You might associate creative writing with fictional stories. However, it’s not just limited to poems, short stories, and novels. There are many more types of creative writing than these three. You can find at least twelve different types of creative writing. Each of them are suited to certain kinds of personal expression and specific situations. Here, we’ll take a look at some of the popular types of creative writing.
1. Songs
Many individuals believe that writing a song is giving a pure musical form to a creative expression. As a matter of fact, if you’re writing the lyrics for a song, you’re doing some creative writing. Lyrics of a song are quite similar to poetry and can have many forms.
The most common form of lyrics is the rhyme scheme. When you go through the lyrics of songs, you’ll see that they have a rhyme scheme in them.
2. Poetry
You’ll find dozens of different poetic forms today ranging from haiku to sonnets. Many of the recent poems don’t even follow a specific form. The key to writing a good poem is to make every word count and create evocative images. Besides writing about nature and love, you can also write for special occasions. They include a funeral or a wedding ceremony.
3. Vignettes
Vignettes are used for setting up a scene for readers. They’re a short form of fiction or creative non-fiction. There might not be any characters or a central conflict in vignettes that drive the story forward. The length of vignettes can range from a paragraph to a few pages. Usually, the entire event takes place at a single location. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway has many examples of vignettes.
4. Short Fiction
By writing short stories, you can learn a lot about how to structure fiction. It would teach you how to create a plot, settings, characters, and conflict. Short fiction provides more of a story than a vignette. There are many writers who make a considerable amount of money by writing short fiction. One of the best examples is A&P, which was written in 1961 by John Updike.
5. Scripts
Yet another form of creative writing is a script. The length of a script can vary. When it comes to scripts, the words you write would be recited by the actors and recorded. The audience may or may not get to view what’s written. Scripts are written for everything from plays to television commercials and movies.
6. Novels
Novels are a long form of fiction. They give you enough time to explore their characters, plot, and other elements. A novel is the most popular form of fiction in the world. You’ll come across many different genres in a novel, such as science fiction, romance, and thriller.
Writing a novel is a great way to improve your writing skills. It usually takes a lot of time and effort to write and finish a novel. When you’re writing a novel, you may also have to research on several aspects.
7. Novellas
A novella generally goes into greater detail about all the elements of the story. It is not as long as a novel but is certainly longer than a short story. One good example of a novella is Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.