Creative Writing for the 11plus

11 Plus English - Preparation and Information

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Fabatnear40
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri Nov 01, 2019 1:31 pm

Creative Writing for the 11plus

Post by Fabatnear40 »

Hi,

Hoping someone can help. My son and as well as our neighbour are struggling with producing good written pieces for creative writing. Are there any resources that can be recommended to get them started ? They both struggle with generating ideas and making structural sound sentences, misuse parts of speech etc. I am slightly worried but know there is time (for now) for them to improve. Any tips / recommendations would be welcomed.

Many thanks.
Mummycares
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2020 8:05 pm

Re: Creative Writing for the 11plus

Post by Mummycares »

Hello Fabatnear40,

My son took his exams last year and he did struggle with writing. He found it hard to generate ideas because he was not reading much at all. To encourage him to read I read the books too (I read them first and then discussed them with him as he went through them). It kept him motivated. I also highlighted interesting vocabulary or sentence structure and talked about those, we discussed why the authors chose the vocab. as well. He kept a copybook with those in and he magpies them for his pieces of writing. By the time he sat his exams, his writing had drastically improved and he got an offer from his first choice. We are still reading books together and we discuss them but he is no longer keeping a copybook, although as he starts Year7, we might start to again.
As for language structure, you need to know what exactly your child has issues with. It is best to start with simple sentences and then work your way to complex ones. For creative writing, we worked on making sure to include lots of powerful vocabulary, similes and metaphors and alliteration. We looked at how famous authors use language to convey their feelings, how they created atmosphere through description and dialogues.
My advice would be to work on each feature one at a time and try to make it fun for him. I know it is not easy but you can do it!
I hope that helps.
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