, highlight points in its favor and critically analyze it, but cannot express his views in the paper. 

The purpose of creative writing is both, to express the writer’s emotions, feelings, point of view and to entertain the readers for the same. They work upon different aspects of human life and experiences and appeal to the readers in the same way.

The only thing that a writer does in this case is his immense use of imagination along with obeying the form of the style he is writing on. These works may include works of fiction and non-fiction as well.

Traditional forms of creative writing are the ones that have their place in the world of writing from the very early times. Poetry has found itself a place and seen a rise when Aristotle talked about it in his Poetics. He talked about the form and structure of poetry and highlighted its importance. Through him poetry gained prominence, similarly there are other traditional forms of writing as well:

  1. Poetry: As mentioned above, poetry is a traditional form of writing. It developed using several forms and structures and in each era of English Literature. In the Middle Ages, the English used was different and Chaucer expressed this art in his Pilgrim’s Progress
  2. The Elizabethan era saw the rise of Spensarian and Shakespearian style of poetry adhering to the style of Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare respectively. While Edmund Spenser rose to prominence for his allegorical work The Faerie Queene and William Shakespeare, along with his dramas, rose to prominence for his sonnets mostly on love and marriage. Sheer sarcasm on society was intended by poets in the Augustan era. Alexander Pope with his Rape of the Lock and Jonathan Swift with his allegorical Tale of Tubs highlighted the same. Romantic poetry of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley and Byron were focused on nature and its beauty. These works were written keeping in mind the language of common men. Victorian poetry focused on the stark contrast between religion and science. And the modern ones focused on the disillusionment caused by the World Wars, and many other causes of the same. Thus poetry kept on developing all this while suiting to the political and social background of the society. 
  3. Drama: Drama again traces its prominence through the works of Shakespeare. Shakespeare was an Elizabethan era dramatist who wrote comedies, tragedies, tragi-comedies, histories and the like. The refined way he worked upon his drama, led him to become so famous. There were other dramatists as well, who succeeded him. The motive of those immediately succeeding him, in the Augustan era, was to highlight the folies of men and women in the society and to expose it in the most vivid sense. Drama, after the Augustan era, was taken over by the novels and only saw rise again in the modern era, when writers like Samuel Beckett and Henrik Ibsen took to writing them and again highlighting the futility of human life as well as the then society respectively. 
  4. Novels and Novellas: This is yet another traditional form of creative writing that developed fast from the Georgian era, with Jane Austen being the prominent proponent of it. Austen’s vivid portrayal of society and the then concept of love and marriage in almost all her novels, again gives the reader an insight into that era. Her most popular novel being Pride and Prejudice– a clear glimpse into the position of women in that era and the stereotypical mould set for them, which the protagonist Elizabeth Bennet refuses to fit in. Novellas were just a short version of these novels and too gained prominence with these novels.
  5. Memoirs and Personal Essays: These are always written in first person and offer the readers a glimpse into the writer’s personal life. They are the most expressive forms of writings and the writer’s recollection and elaboration of certain important events of his life. They too saw development from the very early times, rising to prominence post the Augustan era.
  6. Songs and Speeches: Again an important traditional form of writing. Though the former can be closely related to writing poetry, it developed as a different genre. Similarly speech writing developed on the same lines.

Creative Writing includes certain techniques that are used by the writers in their work:

  • Efficient plot development to connect the dots
  • Character development with each progressing scene
  • Highlighting a perspective
  • Depicting the setting
  • Working upon the theme to make the writer’s stance more clear to the readers
  • Use of figures of speech
  • Clear depiction of the scenes
  • Dialogues, especially in case of dramas
  • Use of imaginative language

These along with many other factors contribute to efficient creative writing. Not to forget that even essay writing began in the traditional era. Several writers and philosophers came up with their opinion and set structure to write an essay which offered the future writers, essay writing help.

The most prominent essayist Francis Bacon’s Essays is a refined work which the students looking for essay writing help can look up to. Thus these were the traditional forms of creative writing that still maintain their importance.  

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