How do I edit my writing? What things should I pay attention to? CREATIVE WRITING

DOES YOUR STORY MAKE SENSE? Do you have a clear ORIENTATION, COMPLICATION, SERIES OF EVENTS, CLIMAX and/or RESOLUTION? Is there a clear path for a reader through your story? To test this out, make a brief plot plan like the one below: ORIENTATION / COMPLICATION SERIES OF EVENTS Mark searches around Discovers message in backpack – its an apology and instructions He finds backpack Follows instructions Finds key Breaks out of building Sees people and goes towards them Runs to follow but trips on something CLIMAX / RESOLUTION Looks in broken mirror piece, discovers he ‘s no longer human People run away from him Mark wakes up in strange place

Do they hold strong beliefs throughout the story? Is what they say, think or do consistent throughout? Is there something they want or need? Is this always what they’re working for? Do the things they do or say MATCH what they’re thinking? Are they flawed in some way? Are they ‘just like us’ in some way? Are they struggling with something we can relate to? Are they interesting in some way? Are they realistic / recognisable to us? Do they think, feel or do things we can logically understand? COHESIVE CHARACTERS HAVE YOU MADE US CARE ABOUT THEM? ARE THEY CONSISTENT? What makes us care about your character?Is your character consistent?

Does your setting remain consistent throughout the story? Does your character move through it? Does it change in any way? Do the changes work / make sense / match the setting established? Do you have some descriptive sections that help build the setting? How do we learn about the place? Do we experience things (through narration)? Does the character experience things directly? Does the character explore the place? Is it believable? Does it have verisimilitude? What is recognisable for us? What can we relate to? SETTING Is it detailed & believable?Is it consistent

WHAT FORM ARE YOU USING? IS THIS THE MOST SUITABLE FOR YOUR GENRE/TOPIC? What narrative perspective do you have? Omniscient narrator First-person narrator First-person limited What style are you using? Epistolary form Frame narration Multiple narrators Unreliable narrator Flashbacks Foreshadowing

BOOST YOUR WRITING! Are there any places you can SHOW us something rather than TELL us? Have you looked at your punctuation? Which of the following are you using? Do you have a nice variety? Would something else work better? ( ),. ! ? ; : “” – Are you using sentences of different lengths? Would breaking some sentences up help the pace or flow of reading?

HAVE YOU USED LINGUISTIC DEVICES? CAN YOU FIND A SPOT IN YOUR WRITING THAT WOULD BE IMPROVED BY INCLUDING A TECHNIQUE FROM THE LIST BELOW? TECHNIQUES to consider using include: descriptive language (strong verbs and interesting adjectives) figurative language (alliteration, similes, metaphors, personification, various imagery- sight, sound, smell, taste, touch- personification, pathetic fallacy, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, idiom etc.) repetition symbolism rhetorical questions allusions