CREATIVE WRITING

Differences Between
Technical & Creative
Writing
Writing can be grouped into five
basic types: technical, creative,
expressive, expository, and
persuasive. To help understand
technical writing, it may help to
compare it to the other types.
 Expressive writing
• is a subjective response to a
personal experience—journals
and diaries—whereas technical
writing might be objective
observations of a work-related
experience or research.
 Expository writing
• “exposes” a topic analytically and
objectively, such as news reports.
Like technical writing, the goal of
expository writing is to explain or
reveal knowledge, but expository
writing does not necessarily expect a
response or action from the reader.
 Persuasive writing
• depends on emotional
appeal. Its goal is to change
attitudes or motivate to
action.
 Technical writing
• conveys specific information
about a technical subject to a
specific audience for a
specific purpose.
 Creative writing
• is fiction—poetry, short
stories, plays, and novels—
and is most different from
technical writing.
 Imagery
It can be defined as a writer or
speaker’s use of words or figures of
speech to create a vivid mental
picture or physical sensation.
Imagery is language used by poets,
novelists and other writers to create
images in the mind of the reader.
Imagery includes figurative and
metaphorical language to improve the
reader’s experience through their
senses.
Example 1

Imagery using visuals:

• The night was black as ever, but
bright stars lit up the sky in beautiful
and varied constellations which were
sprinkled across the astronomical
landscape.
• In this example, the experience
of the night sky is described in
depth with color (black as ever,
bright), shape (varied
constellations), and pattern
(sprinkled).
Example 2
Imagery using sounds:
• Silence was broken by the peal of piano
keys as Shannon began practicing her
concerto.

 Here, auditory imagery breaks

silence with the beautiful sound of
piano keys.
Example 3
Imagery using scent:
• She smelled the scent of sweet hibiscus
wafting through the air, its tropical smell a
reminder that she was on vacation in a
beautiful place.
The scent of hibiscus helps describe
a scene which is relaxing, warm, and
welcoming
Example 4
Imagery using taste:
• The candy melted in her mouth and swirls
of bittersweet chocolate and slightly sweet
but salty caramel blended together on her
tongue.
 Thanks to an in-depth description of
the candy’s various flavors, the
reader can almost experience the
deliciousness directly.
Example 5
Imagery using touch:
• After the long run, he collapsed in the
grass with tired and burning muscles. The
grass tickled his skin and sweat cooled on
his brow.
 In this example, imagery is used to
describe the feeling of strained
muscles, grass’s tickle, and sweat
cooling on skin.
 Types of Imagery
 Auditory imagery appeals to the sense of hearing.
 Gustatory imagery appeals to the sense of taste.
 Kinetic imagery conveys a sense of motion.
 Olfactory imagery appeals to the sense of smell.
 Tactile imagery appeals to the sense of touch.
 Visual imagery is created with pictures (many
visual images are pictures of things representing
well-known sayings or phrases).
• Imagery is found throughout
literature in poems, plays, stories,
novels, and other creative
compositions.
• Although the word “imagery” most
often brings to mind mental images,
imagery is not always visual; it can
appeal to any of the five senses.
 Symbolism
 Carl Jung defined a symbol as “a term, a
name, or even a picture that may be familiar
in daily life, yet that possesses specific
connotations in addition to its conventional an
obvious meaning.”
• Symbols can be based on culture, such as a
country’s flag (stars and stripes=USA) , or
religion (the cross=Christianity), or other
things.
 DICTION

• Diction = word choice – A study of

diction is the analysis of how a writer
uses language for a distinct purpose and
effect, including word choice and figures
of speech.
Examine the following when considering
word choice:

• Informal Diction (personal writing) e.g. bug,

folks, job, kid, boss, get across
• Formal Diction (academic or literary writing)
e.g. germ, relatives, position, child, superior,
communicate
 Types of Diction

• Colloquial words – conversational

language – Is there dialect?
• Slang – highly informal
• Jargon – the special language of a
profession or group (lawyer talk,
technical talk)