{"id":980,"date":"2016-12-02T11:12:16","date_gmt":"2016-12-02T11:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/?p=980"},"modified":"2025-12-02T14:21:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T12:21:21","slug":"difference-between-journalism-and-creative-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/difference-between-journalism-and-creative-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s The Difference Between Journalism And Creative Writing? | FAQs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What is the difference between journalism and creative writing?\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yeLdrmETHo0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-transcription\"><em>Transcription<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p><em>There are several major differences between journalism and creative writing; at the same<\/em><br><em>time, there can also be major overlaps between them. One of the key differences is that creative writing is usually understood to mean the writing of fictional novels. By contrast, journalism is centred on reportage \u2013 reporting on actual people and events. As a journalist, you don\u2019t, or shouldn\u2019t, make things up; as a fictional novelist, inventing alternative versions of reality is essential to the art. Another difference is that creative writing is usually about your self-expression, in one way or another. By contrast, journalism is other-directed \u2013 concerned with other people\u2019s views, perspectives and lived realities. There are also overlaps. There are such things as creative nonfiction, narrative journalism, and indeed feature journalism. In these forms of writing, basically speaking, the content you work with is factual \u2013 but the way in which you write it (the form) is literary and creative. In other words, you use the tools of \u201cfictional\u201d creative writing to tell accurate, true-life narratives.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-background\" style=\"background-color:#f0f0f0;color:#f0f0f0\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"h-looking-for-an-industry-that-bridges-the-gap-between-journalism-and-creative-writing\">Looking for an industry that bridges the gap between journalism and creative writing?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Consider feature writing, or &#8220;creative journalism&#8221;, and get ahead with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/products\/uct-feature-journalism-online-short-course\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">UCT Feature Journalism online short course<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-16018d1d wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-50 is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-text-align-center wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/products\/uct-feature-journalism-online-short-course\">TELL ME MORE<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-white-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-white-background-color has-background\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether you enjoy reading the news or getting lost in a work of fiction, there\u2019s something to love about both journalism and creative writing. There are also a number of similarities between them:\u00a0Both are mediums of writing stemming from a writer and his\/ her stream of consciousness, for the reception\u00a0of\u00a0a more or less active audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>But what are the key differences between journalism and creative writing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Andre Wiesner, Head Tutor of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/products\/uct-feature-journalism-online-short-course\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UCT Feature Journalism online short course<\/a>, points out in this short video, the difference between journalism and creative writing goes beyond the fiction versus non-fiction distinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Transcription There are several major differences between journalism and creative writing; at the sametime, there can also be major overlaps between them. One of the key differences is that creative writing is usually understood to mean the writing of fictional novels. By contrast, journalism is centred on reportage \u2013 reporting on actual people and events. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":41245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[127,133],"article-format":[],"class_list":["post-980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-advice","tag-career-advice","tag-writing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What\u2019s The Difference Between Journalism And Creative Writing? | FAQs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are several major differences between journalism and creative writing beyond the fiction versus non-fiction distinction. 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