Imaginative or creative writing absorbs readers in an entertaining way.

To succeed with this kind

of writing you will need to write in a way that is individual, original and compelling to read.

Responding to Prompts
Imagine you’re in an exam and you are asked to write a creative piece called ‘The Party’. What
does this title make you think of?Before you decide what you’d write, it’s useful to remember
that you do whatever you want with the prompt as long as it’s somehow connected to a party.

●​ It doesn’t have to be something that really happened

●​ It doesn’t have to be based on exactly what the title says or is
●​ It can be as abstract or as mundane as you want it to be.

So this means that for the title ‘The Party’, you could write a lovely descriptive piece about your
dream birthday party, or a personal account of a party you attended that was very good – or
very bad. You could write a story about a political party, or a doll’s tea party, or a party held by
fans to watch the final episode of a TV show everyone is very excited about, or a party that
didn’t actually happen because no one turned up. The most important thing is that you choose a
story you can write well, showing off your skill in using language effectively and keeping your
reader entertained.

Original ideas
There is no formula for having a great idea – but to begin your writing, you do need, at least,
some kind of idea. Then you need to find ways to turn your idea into something a reader would
enjoy reading. This is the creative part, taking something ordinary and turning it into something
extraordinary.

For example, think about writing a description of a coastline. You might start to think straight
away about a crowded beach - children playing, deck chairs, sun shining, happy sounds; but, if
you stop for a moment, you’ll recall that that's been done before. It's okay, but it's hardly original.
Image caption,
An oily polluted beach could be the basis for an original story

What about turning that idea on its head - not a crowded beach, but a deserted beach? Not
summer, but winter? Not lovely and inviting, but covered in oil and polluted? It's not a pretty
picture, but it's original - and that gives impact.

Telling a story

When you tell a friend a story of something real that happened in life, you’ll build it up around a
climax of action, but tell it in a way that keeps your friend interested and listening. Maybe you
saw a footballer break his leg during a Saturday match and you then tell it at school on Monday.

A written story isn’t face-to-face and you don’t know the reader and this means you’ll need more
elaboration, explanation and detail – but you can still write it in a very similar way to how you
might tell it. Even everyday incidents can make very effective stories if you elaborate and
dramatise, add detail and explanation, always keeping a sense of tension till the end. Your
reader, like your listening friend, enjoys wondering 'where is it all leading' and 'what will happen
next'.

Short stories
A short story needs to be compelling to read and to be this it needs to be given an effective
structure. Like all texts, stories also have their own basic 'recipe' called 'genre conventions'.
Here is a typical story structure that will help you to keep your own story moving through
different stages in a compelling way – and help make sure you don’t accidentally ramble on!

Opening

This part of your story must work to engage your reader, beginning to absorb them into your
'story-world'. You should aim to hook the reader into the story with the 'plot hook'. Whether you
choose to start the story by giving the end away just like Shakespeare did in his play Romeo
and Juliet; or you start in the middle of lots of action; or even with very little action at all, you will
definitely need to start in a way that hooks your reader – and do so pretty quickly.

Example

Can you find the 'plot hook'?

It was a brilliant summer’s day smack in the middle of the school holidays. It was my birthday,
too. I was ten. You can imagine I was feeling that life couldn’t get much better than this: warm
weather, holidays, a bar of chocolate all to myself, a bunch of texts from my mates to answer,
and being driven with mum and dad to Twycross Zoo. They knew just how much I loved animals
and the chimps there were always my favourites. What could possibly go wrong? That day any
thoughts of problems weren’t even a distant cloud on the horizon of my sunny mind.

Figure caption,
Plot hook

The 'plot hook' in this example is 'What could possibly go wrong?'.

Setting

Establish the time and place, as well as the general situation. This can also be used to help
develop a suitable mood or atmosphere. It can sometimes help to use a familiar place that your
reader can relate to in some way. At this stage, you need to 'set up' the story and begin to
introduce the main character(s).

Fiction trigger (or inciting incident)

Use your narrator to tell of an incident or event that the reader feels will spark a chain of events.
This helps make the reader feel that the story has really started. From this point, life cannot be
quite the same for your main character (that is your protagonist). There is a problem that has to
be faced and overcome.

The fiction trigger can be an event that really starts the story. It will develop from the 'plot hook'.
If the story is about a day out at the zoo, then maybe an animal has escaped. If it is about a
robbery, it might be the event that makes a character consider carrying out a robbery; and if it is
about an accident, it will be the event that causes it to happen.

Keeping up the momentum (plot development or rising action)This section builds the tension –
keeps the reader absorbed and guessing where it will all lead.

This is where you will move the story forward and will use lots of techniques to keep the reader
guessing, 'What will happen next?!'

Climax

The problem reaches a head, with suspense creating lots of tension for the reader– showing the
reader the possible result of what has come before.

This is not the end of your story – not quite. It will be the key event but your protagonist will,
somehow, overcome it and all will be well.

Conclusion (the resolution)

This must leave your reader with a sense of satisfaction, or it could be a twist in the tale leaving
questions that linger in the mind.

This is the ending of your story – where all loose ends are tied up to the satisfaction of the
reader. A good story will cause the reader to go, 'Hmm – I liked that' or even 'Wow'

By following this story structure, and planning under each of the above headings, you should be
able to come up with a tense plot for your own story, one that will engage and absorb your
reader.

Writing techniques
Throughout your own story, you will also need to use writing techniques that will work to keep
your reader engaged and absorbed. An important skill is to put clear images of the setting and
characters in your reader’s mind, as well as to create a sense of atmosphere that suits each
part of the story.
●​ Narration - the voice that tells the story, either first person (I/me) or third person
(he/him/she/her). This needs to have the effect of interesting your reader in the story with
a warm and inviting but authoritative voice.
●​ Description - describing words such as adjectives, adverbs, similes and metaphors that
add detail. This is told by the narrator. It helps engage readers by creating vivid pictures
and feelings in their 'mind’s eye'.
●​ Dialogue - the direct speech of characters, shown inside quotation marks. We all judge
characters by what they talk about and by the way they speak. This makes dialogue a
key technique for creating interest and realism.
●​ Alliteration - repetition of the same beginning sounds in nearby [Link] can create a
useful emphasis, maybe to highlight a sound or movement, or to intensify feeling or even
to bind words together.
●​ Connotation - a word’s meaning can be literal, as in 'It looked like a cat', or it can create
connotations as in 'As soon as the food reached the table, the boy pounced on it like a
cat.' A connotation is a meaning created by a special use of a word in a particular way or
context. It works by adding some kind of emotion or a feeling to a word’s usual meaning.
All literature depends upon using language that creates connotations. They engage the
reader because they evoke reactions and feelings.
●​ Pathetic fallacy - personification is a kind of metaphor and when nature is described in
this way, it is called a use of pathetic fallacy. This can help suggest a suitable
atmosphere or imply what the mood of the characters is at a certain point, eg in a ghost
story, the storm clouds could be said to 'glower down angrily upon the group of
youngsters'. A pathetic fallacy can add atmosphere to a scene. It can even give clues to
the reader as to what is to come, acting as a kind of foreshadowing.
●​ Personification - this is a technique of presenting objects as if they have feelings, eg
'the rain seemed to be dancing merrily on the excited tin roof.' This creates a sense of
emotion and mood for the reader.
●​ Repetition - the action of repeating a word or idea. This can add emphasis or create an
interesting pattern of sound or ideas.
●​ Onomatopoeia - use of words which echo their meaning in sound, for example,
'whoosh' 'bang'. Using this can add emotion or feeling that helps give the reader a vivid
sense of the effect being described.
●​ Simile - a kind of description. A simile compares two things so that the thing described is
understood more vividly, eg 'The water was as smooth as glass.' (Hint - 'like' or 'as' are
key words to spot as these create the simile). A simile can create a vivid image in the
reader’s mind, helping to engage and absorb them.
●​ Symbolism - we grow up learning lots of symbols and these can be used in stories to
convey a lot of meaning as well as feeling in a single idea or word, eg a red rose can
symbolise romantic love; a heavy buckled belt can hint at the power held by the
character; an apple can even symbolize temptation if it is used in a way that the reader
links to the apple that tempted Eve in the biblical Garden of Eden.
●​ Impact - symbols help writers pack a lot of meaning into just a single word. They work to
engage the reader, too, for the reader automatically gets involved in working out the
meaning.
Examples of narration
First person narrator

I held on to the tuft of grass and slowly looked down - I was too shocked to speak. One moment
I had been strolling along the cliff with Vicki, the next I was hanging over the edge. And where
was Vicki?

The only thing you shouldn't do is swap the narrative point of view during the story - don’t start
with 'I' and then switch to 'he', as it is likely to confuse your reader.

Third person narrator

Steve held on to the tuft of grass and slowly looked down - he was too shocked to speak. One
moment he had been strolling along the cliff with Vicki, the next he was hanging over the edge.
And where was Vicki?

Ending a short story

The ending of a story doesn't necessarily have to be happy but it has to make sense in a way
that ties up what has happened.

There are different types of story endings, for example:

●​ The cliff-hanger - this isn’t an ending as such, it’s a way of tempting the reader to read
the next chapter or instalment. Charles Dickens wrote his chapters like this as they were
originally published in magazines in serial form. For example, does the spy manage to
stop the bomb in time?
●​ The twist-in-the-tale - the reader will feel fairly sure about the ending, but in the final
part everything changes and we are surprised. For example, we learn that it isn’t a bomb
after all, it’s a birthday present!
●​ The enigma ending - the story stops, but the reader is left a little unsure what will come
to happen, yet is intrigued by the possibilities - and still feels satisfied. For example, the
bomb is defused and everyone is safe, but then an army commander reports the theft of
another bomb… only this time twice as powerful.

There are many possibilities; but there are two endings you should try to avoid:
Figure caption,
Try to avoid the trick ending

●​ The trick ending - a bomb will inevitably explode and as it does, the narrator wakes up -
it was all a dream. This is too clichéd and unsatisfying for modern readers.
●​ The disconnected ending - the secret agent suddenly stops worrying about the bomb,
retires, and goes off to play golf. Readers don't like this because the ending has nothing
to do with the story – very unsatisfying.

Whatever kind of story you write, work out a satisfying ending and include it in your plan.

Remember

Writing that is creative and imaginative needs to be entertaining. You need to experiment a little
and not be frightened to try something new.

Task
What might you write about if the following tasks came up in an exam? Take a few minutes to
think about different ways you could interpret the task, and maybe sketch a quick plan for your
best idea.

●​ The Best Day of My Life

●​ The Mysterious Door
●​ Never Again
●​ Stormy Weather
●​ Leaving
●​ How to be a Hero
●​ Sunday at the Beach
●​ My Life as an Expert
●​ Greetings from the Future
●​ What I REALLY Learned at School