Belonging Short Story Word Limit (1 Viewer)

Eddy Q

OINK
Joined
Sep 19, 2009
Messages
150
Location
NSW
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
What do you guys think the maximum word limit should be on an average belonging short story?
 

determine

Premium Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Messages
631
Location
Sydney
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
I personally think that belonging creatives should be between 700 and 900 words. This will allow you to make up more time in the reading task (unseen texts) and the belonging texts response in Paper 1.
 

iSplicer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
1,806
Location
Merrylands, NSW
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
Uni Grad
2017
I personally think that belonging creatives should be between 700 and 900 words. This will allow you to make up more time in the reading task (unseen texts) and the belonging texts response in Paper 1.
Great minds think alike =D
 

annabackwards

<3 Prophet 9
Joined
Jun 14, 2008
Messages
4,670
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
1100 would be the max. Aim for just below 900 words - you'll need to spend more time on your essays.
 

determine

Premium Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Messages
631
Location
Sydney
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
Great minds think alike =D
hahaha i know aye iSplicer. i think we can conclude that what we're saying is obviously pretty close to the truth, since we both did pretty well for advanced hahaha :)
 

slyhunter

Retired
Joined
May 17, 2009
Messages
6,806
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
"My story is so imaginative that you (the marker) need only use your imagination to know that this story is worth full marks."

So that's 23 words including brackets. =P
 

_blank

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2005
Messages
256
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2005
Uni Grad
2010
Yeah 900-1000 is about right.

Really, it depends on your creative writing style - whether it's laden with description or sparse. My creative was short sentences, short paragraphs, snippets of description, so in the end - I didn't have to write much (word length wise) to get a substantial number of pages, and to get through the story fairly quickly.
 

ArtemisOrthia

Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
Messages
441
Location
Earth. O.o
Gender
Female
HSC
2011
The English department at my school always recommends 800 - 1000 words. Which from previous posts, sounds just about right.

But as previously said it depends on your writing style. Some people write paragraphs of descriptive pieces, whilst others include small snippets.
 

nutcracker

Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2009
Messages
351
Location
the restaurant at the end of the universe.
Gender
Female
HSC
2010
my advanced creative was always around 1150 words.
as were all my other essays, for belonging & modules.
i found that amount gave me ample time to do quite a bit of tweaking & improvising.
but it really depends on how fast you write.
 

x jiim

zimbardooo.
Joined
Jul 10, 2008
Messages
477
Gender
Female
HSC
2010
Uni Grad
2018
my advanced creative was always around 1150 words.
as were all my other essays, for belonging & modules.
i found that amount gave me ample time to do quite a bit of tweaking & improvising.
but it really depends on how fast you write.
yeah, most of the creatives I've written for english were 1000-1100. but that also depends on whether you intend to memorise them or not, how hard you find the other sections and how fast you write. I imagine if you were making it up on the spot then yes, 800-900 might be better to aim for, especially if you need to spend more time on the other sections.
 

Absolutezero

real human bean
Joined
Nov 17, 2007
Messages
15,082
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
800-1000 is about right. You should time yourself though, on a few practice exams. That's the only way to really tell.
 

Ba56

New Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2009
Messages
2
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
Have your prepared/basic one between 800 and 900 words. this gives you room to move if you are short on time, and also allows you to include and inspiration you get as you write, or allows you to more properly tweak to the question. You can write 1100, but that's if you're fast and happen to get the exact question you want. You'll want to spend more time on the essay, but should be able to get through the reading task in about the allocated time. So that leaves a little less than 40 mins for the creative. Say 30 to be on the safe side. How much can you write in 30 mins? Then leave about a fifth of that time for adding/tweaking it.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top