Creative Writing 101: Everything You Need to Get Started
Creative writing: You can take classes in it, you can earn a degree in it, but the only things you really need to do it are your creative thinking and writing tools. Creative writing is the act of putting your imagination on a page. It’s artistic expression in words; it’s writing without the constraints that come with other kinds of writing like persuasive or expository.
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What is creative writing?
Creative writing is writing meant to evoke emotion in a reader by communicating a theme. In storytelling (including literature, movies, graphic novels, creative nonfiction, and many video games), the theme is the central meaning the work communicates.
Take the movie (and the novel upon which it’s based) Jaws , for instance. The story is about a shark that terrorizes a beach community and the men tasked with killing the shark. But the film’s themes include humanity’s desire to control nature, tradition vs. innovation, and how potential profit can drive people in power to make dangerous, even fatal, decisions.
A theme isn’t the only factor that defines creative writing. Here are other components usually found in creative writing:
- Connecting, or at least attempting to connect, with the reader’s emotions
- Writing from a specific point of view
- A narrative structure can be complex or simple and serves to shape how the reader interacts with the content.
- Using imaginative and/or descriptive language
Creative writing typically uses literary devices like metaphors and foreshadowing to build a narrative and express the theme, but this isn’t a requirement. Neither is dialogue, though you’ll find it used in most works of fiction. Creative writing doesn’t have to be fictional, either. Dramatized presentations of true stories, memoirs, and observational humor pieces are all types of creative writing.
What isn’t creative writing?
In contrast, research papers aren’t creative writing. Neither are analytical essays, persuasive essays , or other kinds of academic writing . Similarly, personal and professional communications aren’t considered creative writing—so your emails, social media posts, and official company statements are all firmly in the realm of non-creative writing. These kinds of writing convey messages, but they don’t express themes. Their goals are to inform and educate, and in some cases collect information from, readers. But even though they can evoke emotion in readers, that isn’t their primary goal.
But what about things like blog posts? Or personal essays? These are broad categories, and specific pieces in these categories can be considered creative writing if they meet the criteria listed above. This blog post, for example, is not a piece of creative writing as it aims to inform, but a blog post that walks its reader through a first-person narrative of an event could be deemed creative writing.
Types of creative writing
Creative writing comes in many forms. These are the most common:
Novels originated in the eighteenth century . Today, when people think of books, most think of novels.
A novel is a fictional story that’s generally told in 60,000 to 100,000 words, though they can be as short as 40,000 words or go beyond 100,000.
Stories that are too short to be novels, but can’t accurately be called short stories, are often referred to as novellas. Generally, a story between 10,000 and 40,000 words is considered a novella. You might also run into the term “ novelette ,” which is used to refer to stories that clock in between 7,500 and 19,000 words.
Short stories
Short stories are fictional stories that fall generally between 5,000 and 10,000 words. Like novels, they tell complete stories and have at least one character, some sort of conflict, and at least one theme.
When a story is less than 1,000 words, it’s categorized as a work of flash fiction.
Poetry can be hard to define because as a genre, it’s so open-ended. A poem doesn’t have to be any specific length. It doesn’t have to rhyme. There are many different kinds of poems from cultures all over the world, like sonnets, haikus, sestinas, blank verse, limericks, and free verse.
The rules of poetry are generally flexible . . . unless you’re writing a specific type of poem, like a haiku, that has specific rules around the number of lines or structure. But while a poem isn’t required to conform to a specific length or formatting, or use perfect grammar , it does need to evoke its reader’s emotions, come from a specific point of view, and express a theme.
And when you set a poem to music, you’ve got a song.
Plays, TV scripts, and screenplays
Plays are meant to be performed on stage. Screenplays are meant to be made into films, and TV scripts are meant to be made into television programs. Scripts for videos produced for other platforms fit into this category as well.
Plays, TV scripts, and screenplays have a lot in common with novels and short stories. They tell stories that evoke emotion and express themes. The difference is that they’re meant to be performed rather than read and as such, they tend to rely much more on dialogue because they don’t have the luxury of lengthy descriptive passages. But scriptwriters have more than just dialogue to work with; writing a play or script also involves writing stage or scene directions.
Each type of script has its own specific formatting requirements.
Creative nonfiction
Creative nonfiction covers all the kinds of creative writing that aren’t fiction. Here are some examples:
- Personal essays: A personal essay is a true story told through a narrative framework. Often, recollections of events are interspersed with insights about those events and your personal interpretations and feelings about them in this kind of essay.
- Literary journalism: Think of literary journalism as journalism enhanced by creative writing techniques. These are the kinds of stories often published in outlets like The New Yorker and Salon. Literary journalism pieces report on factual events but do so in a way that makes them feel like personal essays and short stories.
- Memoirs: Memoirs are to personal essays what novels are to short stories. In other words, a memoir is a book-length collection of personal memories, often centering around a specific story, that often works opinions, epiphanies, and emotional insights into the narrative.
- Autobiographies: An autobiography is a book you write about yourself and your life. Often, autobiographies highlight key events and may focus on one particular aspect of the author’s life, like her role as a tech innovator or his career as a professional athlete. Autobiographies are often similar in style to memoirs, but instead of being a collection of memories anchored to specific events, they tend to tell the author’s entire life story in a linear narrative.
- Humor writing: Humor writing comes in many forms, like standup comedy routines, political cartoons, and humorous essays.
- Lyric essays: In a lyric essay, the writer breaks conventional grammar and stylistic rules when writing about a concept, event, place, or feeling. In this way, lyric essays are like essay-length poems. The reason they’re considered essays, and not long poems, is that they generally provide more direct analysis of the subject matter than a poem would.
Tips for writing creatively
Give yourself time and space for creative writing.
It’s hard to write a poem during your lunch break or work on your memoir between calls. Don’t make writing more difficult for yourself by trying to squeeze it into your day. Instead, block off time to focus solely on creative writing, ideally in a distraction-free environment like your bedroom or a coffee shop.
>>Read More: How to Create Your Very Own Writing Retreat
Get to know yourself as a writer
The more you write, the more in tune you’ll become with your strengths and weaknesses as a writer. You’ll identify the kinds of characters, scenes, language, and pieces you like writing best and determine where you struggle the most. Understanding what kind of writer you are can help you decide which kinds of projects to pursue.
Challenge yourself
Once you know which kinds of writing you struggle with, do those kinds of writing. If you only focus on what you’re good at, you’ll never grow as a writer. Challenge yourself to write in a different genre or try a completely new type of writing. For example, if you’re a short story writer, give poetry or personal essays a try.
Need help getting started? Give one (or all!) of these 20 fun writing prompts a try .
Learn from other writers
There are lots of resources out there about creative writing. Read and watch them. If there’s a particular writer whose work you enjoy, seek out interviews with them and personal essays they’ve written about their creative processes.
>>Read More: How to Be a Master Storyteller—Tips from 5 Experts
Don’t limit yourself to big-name writers, either. Get involved in online forums, social media groups, and if possible, in-person groups for creative writers. By doing this, you’re positioning yourself to learn from writers from all different walks of life . . . and help other writers, too.
I wrote something. Where do I go from here?
Give yourself a pat on the back: You did it! You finished a piece of creative writing—something many attempt, but not quite as many achieve.
What comes next is up to you. You can share it with your friends and family, but you don’t have to. You can post it online or bring it to an in-person writing group for constructive critique. You can even submit it to a literary journal or an agent to potentially have it published, but if you decide to take this route, we recommend working with an editor first to make it as polished as possible.
Some writers are initially hesitant to share their work with others because they’re afraid their work will be stolen. Although this is a possibility, keep in mind that you automatically hold the copyright for any piece you write. If you’d like, you can apply for copyright protection to give yourself additional legal protection against plagiarizers, but this is by no means a requirement.
Write with originality
Grammarly can’t help you be more creative, but we can help you hone your writing so your creativity shines as brightly as possible. Once you’ve written your piece, Grammarly can catch any mistakes you made and suggest strong word choices that accurately express your message.
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Creative Writing: How to Get Started with Creative Writing [+ 9 Exercises]
Posted on Mar 3, 2023
by Bella Rose Pope
Creative writing is one of those skills you can eternally get better at, but often suck at when you start…
I’ve been there. I’ve so been there.
Now, we’re not saying your creative writing is bad necessarily, but just that if you want to continue to push yourself in this industry, you’ll need some work since literature is more competitive now than it ever has been.
You might not like to face that truth, but it is indeed a truth everyone who wants to write and publish successfully has to face.
I’ll go into more detail about that in a little bit but every writer out there needs some writing tips to help them get better.
And one of the best ways to get better at creative writing is to first learn and understand the craft of it, and then challenge yourself by completing writing exercises .
Because when your time comes to publish, you want a high-quality final product in order to actually sell your book and acquire raving fans.
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Here’s what you’ll learn about creative writing:
- What is creative writing?
- Creative writing topics
- Elements of creative writing
- Examples of creative writing
- 9 powerful creative writing exercises
What is Creative Writing?
Creative writing is a form of writing where creativity is at the forefront of its purpose through using imagination, creativity, and innovation in order to tell a story through strong written visuals with an emotional impact, like in poetry writing , short story writing , novel writing , and more.
It’s often seen as the opposite of journalistic or academic writing.
When it comes to writing, there are many different types. As you already know, all writing does not read in the same way.
Creative writing uses senses and emotions in order to create a strong visual in the reader’s mind whereas other forms of writing typically only leave the reader with facts and information instead of emotional intrigue.
It can be a book series or a single installation, the factors that make up creative writing have more to do with how it sits with the reader artistically.
What are the Elements of Creative Writing?
In order to get better at creative writing, you have to understand the elements of what makes writing a book great.
You can’t build a car engine without understanding how each part plays a role, right…?
That’s the same case with writing.
And just a note, this is all stuff we cover , and you get to talk about 1-on-1 with your coach when you join Self-Publishing School .
Here are the elements that make up creative writing and why each is just as important as the other.
Unique Plot
What differentiates creative writing and other forms of writing the most is the fact that the former always has a plot of some sort – and a unique one.
Yes, remakes are also considered creative writing, however, most creative writers create their own plot formed by their own unique ideas . Without having a plot, there’s no story.
And without a story, you’re really just writing facts on paper, much like a journalist. Learn how to plot your novel and you’ll open up the possibility of writing at a higher level without the need to find your story as much.
Character development
Characters are necessary for creative writing. While you can certainly write a book creatively using the second person point of view (which I’ll cover below), you still have to develop the character in order to tell the story.
Character development can be defined as the uncovering of who a character is and how they change throughout the duration of your story. From start to end, readers should be able to understand your main characters deeply.
Underlying Theme
Almost every story out there has an underlying theme or message – even if the author didn’t necessarily intend for it to. But creative writing needs that theme or message in order to be complete.
That’s part of the beauty of this form of art. By telling a story, you can also teach lessons.
Visual Descriptions
When you’re reading a newspaper, you don’t often read paragraphs of descriptions depicting the surrounding areas of where the events took place. Visual descriptions are largely saved for creative writing.
You need them in order to help the reader understand what the surroundings of the characters look like.
Show don’t tell writing pulls readers in and allows them to imagine themselves in the characters’ shoes – which is the reason people read.
Point of View
There are a few points of views you can write in. That being said, the two that are most common in creative writing are first person and third person .
- First Person – In this point of view, the narrator is actually the main character. This means that you will read passages including, “I” and understand that it is the main character narrating the story.
- Second Person – Most often, this point of view isn’t used in creative writing, but rather instructional writing – like this blog post. When you see the word “you” and the narrator is speaking directly to you, it’s second person point of view.
- Third person limited’s narrator uses “he/she/they” when speaking about the character you’re following. They know that character’s inner thoughts and feelings but nobody else’s. It’s much like first person, but instead of the character telling the story, a narrator takes their place.
- Third person multiple is the same as limited except that the narrator now knows the inner thoughts and feelings of several characters.
- The last, third person omniscient, is when the narrator still uses “he/she/they” but has all of the knowledge. They know everything about everyone.
While non-creative writing can have dialogue (like in interviews), that dialogue is not used in the same way as it is in creative writing. Creative writing (aside from silent films) requires dialogue to support the story.
Your characters should interact with one another in order to further the plot and develop each character other more.
Imaginative Language
Part of what makes creative writing creative is the way you choose to craft the vision in your mind.
And that means creative writing uses more anecdotes, metaphors , similes , figures of speech , and other figurative language in order to paint a vivid image in the reader’s mind .
Emotional Appeal
All writing can have emotional appeal. However, it’s the entire goal of creative writing. Your job as a writer is to make people feel how you want them to by telling them a story.
Creative Writing Examples
Since creative writing covers such a wide variety of writing, we wanted to break down the different types of creative writing out there to help you make sense of it. Y ou may know that novels are considered creative writing, but what about memoirs?
Here are examples of creative writing:
- Short stories
- TV show scripts
- Movie scripts
9 Creative Writing Exercises to Improve Your Writing
Writing is just like any other skill. You have to work at it in order to get better.
It’s also much like other skills because the more you do it, the stronger you become in it. That’s why exercising your creative writing skills is so important.
How do you start creative writing?
The best authors out there, including Stephen King, recommend writing something every single day . These writing exercises will help you accomplish that and improve your talent immensely.
#1 – Describe your day with creative writing
This is one of my favorite little exercises to keep my writing sharp and in shape.
Just like with missing gym sessions, the less you write, the more of that skill you lose. Hannah Lee Kidder, a very talented author and Youtuber, gave me this writing exercise and I have used it many times.
Creative Writing Exercise:
All you have to do is sit down and describe your day – starting with waking up – as if you were writing it about another person. Use your creative writing skills to bring life to even the dullest moments, like showering or brushing your teeth.
#2 – Description depiction
If you’re someone who struggles with writing descriptions or you just want to get better in general, this exercise will help you do just that – and quickly.
In order to improve your descriptions, you have to write them with a specific intention.
With this exercise, the goal is to write your description with the goal of showing the reader as much as you can about your character without ever mentioning them at all.
#3 – Edit your old writing
Believe it or not, editing does count as writing and can actually sharpen those creative writing skill more than you think.
It can be a little scary to pull up a story you wrote last week or even two years ago and tear it apart. But that’s exactly what I want you to do.
Check out this video of me editing my old writing in order to replace weak verbs with stronger, better ones to get a taste of what this can look like and how it can help you get better.
#4 – Voice v ariations
One of my favorite parts of writing is giving unique voices to each character . I believe that’s what truly brings them to life.
Their dialogue as the power to pull readers in, or push them out of the book completely.
Obviously, you want the former.
During this creative writing exercise, your focus will be to pick 4 different emotional states and write dialogue and narrative of how your character feels and interprets those feelings.
For this one, craft a character in your mind. It can be one you already created or a completely new one.
Choose your 4 emotional states – and get creative. You can choose sadness, anger, happiness, and excitement BUT you can also go a bit further and choose to use drunk, flirty, terrified, and eager.
After you have 4 emotional states, write one page of each using dialogue and narrative your character would use.
#5 – Single senses
Creating strong visuals is one of the most powerful ways to become a great creative writer. In fact, practicing this will help you craft books that really hook readers.
This exercise’s goal is to help you develop writing the senses in ways that not only make sense, but are also imaginative and unique.
#6 – Dialogue destruction
During this exercise, you will learn a lot about how to write a scene using entirely dialogue.
Now, this isn’t something you’ll always do in your writing, but it’s very important to know how to move a scene forward using dialogue if you need to.
This will also help you understand how to show and not tell in creative writing.
To start, choose a scene you wrote previously that has little to no dialogue, but is still very important.
Next, rewrite the entire thing using dialogue (including dialogue tags and body language descriptions). You will quickly become better at using dialogue to show and not tell.
#7 – Tell the origin story of the Tooth Fairy
This writing exercise will really help you think creatively about something a large part of the world knows about.
However, you have to think of a very unique, interesting way of presenting this common idea. The purpose of this is to help you dig deeper within your own story and plot in order to come up with the very best, most unique ideas – because that is what will stand out in your book.
Begin this story like you would any other. Develop who the very first Tooth Fairy is and understand their character. Then, start creating a backstory that coincides with how they ended up becoming the tooth fairy.
Write this in full, ending with the Tooth Fairy taking their first tooth.
#8 – Thematic attic
This is a fun one! The idea behind this creative writing exercise is to focus on interpreting themes through story.
Since all creative writing has an underlying theme behind it, it’s really important for you to be able to accurately depict that theme throughout the story you’re telling.
Otherwise, it can get lost. Not knowing the theme can often leave readers feeling unsatisfied – and rightfully so.
For this exercise, pick an overarching theme you want to focus on. This can be anything from equality to the difference between right and wrong.
Next, craft a short story with the setting being and do your best to make sure that theme shines through
Get creative! Your attic can even contain a portal to another dimension if you really want it to.
#9 – Break language barriers
This isn’t quite what you think it is. So no, we will not be creating new languages with this exercise.
Instead, we’ll be working on using unique language to describe very common, everyday occurrences and experiences.
One of the beauties of creative writing is that you have the power to change the way someone sees the world. You can make it more appealing and special to them – if you know how.
This exercise will help you develop the skill of using a unique narrative within your story.
In this creative writing exercise, you’ll start by reading. You can read a new book or even some of your old writing.
Highlight or copy sentences or paragraphs you think are very common experiences that most everyone in the world knows of. For example: the sunset, brushing your teeth, looking up at the sky.
Your job is to rewrite these experiences in the most unique way you can using visuals that you don’t normally see in writing.<
Here’s an example:
BEFORE – The sun set beyond the trees.
AFTER – The trees tucked the sun in for the night.
Bella Rose Pope
Most popular blog posts, what is self-publishing school.
We help you save time, money, and headaches through the book, writing, marketing, and publishing process by giving you the proven, step-by-step process and accountability to publish successfully. All while allowing you to maintain control of your book–and its royalties. Learn to publish a book to grow your impact, income, or business!
- Using correct grammar and punctuation will also make your writing seem more polished.
- For example, instead of saying, “He quickly and quietly ate his food,” try saying, “He gulped down his meal.” This sentence is more interesting, and gives the same effect to the reader.
Tip: Take a break from writing and come back to your piece after a few hours or even days. Mistakes will be easier to spot after you’ve taken a break.
- Revising is similar to proofreading, except you are looking for ways to improve your piece, not just correcting mistakes.
- Don’t be offended if someone doesn’t like your piece, or has a lot of feedback to give. You can choose whether or not to implement a change that someone else suggests.
Finding Time and Ideas
Tip: If you think you might forget to write, set an alarm on your phone to remind yourself.
- Get a library card so that you can check out books for free instead of buying them every time.
- For example, you might start with a prompt like, “Imagine what it would be like to be a plant,” or "Write about a day in the life of Barack Obama.”
- You can also use people-watching to practice writing down descriptions of behavior and clothing.
- For instance, try writing a fairytale from another character’s perspective, or setting it in today’s era.
- Deadlines that you set for yourself can seem easy to brush off, but you will be disappointed in yourself if you don’t meet them.
- Make sure your deadlines are realistic. Don’t plan on finishing an entire book by next week if you’re only halfway through.
Expert Q&A
You Might Also Like
- ↑ https://www.luc.edu/literacy/grammar.shtml
- ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/
- ↑ https://depts.washington.edu/owrc/Handouts/Revising%20Your%20Paper.pdf
- ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/group-writing/
- ↑ Melessa Sargent. Professional Writer. Expert Interview. 14 August 2019.
- ↑ https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentID=4552&ContentTypeID=1
- ↑ https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/why-its-important-to-read/
- ↑ https://cetl.uconn.edu/about/mission/
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How to Teach Creative Writing | 7 Steps to Get Students Wordsmithing
“I don’t have any ideas!”
“I can’t think of anything!”
While we see creative writing as a world of limitless imagination, our students often see an overwhelming desert of “no idea.”
But when you teach creative writing effectively, you’ll notice that every student is brimming over with ideas that just have to get out.
So what does teaching creative writing effectively look like?
We’ve outlined a seven-step method that will scaffold your students through each phase of the creative process from idea generation through to final edits.
Create inspiring and original prompts
Use the following formats to generate prompts that get students inspired:
- personal memories (“Write about a person who taught you an important lesson”)
- imaginative scenarios
- prompts based on a familiar mentor text (e.g. “Write an alternative ending to your favorite book”). These are especially useful for giving struggling students an easy starting point.
- lead-in sentences (“I looked in the mirror and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Somehow overnight I…”).
- fascinating or thought-provoking images with a directive (“Who do you think lives in this mountain cabin? Tell their story”).
Don’t feel like creating your own? We’ve got a list of 100 elementary prompts right here .
Unpack the prompts together
Explicitly teach your students how to dig deeper into the prompt for engaging and original ideas.
Probing questions are an effective strategy for digging into a prompt. Take this one for example:
“I looked in the mirror and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Somehow overnight I…”
Ask “What questions need answering here?” The first thing students will want to know is:
What happened overnight?
No doubt they’ll be able to come up with plenty of zany answers to that question, but there’s another one they could ask to make things much more interesting:
Who might “I” be?
In this way, you subtly push students to go beyond the obvious and into more original and thoughtful territory. It’s even more useful with a deep prompt:
“Write a story where the main character starts to question something they’ve always believed.”
Here students could ask:
- What sorts of beliefs do people take for granted?
- What might make us question those beliefs?
- What happens when we question something we’ve always thought is true?
- How do we feel when we discover that something isn’t true?
Try splitting students into groups, having each group come up with probing questions for a prompt, and then discussing potential “answers” to these questions as a class.
The most important lesson at this point should be that good ideas take time to generate. So don’t rush this step!
Warm-up for writing
A quick warm-up activity will:
- allow students to see what their discussed ideas look like on paper
- help fix the “I don’t know how to start” problem
- warm up writing muscles quite literally (especially important for young learners who are still developing handwriting and fine motor skills).
Freewriting is a particularly effective warm-up. Give students 5–10 minutes to “dump” all their ideas for a prompt onto the page for without worrying about structure, spelling, or grammar. After about five minutes you’ll notice them starting to get into the groove, and when you call time, they’ll have a better idea of what captures their interest.
Start planning
Now it’s time for students to piece all these raw ideas together and generate a plan. This will synthesize disjointed ideas and give them a roadmap for the writing process.
Note: at this stage your strong writers might be more than ready to get started on a creative piece. If so, let them go for it – use planning for students who are still puzzling things out.
Here are four ideas for planning:
Graphic organizers
A graphic organizer will allow your students to plan out the overall structure of their writing. They’re also particularly useful in “chunking” the writing process, so students don’t see it as one big wall of text.
Storyboards and illustrations
These will engage your artistically-minded students and give greater depth to settings and characters. Just make sure that drawing doesn’t overshadow the writing process.
Voice recordings
If you have students who are hesitant to commit words to paper, tell them to think out loud and record it on their device. Often they’ll be surprised at how well their spoken words translate to the page.
Write a blurb
This takes a bit more explicit teaching, but it gets students to concisely summarize all their main ideas (without giving away spoilers). Look at some blurbs on the back of published books before getting them to write their own. Afterward they could test it out on a friend – based on the blurb, would they borrow it from the library?
Produce rough drafts
Warmed up and with a plan at the ready, your students are now ready to start wordsmithing. But before they start on a draft, remind them of what a draft is supposed to be:
- a work in progress.
Remind them that if they wait for the perfect words to come, they’ll end up with blank pages .
Instead, it’s time to take some writing risks and get messy. Encourage this by:
- demonstrating the writing process to students yourself
- taking the focus off spelling and grammar (during the drafting stage)
- providing meaningful and in-depth feedback (using words, not ticks!).
Share drafts for peer feedback
Don’t saddle yourself with 30 drafts for marking. Peer assessment is a better (and less exhausting) way to ensure everyone receives the feedback they need.
Why? Because for something as personal as creative writing, feedback often translates better when it’s in the familiar and friendly language that only a peer can produce. Looking at each other’s work will also give students more ideas about how they can improve their own.
Scaffold peer feedback to ensure it’s constructive. The following methods work well:
Student rubrics
A simple rubric allows students to deliver more in-depth feedback than “It was pretty good.” The criteria will depend on what you are ultimately looking for, but students could assess each other’s:
- use of language.
Whatever you opt for, just make sure the language you use in the rubric is student-friendly.
2 positives and a focus area
Have students identify two things their peer did well, and one area that they could focus on further, then turn this into written feedback. Model the process for creating specific comments so you get something more constructive than “It was pretty good.” It helps to use stems such as:
I really liked this character because…
I found this idea interesting because it made me think…
I was a bit confused by…
I wonder why you… Maybe you could… instead.
The editing stage
Now that students have a draft and feedback, here’s where we teachers often tell them to “go over it” or “give it some final touches.”
But our students don’t always know how to edit.
Scaffold the process with questions that encourage students to think critically about their writing, such as:
- Are there any parts that would be confusing if I wasn’t there to explain them?
- Are there any parts that seem irrelevant to the rest?
- Which parts am I most uncertain about?
- Does the whole thing flow together, or are there parts that seem out of place?
- Are there places where I could have used a better word?
- Are there any grammatical or spelling errors I notice?
Key to this process is getting students to read their creative writing from start to finish .
Important note: if your students are using a word processor, show them where the spell-check is and how to use it. Sounds obvious, but in the age of autocorrect, many students simply don’t know.
A final word on teaching creative writing
Remember that the best writers write regularly.
Incorporate them into your lessons as often as possible, and soon enough, you’ll have just as much fun marking your students’ creative writing as they do producing it.
Need more help supporting your students’ writing?
Read up on how to get reluctant writers writing , strategies for supporting struggling secondary writers , or check out our huge list of writing prompts for kids .
Find a huge selection of printable literacy resources
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Last updated on Feb 14, 2023
10 Types of Creative Writing (with Examples You’ll Love)
A lot falls under the term ‘creative writing’: poetry, short fiction, plays, novels, personal essays, and songs, to name just a few. By virtue of the creativity that characterizes it, creative writing is an extremely versatile art. So instead of defining what creative writing is , it may be easier to understand what it does by looking at examples that demonstrate the sheer range of styles and genres under its vast umbrella.
To that end, we’ve collected a non-exhaustive list of works across multiple formats that have inspired the writers here at Reedsy. With 20 different works to explore, we hope they will inspire you, too.
People have been writing creatively for almost as long as we have been able to hold pens. Just think of long-form epic poems like The Odyssey or, later, the Cantar de Mio Cid — some of the earliest recorded writings of their kind.
Poetry is also a great place to start if you want to dip your own pen into the inkwell of creative writing. It can be as short or long as you want (you don’t have to write an epic of Homeric proportions), encourages you to build your observation skills, and often speaks from a single point of view .
Here are a few examples:
“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.
This classic poem by Romantic poet Percy Shelley (also known as Mary Shelley’s husband) is all about legacy. What do we leave behind? How will we be remembered? The great king Ozymandias built himself a massive statue, proclaiming his might, but the irony is that his statue doesn’t survive the ravages of time. By framing this poem as told to him by a “traveller from an antique land,” Shelley effectively turns this into a story. Along with the careful use of juxtaposition to create irony, this poem accomplishes a lot in just a few lines.
“Trying to Raise the Dead” by Dorianne Laux
A direction. An object. My love, it needs a place to rest. Say anything. I’m listening. I’m ready to believe. Even lies, I don’t care.
Poetry is cherished for its ability to evoke strong emotions from the reader using very few words which is exactly what Dorianne Laux does in “ Trying to Raise the Dead .” With vivid imagery that underscores the painful yearning of the narrator, she transports us to a private nighttime scene as the narrator sneaks away from a party to pray to someone they’ve lost. We ache for their loss and how badly they want their lost loved one to acknowledge them in some way. It’s truly a masterclass on how writing can be used to portray emotions.
If you find yourself inspired to try out some poetry — and maybe even get it published — check out these poetry layouts that can elevate your verse!
Song Lyrics
Poetry’s closely related cousin, song lyrics are another great way to flex your creative writing muscles. You not only have to find the perfect rhyme scheme but also match it to the rhythm of the music. This can be a great challenge for an experienced poet or the musically inclined.
To see how music can add something extra to your poetry, check out these two examples:
“Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen
You say I took the name in vain I don't even know the name But if I did, well, really, what's it to ya? There's a blaze of light in every word It doesn't matter which you heard The holy or the broken Hallelujah
Metaphors are commonplace in almost every kind of creative writing, but will often take center stage in shorter works like poetry and songs. At the slightest mention, they invite the listener to bring their emotional or cultural experience to the piece, allowing the writer to express more with fewer words while also giving it a deeper meaning. If a whole song is couched in metaphor, you might even be able to find multiple meanings to it, like in Leonard Cohen’s “ Hallelujah .” While Cohen’s Biblical references create a song that, on the surface, seems like it’s about a struggle with religion, the ambiguity of the lyrics has allowed it to be seen as a song about a complicated romantic relationship.
“I Will Follow You into the Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie
If Heaven and Hell decide that they both are satisfied Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks Then I'll follow you into the dark
You can think of song lyrics as poetry set to music. They manage to do many of the same things their literary counterparts do — including tugging on your heartstrings. Death Cab for Cutie’s incredibly popular indie rock ballad is about the singer’s deep devotion to his lover. While some might find the song a bit too dark and macabre, its melancholy tune and poignant lyrics remind us that love can endure beyond death.
Plays and Screenplays
From the short form of poetry, we move into the world of drama — also known as the play. This form is as old as the poem, stretching back to the works of ancient Greek playwrights like Sophocles, who adapted the myths of their day into dramatic form. The stage play (and the more modern screenplay) gives the words on the page a literal human voice, bringing life to a story and its characters entirely through dialogue.
Interested to see what that looks like? Take a look at these examples:
All My Sons by Arthur Miller
“I know you're no worse than most men but I thought you were better. I never saw you as a man. I saw you as my father.”
Arthur Miller acts as a bridge between the classic and the new, creating 20th century tragedies that take place in living rooms and backyard instead of royal courts, so we had to include his breakout hit on this list. Set in the backyard of an all-American family in the summer of 1946, this tragedy manages to communicate family tensions in an unimaginable scale, building up to an intense climax reminiscent of classical drama.
💡 Read more about Arthur Miller and classical influences in our breakdown of Freytag’s pyramid .
“Everything is Fine” by Michael Schur ( The Good Place )
“Well, then this system sucks. What...one in a million gets to live in paradise and everyone else is tortured for eternity? Come on! I mean, I wasn't freaking Gandhi, but I was okay. I was a medium person. I should get to spend eternity in a medium place! Like Cincinnati. Everyone who wasn't perfect but wasn't terrible should get to spend eternity in Cincinnati.”
A screenplay, especially a TV pilot, is like a mini-play, but with the extra job of convincing an audience that they want to watch a hundred more episodes of the show. Blending moral philosophy with comedy, The Good Place is a fun hang-out show set in the afterlife that asks some big questions about what it means to be good.
It follows Eleanor Shellstrop, an incredibly imperfect woman from Arizona who wakes up in ‘The Good Place’ and realizes that there’s been a cosmic mixup. Determined not to lose her place in paradise, she recruits her “soulmate,” a former ethics professor, to teach her philosophy with the hope that she can learn to be a good person and keep up her charade of being an upstanding citizen. The pilot does a superb job of setting up the stakes, the story, and the characters, while smuggling in deep philosophical ideas.
Personal essays
Our first foray into nonfiction on this list is the personal essay. As its name suggests, these stories are in some way autobiographical — concerned with the author’s life and experiences. But don’t be fooled by the realistic component. These essays can take any shape or form, from comics to diary entries to recipes and anything else you can imagine. Typically zeroing in on a single issue, they allow you to explore your life and prove that the personal can be universal.
Here are a couple of fantastic examples:
“On Selling Your First Novel After 11 Years” by Min Jin Lee (Literary Hub)
There was so much to learn and practice, but I began to see the prose in verse and the verse in prose. Patterns surfaced in poems, stories, and plays. There was music in sentences and paragraphs. I could hear the silences in a sentence. All this schooling was like getting x-ray vision and animal-like hearing.
This deeply honest personal essay by Pachinko author Min Jin Lee is an account of her eleven-year struggle to publish her first novel . Like all good writing, it is intensely focused on personal emotional details. While grounded in the specifics of the author's personal journey, it embodies an experience that is absolutely universal: that of difficulty and adversity met by eventual success.
“A Cyclist on the English Landscape” by Roff Smith (New York Times)
These images, though, aren’t meant to be about me. They’re meant to represent a cyclist on the landscape, anybody — you, perhaps.
Roff Smith’s gorgeous photo essay for the NYT is a testament to the power of creatively combining visuals with text. Here, photographs of Smith atop a bike are far from simply ornamental. They’re integral to the ruminative mood of the essay, as essential as the writing. Though Smith places his work at the crosscurrents of various aesthetic influences (such as the painter Edward Hopper), what stands out the most in this taciturn, thoughtful piece of writing is his use of the second person to address the reader directly. Suddenly, the writer steps out of the body of the essay and makes eye contact with the reader. The reader is now part of the story as a second character, finally entering the picture.
Short Fiction
The short story is the happy medium of fiction writing. These bite-sized narratives can be devoured in a single sitting and still leave you reeling. Sometimes viewed as a stepping stone to novel writing, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Short story writing is an art all its own. The limited length means every word counts and there’s no better way to see that than with these two examples:
“An MFA Story” by Paul Dalla Rosa (Electric Literature)
At Starbucks, I remembered a reading Zhen had given, a reading organized by the program’s faculty. I had not wanted to go but did. In the bar, he read, "I wrote this in a Starbucks in Shanghai. On the bank of the Huangpu." It wasn’t an aside or introduction. It was two lines of the poem. I was in a Starbucks and I wasn’t writing any poems. I wasn’t writing anything.
This short story is a delightfully metafictional tale about the struggles of being a writer in New York. From paying the bills to facing criticism in a writing workshop and envying more productive writers, Paul Dalla Rosa’s story is a clever satire of the tribulations involved in the writing profession, and all the contradictions embodied by systemic creativity (as famously laid out in Mark McGurl’s The Program Era ). What’s more, this story is an excellent example of something that often happens in creative writing: a writer casting light on the private thoughts or moments of doubt we don’t admit to or openly talk about.
“Flowering Walrus” by Scott Skinner (Reedsy)
I tell him they’d been there a month at least, and he looks concerned. He has my tongue on a tissue paper and is gripping its sides with his pointer and thumb. My tongue has never spent much time outside of my mouth, and I imagine it as a walrus basking in the rays of the dental light. My walrus is not well.
A winner of Reedsy’s weekly Prompts writing contest, ‘ Flowering Walrus ’ is a story that balances the trivial and the serious well. In the pauses between its excellent, natural dialogue , the story manages to scatter the fear and sadness of bad medical news, as the protagonist hides his worries from his wife and daughter. Rich in subtext, these silences grow and resonate with the readers.
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Perhaps the thing that first comes to mind when talking about creative writing, novels are a form of fiction that many people know and love but writers sometimes find intimidating. The good news is that novels are nothing but one word put after another, like any other piece of writing, but expanded and put into a flowing narrative. Piece of cake, right?
To get an idea of the format’s breadth of scope, take a look at these two (very different) satirical novels:
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
I wished I was back in the convenience store where I was valued as a working member of staff and things weren’t as complicated as this. Once we donned our uniforms, we were all equals regardless of gender, age, or nationality — all simply store workers.
Keiko, a thirty-six-year-old convenience store employee, finds comfort and happiness in the strict, uneventful routine of the shop’s daily operations. A funny, satirical, but simultaneously unnerving examination of the social structures we take for granted, Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman is deeply original and lingers with the reader long after they’ve put it down.
Erasure by Percival Everett
The hard, gritty truth of the matter is that I hardly ever think about race. Those times when I did think about it a lot I did so because of my guilt for not thinking about it.
Erasure is a truly accomplished satire of the publishing industry’s tendency to essentialize African American authors and their writing. Everett’s protagonist is a writer whose work doesn’t fit with what publishers expect from him — work that describes the “African American experience” — so he writes a parody novel about life in the ghetto. The publishers go crazy for it and, to the protagonist’s horror, it becomes the next big thing. This sophisticated novel is both ironic and tender, leaving its readers with much food for thought.
Creative Nonfiction
Creative nonfiction is pretty broad: it applies to anything that does not claim to be fictional (although the rise of autofiction has definitely blurred the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction). It encompasses everything from personal essays and memoirs to humor writing, and they range in length from blog posts to full-length books. The defining characteristic of this massive genre is that it takes the world or the author’s experience and turns it into a narrative that a reader can follow along with.
Here, we want to focus on novel-length works that dig deep into their respective topics. While very different, these two examples truly show the breadth and depth of possibility of creative nonfiction:
Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
Men’s bodies litter my family history. The pain of the women they left behind pulls them from the beyond, makes them appear as ghosts. In death, they transcend the circumstances of this place that I love and hate all at once and become supernatural.
Writer Jesmyn Ward recounts the deaths of five men from her rural Mississippi community in as many years. In her award-winning memoir , she delves into the lives of the friends and family she lost and tries to find some sense among the tragedy. Working backwards across five years, she questions why this had to happen over and over again, and slowly unveils the long history of racism and poverty that rules rural Black communities. Moving and emotionally raw, Men We Reaped is an indictment of a cruel system and the story of a woman's grief and rage as she tries to navigate it.
Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker
He believed that wine could reshape someone’s life. That’s why he preferred buying bottles to splurging on sweaters. Sweaters were things. Bottles of wine, said Morgan, “are ways that my humanity will be changed.”
In this work of immersive journalism , Bianca Bosker leaves behind her life as a tech journalist to explore the world of wine. Becoming a “cork dork” takes her everywhere from New York’s most refined restaurants to science labs while she learns what it takes to be a sommelier and a true wine obsessive. This funny and entertaining trip through the past and present of wine-making and tasting is sure to leave you better informed and wishing you, too, could leave your life behind for one devoted to wine.
Illustrated Narratives (Comics, graphic novels)
Once relegated to the “funny pages”, the past forty years of comics history have proven it to be a serious medium. Comics have transformed from the early days of Jack Kirby’s superheroes into a medium where almost every genre is represented. Humorous one-shots in the Sunday papers stand alongside illustrated memoirs, horror, fantasy, and just about anything else you can imagine. This type of visual storytelling lets the writer and artist get creative with perspective, tone, and so much more. For two very different, though equally entertaining, examples, check these out:
Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson
"Life is like topography, Hobbes. There are summits of happiness and success, flat stretches of boring routine and valleys of frustration and failure."
This beloved comic strip follows Calvin, a rambunctious six-year-old boy, and his stuffed tiger/imaginary friend, Hobbes. They get into all kinds of hijinks at school and at home, and muse on the world in the way only a six-year-old and an anthropomorphic tiger can. As laugh-out-loud funny as it is, Calvin & Hobbes ’ popularity persists as much for its whimsy as its use of humor to comment on life, childhood, adulthood, and everything in between.
From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
"I shall tell you where we are. We're in the most extreme and utter region of the human mind. A dim, subconscious underworld. A radiant abyss where men meet themselves. Hell, Netley. We're in Hell."
Comics aren't just the realm of superheroes and one-joke strips, as Alan Moore proves in this serialized graphic novel released between 1989 and 1998. A meticulously researched alternative history of Victorian London’s Ripper killings, this macabre story pulls no punches. Fact and fiction blend into a world where the Royal Family is involved in a dark conspiracy and Freemasons lurk on the sidelines. It’s a surreal mad-cap adventure that’s unsettling in the best way possible.
Video Games and RPGs
Probably the least expected entry on this list, we thought that video games and RPGs also deserved a mention — and some well-earned recognition for the intricate storytelling that goes into creating them.
Essentially gamified adventure stories, without attention to plot, characters, and a narrative arc, these games would lose a lot of their charm, so let’s look at two examples where the creative writing really shines through:
80 Days by inkle studios
"It was a triumph of invention over nature, and will almost certainly disappear into the dust once more in the next fifty years."
Named Time Magazine ’s game of the year in 2014, this narrative adventure is based on Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. The player is cast as the novel’s narrator, Passpartout, and tasked with circumnavigating the globe in service of their employer, Phileas Fogg. Set in an alternate steampunk Victorian era, the game uses its globe-trotting to comment on the colonialist fantasies inherent in the original novel and its time period. On a storytelling level, the choose-your-own-adventure style means no two players’ journeys will be the same. This innovative approach to a classic novel shows the potential of video games as a storytelling medium, truly making the player part of the story.
What Remains of Edith Finch by Giant Sparrow
"If we lived forever, maybe we'd have time to understand things. But as it is, I think the best we can do is try to open our eyes, and appreciate how strange and brief all of this is."
This video game casts the player as 17-year-old Edith Finch. Returning to her family’s home on an island in the Pacific northwest, Edith explores the vast house and tries to figure out why she’s the only one of her family left alive. The story of each family member is revealed as you make your way through the house, slowly unpacking the tragic fate of the Finches. Eerie and immersive, this first-person exploration game uses the medium to tell a series of truly unique tales.
Fun and breezy on the surface, humor is often recognized as one of the trickiest forms of creative writing. After all, while you can see the artistic value in a piece of prose that you don’t necessarily enjoy, if a joke isn’t funny, you could say that it’s objectively failed.
With that said, it’s far from an impossible task, and many have succeeded in bringing smiles to their readers’ faces through their writing. Here are two examples:
‘How You Hope Your Extended Family Will React When You Explain Your Job to Them’ by Mike Lacher (McSweeney’s Internet Tendency)
“Is it true you don’t have desks?” your grandmother will ask. You will nod again and crack open a can of Country Time Lemonade. “My stars,” she will say, “it must be so wonderful to not have a traditional office and instead share a bistro-esque coworking space.”
Satire and parody make up a whole subgenre of creative writing, and websites like McSweeney’s Internet Tendency and The Onion consistently hit the mark with their parodies of magazine publishing and news media. This particular example finds humor in the divide between traditional family expectations and contemporary, ‘trendy’ work cultures. Playing on the inherent silliness of today’s tech-forward middle-class jobs, this witty piece imagines a scenario where the writer’s family fully understands what they do — and are enthralled to hear more. “‘Now is it true,’ your uncle will whisper, ‘that you’ve got a potential investment from one of the founders of I Can Haz Cheezburger?’”
‘Not a Foodie’ by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell (Electric Literature)
I’m not a foodie, I never have been, and I know, in my heart, I never will be.
Highlighting what she sees as an unbearable social obsession with food , in this comic Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell takes a hilarious stand against the importance of food. From the writer’s courageous thesis (“I think there are more exciting things to talk about, and focus on in life, than what’s for dinner”) to the amusing appearance of family members and the narrator’s partner, ‘Not a Foodie’ demonstrates that even a seemingly mundane pet peeve can be approached creatively — and even reveal something profound about life.
We hope this list inspires you with your own writing. If there’s one thing you take away from this post, let it be that there is no limit to what you can write about or how you can write about it.
In the next part of this guide, we'll drill down into the fascinating world of creative nonfiction.
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How to Structure Your Creative Writing for GCSE (with Creative Writing Examples!)
Posted on August, 2022
Having plenty of ideas for creative writing is one thing, but nailing down the right structure can be a bit more challenging.
There are several steps for children to think about before they begin writing, and that includes creating a structure or plan for how their story will flow.
Creative writing is all about grabbing the reader’s attention immediately, so children in their GCSE years need to understand the importance of structure when writing, in order to organise their ideas and make sure their work reads cohesively.
In this post we will go through everything your child needs to know from paragraphing, to creating a satisfying ending, providing examples along the way to demonstrate the best way to structure their creative writing.
How to Structure Your Creative Writing
There are several types of creative writing questions that could come up on the GCSE reading and writing exam , and more often than not, there will be the option to either write creatively based on an image, or a made-up scenario.
Regardless of the question type, having a solid structure for longer creative writing questions and exercises helps to ensure your child is prepared.
By using a structure that helps to organise your child’s ideas, it helps their writing to flow, and allows your child to become more confident in their creative writing process.
Planning is more important than you might think, as mark schemes from most exam boards include ‘well-controlled paragraphs’ or something very similar within the top band of criteria for creative writing.
Therefore, children should practise planning out creative writing structures well before their writing exam, giving them time to get into the habit of always providing themselves with a simple, but focussed idea of what they are going to write.
First of all, paragraphing is central to creative writing as this is what keeps the structure solid.
In order to stick to a creative writing structure, children must know exactly when to end and start a new paragraph, and how much information each paragraph should contain.
For example, introducing the main character, diving into the action of the story, and providing 10 descriptive sentences of the weather and location, could be separated and spread throughout for impact.
Structuring a creative writing piece also involves creating an appropriate timeline of events and mapping out exactly where the story will go from start to finish. This is assuming the writing piece is in sequential order. Occasionally, there may be a question that requires a non-sequential order.
This list below details every section in a creative writing piece and should look something like this:
- An engaging opening
- A complication
- The development
- The turning point
- A resolution or convincing close
With this structure it is important to bear in mind that for the GCSE reading and creative writing exam , children will be expected to spend about 50 minutes on the creative writing section, so it’s vital to get them into the habit of planning their writing first; as with anything, practice makes perfect
We will dive deeper into the creative writing structure further on in this post, but first, let us go through the importance of paragraphing, and how TipTop paragraphs can help to improve children’s writing.
Paragraphing and TipTop Paragraphs
Before children begin to plan out the structure of their stories, it’s essential that they know the importance of paragraphing correctly first.
At this stage of learning, your child should be comfortable in knowing what a paragraph is, and understand that they help with the layout of their stories throughout the whole writing process.
Paragraphs essentially help to organise ideas into dedicated sections of writing based on your childs ideas. For example having a paragraph for an introduction, then another paragraph introducing the main character. This means your child’s writing will be in a logical order, and will direct the reader further on into the writing.
To avoid your child straying from their creative writing structure and overloading paragraphs with too much information, there is a simple way to remind them of when they need to start a new paragraph.
Using the TipTop acronym is such an easy way for you to encourage your child to think about when they need to change paragraphs, as it stands for:
When moving to a different time or location, bringing in a new idea or character, or even introducing a piece of action or dialogue, your child’s writing should be moving on to new paragraphs.
During creative writing practice, your child can ask themselves a series of questions to work out whether they need to move onto a new paragraph to keep their story flowing and reach that top band of criteria.
For example:
- Is the story going into a new day or time period?
- Is the location staying the same or am I moving on?
- Am I bringing in a new idea that I haven’t described yet?
- Am I going to bring in a new character?
By providing opportunities to practise creative writing, this will help your child to get into the habit of asking themselves these questions as they write, meaning they will stick to the plan they have created beforehand.
Now it’s time to get into the all-important creative writing structure.
Creative Writing Structure
Producing a creative writing structure should be a simple and straightforward process for your child, as it just involves organising the different sections of their writing into a logical order.
First we need to start at the beginning, by creating an engaging opening for any piece of writing that will grab the reader’s attention.
This leads us nicely onto step 1…
1. Creating an Engaging Opening
There are several ways to engage the reader in the opening of a story, but there needs to be a specific hook within the first paragraph to ensure the reader continues on.
This hook could be the introduction of a word that the reader isn’t familiar with, or an imaginary setting that they don’t recognise at all, leaving them questioning ‘what does this all mean?’
It may be that your child opens their story by introducing a character with a description of their appearance, using a piece of dialogue to create a sense of mystery, or simply describing the surroundings to set the tone. This ‘hook’ is crucial as it sets the pace for the rest of the writing and if done properly, will make the reader feel invested in the story.
Additionally, it’s important to include a piece of information or specific object within the opening of the creative writing, as this provides something to link back to at the end, tying the whole storyline together neatly.
Engaging Opening Examples:
- Opening with dialogue – “I wouldn’t tell them, I couldn’t”
- Opening with a question – “Surely they hadn’t witnessed what I had?”
- Opening with mystery/ or a lack of important information – “The mist touched the top of the mountains like a gentle kiss, as Penelope Walker stared out from behind the cold, rigid bars that separated her from the world.”
2. Complication
Providing a complication gets the storyline rolling after introducing a bit of mystery and suspense in the opening.
Treat this complication like a snowball that starts small, but gradually grows into something bigger and bigger as the storyline unfolds.
This complication could be that a secret has been told, and now the main character needs to try and stop it from spreading. Alternatively, you could introduce a love interest who catches the attention of your main character.
In this section, there should be a hint towards a future challenge or a problem to overcome (which will be fleshed out in the development and climax sections) to make the reader slightly aware of what’s to come.
Complication Example:
- Hint to future challenge – “I knew what was coming next, I knew I shouldn’t have told him, now my secret is going to spread like wildfire.”
- Including information to help understand the opening – “Bainbridge Prison was where Penelope had spent the last 2 years, stuffed into a cell the size of a shoebox, waiting for August the 14th to arrive.”
3. Development
The development leads on from the last section well, as it adds a little bit more information onto the complication that has just been introduced.
This section is when your child should start to think about the slow build-up to the climax of the writing piece. For example, the secret that was passed on in the compilation stage, has now been passed to more than just one person, making it more difficult to contain.
This is where your child should really focus on creating suspense in their creative writing and build up the tension to keep the reader’s interest as they move closer to the climax section of the storyline.
Development Example:
- Build-up to the challenge/ climax – “I saw him whispering in class today, my lip trembled but I had to force back my tears. What if he was telling them my secret? The secret no-one was meant to know.”
- Focusing on suspense – “4 more days to go. 4 more days until her life changed forever, and she didn’t know yet if it was for better or for worse.”
The climax is the section that the whole story should be built around.
Before creating a structure like this one, your child should have an idea in mind that the story will be based on, which is usually some sort of shocking, emotion-provoking event.
This may be love, loss, battle, death, mystery, crime or several other events that the story can be built up to, but this needs to be the pivotal point and the most exciting part of the story so far.
Your child may choose to have something go drastically wrong for their main character, but they equally need to come up with a way of working this problem into their turning point and resolution sections, so the story can be resolved and come to a close.
Climax Example:
- Shocking event: “He stood up and spoke the words I never want to hear aloud. ‘I saw her standing there over the computer and pressing send, she must have done it.’”
- Emotion-provoking event: “The prisoners cheered as Penelope strutted past each cell waving goodbye, but suddenly she felt herself being pulled back into her cell. All she could see were the prison bars once again.”
5. Turning Point or Exposition
Now that the climax is over and the problem or shocking event has been revealed to the reader, this section becomes the turning point of the story, and is essential in keeping the reader’s interest until the very end.
If something has gone wrong (which it usually does within the climax), this is the time to begin resolving it, and keep in mind this does not always have to result in a happy ending.
It’s important to remember that turning points can equally come at other points during the creative writing piece, as it signifies a moment of major narrative shift.
So, even in shorter creative writing pieces, turning points can be included earlier on to keep the reader engaged.
The whole premise of creative writing is for your child to create a story on their own terms, so their idea of an effective turning point may be different to yours.
However, it’s important not to lose the suspense in this section, as although the climax is over, it can be easy to give away the ending too soon.
Turning Point Example:
- Turning point: “Little did they know, I was stopping that file from being sent around the whole school. I wasn’t the one to send it, and I had to make sure they knew that.”
- Turning point: “She forced herself through the window, leaving the prison behind her for good this time, or so she thought.”
6. A Resolution or Convincing Close
The resolution should highlight the change in the story, so the tone must be slightly different.
At this stage, the problem is resolved (happily or unhappily) and lessons are learnt. It’s important this bittersweetness is highlighted in the close of the story.
It is also essential that the resolution or end of the story isn’t rushed, as it needs to be believable for the reader right until the very end. The story should be rounded off in a way that allows the reader to feel exactly how the protagonist is feeling, as this creates emotion and allows your reader to feel fully involved and remain interested.
Remember the piece of information or specific object that was included in the story’s opening?
Well this is the time to bring that back, and tie all of those loose ends together. You want to leave the reader with something to think about, and perhaps even asking questions as this shows they have really invested in the story..
Resolution Example:
- Happy resolution: “He came up to me and curled his hand around mine, and whispered an apology. He knew it wasn’t me, and all I felt was relief. Looks like I should have told them right from the start”
- Unhappy resolution: “All she felt was separation, as she felt those cold, rigid prison bars on her face once more.”
In order to better prepare your children for creative writing in their GCSE years, providing allocated time to practise is essential.
Planning out a structure for any piece of creative writing helps to ensure children know exactly how their piece will flow, and how they can manage their time within the reading and writing GCSE exam.
This creative writing structure can be used for the various creative writing questions that may come up on the exam, from short stories, to describing an event or a story behind an image.
Each creative writing piece should be focused around the climactic event, which is built up to in the beginning and resolved in the end.
When it comes to preparing for their GSCE’s, having a tutor can be a huge advantage as it allows children to focus more on specific areas.
At Redbridge Tuition , our tutors are experienced in learning from KS2 to GCSE, and we can provide the resources your child needs to flourish.
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Lesson Plan: KS3 English, creative writing
- Subject: English and MFL
- Date Posted: 12 March 2013
- View page as PDF: Download Now
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Providing the right atmosphere can encourage students to take their creative writing to a whole new level, says Claire Sheffield…
Providing the right atmosphere can encourage students to take their creative writing to a whole new level, says Claire Sheffield…
Today you will….
- Develop the ability to use your imagination to create a story in the gothic genre
- Learn to use ambitious vocabulary to achieve specific effects
Starting a piece of creative writing can be a source of frustration for many young people; so much so that it can lead to loss of confidence. If ideas aren’t flowing, learners can quickly switch off and give up. Creative writing lessons, therefore, need to stimulate all of the senses and inspire students. Creative writing in the gothic genre – spooky stories – offers a wonderful opportunity for just this. This is a topic that always manages to enthuse pupils and one of the most exciting aspects is that the outcome is completely different with every group. Giving students time for thinking and the creation of ideas is essential. Therefore, this plan should be seen as just a starting point; it provides the stimulus from which a number of sessions can be developed. Subsequent periods can also focus on the development of different writing skills as required by the individual needs of a group. As a way into creative writing, this opener allows learners to be independent; an environment that enables them to thrive. Most importantly, it’s a lesson that students always leave talking about!
Starter activity
Creating a spooky word wall.
Preparation is key to this lesson. For maximum impact, everything needs to be ready so that students enter the room and immediately feel a mysterious atmosphere. This can be created by closing blinds, turning off the lights, playing spooky music and displaying an image on the whiteboard of an old, decrepit, haunted-looking house (easily sourced from the internet). It is great to see students entering the room and looking around confused, wondering what is happening and therefore immediately engaged!
Ideally learners need to be seated in small table groups; this should be a buzzy lesson with lots of group discussion and sharing of ideas. As they take their seats they see on their table a map/floor plan of a house with a cross in one of the rooms; it’s one of the rooms from the house displayed on the board. This can be easily created in a word document using text boxes to create the floor plan and labelling each room. The idea is that each table will focus on a different room.
On each table an instruction card for the starter activity is also displayed. This should say something along the lines of: ‘As a group create a word wall of spooky words to describe the room you are in. Be as ambitious as possible! You have 5 minutes’. This could be completed on A3 paper or on post-it notes to stick up on the wall next to them; students will then have created their own bank of vocabulary that will help them in later parts of the lesson.
Main activities
1 developing the plot.
This lesson works well if very little is said by the teacher to the whole class. This adds to the mysterious atmosphere because students have to read and find out what to do at different stages. The teacher very much facilitates the learning in this lesson, by circulating the room, supporting and stretching groups as appropriate.
As the 5 minutes for the starter activity draws to a close, the spooky background music should be turned off and a short, shocking sound should be played. This could be a scream or a crash, for example. As this point another slide should be displayed on the board to move students onto the next stage of the lesson. This could read: ‘What has happened? Write the opening for a spooky story about a mysterious incident that has happened in the room you are in. Discuss for 5 minutes.’ Students are now using their imaginations to create a plot for their gothic story; it is important that students are encouraged to discuss and develop ideas before beginning the writing stage.
2 Going further
After around five minutes discussion, another slide can be displayed which reads: ‘Look for a clue about what has happened. You will find this somewhere near you!’ Underneath each table, students will find an envelope with a picture of a clue. This could be anything (e.g. a book or a camera). Equally, props could be placed around the room for students to find. The more unusual the better! It just gets pupils thinking more creatively. They will naturally want to talk about what they have found and start to revise their previous thinking
3 Stage three
After a few moments, the final slide of instruction can be displayed. This time, students are told: ‘Time to start writing. You have 25 minutes to use the clues so far to write the opening to a spooky story. Remember your objectives – be imaginative and use ambitious vocabulary to achieve a spooky effect.’ Spooky background music can be played throughout the writing stage. It is also important that learners have access to a thesaurus in order to locate more ambitious vocabulary.
Home learning
The lesson can be used as a starting point and developed in a number of ways… + Subsequent lessons/home learning activities could focus on developing other writing skills such as structuring a plot from beginning to end, using literary devices or using a variety of sentence structures and punctuation for effect.
+ The written work could lead into a speaking and listening lesson where students devise, rehearse and perform dramatic readings of their stories. + Students can explore a variety of gothic literature, researching different writers in the genre, reading different works and learning about the conventions of the genre. They can then develop their work to incorporate more of these conventions themselves.
After the main writing stage of this lesson, students are usually desperate to read their work out. To be able to do this in a meaningful way though, more time is usually needed, so it is appropriate to dedicate the following lesson to this. However, an opportunity to share work with others can be achieved through groups swapping their work and providing some feedback to consider for the following lesson. Questions such as those below can help students to structure their feedback in a constructive manner:
- How imaginative is the piece?
- How exciting did you find the story?
- Is there anything that does not make sense?
- How ambitious is the vocabulary? Does it achieve the desired spooky effect?
- How would you like the group to improve the piece?
- What questions can you ask the group to help them develop the piece further?
The following lesson can then begin with students considering this feedback in order to improve the work they have begun in this lesson.
Differentiation suggestions to support less able students:
- Provide a word bank or sentence starter bank.
- Provide additional resources to inspire ideas; further images or props, for example.
- Provide a wagoll (what a good one looks like) as a model of a piece of spooky writing.
- Suggestions to stretch more able students:
- Provide definitions/examples of literary devices and a challenge card asking students to ‘aim to include as many literary devices as possible.’
- Ask students to work towards a third learning objective: ‘use a variety of sentence structures for effect’ or ‘use a variety of punctuation for effect.’
- Allocate an expert to mixed ability groups who is asked to fulfil additional responsibilities as group leader.
- Provide a ‘challenging criteria’ card as a checklist of skills that more able students should aim to demonstrate.
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Creative Writing Examples: Lessons in Writing Creative Fiction
In this blog post, we will show you some creative writing fundamentals followed by writing exercises with examples.
Example 1: Long Paragraphs, Rich Details
This is the beginning of Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ Autumn of the Patriarch , a book he personally considers his best:
“Over the weekend the vultures got into the presidential palace by pecking through the screens on the balcony windows and the flapping of their wings stirred up the stagnant time inside, and at dawn on Monday the city awoke out of its lethargy of centuries with the warm, soft breeze of a great man dead and rotting grandeur. Only then did we dare go in without attacking the crumbling walls of reinforced stone, as the more resolute had wished, and without using oxbows to knock the main door off its hinges, as others had proposed, because all that was needed was for someone to give a push and the great armored doors that had resisted the lombards of William Dampier during the building’s heroic days gave way.”
Long – sometimes too long – Marquez’ paragraphs sometimes run on for entire pages. Along with Marquez’ stunning eye for sensory details, this often means that the reader has to stop mid-page, take a deep breath, and gather his thoughts before moving on. The effect can be disorienting, but the rewards for the patient reader are immense.
Lesson : Short paragraphs are easier to read and write, but long paragraphs with complex sentences can be very rewarding in the hands of a skilled writer. As a beginner, however, you should walk before you leap – i.e. start with short paragraphs before you move on to complicated sentences.
Example 2: Sparse Details, ‘And’ Sentences
Ernest Hemingway was the undisputable king of the ‘sparse school of writing’. Instead of flowery prose – as was popular during his time – he used short, stolid sentences, usually joined with ‘and’. No “valley of ashes” where “ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills” (from The Great Gatsby , F. Scott Fitzgerald) for Mr. Hemingway. His stories would use as sparse details as possible. While he used a lot of short sentences, Hemingway was also fond of joining several short sentences with ‘and’.
Here’s the beginning of A Movable Feast by Ernest Hemingway:
“Then there was the bad weather. It would come in one day when the fall was over. We would have to shut the windows in the night against the rain and the cold wind would strip the leaves from the trees in the Place Contrescarpe. The leaves lay sodden in the rain and the wind drove the rain against the big green autobus at the terminal and the café des amateurs was crowded and the windows misted over from the heat and the smoke inside.”
The third sentence here bears examination. Essentially, it can be broken down into several sentences as follows:
“The leaves lay sodden in the rain. The wind drove the rain against the big green autobus at the terminal. The café des amateurs was crowded. The windows misted over from the heat and smoke inside.”
Despite being the ‘correct’ way to write, the above sounds awkward and far less poetic than Hemingway’s ‘and’ version.
Lesson : Prose doesn’t have to be flowery to be good. Short sentences can work equally well as long sentences. And there’s nothing wrong with using a conjunction excessively, as long it adds to the flow of the prose.
Want to write your own memoir? Here are some valuable tips for memoir writing .
Example 3: Breaking the Rules of Punctuation
Here’s a fragment from Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridien , a book for which he won _ prize:
“They traded the mule accoutered as it was for a Texas stock saddle, bare tree with rawhide cover, not new but sound. For a bridle and bit that was new. For a woven wool blanket from Saltillo that was dusty new or not. And lastly for a two and a half dollar gold piece. The Texan looked at this small coin in the kid’s palm and demanded more money but the harnessmaker shook his head and held up his hands in utter finality.
What about my boots? said the kid.
Y sus botas, said the Texan.
Si. He made sewing motions.”
If you were the editor of a newspaper or magazine, this would probably go straight into the trash or be riddled with so much red ink to be practically unusable. But because McCarthy uses the prose so fittingly, it works.
Lesson : Punctuation exists as a means to an end, not the end in itself. If you believe you can arrive at the end without using punctuation, or that using punctuation might actually distract the reader, then so be it. You won’t be the first writer to do so, nor the last.
Example 4: Poetic Metaphor
The metaphor is the most powerful weapon in a writer’s arsenal, and also the most dangerous. A poor metaphor can ruin a good paragraph. A great metaphor can elevate an ordinary piece of writing to the realm of poetry.
The best way to study metaphor, of course, is by actually studying poetry.
On that note, here’s a fragment from Pablo Neruda’s poem, Body of Woman :
Body of woman, white hills, white thighs,
You look like a world, lying in surrender.
My rough peasant’s body digs in you
And makes the son leap from the depth of the earth.
And here’s another from T.S. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table
And this from She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron:
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Lesson : Read as much poetry you can. It’s okay if you don’t understand the meaning of the poem. Focus more on the beauty of the language and the richness of the metaphor.
Example 5: Casual First Person Narration
First person narration can be very powerful when done right. Because you must embody the voice of the person narrating the story, you will often have to write in a more casual, informal voice.
Junot Diaz makes wonderful use of this in his stories. Here’s an example from his collection of short stories, This is How You Lose Her , titled “The Sun, the Moon, the Stars”
“But then the Letter hits like a Star Trek grenade and detonates everything, past, present, future. Suddenly, her folks want to kill me. It don’t matter that I helped them with their taxes two years running or that I mow their lawn. Her father, who used to treat me like his hijo, call me an a**hole on the phone, sounds like he’s strangling himself with the chord. You no deserve I speak to you in Spanish, he says.”
This wouldn’t pass muster if you were writing about an 18th century aristocrat, but fits in perfectly with Junot Diaz’ protagonist – a rough Dominican immigrant. The occasional curse word is permitted as well since it only adds to the story.
Lesson : Align your voice with the voice of your protagonist. Speak like he/she would speak and the results can be very powerful.
Want to write children’s books instead? This course on writing and publishing children’s books will help you get started.
Example 6: Historical Details in Fiction
Writing historical fiction requires a special skillset. Not only must you be fastidious with your research – factual lapses are rarely permitted – but you must also match your voice and tone with the historical setting.
Hilary Mantel, who won two Bookers for her books on the Cromwell family, does this extraordinarily well. Let’s see an example from her book, Wolf Hall
Boatman. River. Saint. He’s been travelling since early morning and in the saddle for the best part of two weeks on the cardinal’s business, and has now come down by stages – and not easy stages – from Yorkshire. He’s been to his clerks at Gray’s Inn and borrowed a change of linen. He’s been east to the city, to hear what ships have come in and to check the whereabouts of an off-the-books consignment he is expecting. But he hasn’t eaten, and he hasn’t been home yet.
The cardinal rises. He opens a door, speaks to his hovering servants. ‘Cherries! What, no cherries? April you say? Only April? We shall have sore work to placate my guest, then’. He sighs. ‘Bright what you have. But it will never do, you know. Why am I so ill-served?’
Lesson : Writing historical details in fiction requires a thorough understanding of the time period, right from the kind of language used to the way social structures operated.
We’ll leave you with a quote from Stephen King’s On Writing which sums up the entire process of creation:
“Life isn’t a support system for art; it’s the other way around”
Ready to start writing your own books? Try this amazing course on how to become a bestselling author on Amazon Kindle to get started.
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Writing fiction
Writing fiction involves coming up with creative and original ideas to develop interesting pieces of writing. Find inspiration in your own experiences and the real world.
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Planning a response
The importance of planning.
Planning is an important part of the fiction writing process. Many professional writers use a plan as the basis for a first draft, which they will later edit several times before the work is complete.
Planning and proofreading should bookend your writing process. In the planning phase you prepare your ideas and narrative structure. As you proofread you check how well your writing is working. During each phase you might focus on vocabulary and effective forms of expression.
Planning a piece of writing
There are several different ways to plan a piece of writing ; it really is whatever you find easiest to understand. You could:
- create a mind map
- bullet point your ideas
- create a flow chart of each stage
- draw out a table
What to include in a plan
A plan is an outline of your ideas. You could use the five-part story arc or a timeframe to help structure your narrative.
You could also use your plan to remind you of key features you want to include (figurative language, variety of sentence structures, TiPToP paragraphs ). A plan can also be a useful for collecting vocabulary and phrases that you want to include in your final piece of writing.
Proofreading
When you have completed a piece of writing, it is a good idea to check over what you have created. Simple spelling errors, missing punctuation or words are common errors to make when you are writing creatively. Once you look back over a piece of work, it is easier for you to spot things and put them right.
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Academic Writing: Planning Your Writing
- Reading and Note Taking
- Structuring Your Writing
- Descriptive Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Critical Writing
- Comparative Writing
- Reflective Writing
- Proofreading
Planning your writing
Before you begin the writing process, it is a good idea to make sure you understand your task and have a good idea about how you will manage your time as you work through your assignment.
Planning is useful because it can help you organise your thoughts and prioritise the way you present information. By planning your writing:
- It is more likely that you will end up with a coherent argument
- You are enabled to work out a logical structure and end point for your writing before you start the process
- You won't have to do all of your complex thinking about arguments, structure, etc. at the same time you are trying to find the right words to express your ideas
- You are more likely to become committed to sticking to the point
- Spider diagrams / Visual Plans
- Bullet Points / Linear Plans
- Simple Essay Plan
- Serial Essay Plan
- Chronological Plan
Also known as mind maps, this method involves getting all of the main ideas down on a page with key words and phrases around your central question. This method is flexible and creative- you don't have to worry about putting your ideas in order, it's more important to get all of your ideas out first. For more information, have a look at the video below:
Bullet points / Linear Plans For some students, creating lists or bullet points is a more effective way to plan their writing. This method may include a brief outline of the main points for each theme of the writing, or a more detailed plan with sub-points and a note of the evidence to support each point (including sources, page numbers, etc.). Using outlines or bulleted lists will allow you to see how ideas follow on from each other.
The following tabs show some examples of essay plans associated with using a linear plan:
Printable Handouts
Planning and writing assignments (Nottingham)
Planning and writing (Oxford)
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Story Writing from an Object's Perspective
- Resources & Preparation
- Instructional Plan
- Related Resources
Students explore how to write from an object's perspective. The teacher uses a picture book, Dear Mrs. La Rue , to introduce the idea of writing from a non-human's perspective. A mini-lesson follows in which students work together to define the word "perspective." Students collaboratively write and share a short example of writing from a pencil sharpener's perspective. Students ultimately write their own stories from an object's perspective after reading the model story. This lesson takes multiple days as students prewrite, draft, revise, edit, and publish their stories.
Featured Resources
- Read aloud book Dear Mrs. La Rue
- Perspective Story Pre-Writing
- Perspective Story Model
From Theory to Practice
In this lesson, students learn to write from a perspective far from their own. Instead of writing about themselves, other humans, or even animals, students write from an object’s perspective. This type of writing process is developmentally challenging because, as Deborah Dean explains, “writing about a topic from different perspectives can help writers explore the topic and learn more about what they know and what they still need to learn.” By writing from a perspective other than their own, students can challenge their insights and assumptions by investigating the world from an unfamiliar vantage point.
Further Reading
Common Core Standards
This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.
State Standards
This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.
NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts
- 1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
- 2. Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.
- 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
- 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
- 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
- 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
- 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
Materials and Technology
- Dear Mrs. La Rue by Mark Teague
- Screen/overhead to display materials
- Internet access
- Inanimate objects such as shoe, pencil, chair, notebook, cell phone, water bottle
- Whiteboard/chalkboard and markers/chalk
- Dear Mrs. La Rue Read Aloud Procedures
- Perspective Definition and Examples
- Perspective Match-Up Cards
- Perspective Group Practice Writing Prompt
- Perspective Story Pre-Writing Model
- Editing and Revising Checklist
- Perspective Writing Rubric
Candlewick Press offers an excerpt from the story The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane , a story from a china rabbit’s point of view. Provides excellent modeling of perspective writing.
Preparation
- Familiarize yourself with the book Dear Mrs. La Rue .
- Print out the following hand-outs for student use: Perspective Definition and Examples , Exit Slips , Perspective Match-Up Cards , Perspective Group Practice Writing Prompt , Perspective Story Model , Perspective Story Pre-Writing , Editing and Revising Checklist , and Perspective Writing Rubric .
- Sort students into pairs.
- Gather inanimate objects used by students regularly such as a pencil, chair, shoe, cell phone, water bottle, umbrella.
Student Objectives
Students will:
- explore perspective by asking questions and reflecting on the text during the reading of a picture book.
- explore perspective by practicing with definitions and examples.
- design a one page story from the perspective of an inanimate object using the complete writing process.
Session One
- Introduction: Have you ever wondered what pets think about? Introduce basic plot and ask students to pay attention to Ike’s interpretation of story events compared to his owner’s.
- Middle of Story: Discuss the author’s use of black/white pages compared to colored pages. What do each represent?
- End of Story: What did you notice about Mrs. La Rue’s opinions during the story compared to Ike’s? Why did this happen?
- Send students back to their seats and pass out Perspective Definition and Examples printout. Introduce this task to students by explaining that Dear Mrs. La Rue dealt with looking at life from the perspective of a dog. Similarly, the two pictures on the page show how perspective can impact someone’s beliefs. Tell students to use Dear Mrs. La Rue and the two pictures on the printout to write their own definition of perspective. Emphasize that this is just practice- it is okay if they are not fully correct!
- After students have studied the example and created their own definitions, give them one minute to share their definitions with two classmates.
- Once students have each shared their definitions, hold a brief class discussion to agree upon the definition. Students will write that definition on their printouts, and the teacher will write the definition on the board. (Possible definition: a person’s opinions or feelings based on how he/she views a situation)
- Now that a definition has been agreed upon, challenge students to brainstorm three examples of instances in which people might hold different perspectives. Give them two minutes to do this, then have them share their examples.
- End this session by passing out an exit slip of your choice from the Exit Slips printout. Students fill out exit slips and turn in before leaving. Read these before the next session to gain insight into students’ understanding of lesson.
Session Two
- Review the idea of perspective with students by mixing up the Perspective Match-Up Cards and handing one to each student. Explain to students that there are two types of cards: One has a picture and a question, and one has a phrase. Students who receive a picture/question must find the phrase that matches, and students who receive a phrase must find the picture/question that matches. Give students a few minutes to circulate around the room and find their matches. Instruct students to buddy up with their partners. Once they have found their partners, move around the room with their partners to find the other set of partners that have the same picture. Once all four students have found each other, they should sit down and read each other’s cards.
- Now that students are seated in groups of four, hold a brief discussion in which students explain how their group’s pictures, questions, and phrases show different perspectives. Refer to the definition of perspective agreed upon in the previous lesson. (Ex: a person’s opinions or feelings based on how he/she views a situation)
- Ask students to return to their seats. Explain to students that they will now be working with a partner to create a short one-paragraph story that shows the perspective of the classroom’s pencil sharpener.
- Place students into pre-determined pairs and ask students to move to sit with partners.
- Pass out or display Perspective Group Practice Writing Prompt . Read the prompt with students and re-emphasize class expectations (work quietly with partner, write one paragraph only, show clearly the pencil sharpener’s feelings and opinions about being a class sharpener, work efficiently).
- Allow students 15 minutes to craft their written paragraph. While students work, circulate between groups and offer support, suggestions, and compliments.
- Let three student groups volunteer to share their writing. After each student reads, allow the class to make positive comments. Teacher gives positive reinforcement and makes suggestions when possible.
- Explain to students that in the next lesson they will choose an inanimate object to write “A Day in the Life of a ________” story from the object’s perspective.
Session Three
- Begin this session by displaying inanimate objects that students use regularly: shoe, chair, pencil, water bottle, phone, notebook
- Ask students to stand up if they use at least two of the displayed items at least once a day. Have students sit back down.
- Introduce task to students: They will write “A Day in the Life of a ________”: a story from the object’s perspective. Discuss how the objects displayed are used every day and thus can become excellent main characters in a story. Explain that students will pick one of the objects displayed to use as character in story. If students have alternative object they’d like to use, they must have teacher approve the idea.
- Display/project the Perspective Story Model and read aloud as students follow along.
- Discuss with the class how this story depicts the laptop’s daily life with its owner. Ask students to raise their hands to share the strengths of the story. Make a list of these strengths on the board (i.e. interesting vocabulary, chronological order, specific descriptions), along with suggestions for improvement.
- Explain to students that they will begin their prewriting for their own stories at the end of class, but first they will create a practice pre-writing with the entire class. Pass out Perspective Story Pre-Writing printout to each student. Review this printout with students and emphasize expectations.
- Using the Perspective Story Pre-Writing Model as a teacher guideline, use Shared Writing to work with the students to complete a practice version of the Perspective Story Pre-Writing . Do this by agreeing on a class topic such as “A Day in the Life of a Mailbox”. Complete the process with students by allowing them to share ideas and by providing feedback and structure that will help students identify proper pre-writing procedures.
- Give students the rest of the session to complete their personal pre-writing. Circulate as students work to provide support.
- Either collect prewriting organizers or instruct students to store them securely.
Session Four
- Explain expectations to students: students will receive, read, and practice with the Perspective Writing Rubric , which will be used for grading the stories.
- Pass out Perspective Writing Rubric to each student. Read and discuss with students. Emphasize expectations and reiterate that this will be used to assess their stories.
- Display Perspective Story Model from session three and explain to students that they will work as a class to assess this story using the rubric .
- Using student participation and teacher guidance, assess the model story in each rubric category. Students who disagree on a grade should come to a shared decision.
- Explain to students that they should staple this rubric to the bottom of their stories when handing stories in to teacher.
- Either collect rubrics or instruct students to keep themfor the next session.
Session Five
- Explain expectations to students: they will use Perspective Story Pre-Writing and Perspective Writing Rubric guidelines to create their rough drafts.
- Keep the Perspective Story Model displayed for students as they write
- Provide students with paper or computers for writing. As students work quietly, circulate through the classroom and provide support to each student.
- When the working period is over, collect rough drafts/ rubrics or instruct students to keep them securely. Explain to students that tomorrow they will edit and revise their work with a partner.
Session Six
- Pass out Editing and Revising Checklist to each student.
- Read this checklist with students and review each expectation. Explain that students will work in previously assigned pairs to peer-edit using the Editing and Revising Checklist .
- Give students the rest of the period to work with their partners using whisper-voices. As students work quietly, circulate through the classroom and provide support to each student.
- When the working period is over, collect rough drafts/ rubrics or instruct students to keep them securely. Explain to students that tomorrow that will begin writing/typing their final copies.
Session Seven
- If students are typing final copies, provide students with computers and provide any necessary computer instructions before students begin working.
- If students are handwriting final copy, provide students with paper if needed and provide any desired instructions for final copy format.
- As students work quietly, circulate through the classroom and provide support to each student.
- Explain to students that for homework they must bring in their chosen object for tomorrow’s presentations (i.e: if a student used a shoe as his object, that student must bring that type of shoe to display when presenting). Students who may have difficulties bringing in the necessary object should work with the teacher to find a solution (the teacher or another student could provide the needed object).
Session Eight
- Split the class into four groups of 6-8 students.
- Explain expectations to students: They will be orally presenting their stories in their groups, using the objects they brought from home as their props. Each group will need to keep a list of the story titles on a piece of paper, along with a brief summary of each story.
- Students spend the rest of the period meeting with their groups, listening to each other’s stories, responding constructively, and recording titles and summaries.
- At the end of class, students hand in stories to be assessed. The teacher can post these stories on a bulletin board with the title “A Day in the Life of...”
- Students can take pictures of object and create a PowerPoint or video presentation using the pictures. Students can record their voice narrating the story as the pictures are shown.
- Students can exchange stories and write an alternative ending or sequel to each other’s stories.
- Students can use ReadWriteThink Book Cover Creator to design a story cover.
- Students can use the idea of perspective writing in an applicable social studies/history unit by writing two stories about the same historical event but from the perspectives of two enemies or different historical figures.
Student Assessment / Reflections
- Use Exit Slips to evaluate student understanding and comprehension of lesson.
Conference with students during the writing process to ask them questions and evaluate their progress, strengths, areas of concentration, and use of the writing process.
Use the Perspective Writing Rubri c to assess stories.
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Why would I ask you to write paper for me?
Despite the obvious and even natural resistance to the idea of paper writing in principle that may occur with any student, you may also ask yourself, ‘Why would I need you to help me write my paper?’ The answer to this question lies in the spectrum of your routine actions. It’s not surprising that studying becomes part of our lives, but sometimes we’ve just got too much going on!
When you write an essay or academic paper, you just do one of the numerous things you face daily or weekly. This part of your life consumes lots of energy and time, so how can you possibly get around to doing other things like having fun, working, playing sports, helping relatives, and spending time with friends?
People are social creatures, and it’s only natural of us to request help from experts.. That’s why we ask doctors, electricians, or plumbers to help us! They’re all specialists. Who writes essays for you better than you do? Right, people who write numerous essays every day. We are experts in academic writing, aimed at satisfying all your needs related to education.
You just hire a professional to get a paper written, like you normally do in other situations. Our team of writers know everything about writing your paper and can cope with assignments of any complexity and academic level. Well-researched and expertly-written papers are what we do for our customers, and we always do our work professionally so that you could kick back and enjoy your life to the fullest.
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High-Class Quality. ‘Will you write a paper for me that meets all requirements?’ This question is frequently asked by many students, and we always answer in the affirmative. Our main goal is to deliver a perfectly written paper the meets the highest possible writing standards. We don’t rest unless you are satisfied with our work. If you hire a paper writer online, we guarantee you that you get 100% original and plagiarism-free assignments of high quality.
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Comprehensible Explanations. ‘Can someone write my paper for me and provide clarifications?’ This question arises from time to time. Naturally, we want you to be totally prepared for the upcoming battle with your professor. If you need to fill the gaps in your knowledge, you can always ask for clarifications related to your paper. Moreover, when you order ‘write my paper for me’ service, you can always turn to our support agents for assistance. They will be glad to provide you with the necessary information and comprehensible explanations.
Fast and Customer-Focused Solutions. ‘Is it possible to do my paper for me so that I don’t worry about it at all?’ It certainly is! We offer all-encompassing solutions to all your academic problems by defining issues, determining their causes, selecting proper alternatives, and ultimately solving them. You are free to do your favorite activities while we are taking care of ongoing matters. You can always rely on us when it comes to essay-writing online and taking an individual approach to every case.
Who will write my paper when I order it?
Another crucial advantage of our service is our writers. You may have asked yourself, ‘I’d like to pay someone to write a paper for me, but who exactly will that person be?’ Once you order a paper, our managers will choose the best writer based on your requirements. You’ll get a writer who is a true expert in the relevant subject, and a perfect fit is certain to be found due to our thorough procedure of selecting.
Every applicant passes a complex procedure of tests to become one of our permanent writers. First of all, they should provide their credentials. We need to make sure that any prospective writers we hire have the proper experience.. The next step resides in passing a series of tests related to grammar, in addition to subject and/or discipline. Every paper-writer must pass them to prove their competency and their selected field of expertise.
One more step includes writing a sample to prove the ability to research and write consistently. Moreover, we always set our heart on hiring only devoted writers. When you ask us to write your essay or other academic works, you can be sure that they always do their best to provide you with well-structured and properly-written papers of high quality.
The final chord is related to special aspects of academic paper-writing. It means that every writer is prepared to cite properly, use different styles, and so on, so you don’t have to be worried about formatting at all.
‘So, can they write an ideal paper for me?’ We answer in the affirmative because we select only the best writers for our customers. Approximately 11% of all applicants can pass the whole set of tests and are ready to help you. All writers are fully compensated for their work and are highly motivated to provide you with the best results.
We are online 24/7 so that you could monitor the process of paper-writing and contact us whenever necessary. Don’t forget that your satisfaction is our priority. Our writers fully focus on your order when it comes to the ‘write my paper’ procedure. Our managers will immediately send all the information to your writer if any corrections are required.
It’s time to write my paper! What should I do?
‘I am ready to pay to have a paper written! Where do I start?’ Our team hears these words every day. We really believe that every student should be happy. That’s why we offer you to look at the simple steps to make the process even more convenient.
- Fill in the comprehensible order form located on the main page of our website. If you need some help with it, feel free to contact our support team.
- Provide the necessary details, such as the topic, subject or discipline, paper format, your academic level, etc.
- Select the deadline, and we will strictly follow it.
- Pay the total price. Submit a preferred payment method. The full sum will be deposited into your account on our website. The money will be transferred to your writer in case you approve the paper.
- If you have additional materials provided by your professor or may simply assist in writing your paper, please attach them too. They will help the assigned writer meet your professor’s expectations.
Every paper we can write for you is expertly-researched, well-structured, and consistent. Take a look at some types of papers we can help you with:
- Dissertations
- Research papers
- Case studies
- Term papers
- Business plans, etc.
Questions like ‘I would like you to write a paper for me without destroying my reputation. Can you promise to do so?’ or ‘Can you write my paper for me cheap and fast?’ often arise, and we take pride that these options are included in the list. Your safety and anonymity are parts of our common priority, which is to make you fully satisfied with all offered services.
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natural disaster writing piece
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Natural Disasters Unit with Lesson Plans, Worksheets and Activities
Also included in: Weather Activities Interactive Science Notebook 2nd 3rd Grade Science Unit Plans
Volcano Craft | Natural Disaster Activity | Volcano Writing | Volcanic Landforms
Also included in: Hawaii Luau Crafts Bundle | Volcano | Hawaii State Thematic Unit | Summer
16 TEEN READERS BIG BUNDLE: Engaging Reading Lessons- Written By Teens FOR Teens
Scaffolded Paragraph Writing Foldables {Natural Disasters Theme}
- Easel Activity
Natural Disasters Photo Flash Cards Photo and Word in front
Also included in: Natural Disasters Unit, Flash Cards and Word Puzzles MEGA ESL BUNDLE
Natural Disaster Research Booklet
Teen Reader Little Book: Fire at Sunnywoods - Written By Teens For Teens
Also included in: 16 TEEN READERS BIG BUNDLE: Engaging Reading Lessons- Written By Teens FOR Teens
Teen Reader: Written By Teens | The Tornado that Destroyed Joppa Elementary
Natural Disasters Inquiry Circle
- Word Document File
Teen Reader Little Book: The Ice Storm | Written By Teens | Activities
![Natural Disasters Photo Flash Cards [3 different types] BUNDLE - SAVE BIG!](https://ecdn.teacherspayteachers.com/thumbitem/Natural-Disasters-Words-Photo-Flash-Cards-3-different-types-BUNDLE-SAVE-BIG--3601909-1571593773/large-3601909-1.jpg "plan creative writing piece")
Natural Disasters Photo Flash Cards [3 different types] BUNDLE - SAVE BIG!
Natural Disasters Flash Cards Photo front and Word back
Also included in: Natural Disasters 5 Word Puzzles and 30 Photo Flash Cards BUNDLE for ESL/ELL
Teen Reader Little Book: Hurricane Carlos | Written By Teens | Activities
4th Grade Nonfiction Writing Unit -- Researching to Inform
Journal Plan - Natural Disasters
Extreme Weather and Natural Disaster Digital Distance Learning Units for Google
Earthquakes Natural Disaster Research Unit with PowerPoint
Also included in: Extreme Weather & Natural Disasters [MEGA] Unit bundle with 6 PowerPoints
Severe Weather Activity (Natural Disasters: Hurricane, Tornado etc.)
Also included in: Earth Science: Clouds, Fossils, Severe Weather, Rock Cycle Activities Bundle
Tornado Natural Disaster Research Unit with PowerPoint
Hurricane Natural Disaster Research Unit with PowerPoint
BUNDLE Natural Disaster 10 Paired Passages with Text Based Evidence Questions
Extreme Weather & Natural Disasters Digital and Printable Pocketbook Bundle
Wildfires Natural Disaster Research Unit with PowerPoint
Research & Write Units {The Growing Bundle}
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If you are writing a fiction piece, you might want to plan out all your major characters and plot points. If you are writing a non-fiction piece, research the subject carefully and then list the major ideas you want to address. 2 Complete character sheets.
Creative writing is the act of putting your imagination on a page. It's artistic expression in words; it's writing without the constraints that come with other kinds of writing like persuasive or expository. Write with originality Grammarly helps you refine your word choice Write with Grammarly What is creative writing?
Posted on Feb 21, 2023. First Person - In this point of view, the narrator is actually the main character. This means that you will read passages including, "I" and understand that it is the main character narrating the story. Second Person - Most often, this point of view isn't used in creative writing, but rather instructional ...
Easy Ways to Improve Creative Writing: 11 Steps (with Pictures) Education and Communications Writing How to Improve Creative Writing Download Article methods 1 Creating Polished Work 2 Finding Time and Ideas Other Sections Expert Q&A Related Articles References Co-authored by Melessa Sargent and Hannah Madden
Create inspiring and original prompts. Use the following formats to generate prompts that get students inspired: personal memories ("Write about a person who taught you an important lesson") prompts based on a familiar mentor text (e.g. "Write an alternative ending to your favorite book"). These are especially useful for giving ...
Exercise in planning your writing using a list Writing your ideas on sticky notes Exercise in planning your writing using sticky notes. Creating a mind map Exercise in planning your writing...
Poetry's closely related cousin, song lyrics are another great way to flex your creative writing muscles. You not only have to find the perfect rhyme scheme but also match it to the rhythm of the music. This can be a great challenge for an experienced poet or the musically inclined.
Structuring a creative writing piece also involves creating an appropriate timeline of events and mapping out exactly where the story will go from start to finish. This is assuming the writing piece is in sequential order. Occasionally, there may be a question that requires a non-sequential order.
Use this Writing Style Lesson Plan for a quick overview. Introduce or review the writing process, as well, with this Writing Process Lesson Plan which guides students through writing a...
Starting a piece of creative writing can be a source of frustration for many young people; so much so that it can lead to loss of confidence. If ideas aren't flowing, learners can quickly switch off and give up. ... Therefore, this plan should be seen as just a starting point; it provides the stimulus from which a number of sessions can be ...
Creative writing can be immensely rewarding both personally and professionally. Good writers who can express their ideas creatively are always in demand, no matter where you live. Writing creatively, however, can take years of practice, not to mention a fair bit of talent. Fortunately, with courses like this novel writing workshop, you can easily learn […]
The lesson plan is in PPPP format. Outcome (s): Students will demonstrate an understanding of creative writing and will be able to write on any topic chosen by them. 1. Introduction on creative writing is to be given to students as they have no previous knowledge of the topic. 2.As a warm up activity, students will be asked to attempt free ...
Writing fiction involves coming up with creative and original ideas to develop interesting pieces of writing. ... There are several different ways to plan a piece of writing; it really is whatever ...
Overview. To promote development, detail, and focus of ideas in students' writing, it sometimes helps to start with a fun, creative writing activity that encourages what you want to see in all of their writing. In this minilesson, students practice writing detailed, sensory-rich descriptions by framing a small piece of nature and freewriting ...
Exercises for Beginning Poetry Writers. 13x13x13: Choose the 13th book on your bookshelf, open to page 13, find the 13th sentence, and use it in a poem about luck that is 13 lines long. Scrabble ...
Bullet points / Linear Plans For some students, creating lists or bullet points is a more effective way to plan their writing. This method may include a brief outline of the main points for each theme of the writing, or a more detailed plan with sub-points and a note of the evidence to support each point (including sources, page numbers, etc.).
A mini-lesson follows in which students work together to define the word "perspective." Students collaboratively write and share a short example of writing from a pencil sharpener's perspective. Students ultimately write their own stories from an object's perspective after reading the model story. This lesson takes multiple days as students ...
Our cheap essay writer service is a lot helpful in making such a write-up a brilliant one. View Sample. $ 12.99. Research in general takes time. A good research paper takes twice as much. If you want a paper that sparkles with meaningful arguments and well-grounded findings, consider our writers for the job.
How To Plan A Creative Writing Piece | Best Writing Service Parents Are Welcome No one cares about your academic progress more than your parents. That is exactly why thousands of them come to our essay writers service for an additional study aid for their children.
Simply Teaching Third. 4.0. (1) $3.50. PDF. This booklet was created to be used as an introductory guide to research, while also covering science standards. Use this booklet to start a research project on different natural disasters OR use this a planning tool to an expository piece of writing.