Creative Writing, a way to enjoy literature

2017 Educational Symposium – New Orleans, USA

AKD INTERNACIONAL –  ADK ETA Cuernavaca, México

Creative Writing, a Way to Enjoy Literature

Mission:Excellence in Education

by Marli Camargo

Purpose

The purpose of this workshop is to undertake some reflection concerning the importance of creative writing. We will explore how teachers can develop and teach a creative narrative, based on their own environment for children and adults.

What is Literature?

According to the Dictionary of literary terminology, literature is:

• An act of communication between the emissary (author), the message (text), and the receptor (public).
• Art, reading and writing, and also the basic disciplines of culture: Grammar and rhetoric.

    – Calderón, 2000 (Breve diccionario de términos literarios)

What matters to the reader?

According to Proust, what matters to readers are:

"...words that cause emotions like anguish, a feeling of rejection, darkness, being abandoned."

These kinds of words matter to all humans, from the duchess, the princess, the diplomatic, the writers, the soldiers, the painters etc.

   – (Hiriart, page 10)

Through creative writing the reader can:

• Travel among the words;
• Meet the main protagonists;
• Experience the environment;
• Visit faraway places or the same space where you are, while traveling back and forward in time;
• Reflect, live, create and give their own opinion.

Basic elements to help practice writing:

• Reading constantly;
• Using the words in an artistic way;
• Identifying the meaning;
• Identifying the content.

How to approach creative writing?

Sensorial memory

Use words as:

1- Onomatopoeia  (imitate the sound)  

2- Symbols –  (ex: - citizenship of heaven)

3- Abstracts thoughts- (thinking that is coherent and logical).

How to approach curiosity in writing?

• The secret of writing;
• The details ( people, the actions, the thoughts, the desire);
• Figurative language:

1. similes (like or as),
2. metaphors –make one from yourself,
3. Images –example: children´s books.

How to feed the muse?

• Experiences from our own lives;
• Our reactions towards these experiences;
• The facts, names, dates,  emotions, passions, memories, etc.

For example:

1- The excitement of reading different poems or exploring old libraries;

2- Note keeping;

3- Starting from “..I remember... ”

Where can I get inspiration?

• the diversity of people’s lives;
• the weather;
• the flavors of the food;
• the culture (traditions, the beliefs);
• the place you live.

Example: Simple things like onions (see Pablo Neruda, The Onion).

The writing adventure

I would compare the process to a journey of traveling to somewhere for the first time.

For instance, having only a slight idea about the place that you will be to visiting.

According to Bachelard, the writing adventure is “..to experiment the sensations and emotions that the person has felt in relation to the place where she is”.

– (González, 9)

Creative writing

Brings a sense of belonging to the place such as:

A city, the streets, the plazas, the historic centers and the neighborhoods;

It creates a sense of identity;

Making you or the reader a part of the community.

The importance of space in creative writing

In creative writing you can create your own space;

Space gives us the power to be near the people of the community and also to show our identities to other communities;

Gives the opportunity to learn about heritage, natural resources and the regions where you come from or live;

It involves different sectors such as: cultural, touristic and social.

Creative writing and the sustainability

Creative writing has sustainability because the author can cooperate with the community in different ways like the work with:

• Illustrator and editorials;
• Government and micro-entrepreneurs;
• Schools and families;
• It encourages the writer to involve him/herself to different sectors such as cultural, touristic and social;
• Schools, families, and hospitals;
• Government.

How to apply it to children's literature?

Have a look to the author´s book  "Cuernavaca - The Eterna Primavera", by Marli Camargo.

Conclusion

Through creative writing many things can happen:

• You can become famous and travel around talking about it;
• cooperate with a sustainable society;
• teach children and adults  how to do that;
• Adults  can be encouraged to write and involve themselves to different sectors, such as cultural, touristic and social;
• It encourages the writer  to involve him/herself to different sectors;
• It creates a sense of identity;
• It makes you, or the reader, a part of the community.

Bibliography

Calderón, Demetrio Estébanez, 2000 Breve Diccionario de Términos Literarios – Alianza Editorial

Hiriart, Berta Guijosa Marcela, 2015 Taller Escritura Creativa – Paidós, México

González, Diego Sánchez; Moreno, Luis Angel,  2014 Identidad y Espacio Público – Gedisa Editorial, Barcelona

Camargo, Marli, 2012 Como o turismo pode ser usado para a aprendizagem da cultura mexicana na região de Cuernavaca, Morelos – Universidad de León, España