What You Know: Creative Writing Top Tips

Our What You Know series will provide top tips on various skills & professions.Read on to find out how to refine your Creative Writing from Ateeqa.

Ateeqa is a British Teacher, Poet and a Writer who lives in Wuhan, China. Ateeqa has studied Creative Writing and Poetry as part of studies as an undergraduate and has been writing since she was a young girl. She is a Writer and poetic collaborator for Wuhan and Shanghai Poetic Magazines, where they hold weekly and monthly events for other writers. She loves to haunt the cafes of the globe; nature is her temple and takes her inspiration to write where she finds it. Ateeqa is currently working on a Poetry Book which she hopes can be a sacrament for others. Here are her Top 5 Tips on Creative Writing.

Being a writer will show you who you are. Every time you write, you will discover yourself, you will grow as a writer but more importantly as a person. I think I am very lucky to have a passion in this life because not many do. Creating Writing is a form that is used to express emotions, thoughts, feelings, and ideas through the mind. This can also be known as poetry, prose, creative writing for nonfiction and fiction to name a few. It is time to start practising your passion into reality. If you are also lucky to have this passion but you are not sure how to make it come alive, you can look at my tips.

1. Just Write!

The best way to get started is just to write! As corny as it sounds. It is true. Write anything and everything. Do not pay attention to the structure or editing. You can always fix that at the end. For now, you need to find that courage to write. The best thing is, it is from you and there is not another you. Too many people worry about writing or maybe intentionally unconsciously “copying” ideas from books or movies they have seen. That is not true! If you have your own words, feelings, thoughts, and idea, you need to write them down and not worry about what you are writing. For now, write and then edit later. You will find that as you write, more creativity will naturally flow and before you know it, you have written! You cannot say you are a writer if you are not writing. It does not matter if you are writing for yourself or an audience or do not want to share your work yet. The flow will come naturally if you keep on writing. Even if it is 200 words or a sentence or haiku a day. Just do it! My advice is to write a little every day, in a place where you feel comfortable and inspired. I usually use Word Doc, sticky notes, and my iPhone notes to jot down some inspirational haiku, prose or poetry whenever I can. There are great tools on your fingertips, make use of them! If not, use a pen and a notebook you can carry.

2. Read, Read and Read!

If you want to be a creative writer, you should look at reading as much as what interests you. Whether that is cultural, feminist, graphically, poetically, fictionally inspired, please pick up some books and read! The passion for writing for me was there since I was a young girl, however, I did not get into the rhythm of it as well until I started to read books. I began by writing nonfiction stories and later I found more interests in poetry. I read the old school poets Shakespeare, Robert Poe, Rumi, Hafez and kept going globally. Make sure you horizon your genre of books. Some of the best works were not just written in English but many other beautiful languages. Horizons your research worldwide and not just nationally.

3. Share Your Work

I had been writing for years. I only shared a few pages of my poetry by accident in high school. My friends were amazed. After that, I took a backseat and did not share my work publicly until university. I wish I did share my work earlier but remember writing is more of a journey and the destination. If you are at college, university, please reach out to your media, student service team and volunteer to blog and write. Start your blog and share your writing, so others know of you and your work. Today there are so many great ways to share and create a blog. Look it up and research. You do not need to pay money to get started. Reach out to online magazines and volunteer, and who knows they may even pay you as you progress. If you feel too overwhelmed and shy to share, start by showing one friend or family member and work your way up. The only way to get rid of this fear is to dive right into it. Honestly, you will look back and think why was I so scared to do that. It is okay to be worried and nervous. I still feel flawed and nervous before I hit publish or post!

4. Accept Criticism From The Right People

As a writer, you will get criticised. But knowing when and who to accept it from, makes a big difference. If your friend tells you it’s not their cup of tea, or your family members aren’t overjoyed. It is okay! Let that go. Because the criticism that matters is from the greater, experienced writers, novelists, lecturers themselves. It is important to have someone who has the skills to look at your work and make some suggestions and sometimes tell you this or that passage is crap. That is all okay, as hurtful as it might be. It can only make you a better and more ferocious writer. During a Creative Writing workshop, we shared our work and made suggestions. I had a few comments from my fellow writers, I cried when I got home. I felt like giving up. But I did not, because I decided to look at their notes, and found it was my own emotions and ego that was more hurt. Not my writing. My writing was alive and always will be, it just needs fresh pair of eyes from those with skills sometimes. Do not dwell too long on that part and more on how you can improve it, in a way that makes your readers get the depth of your work. Be prepared for rejections and criticism but start to learn how to move forward from these emotions. Criticism is not the end of your writing or creativity.

5. Connect, Be Patient, Be Humble And Believe In Yourself

If you want to put your writing out to a wider audience and of course improve it. Research and join your local Creative Writing workshops, poetry clubs, poetry slams, author events, webinars, and literature festivals. Try to volunteer if you can, it will give you wider access to published writers and authors. My first step was studying creative writing and poetry as part of my chosen modules. I later joined Creative writing shops, did my first ever poetry reading and attended and volunteered for literature festivals, where I met great authors and academics! When I moved to China, I became part of the Poetry Society where ex-pats from around the world share their writing, we help each other write better by sharing, making suggestions and holding Poetry Readings every week and events every month. Networking with other writers will give you that personal space to work on your passion and who knows, you may even collaborate into a publication together. I cannot recommend this enough, please connect and learn.

Over the years, I had the opportunity where I could have made money out of my writing. However, I declined some methods because it was not for me ethically. I was offered sponsorships for my writing webpage. I was flattered a few times, but it did not feel right for me. Writing is a passion, a love, a sacred poetic dream of mine and I want t to protect that for myself. Although it is tempting to start marketing and wanting to earn money. Stay true to yourself. Sometimes, going into the deep route into earning, you may lose track of your passion. That is in no way to say you can’t earn from writing, of course, you can, and you should. But only if you are completely comfortable in what that involves, because doing it in some ways, may lose your readers and most importantly the reason you write. If earning does not boost your passion more or it goes against your moral values, it is not worth it. Be patient and be humble. The easiest way is not always the correct way. The long path may be difficult, painful, and stressful, but you will be happier if you stay patient with yourself, your passion, your writing and trust yourself more. You must learn your craft first and maintain a structure. There is no fast track to selling your passion. There are only tools available to do so. The real crafts only lie within yourself and working towards a meaningful path. Read, write, and learn.