Exploring Your Creativity

by Wendy H. Jones

There are numerous different types of creativity and to name them all would take up a large chunk of space in the magazine. The more well-known ones include

• Art

• Writing

• Photography

• Pottery

• Baking

• Dance

• Gardening

• Woodcarving

• Playing Music

Many of us will have at least dabbled in some or all of these. However, as I am a writer, I thought I would concentrate on creative writing in this article. Trust me, no one would want to take my advice on art, although I am rather fabulous at adult colouring books. I never lost my childhood delight in colouring inside the lines and creating works of art from an already sketched out drawing.

When it comes to creative writing you need little in the way of resources. A pen and paper or a computer and keyboard are pretty much all you need to get started. You may want to invest in a nice notebook – most writers have hundreds of these all of which are too nice to write in – but a sheet of paper from your printer will suffice. There are two different types of creative writing – fiction and non-fiction – but there are numerous genres and sub genres within these. You do not need to get too bogged down in this to get started. If you have an idea for a story, write a story. If you have a passion for a topic such as stamp collecting, or country rambles then write about those. Don’t worry about what you are writing, just start writing. Why would you want to write or, indeed, do any type of creative activity. It has been proven time and time again that creative pursuits make us happier and are good for both mental and physical health. Writing down our thoughts and feelings helps us to deal with them and sort them into areas which are more easily managed. Many people want to try writing fiction but have no idea where to start. One way is to write down some random words and write a story from there. You could try the words from the example below.

Bells – Frightened – smell – superb – stitch

There are numerous free apps which generate writing prompts such as one called simply Writing Prompts.

Another way to generate ideas is to think of wacky scenarios such as

Write about a three-legged dog who is best friends with a duck.

I would like to think the poem The Owl and The Pussycat came from Edward Lear playing around with silly ideas. In fact, he himself calls it a nonsense poem and what a beautiful example it is. This brings me beautifully on to poetry. Poetry is another method of creative expression and writing. Whilst I am not a poet, I can admire its beauty and the sheer scale of what poems can portray. I have listened to some fabulous performance poetry which was powerful and dealt with issues in the world today. Now, I say I am not a poet, but I do dabble in trying to write poetry; this will never be for publication but for my own enjoyment.

Which leads me to publication. Everyone assumes if you write then at some point you need to be published. That is not the case; you can write purely for your own enjoyment. If you do want to be published, then submit your edited work to publishers and publications. The choice is completely up to you; if you so choose, no one ever needs to see the words you write.

If you would like to explore this further, Scott and Lawson, the publishing house which is now publishing this magazine, has a book called Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion For Writing, which will help you on your journey.

Blurb

Have you always thought about writing a book but don't know where to start? Are you an experienced author and want to spread your wings? Are you looking for inspiration for every step in your writing journey? This is a book for everyone who wants to write, whether history or contemporary, science fiction or humour, local fiction or set in a made-up world, fiction, non-fiction, memoir, there’s something here for you. Join thirteen authors as they share their passion for why you should write in their genre and find your own passion as you read. It's time for you to spread your wings, follow your dreams and find your passion for writing.

I would encourage you to give creative writing a try; it really is the most fabulous activity in the world.

Wendy H. Jones is the award winning, international best-selling author of the DI Shona McKenzie Mysteries, Cass Claymore Investigates Mysteries, Fergus and Flora Mysteries, Bertie the Buffalo children’s books and the Writing Matters books for writers. She is also a writing and marketing coach and the President of the Scottish Association of Writers. As copy editor for Mom’s, she works hard to ensure content is appropriate and free of grammatical and spelling errors. You can learn more about Wendy on her website: https://www.wendyhjones.com/