11 Plus Exams Forum

Which book do you recommend to help with Creative Writing for Sutton (Surrey) grammar schools? I am looking for a layout with planning sheet and varying topics which are appealing to boys. Many thanks.

We found relevant guidance for creative writing practice the most elusive of resources out there. Creative writing blogs written by tutors and the CGP 13+ Common English exam book helped somewhat. Ultimately we established our own method of deciding on the 5 Ws - what, where, who, why and when - and then structuring them into a plan involving a start, middle and end.

We also spent a while identifying and remembering 'wow' words for general themes likely to come up e.g fear, sadness, adventure, happiness etc that could be woven in to any story.

Also practiced keeping it descriptive rather than full of events. I wouldn't worry about it being appealing, it's feasible an unappealing topic may come up on the day.

I don't know the specifics of Surrey grammars so hopefully this isn't too off topic.

Many thanks enema. Yes, we are also finding that the hardest to put right are the creative writing techniques. Will have to devise our own methods, I suppose. Your tips are helpful.

Alas not sure that I ever found the "one book" which covered everything, but just a warning that the Sutton grammars have not always gone for "stories" as such, and you need to practice all forms of writing, eg persuasive writing, balanced argument, reports etc.

+1

Just to add to the comments above: it is also important that a piece of writing includes a wide range of vocabulary, good grammar, varied punctuation and an ability to organise the text in paragraphs in a sensible manner.

As for vocabulary - it is not necessarily about using very complicated words, but about avoiding repetition and using appropriate synonyms. For example, a boy may be 'running' in one sentence but 'sprinting' in another. Someone may be feeling sad, unhappy, miserable, downcast or gloomy etc. Encourage your DC to use a wide variety of connectives, too, for instance instead of saying 'then' (as in 'then, he had dinner'), your DC could say 'afterwards', 'later on',' soon after', 'next', 'as soon as' and so on.

Many thanks Ladymuck and Purple duck

Start sentences differently. The dreaded fronted adverbials or starting with a subordinate clause.

yoyo123 wrote:Start sentences differently. The dreaded fronted adverbials or starting with a subordinate clause.

Yoyo, I'm not sure how to interpret 'dreaded fronted adverbials' - is it something that gets over-used and you are suggesting going easy on those, or the opposite?

They are something which the children are encouraged to use.

yoyo123 wrote:They are something which the children are encouraged to use.

Understood, thank you.