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Author Topic: Creative Writing - Quick Question!  (Read 5337 times)  Share 

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joey9911

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Creative Writing - Quick Question!
« on: July 31, 2016, 06:49:14 pm »
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My English Paper 1 trial exam is tomorrow, and I need a question answered quickly!

I wrote up a creative writing (That's the only thing I'm memorising, all my essays are going to be improvised - The only thing I memorised were quotes/techniques/analysis for the four essays), and I don't know whether I should include the cliffhanger or not.

If I take out the cliffhanger, my creative writing would be a complete story, no issues.

If I leave the cliffhanger, my creative writing would have a nice twist to the story, and the marker should enjoy it.. Although the reason why I'm asking this question on ATARNotes right now is due to two reasons: First reason; I'm afraid the ending might seem cliche with the cliffhanger. Second reason; The marker might believe I ran out of time in the exam, therefore I ended it with a "..."

Thanks!
« Last Edit: July 31, 2016, 06:57:53 pm by joey9911 »

jamonwindeyer

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Re: Creative Writing - Quick Question!
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2016, 07:27:38 pm »
+1
My English Paper 1 trial exam is tomorrow, and I need a question answered quickly!

I wrote up a creative writing (That's the only thing I'm memorising, all my essays are going to be improvised - The only thing I memorised were quotes/techniques/analysis for the four essays), and I don't know whether I should include the cliffhanger or not.

If I take out the cliffhanger, my creative writing would be a complete story, no issues.

If I leave the cliffhanger, my creative writing would have a nice twist to the story, and the marker should enjoy it.. Although the reason why I'm asking this question on ATARNotes right now is due to two reasons: First reason; I'm afraid the ending might seem cliche with the cliffhanger. Second reason; The marker might believe I ran out of time in the exam, therefore I ended it with a "..."

Thanks!

Hey Joey! As quick as I can ;)

Ultimately it is up to your better judgement, but what I will say is that the marker will mark the story on its merits. If the cliffhanger works, then they'll pay you and assume (correctly) that you did it on purpose. If it doesn't add much they'll penalise you for that, it's irrespective of you finishing or not, they mark what is there  ;D

Give me a brief run down of the plot and what the cliffhanger is! I'll let you know if I think it is cliche  ;D

joey9911

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Re: Creative Writing - Quick Question!
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2016, 08:08:23 pm »
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Hey Joey! As quick as I can ;)

Ultimately it is up to your better judgement, but what I will say is that the marker will mark the story on its merits. If the cliffhanger works, then they'll pay you and assume (correctly) that you did it on purpose. If it doesn't add much they'll penalise you for that, it's irrespective of you finishing or not, they mark what is there  ;D

Give me a brief run down of the plot and what the cliffhanger is! I'll let you know if I think it is cliche  ;D

Thanks for replying!

My story starts off with the generic description of the 5 senses and the main characters background. Then the actual plot starts with a series of online messages with what appears to be a girl named "Elena". Then I 'discover' that the online user, "Elena", is actually a teenage boy, named Connor Brent, that had bullied me in primary school. I give a flashback of a bullying scene (In the exam, I'm going to be writing this flashback in italics) and then follow it up by making the decision to unfriend + block him.

The whole creative writing piece is 4 written pages => ~900 words.

Now that you understand the basis of my creative writing;
The cliffhanger: "I turn around and see Connor Brent walk through my front door..."

(Note: How he got my address is not specified in my story. Would this be logically inconsistent?)

The reason why I wrote the cliffhanger in the first place was because I wanted to leave the marker with questions in their head. Is Connor going to apologise? Did he remember me from primary school and pose as a fake girl to get my attention, so he can bully me again?

Thanks!

jamonwindeyer

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Re: Creative Writing - Quick Question!
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2016, 08:15:06 pm »
+1
Thanks for replying!

My story starts off with the generic description of the 5 senses and the main characters background. Then the actual plot starts with a series of online messages with what appears to be a girl named "Elena". Then I 'discover' that the online user, "Elena", is actually a teenage boy, named Connor Brent, that had bullied me in primary school. I give a flashback of a bullying scene (In the exam, I'm going to be writing this flashback in italics) and then follow it up by making the decision to unfriend + block him.

The whole creative writing piece is 4 written pages => ~900 words.

Now that you understand the basis of my creative writing;
The cliffhanger: "I turn around and see Connor Brent walk through my front door..."

(Note: How he got my address is not specified in my story. Would this be logically inconsistent?)

The reason why I wrote the cliffhanger in the first place was because I wanted to leave the marker with questions in their head. Is Connor going to apologise? Did he remember me from primary school and pose as a fake girl to get my attention, so he can bully me again?

Thanks!

Okay cool! I like the premise!! I personally don't think it is cliched, quite a nice modern interpretation of the whole "and they walked through the door" thing, as long as it is handled correctly (be creative with how you write the cliffhanger) ;D

That said, here is my challenge to you: What are you as the composer saying about Discovery by using that cliffhanger? Why, conceptually rather than just 'to leave the reader with questions,' are you including it? What are you trying to say about Discovery, conceptually?  ;)

joey9911

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Re: Creative Writing - Quick Question!
« Reply #4 on: July 31, 2016, 08:36:31 pm »
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Okay cool! I like the premise!! I personally don't think it is cliched, quite a nice modern interpretation of the whole "and they walked through the door" thing, as long as it is handled correctly (be creative with how you write the cliffhanger) ;D

That said, here is my challenge to you: What are you as the composer saying about Discovery by using that cliffhanger? Why, conceptually rather than just 'to leave the reader with questions,' are you including it? What are you trying to say about Discovery, conceptually?  ;)

My story revolves around 2 themes of discovery. Intellectual and Emotional (And perhaps social?). To answer your question, it says nothing much about discovery in my opinion. I thought to add it to include a twist in my story :P Maybe I can modify it to include a theme of discovery?

Original cliffhanger: "I turn around and see Connor Brent walk through my front door..."
Modified cliffhanger: "I turn around and see Connor Brent walk through my front door. He looks the exact same since the last time I saw him... 6 years ago." => Physical Discovery?

What do you think about the modified cliffhanger? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

jamonwindeyer

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Re: Creative Writing - Quick Question!
« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2016, 08:42:20 pm »
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My story revolves around 2 themes of discovery. Intellectual and Emotional (And perhaps social?). To answer your question, it says nothing much about discovery in my opinion. I thought to add it to include a twist in my story :P Maybe I can modify it to include a theme of discovery?

Original cliffhanger: "I turn around and see Connor Brent walk through my front door..."
Modified cliffhanger: "I turn around and see Connor Brent walk through my front door. He looks the exact same since the last time I saw him... 6 years ago." => Physical Discovery?

What do you think about the modified cliffhanger? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Cool, so you want to make sure every choice (especially dramatic ones like this) are done with purpose to convey something about Discovery to the reader, or accentuate some other part of the story where you've done that ;D

New cliffhanger definitely works much better. You could adapt it to hear him knock on the door, you (the character) see him through the window, and the cliffhanger is you seeing him there, doing a bit of a reflection, and deciding whether or not to open the door? Just to accentuate the effect of the decision a little bit more (and the door acts as a metaphor)?  ::)

joey9911

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Re: Creative Writing - Quick Question!
« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2016, 09:00:06 pm »
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Cool, so you want to make sure every choice (especially dramatic ones like this) are done with purpose to convey something about Discovery to the reader, or accentuate some other part of the story where you've done that ;D

New cliffhanger definitely works much better. You could adapt it to hear him knock on the door, you (the character) see him through the window, and the cliffhanger is you seeing him there, doing a bit of a reflection, and deciding whether or not to open the door? Just to accentuate the effect of the decision a little bit more (and the door acts as a metaphor)?  ::)

OoO I love your suggestion!!

Cliffhanger #1: "I turn around and see Connor Brent walk through my front door. He looks the exact same since the last time I saw him... 6 years ago."
Cliffhanger #2: "I decide to get off my dinner chair and look through the door window to see who's there... It's Connor Brent."

If you were to choose one, which one would you pick?! ^_^

jamonwindeyer

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Re: Creative Writing - Quick Question!
« Reply #7 on: July 31, 2016, 09:02:35 pm »
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OoO I love your suggestion!!

Cliffhanger #1: "I turn around and see Connor Brent walk through my front door. He looks the exact same since the last time I saw him... 6 years ago."
Cliffhanger #2: "I decide to get off my dinner chair and look through the door window to see who's there... It's Connor Brent."

If you were to choose one, which one would you pick?! ^_^

I actually like the expression of your first one better in this specific circumstance! But try playing with that last one a bit! Stretch it out a little, add some personal reflection from the character before it?  ;D

joey9911

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Re: Creative Writing - Quick Question!
« Reply #8 on: July 31, 2016, 09:07:42 pm »
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I actually like the expression of your first one better in this specific circumstance! But try playing with that last one a bit! Stretch it out a little, add some personal reflection from the character before it?  ;D

Ah right! I like that idea!

Maybe this?:

Cliffhanger #3: "I decide to get off my dinner chair and look through the door window to see who's there... It's Connor Brent. He looks the exact same since the last time I saw him... 6 years ago."

jamonwindeyer

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Re: Creative Writing - Quick Question!
« Reply #9 on: July 31, 2016, 09:40:19 pm »
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Ah right! I like that idea!

Maybe this?:

Cliffhanger #3: "I decide to get off my dinner chair and look through the door window to see who's there... It's Connor Brent. He looks the exact same since the last time I saw him... 6 years ago."

I like it! If you build up to that appropriately then that works well as a last sentence  ;D

joey9911

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Re: Creative Writing - Quick Question!
« Reply #10 on: July 31, 2016, 10:32:26 pm »
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I like it! If you build up to that appropriately then that works well as a last sentence  ;D

Thank you so much!!! I think I'm ready for tomorrow :)

cherryred

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Re: Creative Writing - Quick Question!
« Reply #11 on: September 30, 2016, 08:37:25 am »
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Hey,

What things do you think would always be evident in a discovery creative writing piece that links to the question/stimulus and also earns 14/15 or 15/15? I know it's a pretty general question but further tips would be appreciated :)

THANK YOU!!!

dylan862

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Re: Creative Writing - Quick Question!
« Reply #12 on: October 07, 2016, 02:03:23 pm »
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How many words is a good amount? Mine has 650 at the moment. Is that too short?

jamonwindeyer

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Re: Creative Writing - Quick Question!
« Reply #13 on: October 07, 2016, 02:15:01 pm »
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Hey,

What things do you think would always be evident in a discovery creative writing piece that links to the question/stimulus and also earns 14/15 or 15/15? I know it's a pretty general question but further tips would be appreciated :)

THANK YOU!!!

Hey cherry! Sorry I don't know how this got missed! ;D

So, there is no formula for success in the Creative section. It's very much down to your personal style and your personal approach. But a 14/15 out of 15, in general, I'd expect:

- A non cliche exploration of a Discovery concept that is layered, has purpose, and embedded cleverly into the story
- Exceptional control of the mechanics of writing, not just correct grammar and syntax, but actively using the power of language to add to your story in meaningful ways
- Incorporating the stimulus/question in a way that is cohesive and feels natural

For more detail, check out the marking criteria for the 2015 HSC Exam :)

jamonwindeyer

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Re: Creative Writing - Quick Question!
« Reply #14 on: October 07, 2016, 02:16:25 pm »
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How many words is a good amount? Mine has 650 at the moment. Is that too short?

Hey Dylan! 650 is on the lower end, but I've seen fantastic creatives in that word range. It depends on your writing style and how powerful your piece is. Most people will need a tad more to crack into the higher mark ranges, purely to get the required depth out of the concept. But that isn't a hard and fast rule :)