Creative Writing

   Creative writing is a type of activity that simply encourages the individual to think creatively, and an advantage of this is that it is possible for most ages to take part in. Morley (2007, p.41) argues that 'all writing is creative', but goes further and states that for the creative writer 'what you write about is far less important than how you write it.' Therefore, this suggests that in the context of creative writing, the author would focus more upon the way in which a piece of writing is written than the content. However, both are still of some importance to the author. This is where creative writing differs from other forms of writing, such as academic writing, where the author would attempt to write about a specific piece of information for the reader.

Source: http://www.aecarlisle.com/our-courses/arts-and-crafts/creative-writing/

   In the context of education, Wilcox (2009) states that creative writing encourages a child to explore descriptive writing, which therefore is useful in all aspects of the school curriculum. This means that it is not just limited to benefiting and developing the learner's English, it links to other subjects, and also assists with encouraging creativity. However, there are questions as to whether creative writing can be taught by an individual, and also if the student can learn it (Morley, 2007). Despite this, creative writing sessions still occur in both education and non-educational settings.


   The video below is from a TED talks event and Anthony Lishak, an author that also leads creative writing workshops, argues why creative writing is important for the child in education today. The video also considers what barriers there are for children in schools in being creative.





   The creative writing session that I took part in was interesting, as it is something that I initially was not sure of and did not think that it was for me. However, I was proved wrong, and thought that it was a simple and effective way of expressing someone's creativity. The task that we were given in the session was to work together in groups to create a character, following the list of examples. Working together in this way provided a range of different ideas that we put together to make our character. We then had to develop the character again, by adding in some further information. Despite the fact that we had to work in groups, this task could be carried out by an individual also. We then had to share the details of our character with the rest of the groups, and it was interesting to see the variety of characters that the three different groups come up with. 
   Another example of a task that we had to do was write down certain emotions, such as sad or happy, and list next to it different words that we can use to express this emotion. An example of this task can be seen below, from the notes made during the session.

   This not only helps with creativity, but in an educational setting this, as stated previously is beneficial for the individual in terms of vocabulary. It is also a simple yet effective task that someone can complete individually.


   In conclusion, creative writing is a tool that can be used by many ages in the educational context. It can help with children's vocabulary, and therefore is useful in many different subjects. Despite this, it is argued by some academics if it can actually be learnt or taught (Morley, 2007) to individuals. However, it is still a tool that encourages people to use their imagination and be creative today, with sessions occurring both in classrooms and also in a non-educational context.




References

Morley, D. (2007) The Cambridge Introduction to Creative Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wilcox, A. (2009) Descriposaurus: Supporting Creative Writing for Ages 8-14. dawsonera [Online]. Available at:

https://www-dawsonera-com.ezproxy.uwtsd.ac.uk/readonline/9780203888209/startPage/6 (Accessed 16 April 2016).