Crime Fiction Exam Story (1 Viewer)

[Wintermute]

So, if they ask us to write a story or creative peice of any form, what are you going to write?

I tried a sort of 'cops on the street' style story yesterday and it didn't work out. I'm now thinking about writing something for the 'manor house' style.

Is it possible to write comprehensive crime fiction in an hour or less?

 

[Milly]

Yeah, manor house is really easy to think up on the spot, nice and cliched, just include lots of descriptive prose and old-fashioned language... "I say, that's jolly good..." I did that for the trial and got a decent mark...

I hope they don't ask us to write an entire short story in an hour... that would be pretty tough! Maybe it'll just be like last year, making us write just part of a story. That's what we had to do both in our half yearly and trial.

 

[Weisy]

Nah, it's darned near impossible to be comprehensive in an hour...I have a few options for my creative story which I might just "manipulate" to suit the question. If they ask me to write anything I want, I'll do hard-bolied. I don't have a particular fancy for writing manor house mystery, I tend to fall asleep trying.

 

[tinkerbell]

does anyone have any ideas for writing a story?? im so uncreative its not funny! xoxo

 

[McLake]

Maybe we will write the opening scene/page of a film/novel ...

No ideas T.Bell, just read/watch and come up with some ...

You can always subvert ... (although this is harder)

 

[alys]

probably if you're unsure at this point, the idea would be to choose a sub-genre and go with it. make sure that you're aware of the audience, context, purpose for which you'd be writing, since most pure creatives that i've seen that ask for that. and yeah, well, as well as testing your amazing writing ability (in a first draft, in an hour), you're studying a genre and this is another way of making sure that you know what's going on and have some idea about genre. it's just approaching it from a different angle. good luck.

 

[elfgal]

...or better yet, find some really obscure cf short story from somewhere and just plagarise that...
if you just take the main ideas it probably wouldn't even be plagarism - not if p.d. james is a writer with integrity anyway...

 

[Jellymonsta]

my teacher didnt like it when i tried to subvert a story. my stories are only ever kinda average, and you have to be pretty good to make a subversion work. otherwise it just looks really poor. im sticking to the stock cliches.

 

[user]

English Extension 1 is the only subject where it pays to be unoriginal and cliched.

They call it conforming to the conventions of the genre.

 

[McLake]

Originally posted by user
English Extension 1 is the only subject where it pays to be unoriginal and cliched.

They call it conforming to the conventions of the genre.

so true ...

 

[tinkerbell]

yeh i know all that! hehehe but i need an idea! i am so uncreative! like i will probably do hardboiled but i have no idea what to write about.

 

[McLake]

Originally posted by tinkerbell
yeh i know all that! hehehe but i need an idea! i am so uncreative! like i will probably do hardboiled but i have no idea what to write about.

Hard-boiled?

Just think Marlowe, they are ALL the same.

The case invokves gun-running or drug-smuggling.

There is lots of violence.

Your PI gets a "raw deal", but wins the lady.

C'mon, it's not hard ...

 

[tinkerbell]

hehehe thanx. it might not be hard for u! but if ur not creative like me its bloody hard! hehehe i know like basics for a story i just have no idea how to write it! :-(

 

[McLake]

Originally posted by tinkerbell
i know like basics for a story i just have no idea how to write it! :-(

With "flair and sophistication". I don't know, just stick in lots of jargon ...

 

[Wintermute]

Well flair and sophistication is about writing proper english and using a bit of symbolism/figurative language. If find it hard to come up with similes on the spot though.

 

[McLake]

Originally posted by Wintermute
Well flair and sophistication is about writing proper english and using a bit of symbolism/figurative language. If find it hard to come up with similes on the spot though.

so use cliched ones like "as sharp as a fox" ...

 

[Weisy]

oh cliches...I'm so sick of them

 

[bex]

i know bout genres i just cant apply them!!! writing CF is the shittiest piece of crap.. i would prefer 2 essays

ANYWAY its a no can do to have what i want but if i am writing a story which is the general gist of the 'creative' questions, i think writing the opening of a soft style is the easiest.. like agatha christie.. simple pimple...

 

[Wintermute]

We should start a post where everyone contributes to a crime story, and then everyone just use those ideas in the exam