I always wanted to explore creative writing! It’s fascinating to understand what tools and mechanisms writers use to craft a story or a poem. Creating with words is an amazing and fun experience! The pandemic gave me the opportunity to explore myself with art and craft stories of resilience and wonder.

What's creative writing
Dana Kristan, the instructor of the course Creative Writing for Beginners through the Universal Class database, mentioned that "creative writing is a form of artistic expression." With self-paced lessons, the student can practice right away with the creative tools presented in the program. In this virtual environment, the learner has access to an online community board for additional feedback on assignments. Upon completion of this course, the student can earn the CEU (Continuing Education Unit) certification.

How to unlock your creativity?
In this course, I have learned several writing prompts that can help me spark my creativity. I really enjoyed these techniques: observation, freewriting (stream of consciousness), journaling, and story ideas. 

For instance, just observing a simple rose can help you start writing a few words. Visual elements—such as color, for example—can inspire you to further develop this idea. On the other hand, the freewriting prompt can also give you a starting point to write. You don’t need to worry about spelling or grammar rules; just write what comes into your mind. Watch this video to find out how you can use this technique.

The experience of creating my first poem!
I created my first poem one night before going to sleep. That special night, we had a full moon. It was very beautiful and bright! That moment really inspired me to create the poem "White Moon." I used my observations as a writing tool, to describe what I was seeing and feeling at that moment. 

White Moon
by Mary Luz Marques

In the darkness of the night,

the gloomy whiteness of your inner beauty,

unveils the secret of your natural creation.

The few clouds painted on the sky,

moves softly to the right…

touching the invisible and angelic moment of the night.

I see you close to me, but you are far away…

I feel that I can touch you, but instead you awake my senses,

I look-up to you to say “goodbye,” and you look-down to me and say “good night.”

This is a good example of what you can learn to do with the habit of writing. Don’t write because you want to be published—that can happen organically—write because you would like to keep discovering your own inner voice—that’s my mantra! 

Happy writing!

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