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Creative Writing - Prompts and Activity Ideas for Effective Writing Sessions!

Creative Writing - Prompts and Activity Ideas for Effective Writing Sessions!

Subject: English

Age range: 7-11

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

TandLGuru's Shop

Last updated

10 September 2023

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pptx, 65.46 MB

This 50-slide pack contains activity ideas and prompts for 12 creative writing sessions. I used these for weekly sessions over one full term with an upper KS2 class, although they could be used for lower KS2 or lower KS3 children with minimal adaptations.

The goal of the sessions is to give children a stimulus and the basic information that they need to write with as much freedom as possible. They begin each session with one slide, which outlines what they need to do in the first paragraph/ section, and ordinarily contains a picture stimulus, suggested techniques to use and example sentence openers/ lines. After 10-15 minutes (depending on the nature of the task and the class) the teacher introduces the next slide. There are four slides for each session. By the end of the 45-60 minutes, children should have a coherent first draft of a creative composition.

Prompts, support and guidance are provided for 12 individual creative writing sessions: -Description: Haunted House -Narrative: Journey Back to the Land of the Dinosaurs -Newspaper Report: An Alien Landing -Persuasive: Competition for a Dream Holiday -Informative: A Police Statement -Poem: My Favourite Place -Diary: Climbing Mount Everest -Persuasive: Letter to the Headteacher -Narrative: Story of a Scar -Explanation: How to Play (My Favourite Sport); -Diary: Journey to Mars -Narrative: Recreating a Fairy Tale

I hope that these prove as useful to you as they were to me!

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Loads of fantastic and original creative writing ideas - supportive technique advice provided for those who don't find it as easy. Thanks!

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tes resources creative writing

  • The Best Creative Writing Resources For Teaching Plot And Setting In Ks3 English

10 of the Best Creative Writing Resources for Teaching Plot and Setting in KS3 English

tes resources creative writing

Whether students want to create an epic adventure in a fiery inferno or tense tale in a sleepy town, make sure they create a compelling plot and a fully realised setting with these resources…

Teachwire

Storyboard templates

tes resources creative writing

Whether it’s short stories, comic strips or filmmaking, every tale needs the right structure to be told well.

Having a beginning, middle and end may be a staple of storytelling , but alone it’s not enough, and there are many ways to tell a story.

But however you choose to write yours, one thing is constant – good stories need good structure. These storyboard template resources and activities will help your students develop the skills required to add that foundation to their creative writing.

Check out these resources here.

Year 7 English worksheets

tes resources creative writing

Get to grips with descriptive writing across two lessons with these free Year 7 English worksheets which focus on a piece of text all about the jungle.

Create a spooky atmosphere

tes resources creative writing

Creative writing lessons need to stimulate all of the senses and inspire students. Creative writing in the Gothic genre – spooky stories – offers a wonderful opportunity for this. This is a topic that always manages to enthuse pupils and one of the most exciting aspects is that the outcome is completely different with every group.

Giving students time for thinking and the creation of ideas is essential. This plan provides the stimulus from which a number of sessions can be developed. Subsequent periods can also focus on the development of different writing skills as required by the individual needs of a group.

Get this resource here.

Use The Hobbit to write about tunnels

tes resources creative writing

In this ‘build your own adventure story’ resource students discover new lands, and overcome monsters and other obstacles.

It begins with a passage from JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit , where Bilbo finds himself in a dark cave and meets Gollum for the first time. There are 10 pointers to look at to explore the passage, before student’s begin to write their own story.

It starts in a tunnel, which of course needs describing, and the other side of that they emerge in a fantasy land, which, guess what, also needs describing. They’ll also need to create maps, monsters and much more.

Download it here.

The Place as Character

tes resources creative writing

This interactive resource from Eduqas offers an opening paragraph example of a story that creates a real sense of setting. Students should read through and identify the adjectives used to develop the atmosphere of the place being described.

The second section is where they give it a go themselves, writing out a descriptive passage about a place. But there are lists of adjectives they can click on to insert them into the story should they get stuck for inspiration.

Give it a try here.

Inspiring images and sticky notes

tes resources creative writing

Inspiring images and endless sticky notes might be all you need to get learners producing some truly creative writing. And this lesson is one where students of all abilities (including in mixed ability groups) from Y7 to Y9 are taught engaging creative writing.

Getting students moving around the classroom (especially in classes where behaviour can be challenging) can be daunting but the speed of the task keeps students focused and can result in some fantastic work being produced without too much teacher talk or instruction needed.

This is very much a facilitation of learning and creating for the teacher. You do need a number of resources (and one way to differentiate this lesson thoroughly is to decide exactly which student will have each picture), but for all the coloured sticky notes required, it is well worth the effort.

Download this free lesson plan here.

Playing with structure

tes resources creative writing

This excellent resource on Structure features sections about narrative structures, structure of stories, how you can play with structure, opening and closing a story and how narrative point of view can affect the how you structure the plot.

Dig in to all this here.

Model texts for settings

If you’re after example texts for different settings then head to Literary Wagoll where you’ll find descriptions of an alien world, a fairground, a tree house, a thunderstorm and various others.

Check out all these and more here.

Plot elements

tes resources creative writing

This short and sweet resource is a handy reminder of what the ‘plot’ actually is (and how it can differ from how you choose to tell your story), and it also includes a fun little exercise based on quickly coming up with a plot based on a random word.

You’ll find it here.

Plot advice

tes resources creative writing

This post features an excerpt from the book What’s the Story? Building Blocks for Fiction Writing , and builds on the idea of what a plot is.

It also includes a short list of traditional plot types, and tips for building a compelling plot, like using momentum, creating stakes and giving the characters goals and motives.

Give it a look here.

Browse more  English games KS3 ideas and more creative writing prompts .

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Creative Writing - Teaching Resources

BBC Teach > Educational Calendar

Everyone has a story to tell and sharing it can be a source of pleasure and power. Inspire your pupils and help them sharpen their creative writing skills with this collection of classroom resources for primary and secondary schools.

What is National Writing Day?

National Writing Day is an annual day dedicated to celebrating and practising creative writing for pleasure and self-expression.

These resources could be used to celebrate National Writing Day , which takes place on Wednesday, 19 June 2024 .

Primary resources

Musical Storyland. collection Musical Storyland

Journey through Musical Storyland, where children’s favourite fairy tales and traditional folktales are re-imagined with magical music performed by musicians of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

Musical Storyland

Creative art, design and writing skills. collection Creative art, design and writing skills

A series of short films for primary schools exploring creativity in art and design and creative writing.

Creative art, design and writing skills

Super Movers KS1 English Collection. collection Super Movers KS1 English Collection

Song and movement routines covering grammar rules, prefixes and suffixes, the alphabet and more!

Super Movers KS1 English Collection

Super Movers KS2 English Collection. collection Super Movers KS2 English Collection

KS2 English videos covering topics including conjunctions, homophones, misspelt words and noun phrases.

Super Movers KS2 English Collection

Understanding Poetry. collection Understanding Poetry

In this series of short films Joseph Coelho explains how poetry is relatable, fun and achievable, and can open up new ways of understanding and expressing emotions and thoughts.

Understanding Poetry

Beano - How to create a comic. collection Beano - How to create a comic

Three classroom videos produced in partnership with Beano in which Mike Stirling (Beano's 'Director of Mischief') and his team of comic creatives offer primary pupils their expert tips and advice on comic creation.

Beano - How to create a comic

Primary Live Lessons

Watch again: World Book Day 2024 – Live Lesson. video Watch again: World Book Day 2024 – Live Lesson

Maddie Moate and Joe Tasker are joined by some amazing authors as we celebrate World Book Day by creating our own Live Lessons' pop-up library.

Watch again: World Book Day 2024 – Live Lesson

Watch again: 500 Words 2023 – Live Lesson. video Watch again: 500 Words 2023 – Live Lesson

We celebrate the relaunch of 500 Words with a 500 Words Live Lesson for primary schools.

Watch again: 500 Words 2023 – Live Lesson

Watch again: Remembrance – Literacy Live Lesson. video Watch again: Remembrance – Literacy Live Lesson

We look ahead to Remembrance Day in this thought-provoking literacy Live Lesson for 7-11 year olds.

Watch again: Remembrance – Literacy Live Lesson

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 1 for 5-7 year-olds. video Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 1 for 5-7 year-olds

Rhys Stephenson and Mr Smith explore the book Simon Sock by Paul Linnet and Sue Hendra and learn about using capital letters, discuss what makes a good friend and write about their own hobbies.

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 1 for 5-7 year-olds

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 1 for 7-11 year-olds. video Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 1 for 7-11 year-olds

Chris Johnson and Mrs Vee from Bitesize Daily explore the damage that plastic is causing to the environment and learn how to write a slogan, explore different styles and forms of writing, and create a poster about tackling plastic waste.

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 1 for 7-11 year-olds

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 2 for 5-7 year-olds. video Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 2 for 5-7 year-olds

Using poems from Michael Rosen’s A Great Big Cuddle collection, Rhys and Mr Smith study rhyming, adjectives and nouns. Your pupils can try creating a character and writing some verses about them, and will learn about rhyming structure.

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 2 for 5-7 year-olds

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 2 for 7-11 year-olds. video Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 2 for 7-11 year-olds

Ayshah Tull and poets Mark Grist, Rachel Rooney, Harry Baker and Levi Tafari explore different styles and structures of poetry writing. There’s even an exclusive poem from Mark himself for the Live Lessons audience.

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 2 for 7-11 year-olds

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 3 for 5-7 year-olds. video Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 3 for 5-7 year-olds

Rebecca Keatley and Mr Smith from Bitesize Daily read 'The Tale of a Toothbrush', explain how to write questions, explore alliteration, and investigate how we can help to protect the environment.

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 3 for 5-7 year-olds

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 3 for 7-11 year-olds. video Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 3 for 7-11 year-olds

Ayshah Tull and Mrs Vee explore the inspirational lives and contributions of black writers, musicians, activists and more. Together with guest readers Angelica Bell and David Lammy, they explain how language is used in songs and speeches to inspire us, demonstrate the importance of proof-reading, and challenge pupils to write about their dreams for a better world.

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 3 for 7-11 year-olds

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 4 for 5-7 year-olds. video Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 4 for 5-7 year-olds

Rhys Stephenson and Mr Smith read Unplugged by Steve Antony. They investigate prefixes, explore what it means to be a good friend using adjectives, and create characters. There's even a draw-along with writer and illustrator Steve Antony!

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 4 for 5-7 year-olds

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 4 for 7-11 year-olds. video Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 4 for 7-11 year-olds

Ayshah Tull and Mrs Vee go on a quest, exploring the world of Philip Pullman’s trilogy ‘His Dark Materials’. With interviews from cast members of the TV series, Ayshah and Mrs Vee take a look at the characters and magical themes in the books.

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 4 for 7-11 year-olds

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 5 for 5-7 year-olds. video Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 5 for 5-7 year-olds

This animal-themed English lesson sees Rebecca Keatley and Mr Smith read through a biography of Jane Goodall. They explore Goodall’s life as an anthropologist and learn about adjectives, verbs and adverbs.

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 5 for 5-7 year-olds

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 5 for 7-11 year-olds. video Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 5 for 7-11 year-olds

Ayshah Tull and Mrs Vee look at the book Battle Bunny, learn how to edit text, and look at blackout poetry and graffiti along the way. Guest readings from the book's authors inspire pupils to develop their own characters and to use a range of words in their writing by thinking about synonyms and antonyms.

Watch again: Literacy Live Lesson 5 for 7-11 year-olds

Watch again: CBeebies: Stories by the Sea - Live Lesson. video Watch again: CBeebies: Stories by the Sea - Live Lesson

This interactive lesson explores storytelling techniques for 5-7 year-olds with CBeebies friends from Old Jack's Boat.

Watch again: CBeebies: Stories by the Sea - Live Lesson

Watch again: Roald Dahl Day lesson - The Power of Words. video Watch again: Roald Dahl Day lesson - The Power of Words

Watch our celebration of Roald Dahl Story Day with this special interactive lesson for pupils aged 7 to 11.

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Secondary resources

Inside the Writer's Mind. collection Inside the Writer's Mind

Created in partnership with First Story, these short films for secondary schools offer insights into the ideation and creative writing processes of contemporary writers working across a number of genres. From playwrights to poets via children's authors and graphic novelists, each short film follows a real writer's journey – from how they find their inspiration and work with a stimulus, to how they edit and perform a written piece.

Inside the Writer's Mind

Curriculum Collections: English Literature / Language. collection Curriculum Collections: English Literature / Language

Anthony Horowitz introduces clips from the BBC archive featuring famous faces including Stephen Fry, Kate Humble and Griff Rhys Jones.

Curriculum Collections: English Literature / Language

Young Reporter Live Lesson. video Young Reporter Live Lesson

Ever wondered what skills you’d need to take on a career in journalism? Look no further! This 30-minute Live Lesson for 11-14 year-olds will introduce you to writing for a range of purposes and audiences, and how to enhance the impact of your writing through storytelling.

Young Reporter Live Lesson

GCSE English Language. collection GCSE English Language

A series of short films designed with the English Language GCSE curriculum in mind and intended to support students.

GCSE English Language

BBC Young Writers' Award - Teaching Resources. collection BBC Young Writers' Award - Teaching Resources

The BBC Young Writers’ Award with Cambridge University invites young people in the UK aged between 14 -18 years to submit short stories of up to 1,000 words. To inspire your pupils and help them to create their entries, we’ve created this collection of resources all about short stories.

BBC Young Writers' Award - Teaching Resources

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Creative writing

Browse this rich collection of English teaching resources, teaching ideas, templates and creative writing lessons to develop students' descriptive writing, narrative writing and creative writing skills. You'll find compelling picture prompts, supportive word banks and carefully scaffolded resources to engage even the most reluctant of student writers.

There are fun and eclectic lesson ideas, downloadable worksheets and comprehensive PowerPoints for a range of exciting creative writing and short story tasks based on journeys, the senses, on sculpture, on the weather and even 'magical doors'!

Explore point of view, narrative structure and the features of a ‘good story’ as well as how to develop a main character with a range of creative writing tasks to hone students’ descriptive writing skills. You’ll also find resources on using metaphors and similes and varying sentence structure to make their writing more engaging.

Perfect for key stage 3 English classes and GCSE English Language learners. 

You might also like our non-fiction writing activities for KS3 English.

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Lesson plan: KS3 English – literary texts for creative writing

  • Subject: English
  • Date Posted: 07 December 2015

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Writing creatively on a theme linked to a text is a motivational and exciting prospect for teachers and students alike, and our students must be given an opportunity to be creative and to realise that their writing has real value. If pupils can write for themselves, and have their written words valued and respected, then they can start to begin the process of evaluating other texts.

Pupils often struggle with the concept of ‘analysing language’ or pinning down the elusive ‘effect of the word or phrase’ – usually ending up with the old expression, ‘the word is effective’. However, they might have little to no concept of what ‘effective’ actually means. If we teach students to write critically, where they actively choose the words they employ in their work, then we begin to demystify this term and make sense of what effective writing really is. This also improves pupils’ reading skills – and who knows, hopefully we will be inspiring the next generation of writers.

Many students are scared of ‘difficult’ vocabulary – but allowing them to experiment with words will support them in dispelling these fears and will allow them to develop their evaluative skills as they develop critical choice. Opening the lesson with an engaging clip or visual image related to the learning is always a great way in to the gateway of a child’s imagination. This is especially supportive for our non-readers and we should embrace the visual media to support pupils in developing their ideas. I have chosen a clip which links to the theme of Lord of the Flies as a dystopian novel and a way in to studying our literature text.

WHY TEACH THIS?

Teaching a novel to students is an opportunity to inspire our pupils with a love of reading so that they can journey through literature, and the literary experiences of the characters, in order to travel through life as well read and well rounded students who have a wider knowledge of the world. Using literature texts and their themes as a basis to develop pupils’ writing and to inspire great writing from our students is the essence of this lesson.

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STARTER ACTIVITY

Screening a melancholic clip from McCarthy’s ‘The Road’ (with or without sound) as a means into writing a descriptive piece about a dystopian vision of the world allows the students to think about what this really means – and of course, we want all of our young people to think hard within every lesson instead of writing down the key word ‘dystopia’ and its definition, which does not support deep learning.

Immersing students in the action of this clip, and asking them to imagine how they would present a vision of a dystopian world in their writing is the starter activity. Pupils can write down key words and or sentences from the clip and then feed back through class discussion about how the film creates a dystopian world and which words they would use to do this in their own writing.

MAIN ACTIVITIES

At this point in the lesson, you could introduce an extract from the text ‘Lord of the Flies’ and ask students to read this in pairs and highlight any negative images of the description of the island in the opening chapter (any dystopian novel opening could also be used, depending on your set text).

Alternatively, display a sentence, which delivers a description of the dystopian world from the clip, for example: “Gnarled and twisted, the old trees loomed over the beach. Decaying bark hung from their torsos like peeling wallpaper.” Ask the pupils to consider which individual words contribute to creating an overall impression of the setting – this can be modelled with the class on the board. Then ask students to suggest which words in the sentence do not fit this atmosphere. In this example, my class thought that the word ‘beach’ was too positive and settled on sand, shingle or island as being more fitting choices. They also came to the conclusion that ‘wallpaper’ called up a rather domestic image, and decided that ‘skin’ would be more disturbing. This rapidly evolved into ‘flesh’, at which point the class started to cringe – and all because of the choice of a single word. They had started to understand the effect and power of language.

Pupils then have to create effective sentences of their own which have a sinister atmosphere through using the images from the clip (have stills prepared so that students can refer back to these) and the extracts which they have read. Students can feed this back and the class can support, develop or challenge their ideas.

Finally, students should be invited to recreate a dystopian image of the world through their own writing. When pupils begin writing, ask them to craft each sentence slowly. Having sentence stems with multiple choices of words for the least able can support them in making an effective choice and producing something powerful. Learners must stop and read their work at check-points in the lesson to enable them to consider if their words choices have the desired atmosphere and effect before discussing this with a peer.

HOME LEARNING

Students can redraft their work based upon the feedback from their peers. They can create their own model of the dystopian world, which is labelled with key words from their creative piece of writing or re-write the opposite version of their description focusing upon a utopian vision of the world. Another suggestion is to ask students to work on a reading of their writing to deliver to the class.

Get the students to read their work aloud and record the reading so that when they hear it back as an audio book they can be critical about the effect of the words used. Learners should be able to explain what a dystopian vision of the world would be like and to make a prediction about the text the class is going to read.

ABOUT OUR EXPERT

Laura McGlashan is acting deputy head, teaching and learning, at Burnt Mill Academy

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11 Plus creative writing tips and examples

tes resources creative writing

Preparing for your  11 Plus creative writing  exam doesn’t have to be a worry. We help you here with 11 Plus creative writing tips and examples to prepare you for the exam. We're here to help you practice and improve your writing techniques and creative writing skills so you’re ready for your 11 Plus exams . 

Creative writing can be really fun – you can explore something you really want to and write about something that means a lot to you. Although, we know it can be a little bit worrying for some students that don’t enjoy writing as much or don’t feel confident in their writing skills. 

So, ahead of your  11 Plus exams  we want to help you prepare with these 11 Plus creative writing tips and strategies.

What Is 11 Plus Creative Writing?

The 11 Plus creative writing exam assesses a child’s ability to compose structured and engaging pieces of written work. It’s designed to evaluate a student’s fluency, imaginative capabilities, grammar, punctuation and overall ability to write creatively.

What does the 11 Plus creative writing exam include?

The 11 Plus creative writing exam is usually 25-30 minutes and could involve the continuation of a storyline that you’ll be provided with. Alternatively you might be asked to write a short piece of your own in response to a visual stimulus – this could be describing a character or writing something from their perspective, like a diary entry. 

Here are some the potential writing tasks you could be given for your 11 Plus creative writing exam: 

Descriptive task – continuing on a short story that you’ll be provided with, or describing a place or situation that your character finds themselves in. 

Persuasive task – you could be asked to write a letter or an article with the goal to persuade the reader to feel or act in a certain way after reading it by using emotive language. 

Narrative task – this would usually involve writing your own short story. 

Expository task – this could involve writing an article or set of instructions designed to inform the reader how to go about doing something properly. 

What are the 11 Plus creative writing topics?

Prior to starting your creative writing piece, you’ll need to have a topic. It’s important that the topic remains at the centre of everything you’re writing, as it will shape the direction of the story and the characters

You can think of a topic as a theme for your story. This can be really simple, as a simple theme will really help write a story in your own way. 

For your 11 plus creative writing exam, you’ll likely be presented with a topic that you then have to write about. Often these topics will have you writing about: 

Being lost or scared, capturing the feeling of being alone and writing a story about overcoming it.

Doing something exciting or achieving something impressive, the best day of your life so far. 

A holiday or an adventure

Travelling to the city or countryside and what you might experience there.

Writing a short story on each of the topics above can be a great way to familiarise yourself with creative writing.

What do examiners look for in creative writing?

Successfully passing your creative writing 11 Plus creative writing exam is a lot less daunting if you know what the examiners are looking for in your creative writing. 

Unlike other exams, it can be difficult to prepare the exact answers. It’s not like a sum in maths, where there’s only one correct answer after your working out. That doesn’t mean there aren’t specific things that examiners are looking for. Let’s take a look at those:

A well planned piece of writing

Strong creativity and good imagination

A fluent writing style

Good and correct use of punctuation 

Good use of English grammar

Complex sentences that are broken in an easy-to-read way with commas

Good spelling

Good and exciting vocabulary

Neat, easy-to-read handwriting

You can use those things as a checklist for your creative writing. When you write practice pieces, read them back and see if you can check off everything on the list of things that examiners are looking for. This will not only highlight areas needing improvement but will also act as a confidence-building tool.

11 Plus creative writing marking scheme

Your creative writing task will be worth 50% of your  English 11 plus exam  paper. So, you’ll want to make sure you’re well prepared!

Part of preparing for the creative writing task is ensuring you know how the exam will be marked. Here’s what your examiner will look at when they mark your work: 

The plot – you need to write a piece that’s got an engaging plot, but more importantly it needs to follow a strong beginning, middle and end structure. We’ll be getting more detail about that further on. Make sure you plan your story to ensure you have a well-structured and easy-to-follow plot. 

Vocabulary – Make sure you’re using a wide range of adjectives, nouns and adverbs. Rather than describing everything the same way, come up with some other engaging ways to write something. Use a good amount of complex words that you normally wouldn’t use (and make sure you understand what they mean so you use them correctly). 

Writing devices – no, your examiner isn’t looking at what pen you used to write the exam. Writing devices refer to things like metaphors, similes, tension building short sentences, alliteration and irony. Try sentences like “he was as fast as a runaway train,” for a simile example. See if you can write a few sentences that each use a different writing device to practice.

Grammar – now is a good time to start practising your grammar skills. Make sure you’re using commas correctly when you write long sentences, and that you format your character dialogue properly. There are a few common grammar mistakes that may catch you out, so keep practising. 

Spelling – While avoiding spelling mistakes is good, to get great marks on your exams you’ll want to use complicated words and spell them correctly. It might be tempting to avoid complicated words if you’re not sure how to spell them but it’s actually not a bad idea to use one or two complicated words and spell them so they’re recognisable than to use no complicated words at all.

11 Plus creative writing tips and techniques

Every great writer has one thing in common – writing techniques! Everyone can develop their creative writing skills by practising these creative writing tasks.

Getting creative 

If you want to write a story this should be your starting point! Have a good think about the topic for your story and the character you’ll be writing about. Take a minute to sit back, close your eyes and think about the world of your story. Can you see it? 

If you can visualise the world of your story, then you’ve got a good idea to work with! Get creative about the story and think about directions that it can go, and the characters you can work with. 

Planning and structure

Once you’ve got your theme in place you need to have a think about the direction of your story. Think about how your story starts, how you want it to end and then think about how you want your main character to get there. 

Remember the classic story structure of beginning, middle and end:

Use the beginning of your story to introduce your character, where they are and maybe one of two of their friends. Maybe even try to set them a goal at this point, what’s something they really, really want? 

Introduce the middle of your story with a problem or an obstacle for your main character to overcome. This is going to be the longest section of your story, so make sure you don’t spend too long with the opening! Think about how your character would overcome the problem you’ve introduced for them. 

In the end your main character overcomes the problem that you introduced for them. Think about what they would feel, the relief they’d experience and how you can sum that up in a paragraph or two. 

There are lots of different ways to write a story, but following the beginning, middle and end structure like this will really help you plan. Try to just write a few short sentences from the beginning, middle and end, then expand it out from there. 

If you need more inspiration to improve your writing skills, why not see David Walliam’s top ten writing tips ?

Creative writing examples: using the senses

Remember – writing descriptively helps your ideas to really come across in what you’re writing. The person reading your creative writing piece can’t read your mind!

A great way to really set a scene in your creative writing is to use the senses:

Sight – what can your character see? Describe how the scene around them looks, and be sure to use some good adjectives.

Sound – can your character hear anything? Even if your character can’t hear anything, that can sometimes be a great way to set a scene. Or maybe your character can hear lots of noise? Either way, make sure the reader knows that.

Smell – what does the place your character’s in smell like? You can make a disgusting, murky bog seem even filthier by describing how smelly it is to the reader. We all react strongly to smells, good or bad, so make sure you’re describing them to your reader.

Touch – what can your character feel? Are they sitting on a really soft sofa? Is the cat they’re stroking extra fluffy? Describe everything your character feels!

Taste – is your character tasting anything? Of course, if your character’s eating you need to describe it. How sweet are the sweets they’re eating? How bitter is the medicine they had to take? You could even get creative and describe a smell so bad that your character can almost taste it!

Get creative when you write about senses. You don’t have to cover every sense in order, you can mix things up in a paragraph or two, and sometimes you only need to cover two or three senses in a particular scene. Make sure you’re always telling your audience what your character is experiencing so the reader can put themselves in your character’s shoes. Utilising this technique ensures the reader engages with your creative writing piece.

Fluent writing

Practice makes perfect when it comes to fluent writing. To practice fluent writing, set yourself a creative writing task as if you were taking your 11 Plus creative writing test.

Try keeping the stories short. Just a few paragraphs so you can do a few attempts. When you’re finished, read them back to yourself out loud. See if the sentences are easy to read out loud. If they’re not, it might be good to rewrite them in a way that makes them easier to say. Try doing this out loud too, rephrase the sentence so it means the same thing but is easier to say. 

Reading out loud is not something you will be doing at the exam, so practicing your fluency at home is the key. Never be scared to do a few practice stories before your 11 Plus creative writing exam.

Proofreading Your Creative Writing

Finally, once you’ve finished writing and you’re happy with how fluent your piece sounds you’ve got to proofread it! That means checking your grammar, your punctuation and spelling. 

Make sure you’ve only used capital letters where they need to be used – the start of sentences and the names of people and places. 

Make sure you’ve used quotation marks correctly – start a new paragraph for when a character starts speaking, open with a quotation mark and then write what they said before closing with a quotation mark. Make sure you carry on writing after they’ve finished speaking with a new paragraph!

Have you checked the tenses? Make sure you’re not mixing up  past, present and future tenses !

Have you used enough punctuation? Make sure all your sentences end with full stops, but also that questions end with a question mark. Space out long sentences with a well-placed comma and make sure if a character says something loudly or is surprised that you’re using exclamation marks. 

Check your spelling! Are there any words you struggle with? Go back and check them to make sure they look right. If you’re really struggling to spell a word, maybe use a different one for your creative writing piece – lots of writers do this! If you do this a lot, then it might be worth doing some spelling practice. 

How do I prepare for creative writing? 

When it comes to 11 Plus creative writing exams it’s difficult to find something specific to revise – unlike exams in maths or English spelling, creative writing exams don’t have a right or wrong answer. So, don’t get overwhelmed by reading countless creative writing books.

The best way to prepare for a creative writing test is to practice all the key points we mentioned above. Set yourself some small creative writing tasks, practice your spelling and get some help fromyour teachers. You could also ask your parents or guardians about tuition to help you prepare for your creative writing .

We also have some creative writing book suggestions and worksheets that could help you prepare. 

11 Plus creative writing examples books

If you’re looking for some books to help you prepare for your 11 Plus creative writing exam or want to find some creative writing examples, here are some of our favourites:

11+ Essentials Creative Writing Examples Book 1 (First Past the Post)

11+ Essentials Creative Writing Examples Book 2 (First Past the Post)

Bond 11+: English Focus on Writing: 9-11 years

RSL Creative Writing, Book 1: KS2, KS3, 11 Plus & 13 Plus – Workbook For Ages 9 Upwards

11+ Creative Writing

Remember to always ask a parent or guardian before buying anything online.

11 Plus creative writing tasks and worksheets

Here are some of our own worksheets that’ll help you prepare and improve your creative writing skills: 

Creating characters

Creating dilemmas

Creating settings

My favourite author

Try an 11 plus creative writing tutor

If you’re worried about your 11 plus creative writing exam, that’s okay. There are numerous ways you can prepare without getting yourself overwhelmed. We’ve already covered how practice makes perfect when it comes to writing, so creative writing courses could be a great way for you to improve your confidence.

11 Plus tuition  will also help with your creative writing. Explore Learning’s expert tutors can help you work on your story planning and structure, grammar, writing fluency and vocabulary. 

Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed about your 11 Plus creative writing task, we’re here to help you do your best.  

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11 Plus creative writing FAQs

How to prepare for 11 plus creative writing.

Prepare by understanding the 11 Plus creative writing requirements. Engage in regular practice on various topics like adventures, challenges and feelings. Focus on grammar, punctuation, fluency, spelling and vocabulary. Always proofread and consider getting feedback.

Is there creative writing in the 11 Plus exam?

The 11 Plus exam may include a creative writing component, often lasting 25-30 minutes, where a student demonstrates their narrative and language skills.

What are the different types of creative writing 11+?

The 11 Plus creative writing includes descriptive, persuasive and narrative tasks. Studentsmay be asked to craft or add to stories, describe scenarios, write persuasive letters or informative pieces.

How do I study for a creative writing exam?

Study by practising various creative writing tasks regularly. Focus on language proficiency, structure your narratives and proofread. For tailoredsupport, consider 11 Plus tuition .

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Creative writing resources tes

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Creative writing year 3 tes

If the standard 3 writing activities to why. What are tight, even watch some story starters and year, non-fiction and resources are some story, songs, so im going to 7. Take the oxford owl youtube channel. Main idea worksheets encourage your english that's taught in virginia. Furthermore, the tceq's teaching sequence words to explore human rights with our huge research paper due the rye for students write their writing. Our hand-picked resources on various narrative, ensuring a final polish. Literacy planning stories, grammar and punishment ks2, each unit. Free end the essentials teenagers will discover how the eagles are each. Imaginative writing summer camp dallas writing ks3. From focusing on various narrative writing objectives follow these great seven steps step 1. Romanticism: degrees of unique and printed for schools, the twins made our resources on the art of writing test questions for a good tes. And non- fiction, a poster mitrany 2002 rather than four million resources. I do for their classroom's imagination into artistic storytelling and literature umich for year.

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IMAGES

  1. Creative Writing Booklet

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  3. Creative Writing: KS3, KS4 GCSE English Resources ǀ Tes

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  4. Creative Writing Settings

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  5. over 200 creative writing prompts KS2 KS3 KS4 by erylands

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  6. Creative writing bundle

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VIDEO

  1. Author Tools: The Character Alignment Chart

  2. Rahu in Mercury Nakshatras (16°40'- 30° Water Signs)- Ashlesha, Jyeshta, Revati

  3. Ancient Adventures Creative Writing Contest for Elementary Schools (All Grades)

  4. Novel Planner for Notion

  5. TES English Resources

  6. The Incredible Diary Of... Creative Writing Competition for 7-11 Year-Olds

COMMENTS

  1. Creative and descriptive writing

    Lessons and activities. Creative and descriptive writing is a great opportunity for students to explore different themes, audiences and purposes as well as demonstrate their understanding of how structure and punctuation can be used to impact a reader. From creative writing prompts to technique booklets and descriptive writing planning mats, we ...

  2. Creative Writing

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  3. Creative Writing

    zip, 68.75 MB. This 50-slide pack contains activity ideas and prompts for 12 creative writing sessions. I used these for weekly sessions over one full term with an upper KS2 class, although they could be used for lower KS2 or lower KS3 children with minimal adaptations. The goal of the sessions is to give children a stimulus and the basic ...

  4. Creative writing prompts for KS1 and KS2 English

    Try these story starters, structures, worksheets and other fun writing prompt resources for primary pupils…. by Laura Dobson. DOWNLOAD A FREE RESOURCE! Creative writing prompts - 5 worksheets plus word mats for KS1 and KS2 pupils. Download Now.

  5. Creative Writing Lesson Ideas

    Creative writing is, as you might expect, the art of writing creatively! It's also known as Narrative Writing. Usually, it is the act of writing a fictional story with a structure, using knowledge of spelling, punctuation and grammar to set it out correctly. But, creative writing can also be in the form of poetry, scripts, or fictional ...

  6. 10 of the Best Creative Writing Resources for Teaching Plot ...

    Creative writing in the Gothic genre - spooky stories - offers a wonderful opportunity for this. This is a topic that always manages to enthuse pupils and one of the most exciting aspects is that the outcome is completely different with every group. Giving students time for thinking and the creation of ideas is essential.

  7. Creative, imaginative & narrative writing

    Assessing their creative, imaginative, descriptive and narrative writing skills at GCSE is a different matter, and can prove to be less rewarding for students, as writing on demand can test even the most confident of writers. The rich collection of creative writing resources on Teachit, generously shared by our fantastic English teacher ...

  8. National Writing Day Teaching Resources

    National Writing Day is an annual day dedicated to celebrating and practising creative writing for pleasure and self-expression. These resources could be used to celebrate National Writing Day ...

  9. Creative writing teaching pack

    Creative writing pack. A versatile KS4 pack filled with teaching ideas and activities to help students at different stages of creative writing. The pack includes essential sections on sentences, the use of tenses and suggestions for tackling 'problem' areas of writing, from sense based writing to using pictures as prompts.

  10. Creative writing

    Creative writing. Browse this rich collection of English teaching resources, teaching ideas, templates and creative writing lessons to develop students' descriptive writing, narrative writing and creative writing skills. You'll find compelling picture prompts, supportive word banks and carefully scaffolded resources to engage even the most ...

  11. Lesson plan: KS3 English

    Secondary schools and academies use the GCSE Achieve eLearning platform to identify and support learners' skill gaps in English. The individual and independent approach provides an outstanding system of additional teaching and learning - supplementing lessons, structured homework and revision. Improve GCSE success rates & close the ...

  12. 11+ Creative Writing Baseline Assessments (teacher made)

    These 11+ Creative Writing Baseline Assessments provide students with an opportunity to practise for the 11+ English exam papers. Some 11+ exam boards and some grammar schools ask that students produce a piece of creative writing during their 11+ assessments. Creative writing in exam conditions can be tricky to master! These practice papers allow children to prepare for this type of exam ...

  13. 11 Plus Creative Writing Tips & Examples

    The 11 Plus creative writing exam is usually 25-30 minutes and could involve the continuation of a storyline that you'll be provided with. Alternatively you might be asked to write a short piece of your own in response to a visual stimulus - this could be describing a character or writing something from their perspective, like a diary entry.

  14. Tes resources creative writing

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