Writing for
Creative Writing
WRITING SERVICES - UNCW - DEPAOLO HALL, 1ST FLOOR - 962-7857
Basics
 Style Guide: None required, unless specified by instructor.
 CRW courses may require writing in multiple forms: poetry, personal essay, and short story.
 BFA Course Descriptions: http://uncw.edu/writers/bfa/course.html
Basic Format of the Non-Fiction Essay
1. Introduction
2. Body
3. Conclusion
Tips for CRW essays, poems, and short stories
 First person (I, me) can be used in non-fiction/personal essay writing and is encouraged.

When writing and editing a creative writing work, it is important to have an audience and a goal
in mind. Your audience and writing goals shape your use of language, storyline, and other
elements of writing. While you won’t have a traditional academic thesis, all writing has a
purpose.
o Ask yourself: Who is my audience? What am I trying to do in this piece of writing? For
example, are you trying to convey interesting facts about an interview subject? Or write a
poem that evokes a certain emotion?

Dialogue formatting is important; it helps the reader understand what is happening in your scenes.
Here is GrammarGirl’s “How to Write Dialogue” help page:
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-write-dialogue.aspx.

If you are struggling with writer’s block, try these prompts and writing exercises from the nonprofit literary magazine Poets & Writers: http://www.pw.org/writing-prompts-exercises.

Poetry resources and information on forms of poetry (sonnets, prose poems, free verse, etc.) can
be found at www.PoetryFoundation.org and www.Poets.org, two non-profit organizations for
poets.

Many books and guides on writing non-fiction, poetry, and fiction can be found on the Dept. of
Creative Writing’s MFA Reading List:
http://uncw.edu/writers/mfa/documents/mfareadinglist.pdf.

Always proofread! Try reading your story aloud to catch errors and sharpen your dialogue,
sentence structure, and other elements.
Created By: Hope Bordeaux