Creative writing is a loosely defined term that encompasses writing that is not professional, journalistic, academic or technical. Most recognizable is the emphasis on narrative and characters, although poetry and poetics also fall into this category.
Due to the looseness of the definition, it is possible for writing such as feature stories to be considered creative writing, even though they fall under journalism, because the content of features is specifically focused on narrative and character development. Both fictional and non-fictional works fall into this category, including such forms as novels, biographies, short stories, and poems. In the academic setting, creative writing is typically separated into fiction and poetry classes, with a focus on writing in an original style, as opposed to imitating pre-existing genres such as crime or horror. Writing for the screen and stage--screenwriting and playwriting--are often taught separately, but fit under the creative writing category as well. Creative writing can technically be considered any writing of original composition. In this sense, creative writing is a more contemporary and process-oriented name for what has been traditionally called literature, including the variety of its genres.
With the proliferation of personal computers new forms of creative writing started to emerge incorporating new elements like sounds, pictures and interactivity.
- Action
- Character
- Conflict
- Dialogue
- Genre
- Narration
- Pace
- Plot
- Point of view
- Scene
- Settings
- Style
- Suspense
- Theme/Motif
- Tone
- Voice
- Autobiography/Memoir
- Creative non-fiction (Personal & Journalistic Essays)
- Children's books
- Drama
- Epic
- Flash fiction
- Graphic novels/Comics
- Novel
- Novella
- Play (theater)
- Poetry
- Screenplay
- Short story
- Dialogues
- Blogs
- Visual novels
- Game stories
