Hamand - Creative Writing Exercises For Dummies

Maggie Hamand is the author of two novels, The Resurrection of the Body and The Rocket Man, and has published a number of short stories, some of which have been nominated for prizes. Shes the author of 18 non-fiction books, and her articles have appeared in magazines and newspapers including the Guardian, The Sunday Times and the Observer. She taught creative writing in Holloway Prison and Morley College, and also founded The Complete Creative Writing Course at the Groucho Club in 1998. She was co-founder of the award-winning small independent publisher The Maia Press and a director from 20032012.

Id like to thank all the people who supported and encouraged me while writing this book especially my husband, Jeremy.

Special thanks also go to the other tutors on The Complete Creative Writing Course, past and present, from whom Ive learned so much. I especially thank Rachel Knightley for helping me with research and contributing to the typescript in places, and to Natalie Butlin for the original draft of the dialogue in Chapter .

Publishers Acknowledgements

Project Manager: Michelle Hacker

Project Editor: Steve Edwards

Acquisitions Editor: Mike Baker

Development Editor: Andy Finch

Copy Editor: Mary White

Technical Editor: Howard Cunnell

Project Coordinator: Sheree Montgomery

Cover Image: istock.com/mrPliskin

Chapter 1

In This Chapter

Starting your creative writing

Thinking about the process

Embracing confusion

The saying goes that all people have a book inside them. Certainly, all people have their own life stories and many want to write theirs down; everybody has dreams, ideas, hopes and fears, as well as a certain amount of imagination. All that most people lack is the courage and know-how to turn their chosen idea into a story that others want to read.

Many people think that if you want to be a writer, you have to leave your job (or never start one!) and sit all day in a freezing garret. In fact, most writers have other jobs as well because they have to! Writers write in bed in the mornings before anyone else is awake, they stay up late writing when everyone else has gone to bed, they write on their commute to work, they write in their lunch hours, they write in any small bit of time they have. They write because they want to and because they have something unique to say while still paying the bills in other ways.

Being passionate about what you write is important, because otherwise youre highly unlikely to find the energy and commitment to finish. A story needs to be burning inside you, wanting to escape. You should love your characters, be fascinated by your themes and want to find out how your story ends.

But good writing is more than just a passion its also a craft. You need to discover the techniques and tips of the trade and then practise them to help you make the project you have in mind as good as it can possibly be which is where this book and this introductory chapter come in! I lead you through some things to consider before you start writing and discuss the basics of creative writing and creative thinking.

Before you physically start writing, a little preparation is a good idea to get the best out of the valuable time you devote to your writing. In this section I discuss helpful ideas such as setting targets and staying confident, as well as how much you do or dont need to think about genre, scope and the title of your work before you start writing.

One of the most helpful things you can do when starting any writing project is to set yourself some simple, realistic and achievable goals and targets. Here are a few examples:

• Task targets: Such as developing a character, finishing a chapter or planning a scene.
• Time targets: A certain number of writing sessions of fixed length, such as three half-hour sessions a week.
• Word targets: A certain number of words or pages, such as 500 words or three pages per week.

None of these targets sounds like much, but you may be surprised how much you achieve if you keep going with them week after week.