Creative Writing Worksheets
Feel free to download and use the following Creative Writing Worksheets to develop compelling characters and rich, vibrant settings. You’ll find plotting your novel much more manageable with our scene chart. These Creative Writing Worksheets are free for your personal use.
Meeting a well-written character is one of the things that initially hooks a reader, and creates a lasting impression in fiction. We can all remember great characters from stories, sometimes more readily than the story itself. But what is it that makes a particular character appealing? What makes you feel you know this person better than many of the real people in your life? What makes them linger in your mind long after the story is over?
I developed the following Create a Character worksheet for my novel writing course. I have tried many different charts as well as character development software. Most require too much detail and by the time I’ve filled in the blanks, I have almost enough paper for a novel—and have used up my energy for the project.
You’ll find this creative writing character worksheet to be helpful without becoming a burden.
Create a Character--Creative Writing Worksheets
This creative writing worksheet will help you to generate vibrant story settings.
When we read we should be able to engage all of our senses, to merge fully with the protagonist. Then our imagination kicks in and we are tramping through that jungle, feeling the steamy moist heat through our skin, hearing the insects chirping and buzzing, smelling the rich earth and the exotic perfumes of the plants.
We often use our sense of sight to the exclusion of our other senses, but the other senses trigger the strongest memories and images. Imagine for a moment the smell of your mother’s kitchen as she prepares a special holiday dinner. Doesn’t that bring back memories and emotions?
Of course you don’t need to detail every single scene, but it is important to pay special attention to your major settings and this will make the rest of your writing more sensual as well.
This Writer’s Craft worksheet will encourage you to explore the sensory details of your settings. A word can trigger a memory of a smell or a taste that effectively pulls the reader right into the story. Don’t overlook these evocative tools which can totally involve the reader in the story; enabling him to vicariously cross the red-hot sand dunes of Namibia or to risk the breathtaking precipices of the Alps or walk in the footsteps of the hero through the mean streets of the city to preserve the world from evil.
Story Setting--Creative Writing Worksheets
Need a spreadsheet to plot your novel? This Creative Writing Worksheet will help you focus on plotting your novel in consecutive scenes. Your story will unfold through the scenes you set, rather than exposition. Of course you may need bits of exposition to link some of the scenes together, but this should be kept to a minimum.
A scene occurs at a specific time and place. When there is a leap of time or a new setting, there is a scene change. If you find yourself summarizing or generalizing about what your characters say or do, then you are writing exposition and not a scene. “She had a great time at the party”—is a type of summary. It should either be developed into a scene, ( letting the audience experience the great time she is having at the party) or it should be dropped altogether. The bridges and transitions come in during the writing not during the scene setting. In the planning stages, just view your story as a series of developed scenes—a slide-show of the novel.
Lie back and imagine that your story is playing like a movie in your mind. Fill in the chart in terms of the order of specific scenes. If you are unsure of what goes in a specific place, leave a blank. On reviewing your worksheet, you will easily see where the story needs expansion (another scene) or where a transition has been overlooked. It will save you hours of rewriting and frustration.
Scene Chart--Creative Writing Worksheets