An Introduction to Creative Writing

Good day, future writers-to-be. So, you've finally decided that you want to begin a career or hobby in creative writing. Perhaps you want to achieve a goal - maybe you set yourself the challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel - or perhaps you hope to be the next J.K. Rowling. Either way, it does not matter. You have come to this document seeking the advice you need to get started with your book. Great! Then let's get started!

Note: Any reviews/ratings would be greatly appreciated. Please also leave any suggestions for additional sections to this document and I will take a look.

Before I launch straight into the bulk of this how-to guide, I want to tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Tom and I am a seventeen year old student at a grammar school in South-East England. I have been writing for 4 years now and have self-published a novel in that time.
         When I started writing, I looked everywhere for good advice on how to get started with writing; how-to guides, tips and tricks, even writer's advice, but found that none of it really helped me with getting started. Successfully writing even a short-story takes time and dedication and I was limited in both. Coupled with my lack of help, I sank to a low that I didn't think I would recover from. My hopes of writing a novel were crushed before they had even begun.
         But, then I realised something; creative writing is exactly that; creative. You don't need other writer's to tell you how to get started or how to write your book. You should write it in your own time, the way you want it to be written; don't let yourself be pushed around by those telling you it is wrong. Sure, read their reviews, listen to their advice, but, at the end of the day, it is your story and if you don't like a suggestion that is given, you don't have to use it.
         So this guide is much less a step-by-step tutorial on getting started with your writing. It is merely a supplementary document to help you through the tough times, whether it be writing the opening sentence, encountering writer's block, finishing the story or even naming it. Every writer has their own strengths and weaknesses and, I hope, with the support of this document, you will be in good stead for finishing your story.

This guide will be broken down into several sections (shown in the Contents section below), answering some of the most commonly asked questions when it comes to writing. Once finished, a PDF-ready version will also be available for download to save the hassle of internet connection to read this. So, without further ado, I give to you An Introduction to Creative Writing.

Contents

Section I: Are Plans Neccessary?
Section II: What Should I Call It?
Section III: The First Sentence
Section IV: Writer's Block
Section V: The Final Chapter
Section VI: Dealing With Negative Reviews
Section VII: Editing
Section VIII: Official Copy
Section IX: Now What?
Section X: Publishing
More coming soon

Section I: Are Plans Neccessary?

So, you have finally decided to write a story. Well, that is great news! You grab your laptop (or a pen and paper), open a new Word document (or turn to a new page) and prepare to write. But then a question strikes you; do you need to plan?
         This questions puzzles many a writer, myself included. With it, a new question is formulated: what are the pros and cons of planning? A quick Internet search will reveal a heap of websites that list both. However, I have taken the most important points and listed them below.

The pros of planning include:
- Keeping track of characters, locations and items.
- Plans can constantly be adjusted and updated as your plot evolves.
- You have to think about your story in advance.

The cons of planning include:
- Time-consuming.
- A lot of paper/hard-drive use.
- Plans can get confusing if you have too much happening.

Now that you have the pros and cons, you can decide whether or not planning your story is right for you. I did not plan my novel and managed to get from A to B, keeping track of all my locations and characters (mostly). The answer to this question depends on the individual person; if you have a good memory and are able to keep track of constantly evolving ideas, you could probably avoid the need for a plan. If not, however, it is recommended that you use a plan.

Section II: What Should I Call It?

Another big problem writers' have (even published and world famous authors have this problem) is naming their story. Some people produce the name for a story and then write their story around the name. If you can do this, you are one of the few people who can sustain an entire story like this. For the majority of us, however, this method does not work, for a collection of reasons.
         Someties, the title for your story will come to you as you are writing. I know that, with my book, I was mid-way through writing chapter four (a face appears above my main character's head) when the title hit me. From that moment onwards, I used and stuck to the title. The title even made it to be published! Other times, however, the title remains a mystery for the duration of your writing. Perhaps you have called your Word documents (or notebook) 'Untitled' or 'My First Book'. No matter what you call it in the mean time, do not get hung up trying to name your story. More often than not, naming your book early results in you trying to make your story revolve around the title, rather than centering the title on the content of the story.

Section III: The First Sentence

You would be surprised to find that, yet again, even big time writers' struggle with this too. After the title dilemma, the first sentence can often seem like too much and can often ruin people's hopes of writing a story before they have even put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). I am here, however, to tell you not to give up!

I am now going home after my day at school... Keep an eye out for an update in about 2 hours time (17:30 GMT).