11 Plus Exams Forum

We have started some Eng creative writing prep for some entrance exams in Jan. DS has produced a few stories and I have little idea of how to mark them besides the more obvious spelling and punctuation. Are there any tips on what he needs to do to gain higher marks. Has anyone produced a checklist of ideas? To be honest, I am struggling beyond suggesting trying to include a simile or two or improving his choice of adjectives. He has 30 mins to produce a piece of writing based on a selection of titles. Can anyone suggest a source of appropriate short stories that DS can digest considering our limited time scale. Any advice or what people think examiners are looking for in a 30 min piece of creative writing would be great.

Thanks in advance.
arna

Hi, I'm helping my ds with creative writing, there is a very good section on this site regarding essay writing for independent school, which also has 3 good essay example, its on the 11 plus advice section. We were struggling too, however ds is improving slowly, I encourage ds to be very descriptive using all senses and lots of adjectives, grammar and spelling is important but most importantly the writing should very interesting and creative too.

Try starting sentences in different ways. Use adverbial phrases, complex sentences. Check punctuation.