Creative Writing;

Do’s Don’ts
Adhere to correct structure of creative Tell your reader what happened using
essays instructive language (e.g. recipe)
Obey rules of grammar, spelling and Use colloquialisms/slangs (except in
punctuation dialogue, but use sparingly). If you do use
slang put it in single quotation marks ‘’
Maintain a consistent style and tone Use swear words
Stick to the same tense throughout Use racially, religiously or other
discriminative language
Use a variety of descriptive language, Use “more” if a word is capable of taking
including adjectives and adverbs an –er or –est ending (e.g. don’t say
“more betterer” when you can say
“best”)
Use similes and metaphors Use capitals as emphasis. An exclamation
mark is enough
Use onomatopoeia Use 2 or more exclamation marks
together ‘!!’
Use at least 4 sentences per paragraph Use an exclamation mark with a question
mark (use question mark instead)
“A lot” are 2 separate words Use abbreviations (e.g. etc., &, e.g.)
Use original and complex vocab Use imprecise language (e.g. it, that)
Use dialogue in more than 10% of the
total volume of your writing (indent
dialogue)

Essays based on illustrations;

Ask yourself;
Where is it set?
Who is involved?
What happened to create this situation?
Why has it happened?
When did it happen?
How did it happen?
What does this or that particular part of the picture tell me?
Is there a pattern to what you are seeing?
What might be the outcome?
“I keep six honest serving-men
They taught me all I knew
Their names are WHAT and WHY and WHEN
And HOW and WHERE and WHO.”
-Rudyard Kipling
ICP;
Beginning/Build-up;
- 5 journalistic questions
o Who
o What
o When Orient reader to the situation
o How In climax
o Why
- Time of day Incorporate all 5 senses (smell, sound, taste) (sight –
- Weather colours) (touch – empowers fell of 1 thing to another)
- Season
- Character description
o Start with dialogue -> cite their name
 Appearance – clothes, face, body, physical difficulties 3rd person
 Behaviour – interaction with their environment (passive voice)
 Personality 1st person
** Speech (accent) and mannerisms optional
*Temperature is a touch sense
*Protagonist speaks first
- Use descriptive language:
o Adjectives
o Adverbs
o Similes – “like” “as…as”
o Metaphors – treating 1st object as though it IS the other one

Climax;
- A problem
o Physical
o Psychological – character should develop in personality
- Purpose = challenge protagonist’s pre-conceptions and personality
o Problem is opposite to P’s personality
- Dialogue – no more than 10% of story; split dialogue with description
- Use actions, complexity, suspense, emotion, information and questions

Resolution;
- Solving the problem raised by the climax;
1. Coda
 What did the character learn from the climax?
 May be positive, negative or neutral
2. Social theme/ issue
 Implicit; what YOU think society should learn from the climax
(subjective)
3. Moral
  What should the reader learn?
 Embedded in what happens to your character
 Implicit – show rather than state

Planning creative essays;

1. Look at picture and label all elements
2. Decide what valence/feeling (+ - =) the picture has
3. What moral suits? – keep the same (+ - =)
4. What coda suits?
5. What climax suits?
6. What build-up suits?
7. What social issue will you address? (inspired by picture)

General tips;
- Be specific in detail as the story will seem more real and more interesting
- Show, don’t tell
- Avoid starting a story with dialogue
- Don’t use clichés
- Write what you like to read
- Use surprise and irony
- Avoid overused words
- The beginning of a story must be interesting

Action/reaction
Write actions and their reactions in chronological order.
Not: She read the letter after she opened it.
But: She opened the letter and read it.

Adverbs
Do a search for "ly" and edit as many adverbs as possible. The strongest, most
powerful writing uses few adverbs because adverbs assist weak verbs, which should
be replaced with stronger, more accurate verbs.
Not: He spoke softly and gently.
But: He whispered.
Another way to resolve the "adverb problem" is to rewrite the sentence.
Not: He wrote magnificently, and his essays gained the respect of all.
But: He wrote magnificent essays, respected by all.

Begin at left margin

It is customary to begin a story or novel at the left margin, and to return to the left
margin for each new chapter or scene. Leave one extra space between scenes.
Begin to
Don't have characters "begin to" do things. Have them take direct action.
Not: They began to speak
But: They spoke...

Crying, sobbing and tears

Crying, sobbing, and tears are considered clichéd and melodramatic. How else can
you show the emotion?
Not: "Please don't do it," she cried, and fell sobbing to her knees.
But: Her grip on his arm tightened and her voice grew raspy. "Please don't do it."

Decide to
Don't have people “decide to” do things. Just have them take action.
Not: After lunch, she decided to go for a long walk.
But: After lunch, she went for a long walk.

Dialogue
For more natural dialogue, write in short sentences, use contractions, forgo
pleasantries, and compress your dialogue. Edit dialogue to its barest essentials, and
don’t overuse names.
Not: "Well hello there, Jackie. What a pleasure it is to see you again. I was just
wondering, Jackie, if I would ever see you again on this trip or if I would have to wait
until we got back to London to give you a call."
But: "Jackie! I wondered if I'd see you again."

More tension in dialogue also makes it snappier and more interesting. Use the
following techniques to increase tension:
Have characters talk at cross purposes, so that one character either misunderstands
or is purposely nonresponsive.
Not: "Did Tom find Jack?"
"Yes, I think he did."
But: "Did Tom find Jack?"
"Nobody gets up as early as Jack." Or: "Were you looking for him, too?'
Avoid direct responses in favour of oblique ones.
Not: "What time were you there?"
"Eight o’clock."
But: "What time were you there?"
"The time is irrelevant. The better question is what can we do about it?"

Going to be
Wordy. Use "will" instead.
Not: She is going to be angry.
Better: She will be angry.
"ing" constructions
One way to make writing more polished and sophisticated is to use only occasional
participial phrases. There is nothing ungrammatical about a properly placed
participial phrase, but beginning writers tend to overuse them. Instead, separate the
ideas into two sentences, or use conjunctions to join them.
Not: Lifting heavy tires all day, he wrenched his back.
But: His job requires him to lift heavy tires all day. That’s how he wrenched his back.
Not: Jogging down the street, he saw Shirley and her daughter get into a car.
But: He jogged down the street and saw Shirley and her daughter get into a car.

I’m not going to

This is wordy. Write “I won’t” instead.

Indenting dialogue
Create a new paragraph when dialogue changes from one character to another. You
may add the character's thoughts and actions after their dialogue without beginning
a new paragraph.

Intensifiers
These are the words placed before adjectives and adverbs in an attempt to intensify
an effect. Search for such words as very, so, quite, extremely, really, and absolutely.
We're very hungry. Thank you so much. The play was extremely good, etc. Removing
them almost always improves the sentence.

Internalization
Showing a character's thoughts through internalizations often helps resolve the
problem of too much telling.
Not: Alice felt frustrated by their slowness because she needed to be home in ten
minutes.
But: Alice checked her watch again. She had to be home in ten minutes. Why
wouldn't he get on with the lecture?

It
Be specific and name the "it" wherever possible.

Italicizing internalizations
Use italics sparingly. They're seldom needed for internalizations. You never use
quotation marks around thoughts, so readers will understand that the internalization
is not spoken. Also, don't have characters speak thoughts to themselves, in the first
person, as if another character were present.
Not: "I've got myself in a real jam this time. But there's a wall up ahead. Maybe I can
climb it and get out, but I sure hope there are no dogs on the other side."
But: Burt massaged his forehead. He'd got himself in a jam this time. Maybe he could
climb the wall and get out, presuming there were no dogs on the other side.
Knew
This is another one of those times when you can cut right to the action.
Not: He knew she'd be right over.
But: She'd be right over.

Name repetition
People don't often repeat names in real life, so they shouldn't in dialogue.

Overwriting
Remove extraneous details. If you want a character to get in his car and drive away,
don't have him insert the key in the lock, twist it, lift the door handle, open the door,
and sit. Have him start the car and drive away.

Passive verbs
Too many passive verbs slow and weaken a narrative with wordiness—tighten and
strengthen your sentences by naming who did what. This is where your list of
creative writing tips will help. Add is, was, were, am, and are to your personal
checklist and change as many passive verbs as possible to the active form.
Not: The papers were laid on the desk.
But: Morgan laid the papers on the desk.
Not: What was most worrying to her...
But: What most worried her...

Qualifiers
Like intensifiers, these words qualify adjectives and verbs. Look for such words as
just, sort of, quite, somewhat, usually, always, and never. They’re unnecessary. Let
them proliferate, if they must, as you write the first draft, but weed them out in the
second.

Repetition
Don't repeat words in close proximity unless you do it for deliberate effect. Find a
synonym for one of them.
Not: "Okay, I'll meet you at your place." She placed the receiver back in its cradle...
But: "Okay, I'll meet you at your place." She set the receiver back in its cradle...

Saw/sees that
Wordy and unnecessary.
Not: He saw that she crossed the street.
But: She crossed the street.

Seem
Not: The fruit seemed ripe so he ate it.
But: He bit into the ripe pear.
Not: The car seemed to bounce along the road.
But: The car bounced along the rutted road.

Speaker attributions
If you remove unnecessary speaker attributions, you can also eliminate the "ing"
constructions that often follow. For a more polished feel, eliminate as many speaker
attributions as possible, and only use them if not using them will confuse readers.
Show who speaks through character action, and when you do need a speaker
attribution, stick to "said," and "asked." Never use speaker attributions as verbs
meant to convey action. Keep action separate.
Not: "Take it," Betty said, pushing the book on him.
But: Betty pushed the book on him. "Take it."
Not: "I like it that way," Joe coughed, laughing and winking.
But: "I like it that way." Joe laughed and winked at her.

Thinker's attributions
Don't use "thinker's attributions" in the third person limited POV. If a character
internalizes (interior monologue), the context lets readers know his words are
thought, not spoken.
Not: I've got him now, Tom thought.
But: Tom struggled with his fishing line. There he is, I've got him now.

Things
Always edit the word "thing" or "things" and replace with a more specific word.

Prompts;
- Last night the rain fell like it was never going to stop, but I was happy