Year 12 Standard Creative Writing Tips

Dialogue Dialogue is one of the least interesting way to tell a story, and should be used sparingly. Consider the following: “Hey, what are you doing?” John asked. “I need to leave this place.” Sarah complained. “Why?” “It’s just time to leave!” Sarah exclaimed.

Better than dialogue… John was concerned about Sarah, she had seemed distant lately. When he asked her what she was feeling, she barely gave a reply. John had the sense that Sarah just needed a change of scenery, that it was probably time for her to move on, to something different, something better. “It’s just time to leave!” she exclaimed when John finally asked her what was wrong. Her answer was vague, but he knew better than to push her.

Show, don’t tell

Show, don’t tell! In narrative writing, you must leave some detail up to the imagination of the reader. This makes your writing MUCH more interesting, and allows your reader to fully engage with the story. If your story feedback states ‘lacking sophistication’, chances are, this is why. Consider the following………

Show, don’t tell!

Sentence length

Sentence length

Sentence Length

General rules for writing Avoid cliched endings: To be continued, and then I woke up, it was all just a dream etc… Get to the point quickly and tell the story from there – you don’t have time for too much exposition. Use the stimulus effectively. Include figurative language where possible. Write what you know and then embellish!