Writing Skills (Creative and Transactional).
Notes
What is rewarded
- Content and organisation: matching audience, purpose and form; a controlled structure; linked paragraphs.
- Technical accuracy: sentence variety, accurate punctuation, spelling and vocabulary.
Always ask: AFP
Audience (who?), Form (letter, article, speech, story, description?), Purpose (argue, persuade, inform, describe, entertain?).
Planning in five minutes
- Decide on your angle or central idea.
- Plan 4-6 paragraphs or sections.
- Choose a strong opening and a deliberate ending.
- Note 3-4 ambitious words, devices or sentence types to use.
Creative writing: descriptive and narrative
- Description: show the scene through the senses, using a structure that zooms (wide to close) or moves through the scene. Use figurative language sparingly but precisely.
- Narrative: limit characters and time. Open in the middle of the action or with an intriguing image. Include a shift or twist and a purposeful ending (cyclical, reflective or cliffhanger).
- Show, don't tell: instead of "she was scared", write "her hands trembled around the cold key".
Transactional writing: letters, articles, speeches
| Form | Key features |
|---|---|
| Letter (formal) | addresses, date, "Dear Sir/Madam" with "Yours faithfully" (or "Dear Ms X" with "Yours sincerely"), formal register |
| Article | headline, subheading, strong opening, engaging tone, quotations or statistics |
| Speech | direct address, rhetorical questions, rule of three, a call to action |
| Review / essay | clear stance, logical paragraphs, evidence |
Persuasive toolkit (DAFOREST): Direct address, Alliteration, Facts, Opinion, Rhetorical question, Emotive language, Statistics, Triple.
Sentence variety
- Simple, compound, complex sentences for control.
- Short sentences for impact.
- Fronted adverbials: "Without warning, the lights died."
- Subordinate clauses for detail: "Although he was exhausted, he kept moving."
- Minor sentences for effect: "Silence."
Punctuation to master
Commas for clauses and lists, apostrophes (possession and omission), colons to introduce explanation, semicolons to link related independent clauses, dashes and brackets for interruption, ellipses used sparingly, and speech punctuation.
Common mistakes
- Comma splices ("It was late, we left"). Use a full stop, semicolon or conjunction.
- Overloading with adjectives and similes.
- Ending suddenly or with "It was all a dream".
- Switching tense by accident.
- Ignoring the form (a speech without audience address, a letter with no sign-off).
Exam tips
- Allow 5 minutes to plan and 5 minutes to proofread.
- Aim for sophisticated but accurate vocabulary. Use words you can spell.
- Quality beats quantity: a tightly controlled 600-700 words beats a rambling 1200.
Worksheet
Total: 40 marks. Suggested time: 75 minutes.
- Sentence upgrade. Rewrite each plain sentence in a more sophisticated way, using the technique given. (6)
(a) "The room was cold." (use personification)
(b) "He ran to the door." (use a fronted adverbial and a more precise verb)
(c) "She was nervous. She waited." (combine using a subordinate clause) - Proofreading. Find and correct eight errors in this paragraph. (8)
> Its was a bright cold morning and the streets was empty, the shopkeepers had'nt opened yet. Maya walked quickly, her bag swung against her hip. "I'm going to be late" she thought. Their was no time to waste. - Creative task. Write the opening 300-400 words of a story called "The Last Train". Plan first, using the AFP checklist. (16)
- Transactional task. Write a speech (about 300 words) to your year group persuading them to volunteer in the community. Use at least four persuasive techniques from the DAFOREST list. (10)
Show mark scheme and answers (tutor copy)
Try the worksheet first, then check your work here.
Q1 (2 marks each, with a model answer)
(a) Model: "The room breathed a cold, indifferent breath." or "Winter had moved into the room and refused to leave." (1 mark for personification, 1 for precision and effect.)
(b) Model: "Without a second thought, he sprinted for the door." or "Heart pounding, he bolted for the door." (1 for a fronted adverbial, 1 for an exact verb.)
(c) Model: "Although she was nervous, she waited." or "She waited, her stomach twisting with nerves." (1 for a subordinate clause, 1 for accuracy and flow.)
Q2 (1 mark per correction)
Corrected paragraph: "It was a bright, cold morning and the streets were empty; the shopkeepers hadn't opened yet. Maya walked quickly, her bag swinging against her hip. "I'm going to be late," she thought. There was no time to waste."
Errors: (1) Its → It (the original "Its was" is wrong); (2) missing comma between the adjectives "bright, cold"; (3) streets was → streets were; (4) comma splice after "empty" (use a semicolon or full stop); (5) had'nt → hadn't; (6) comma splice after "quickly" (use "swinging" or a conjunction); (7) missing comma inside the speech marks after "late"; (8) Their → There.
Accept any eight valid corrections.
Q3 (16 marks: 8 content and organisation, 8 technical accuracy)
Content (8):
- 7-8: compelling, crafted opening; convincing voice; controlled structure with a shift or build; ambitious vocabulary used precisely; sustained control of image or symbol.
- 5-6: clear and engaging; some crafting; linked paragraphs.
- 3-4: some organisation and detail.
- 1-2: simple ideas.
Technical accuracy (8):
- 7-8: a full range of punctuation used accurately, varied sentence structures, ambitious and accurate spelling.
- 5-6: mostly accurate with some variety.
- 3-4: simple punctuation, some errors.
- 1-2: frequent errors.
Model opening (extract): "The station clock had stopped at ten past eleven, and nobody had bothered to correct it. Elena stood on the empty platform, her breath rising in thin ghosts, and listened. Somewhere in the dark beyond the signal lights, the rails began to hum."
Q4 (10 marks: 5 content and organisation, 5 technical accuracy)
Check for: direct address ("you", "we"), a clear thesis, evidence or example, a rule of three, a rhetorical question, emotive language, and a call to action at the end.
Model opening: "Look around this hall. Every person here has something to give. So why are we waiting for someone else to give it? Next week, you could choose to change something: a person's day, a street's future, even your own."