Nah, I've read quite a few really good ones... just have to think out of the box.
Yeah don't do sickness ones unless you're a really good writer + have done your research, or you know someone who has the particular illness, otherwise it comes off as 'cliche' and lacking insight or sensitivity... particularly if you get a marker who has known someone chronically ill (likely considering most of their ages). Illness, bullying and teenage angst are probably the most overdone (and worst done) ones - obviously there are some good ones, but most people who have 'no ideas' tend to go to those ideas first.
Marking Centre Notes from 2010:
Candidates presented responses in a variety of forms, though narrative was the dominant choice.
In better responses, candidates used language appropriate to their chosen form of imaginative writing. They explored the challenges of belonging and not belonging with insight, complexity and/or subtlety. These responses displayed originality and artistry and the mechanics of language were applied skilfully.
In sound responses, candidates tended to be more literal in their use of one of the quotations. They tended to be predictable, linear or clichéd in their examination of the challenges of belonging and not belonging. In these responses, the mechanics of language was controlled and writing structure was appropriate to form.
Weaker responses tended to lack structural direction, were simplistic and inconsistent in their exploration of the challenges of belonging and not belonging. These responses lacked credibility, with limited appropriateness to audience and/or purpose. Flawed mechanics of language were usually a feature of these responses.
