Creative writing course work can focus on narrative styles of writing. A narrative tells a story from the point of view of one or more characters. It also features a definitive beginning, middle and ending within the story line. Several techniques are used to help students develop narrative styles of writing. The purpose of these techniques is to challenge student creativity by focusing their writing styles on different viewpoints. Some techniques include changing the viewpoint by using letters, diary entries and even personal notes. Other techniques include using traditional writing voices such as first person or third person. However, students also use monologues, play-like dialogues and telephone conversations.
Personal and autobiographical stories are also used within creative writing course work. Most autobiographies are written by older adults who have had exciting life experiences to share. The autobiography is designed to reveal meaningful or purposeful aspects of the person's life. Students develop autobiographical writing skills by writing their own obituaries, writing about childhood events or creating short stories from the perspective of an old photograph. A similar photojournalism technique involves telling a story using a series of photos. Students then use the photos to create a caption and create a fictional or factual story.
Keyhole writing techniques challenge the student to create a story using multiple-character perspectives within the same writing piece. An example of keyhole writing is a dramatic dialogue. While creating the dramatization, students will have to change perspectives with each character. However, students also practice creative writing technique using forms such as third-person narrative. Keyhole writing also challenges students to focus their creative writing from a distinctive perspective. For example, instructors can challenge students to write short pieces such as postcards, leaflets or even letter reports.
Creative writing course work can also challenge students by having them create new works from the perspective of older pieces. This course work uses a simple narrative such as a personal event or a fairytale or legend. The object is to have the student create multiple versions of the story. Creating a new twist in this way requires students to use different writing styles, such as narrative poems, scientific or case study reports or even journalism reports.