Creative Writing - (Film Image: CA Preparation Advice)

You will have one week to prepare for this. You may bring a page of A4 notes, but the notes must not contain any continuous prose. You should also bring in the image that you are going to use as a basis for the piece of writing.

Things to consider when planning:

1)    Is this going to be the opening of a story? If so, think about the two key conventions of establishing setting and character. Consider how you can create some enigma (mystery) when introducing your characters (remember the ‘Of Mice and Men’ activity in class).

2)    Will there be any dialogue? My advice would be to keep this to a bare minimum. Make sure you know how to write speech accurately in a story if you do use it (see other post on using dialogue).

3)    Although this might be an opening, plan the structure of it carefully. Try to avoid ending with a cliché such as “It was all a dream”. Cliff-hangers can also be over-exaggerated which can take away from the subtle and effective descriptions earlier in your writing.

4)    If this is not an opening, are you writing about the moment in the image? This still needs careful planning with regards to how you end it. Do not try to cram an entire story into a few pages of writing (remember the 247 word story 'The Dragon' in class).

 

Writing techniques to consider:
 

1)    Use of the first or third person

2)    Use of the present or past tense (or change of tense for flashbacks, for example)

3)    Imagery (metaphors, similes, personification)

4)    The senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell)

5)    Interesting adjectives, verbs, adverbs

6)    Varied use of punctuation for effect

7)    Varied use of sentences for effect