Writing Creatively Installment 1

Imagining Other Worlds

You probably like to go to the movies. Most people do. It's a chance to escape, just for a little while, to other worlds. Movies allow our imaginations to run wild. Anything can happen. And, best of all, things usually come out okay in the end.

Writers use their imagination to write movie scripts, novels, stories, plays, poems, and even comic strips. They tickle our own imagination by creating, and having us believe in, people and places that never were and never will be. They make us burst with excitement, fear, unreal expectations, and fun. Have you ever used your imagination to make up a story for a little child?

Read the following myth to see how writers use their imagination to explain the world around them. This type of myth is called a creation story.

Once upon a time, there were five wolf brothers who always traveled together to find meat. They would always share their meat with Coyote. One evening, Coyote saw the wolf brothers looking up at the sky, and he asked them what they were looking at. The oldest brother said that they were looking at nothing. The next evening, Coyote saw that the wolf brothers were again looking up at the sky, and he asked them again what they were looking at. The second oldest wolf said, "Nothing." It went on like this for three or four nights, but the wolf brothers didn't want to say anything to Coyote because they were afraid that he would interfere. Finally, the youngest convinced his older brothers that Coyote could be trusted.

So, they told him that they saw two animals in the sky. Coyote immediately wanted to go up and see these animals. He told them that he knew an easy way to get into the sky. So, Coyote gathered many arrows and then began shooting them into the sky, Each arrow stuck into the end of the other until there was a ladder reaching up into the night sky. The wolves decided to climb up there. The oldest wolf took his dog with him, and then the other four wolf brothers came, and then Coyote came. They saw that the animals were grizzlies.

Coyote warned the wolf brothers not to go near the animals or they would tear the wolves apart. But the two youngest wolves were already headed over. Then, the next two youngest wolves headed over. Only the oldest wolf held back. Only when the oldest wolf saw that it was safe did he go over to the grizzlies with his dog. 

Coyote wouldn't go over because he didn't trust the grizzlies. However, he thought the picture of the grizzlies and the wolves and the dog sitting together did look nice. He decided to leave the animals that way for everyone to see. He thought that folks would remember that he had led the wolves up there and tell stories about him.

So, Coyote left it that way. He took out the arrows as he climbed back to earth so that no one could get down. From down on Earth, Coyote admired the arrangement. Today, this arrangement still looks the same. They call it the Big Dipper. If you look up there you'll see three wolves make up the handle and the oldest wolf, the one in the middle, still has his dog with hime. The two youngest wolves make up the part of the bowl under the handle and the two grizzlies make up the other side, the one that points toward the North Star.

Remember that Coyote wanted everyone to tell stories about him, so he called over Meadowlark to look at the arrangement in the sky. Meadowlark was very impressed with the arrangement and the part that Coyote played in it, so he tells everyone that Coyote is the one who created it.

Reader's Response:

Would you want Coyote for a friend? In a few words, describe his qualities, good or bad.

Were there places in the story where what happened was not what you expected?

Writer's Craft:

What details in the story helped you to know about Coyote?

Who has a problem in this story?

What is the problem in this story?

How is the problem solved?

How did the writer of this story use his imagination to explain something familiar?

In these lesson installments, you will write a story and a poem. Those are just two types of creative writing. Other types include movie and play scripts, words for songs, children's books, and novels. Creative writing starts in the writer's imagination. Just as an artist uses paing, a writer uses words to create something special.