Creative writing in my mind pertained to poetry, short stories, fiction, nonfiction, novels…you name it! It turns out, there are a lot of different aspects that go into it and make it more complicated. I naturally am good at talking, and if you've read any of my articles on The Odyssey, you would probably notice that my tone is pretty informal and similar to how I would have a conversation with you if I ever met you. Creative writing to me seemed like something out of body that would require me to take on a whole new sophisticated persona of deepness. I was wrong, for the most part.
Creative writing in itself is similar to art, and honestly non at all limited to my prior misconceptions of what's considered stereotypical writing (i.e. fictional books and short stories or poetry) . Yes, that stuff is GREAT! And a lot of people enjoy reading those types of works (myself included), but I didn't realize that there's so much more to it than meets the eye.
Content, aesthetics, formatting, grammar, tone, etc. The list goes on and on. A creative writing piece really isn't just telling a story or writing whatever sounds deep or ponderable. It requires a lot of thought, time, and skill to make each piece speak to you from the page and engaging to read. In fact, it's more than just about reading, it's about the sensation. A good piece will always make you feel some sort of way, whether it's good, bad, or anything in between. Maybe it's a feeling you don't even know how to express.
It turns out, creative writing breaks every boundary. You can do whatever you want with it, and it transforms the way you write, speak, and engage with your audience in literally any other aspect of your academic/work career that requires you to be out of the box or literary in any way.
Not only is it a challenge that's fun to try and master as you explore it and its many facets, but it can be a really great outlet for you think through. And I mean literally think through. I noticed that when I was writing, I was paying attention to life, emotions, and my relationships in a lens that I had never analyzed them through before. I quite actually, as I was writing, was processing all my thoughts and forcing myself to think differently than I usually do to try and find a way to put whatever I was trying to convey on paper. And let me tell you, no one is deep on purpose, because after you write something you might just take a step back and be like "did I just get deep without even realizing what I just wrote?" Yeah, you did. Oh, and dialogue? Way harder to write properly than you ever could think. Try not using "___ said" for the entire piece while trying to get across who is speaking, it's hard.
There's so many rules but yet no rules at the same time. There is no "right way" to write creatively. You want to throw in a picture? Great. You want to make the work actually look like it was handwritten? Sure. You want to shape all the words into the picture of what it's describing? Why not! Honestly, the whole process is beyond therapeutic. Often, I found myself not even knowing what I wanted to write about until I started going with it, and then the pieces just longer and longer and longer without me even realizing how much I had to say about the smallest thing. Also, it made me cope with whatever I was thinking about or feeling and put that energy out in the world to get released.
Basically, taking the creative writing class opened me up to new horizons of therapeutic self expression, a way of approaching my thought process, and skills that will give extra "umph" to the way that I write (academically, whilst working, or even in my free time for fun). I even wrote a 20+ page book of poetry (but that definitely won't be published anytime soon). Overall, if you're even remotely interested in trying out creative writing or want to try something out of your comfort zone, I would definitely recommend it.
P.S. If you go to UCLA and want to take a creative writing class for your requirements, I 100% suggest taking 20W with Kim Calder, she'll change your writing perspective for the better.
