Top Three Skills Needed for Creative Writing

Are creative writing skills a learnt trait or are they a blessing one is born with? There has always been a lot of debate on this; and there will continue to be a lot of debate on this because everyone has a different opinion on this subject.

In my opinion, it is a bit of both. The skills needed in creative writing can be learnt and cultivated but there has to be some element of talent also existing. The available talent gets the necessary refinement and polish when it is enriched with development of fundamental skills constantly. Top three skills that enrich creative writing are -

1. Good Language Skills:
Good language skills are paramount for good writing. Language skills need to be developed continuously for having good hold over creative writing. An excellent way of developing the language skills is to make a habit of learning one or two new words every day and then using them in your regular communication verbal as well as written.

2. Good Thinking Skills:
Creative writing is the outcome of creative thoughts. Most people hardly pay any attention to their thoughts. But if you wish your writing skills to be enriched it is absolutely mandatory to monitor your thoughts and develop good creative thoughts. The way to do this is to develop your observation power. When you closely observe things you find that you create a deliberate gap in your involuntary thoughts and start having conscious thoughts, which have better and deeper meanings. Your observations get translated into creative thoughts, which in turn form strong foundation for your creative writing skill development.

3. Good Expression Skills:
Creative thoughts need to be translated on paper in order to reach others as creative writing. The process of doing this is through expression. Most people tend to get lost somewhere when they try to express their thoughts. The main reason for this is that there is a gap between their thoughts and their language. The best way to develop good expression skills is through writing short passages with just a few lines of thought so that you do not tend to get lost or diverted. A good way is to set a word count and then stay close to it. This way, if you have a habit to exaggerate or use lesser number of words, you will stay in better control. The idea is to remain as close as possible to the main line of thought.

Using mind maps is also a good idea. How to use mind maps shall be covered in greater detail in a later article.

Using these top three skills will definitely enrich your creative writing efforts.

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