What You Need to Do

If you are very very serious about writing, then you need to read. This might be a duh thing to some of you. But as you read, you really learn how to write at the same time. Take one of your favorite authors and take the first chapter and mock their writing style with something from your mind. It will really help you get away from your own writing styles and work toward something new. Then, you melt different styles together and come up with something greater.

A LOT

A lot is two different words. Not one!

They're Trying to Figure Their Differnce There and There

There
They're
Their

There is a difference between these three words.

There- A place
Example: We went there to see the Justin Bieber concert.
OR: We went to the mall to see the Justin Bieber concert.

They're- contraction for they are (the a gets replaced with an apostrophe)
Example: They're going to watch Glee later tonight.
OR: They are going to watch Glee later tonight.

Their- possession of a group of people
Example: The family cat is all of their responsibility.
OR: The family cat is all of the family's responsiblity.

Dialogue

When it comes to dialogue (what your characters are saying), people tend to think it is the easiest part of writing creatively. However, it is probably one of the most difficult elements of writing. No one wants to have to spend extra time reading frivolous dialogue. So, really think if what your characters are saying is important or not. If it isn't important, leave it out.

Likewise, dialogue should move the plot along. Every time someone is saying something, it needs to have some relevance to the plot. If you just put in a random conversation, say about pigs, and it has nothing to do with the rest of the plot, then your reader won't understand why it is there at all. Now, if there is a reason to be talking about pigs, say because someone is vegetarian or they live on a farm, then it would make sense.

Also, dialogue can help characterization move along as well. The way people talk, or the words people say tell a lot about them. Such as, if a person is witty or saractastic, that can easily come through in your dialogue.

Most times people write dialogue that just isn't realistic. In talking, we don't say things like "Do not do that, Johnny." Instead, we say, "Don't do that, Johnny!" The do not is too jolted and would not work when we would be yelling at Johnny to not do something. In most all cases, we use contractions when we talk. In the same fashion, reread what you make people say and see if you could actually see someone saying that. Then, go further and see if that's how your character would actually say that.

Titles

A very important element of writing that people often forget about is the title. The more you can get your title to make your reader think and wonder what your work is about, the more likely they are going to read it. For instance, if you write an essay about Once and Future King and you title it "King Author's Fall" people won't be as interested in reading it as if you make the title "Love Brings Down the Castle Walls."

In fiction, a lot of books tend to have a character's name as the title. For things like Harry Potter this is perfectly fine because there is the addition of and the... Other titles that grab my attention in the book store have strange words in them, such as Geek, Chill, or Dangerous Pie.

Lastly, chapter names are something to look at as well. If you choose to label your chapters, be creative about it. Something like "That Time Again" isn't going to pull attention as much as "We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium." However, Rick Riordan is master of creating chapter names that do what they should do, which is, make the reader want to move onto the next chapter ASAP.

Show and Tell

The most important thing in creative writing is showing the story instead of telling it. If you get to the point that you are just telling what's going on without any scenes in the story/novel, then you have a problem. Telling is much like telling a story to someone, you leave out a lot of details because the person doesn't need them all. In a creative work, though, you need to show us all those details. We need to get to know who the characters are and what is going on. Think about your senses as well.

Example of telling:
We went to the mall, picked up some clothes. Then, we went home and washed the clothes. Tommorrow I hope that everyone likes the clothing that I got. I'm afraid they won't.

Example of showing:
The mall was crazy. People were bustling everywhere. All we needed to do was get some new clothing for my first day of school. The Hollister smelled deeply of their toxic perfumes. Yet, the smell intoxicated me enough to spend two hundred dollars in there. Coming out with only three shirts and a hoodie and spending that much makes a person quite sad. So, as we went home, I frowned deeply but still dreamed that everyone would love my new clothing.

Setting

To me, the setting is not a very important part of creative writing. However, there are a lot of people that really like to know exactly where the characters are at and when. I like for things to be open and timeless. If, though, you wish to create a setting, make sure you are completely aware of it.

Place:
If you have not been to the place you are writing about (which is the best way to write about a place) then you need to research the place extensively. Make yourself familiar with it completely. The place is weather, things to do, the people, the food, culture, etc. You need to know about all of that stuff.
Personally, when I do decide that I'm going to give some kind of setting, I tend to make up a fake town or city. It is much easier to deal with, so that I don't mess up with what is in the real town.

Time:
Time is a little more difficult. If you go into the past, there are a lot of things that you could easily mess up on. Such as, you might be too far back in time before there were even numbers on houses. Check technology advances of the time. Your editor will know some of these things better, but you have to have the credit of knowing the time.

Honestly, setting is mostly about researching so you get it right!