Creative Writing Prep (1 Viewer)

[panda-bum]

Hey Guys,

Assessments are rolling in and it`s time to do creative writing for Extension One. Our school seems to be want to put a generic stimulus that encompasses ideas for both Crime Fiction and Individuals in Society...any tips on possible stimulus and a good way of studying for such an assessment? I`ve never studied for Creative Writing in my life...it`s always been a spur of the moment thing but it seems so important now that I want to make sure I do well. Help anyone?

 

[BlackDragon]

yep i'm in your boat too, can anybody help?

 

[stargaze]

Creative writing prep is always a bit more dodgy I know, and for ext english I actually never had to write a creative till late in term 2.

I remember there being a lot qs on creative writing when I did the hsc, so I'll try to help out.

As always, look at past papers and see what type of stimuli were offered and the questions asked. It may not be neccessary to answer every past paper creative question u get your hands on, but at least think through how you would approach the question.

Have a few ideas that you could use, that are flexible enough to suit a wider range of qs. Personally, going into the HSC I only had 2 possible ideas for a creative. I don't particularly recommend this but it worked out okay for me.

If you wanna be really serious about this, my teacher always recommended reading texts of your elective. I did individual & society, and I did read a bit beyond my prescribed/additional texts in an attempt to get a feel of the language and the type of ideas I could use.

 

[pungemo]

At the risk of sounding like a teacher I will say that the best prep for creative writing is actually doing some, at least in my experience. Creative writing is all about the mindset. The faster you can switch to creative mode the easier it will be and the more fluid your writing will be.

Also, as stargaze said, reading texts is extremely useful. If you can get your hands on past responses, or at least some very short stories, it should really give you an idea of how you should write. Personally I haven't had to do any creative writing for Ext 1 yet, but Ext 2 involves alot of it.

 

[glitterfairy]

As above, actually DO creative writing pieces. The way I did it was to pretend I was writing a text that would be studied for my EE1 module - that way you get lots of "good stuff" in there *rolls eyes sarcastically*

Also, you may wish to practice working with stimuli - whether words, statements or PICTURES that reflect the concepts raised in your EE1 module.

 

[omar273]

Any preparation, even minimal is better than none.

There is a tendency among English students to say "Oh it's a creative, I can't prepare and I'll just think on the spot"
This is all very well and good if you are a perfect, fluent, high speed, creative person, but for the most of us a little preparation can go a long way.

For Genre especially, try first thinking of some ideas, characters, plot lines, maybe even a nice twist! This will all help in the exam as you don't have to spend ten minutes first coming up with an idea then physically putting it on paper.

If you're very keen, try writing a nice tightly written and edited piece on your genre. The more you are familiar with your creative work, the easier it will flow in the exam.

Good Luck everyone. Creative writing (especially in Extension 1 is a nice outlet for your deep creative juices!)