Creative Writing
It is harder to state absolute rules for creative writing, but this chapter makes general suggestions that are often true. The chapter has one section on fiction and drama, and another on poetry, but it starts with rules that apply to all forms of creative writing.
General Rules
1. Obey the rules of grammar, usage and punctuation. Creative writers should use language inventively, but they do not have a license to ignore the basic rules of good English. Readers will be patient with a demanding stylistic technique (like stream-of-consciousness narration) as long as the rewards it offers justify the work of reading it. Hold up your end of the bargain, and help the reader wherever possible. Carelessness is not art.
2. CW Show: show, don't tell. Make your language concrete, not abstract; specific, not general. In the Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer uses details as clues to character. The Knight wears a garment stained with rust from his armor; the young Oxford scholar keeps twenty volumes of Aristotle's philosophy beside his bed; the Prioress weeps when she sees a mouse caught in a trap; and the Reeve always rides last among the pilgrims. In every case Chaucer conveys an impression of the person without using any abstractions or generalizations.
3. CW Con: maintain a consistent style and tone. If your narrator is a six-year-old boy, do not use words he could not understand. If a character is a drug dealer in the ghetto, he should speak like one. If you are writing a poem in a romantic style, an unseemly word or image can spoil the serious effect.
4. CW Ad: use adjectives and adverbs with restraint. They quickly start sounding artificial:
OVERDONE: Graceful white gulls hovered lazily above the shimmering blue sea as the glistening, golden sun beamed brightly.
5. CW Vul: use vulgar language responsibly. Sometimes vulgarity is appropriate; if your characters are tough guys on the street, they should not talk like nuns. However, there are more original and interesting methods than four-letter words to show that someone is tough.
If you must describe something embarrassing (sickness, for example), describing it indirectly takes more art and shows better taste. Vulgarity for its own sake only calls attention to itself and, at times, to the insecurity of the people who use it.
6. Use archaic English correctly. If you set a story or poem in the past and use archaic English, do it grammatically and consistently. No Medieval knight or American Pilgrim ever said, "I loveth thou," which is as clumsy as saying, "Him love she." The grammatical rules are easy to learn. Where we say you, English speakers once used other pronouns:
SUBJECTIVE CASE: thou (singular) ye (plural) OBJECTIVE CASE: thee (singular) you (plural) POSSESSIVE CASE: thy, thine (singular) your, yours (plural) Thine was used when the word that followed began with a vowel (thy fear but thine ear). Verb conjugations differed only in the second and third person:
1st PERSON SING.: I am, have, know PLURAL: We are, have, know 2nd PERSON SING.: Thou art, hast, knowest PLURAL: Ye are, have, know 3rd PERSON SING.: He/she/it is, hath, knoweth PLURAL: They are, have, know
Fiction and Drama.
7. CWA: action. One of two common flaws is lack of action--the story that relies too much on description or dialogue, or the play in which no one does anything but talk. The essence of storytelling is dramatizing conflict through action. You do not need swordfights or volcanic eruptions; action can be subtle, but something should happen. The opposite flaw is the story in which there is little but action. If the only conflict in a story is whether Johnny will get a hit and win the game, the story has little interest as fiction.
8. CWP: plot. A good plot is not easy to create. There must be questions the reader wants answered, logic to the sequence of events, a conflict to be resolved, and an element of the unexpected. A story need not have a surprise ending, but it should not be predictable either.
9. CWC: characterization. It takes more art to create a real, complex human being than a stereotype. One of the secrets is to provide concrete details of appearance and manner that reveal attitudes, values and beliefs. Another secret is to give the character a past. Most short stories narrate only one or two incidents, but good stories often give us a sense of the characters' entire lives. Why are they the way they are? Have they been affected by the place where they live, the parents who raised them, their work, their marriage? The writer faces the challenge not only of making characters four-dimensional, but of unfolding the dimensions gradually and naturally.
10. CWD: introducing dialogue. Common errors:
a. Introduce dialogue grammatically. A verb like said is required. Some verbs require an indirect object:
WRONG: He told, "I'm leaving."
RIGHT: He told his girl friend, "I'm leaving."
Not all verbs that describe manner or speech can introduce dialogue by themselves:
WRONG: "Your move," he smiled. RIGHT: "Your move," he said with a smile. WRONG: He shrugged, "If you say so." RIGHT: Shrugging, he said, "If you say so." b. Identify the speakers with a phrase like "he said." You may know who is speaking in each paragraph, but your reader needs help.
c. Vary the location of the "he said" phrases. It is monotonous if the "he said" phrase comes at the beginning or end of every paragraph. Do not keep the reader wondering who is speaking:
WRONG: "I hate to disappoint you, but I think you're making a big mistake. Are you sure you'll feel this way next week? Or next year? Do you think you can just walk back into your girl friend's arms if you should someday change your mind?" my sister asked.
BETTER: "I hate to disappoint you," my sister counseled, "but I think. . . ."
d. Vary the verbs that introduce dialogue. Avoiding repetition of say ("he said," "she said") is a problem all writers of fiction face. Any technique can sound monotonous and artificial if you overuse it, including adverbs ("he said tenderly") and inversion ("said the butler"). Edgar Allan Poe used inversion in the famous refrain of "The Raven" ("Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore'") because he wanted the poem to sound archaic and artificial.
A list of alternatives is provided below. Many words on the list would be appropriate only in certain contexts. The dullness of "he said" is preferable to something outlandish or artificial ("he opined"; "she queried"). Use the thesaurus, the dictionary, and your own imagination. A metaphor (twitter, erupt) can be effective if the context is right. Always remember that writing "he nagged" or "she whined" is less effective than showing your character nagging or whining.
admit concede hint observe snarl affirm confess hiss plead snicker avow conjecture huff protest snort bawl coo inquire purr spout beg declare insist rage squawk bellow demand interject rail squeal boast explain jeer rave tease cackle greet lament recall vow cajole groan lie remark warble carp growl mimic roar whimper chant grumble mutter scold whine chide grunt needle shriek whisper claim gush note sigh yelp
11. CW VT: verb tense. Most stories and novels are in the past tense for good reason. It sounds natural. When you tell a child the story of the tortoise and the hare, or simply report to a friend what happened over the weekend, you use past tense. Present tense narrative is not original or innovative; it has been tried often. Sometimes it only calls attention to itself and sounds awkward:
The burglar pulls the trigger. I duck, but I am too late. I am rushed to the hospital, where I lie in a coma for two months. My family fears for my life. Every night my mother sits at my bedside crying. I recover, but over the next year my personality changes gradually. I become a serial killer. I am sentenced to death. I die. My mother weeps at my funeral.
You may use present tense, but (as with any stylistic technique) you should have a good reason.
Poetry
12. PT: theme and idea. Some poems have too little theme and lack a unifying idea, but a more common flaw is too much theme. Writers who try too hard to present a message ("war is bad"; "people of all races are equal"; "let's save the earth before it's too late") often produce heavy-handed propaganda instead of poetry, no matter how noble the message is.
Good poetry often explores rather than concludes, suggests rather than preaches. It is not fuzzy or scatterbrained, but neither is it a mathematical proof. One understated image of a bag lady can work better than a page of ranting about "poverty and injustice in our society today."
13. PD: diction. Writers who try too hard to produce an effect resort to artificial language:
ARCHAIC: Whither hath fled thy doleful damsel?
GUSHY: Gentle, soothing breezes waft shimmering, gilded clouds over serene sapphire streams and lush, verdant meadows.
Writers who do not try hard enough produce flat language with nothing poetic about it:
DRAB: I guess she just doesn't like me very much.
DRAB: There was nothing good on t.v. so I went out with my friends.
A poet's medium is words, just as a sculptor's is marble. Every line should do something interesting with language. Lines like these--"Thanks, Mom, for spending quality time with me. / You helped me to be all that I can be"--may express a pleasant sentiment, but as artistic use of language, they have no value.
14. PLE: line endings. Avoid ending lines on weak words:
ARTICLES: a, an, the CONJUNCTIONS: and, but, or, when PREPOSITIONS: of, in, to, with The line is one of the basic units with which a poet works. Even if you are not using meter or rhyme, there should be reasons for line length and line breaks. End lines where the reader's breath would normally pause, or to call attention to a single word. Try ending some lines on verbs:
ELIZABETH BISHOP: The art of losing isn't hard to master.
ALEXANDER POPE: At every word a reputation dies.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: And where the offense is, let the great axe fall.
15. PSS: sentence structure. Avoid two common flaws: a vague series of unconnected phrases, or a monotonous string of one-line sentences. Sentence structure is an important resource for a poet, like metaphor, imagery or irony. Vary your sentence structure. Use run-on lines as well as end-stopped lines. A well unified sentence that covers several lines, carefully building up to its conclusion, can be highly effective.
16. PP: punctuation. Help your reader with precise punctuation. All the rules of punctuation that apply to prose apply to poetry as well. Commas, periods and other punctuation marks go where sentence structure and clarity of meaning dictate.
17. PR: rhyme.
a. Avoid words that are only there for the rhyme. It is obvious when a writer ends a line with a phrase ("you see," "as they say") that contributes nothing except rhyme. The best rhyme words contribute to meaning. Avoid predictable and overused rhymes: day-say, love-above, see-me-be, you-do-true.
b. Avoid letting rhyme and meter force you into awkward phrasing. Fold and cold might make a good rhyme, but when you read "which not being cold," it is obvious that the writer has sacrificed natural, clear phrasing for the sake of rhyme.
c. The last stressed syllable determines rhyme. If the final syllable is stressed, the rhyme is called masculine. If one or more syllables follow the final stress, the rhyme is called feminine.
MASCULINE RHYME: float, re-mote, petti-coat
FEMININE RHYME: vital, title, re-cital; re-ality, hospi-tality, superfici-ality
WEAK RHYME: grieving-ring BETTER: grieving-even TRUE: grieving-leaving WEAK RHYME: hated-dead BETTER: hated-raided TRUE: hated-dated Of course, these weak rhymes can also be corrected by finding rhymes for ring and dead.
d. The second-to-last syllable must be unstressed for rhyme to be heard clearly. If you need a rhyme for mouse, lighthouse or red blouse will not work, for light and red are stressed.
e. For true rhyme, the vowel and any final consonants must be identical. Tame does not rhyme with pain. A verb like throws or a noun like toes is not true rhyme with go. It is usually not too hard to rephrase a sentence to have throw or toe rhyme with go, or to change go to goes.
f. Avoid rhymes on weak words. Prepositions, conjunctions and articles seldom rhyme well because they do not normally receive stress (see also PLE above on line endings).
g. Adjacent rhyme sounds should be different. Mind and remind do not rhyme; they are identical in sound. If you are writing a quatrain rhymed abab, or even couplets, you should avoid rhyming cried-decide and freed-need next to each other (or cried-decide and nine-design) because they are too similar to sound like separate rhymes.
h. If you start with a rhyme scheme, stick with it.
18. PM: meter.
a. Avoid letting meter and rhyme force you into awkward phrasing. When you read "to come to home," it is obvious that the writer distorted natural phrasing ("to come home") for the sake of meter. Concentrate on ideas first, phrasing second, rhyme third (if you are using rhyme), and meter last.
AWKWARD: All night the thunder made us feeling fear
b. Do not pad a line with words to make it scan. Every syllable should have meaning.
PADDED: But morning brought a day that is so clear.
c. Do not rely too much on one-syllable words. They quickly become monotonous. Try for a balance of polysyllabic and monosyllabic words.
d. Avoid writing a series of one-line sentences and clauses. Try sentences that run on from one line to the next. Begin with subordinating conjunctions (like although and when) or prepositions (in, on, with); save the main clause until a second or third line.
19. PF: formatting poetry. Make your poem look good on the page. Of the five versions below of an anonymous nineteenth-century poem, version 5 looks best and version 1 second-best.
Version 1. The title is not centered, and the narrow left margin leaves a wide space at the right:
In Peterborough Churchyard
Reader, pass on, nor idly waste your time
In bad biography or bitter rhyme;
For what I am, this cumbrous clay ensures,
And what I was is no affair of yours.
Version 2. The title is centered, but the title hangs over the right edge of the poem:
In Peterborough Churchyard
Reader, pass on, nor idly waste your time
In bad biography or bitter rhyme;
For what I am, this cumbrous clay ensures,
And what I was is no affair of yours.
Version 3. The poem has ragged margins like a Christmas tree. Only the title should be centered:
In Peterborough Churchyard
Reader, pass on, nor idly waste your time
In bad biography or bitter rhyme;
For what I am, this cumbrous clay ensures,
And what I was is no affair of yours.
Version 4. The left margin was set at three inches for the entire poem including the title; as a result, the centering of the title is skewed to the right:
In Peterborough Churchyard
Reader, pass on, nor idly waste your time In bad biography or bitter rhyme; For what I am, this cumbrous clay ensures, And what I was is no affair of yours. Version 5. Everything is correct: margins, alignment, centering. The poem looks good:
In Peterborough Churchyard
Reader, pass on, nor idly waste your time In bad biography or bitter rhyme; For what I am, this cumbrous clay ensures, And what I was is no affair of yours. To make your poem look like version 5, take two steps:
1. Center the title, not the entire poem.
2. Set a wide left margin for the rest of the poem (not for the title). Choose a line of average length (not the shortest or the longest line), center it, see where its left margin is, and set a tab stop or margin there. If the poem is in iambic pentameter and you are using 12-point type, a three-inch margin (two inches in from the one-inch margin) is usually right.
The Keables Guide recommends leaving two or three blank lines after the title and double-spacing the rest of the poem.