My Style of Creative Writing

As a creative minded person, most of the ways I use writing involve being creative. My writing styles are personal to me, as I feel that creativity comes deep from within. Owing to the fact that my brain often overloads on creative thoughts, I sometimes write too fast, which leaves me with spelling mistakes, horrible handwriting and incorrect punctuation. I often have to go back and fix my errors before showing off my work, so that what I have written is at least legible. I come up with ideas so fast, that it feels like I’m just creating chaos all over a page when I write an essay. In my everyday life, my writing landscape heavily focuses on creativity and personal writing; I don’t strive for complete perfection, but I do want my conveyed messages to be understood.

One of the ways I write for myself, is with lists. I write a copious amount of lists; another day, another list! I am known for being notably “type A” among my peers. Everything that is happening in my life ends up on a list one way or another. For example, in college, I have already written multiple lists: discussion criteria for each class, information I should remember about my fellow classmates, and lists of due dates! Most of my lists are not specifically private, however, I usually avoid making lists for other people, so as to not get on their nerves. Structure, spelling and grammar are not extremely important to me when composing an expendable list, such as a grocery list or a to-do list, because only I will need to read them. However, sometimes I am unable to even read my own handwriting. On the other hand, when writing something that I'll keep, like a calendar, a “bucket list” or a list of my friend’s birthdays, I use proper grammar, spelling and good handwriting, so as to not cringe and squint whenever I need to reread them. Lists are personal to me, because they are about me, and they show how I live my life, day to day. I even get creative with my lists from time to time. I designed a calendar on my computer not too long ago, which I printed out and currently have stuck to my wall. I wrote down all my college assignments and their due dates. I know I can use Canvas to keep track of those things, but that doesn’t fill me with the same satisfaction as having done it by hand on real paper. This way, it’s faster and easier for me to check that I am not falling behind, and I love the feeling of crossing off completed tasks.

Another way that I use in creative writing, is by writing down my dreams. I can lucid dream, which makes writing them down in a journal much more interesting. Lucid dreaming, is when your body is asleep, but your brain “wakes up”, and is aware that it is dreaming. My dreams sometimes inspire my essays, or my thoughts throughout the day. These writings are most personal to me, and are so crazy that sometimes, I cannot believe what I am remembering. I never share the dreams I write with anyone, so I correct spelling, but I don’t usually over analyze my punctuation and grammar. I don’t write with structure, because dreams do not have structure! They’re weird like that.

For my last example, I am going to share how I write for my art. I’ve been drawing for a long time, but quite recently, I’ve been dabbling in comic writing. Writing to be funny is the hardest writing of all to me, especially when tying it to a cartoon drawing of myself. I write comics as the ideas come, usually they are about my funny life experiences. Once I’ve thought of an idea, I write it in my comics list. Then when I have free time, I begin to structure the joke properly, by writing down various options and trying out different word orders and phrases. This frequently includes over exaggerating the story for more laughs. Next, I begin drawing. I revise my comics all the time, always asking outside parties for advice regarding the punch lines to the jokes. It is more important to me that this writing utilizes proper punctuation and spelling, as I hope to reach a bigger audience one day. That being said, when I write in a comic, I write “how I speak”, meaning I do not always apply proper grammar. I like to make sure I write just well enough that I am understood without any confusion.

I use lists, dreams and comics to be creative. Because these writings are personal, I don’t worry about being professional in the ways I write them, but I still want my audiences to be able to understand them, even if the only audience member is myself.