Year 8 Creative Writing

Creative Writing Unit• Learning objectives:

• To be able to identify descriptive writing techniques.

• To use images as a stimulus for descriptive writing.

WEEK ONE

Punctuation Practice

Starter

1. List 5 adjectives to describe this image.

2. Think of synonymsto improve each word.

e.g.

“Cold” could become

“piercing” or “glacial” or

“bitter”.

Descriptive writing checklist

• What do you think would make good success criteria for descriptivewriting?



Use ambitious vocabulary

Use the five senses (what can you see, hear, feel, taste, smell?)

Use imagery and figurative language

Zoom in to specific details

Don’t tell a story


• Find alternative words for the following dull and boring descriptive words:

• Good

• Bad

• Boring

• Nice

• Dark

5 words = Basic8 words = Challenge12+ words = Killer

Using the senses

• Seen: Like a fiery red fist, the Ferrari punched its way past our ageing Ford Fiesta…

• Touched: The open window allowed a cool spring breeze to caress my cheeks…

• Smelt: An ancient clunker of a school bus spluttered along in front of us spewing out nauseous black clouds of exhaust…

• Tasted: The bitter taste of the pre-trip travel sickness pill still clung to back of my throat...

• Heard: The screeching siren of an ambulance forced us to pull in and wait till it passed...


• Look at the image.

• Think of an example of a simile and metaphor to describe the picture.

• Challenge:

• Begin the sentence with an adverb (-ly).

Now, write a paragraph describing this landscape. You can stay within the

picture for your description, or move away from what you can see to what is beyond the edges of the photograph.

Remember to include:

ambitious vocabulary the five senses (what can you see,

hear, feel, taste, smell?) imagery and figurative language

WEEK TWO




Use the five senses (what can you see, hear, feel, taste, smell?)




Zoom in to specific detail

•

What do you see

here?

Describe this scene

in 3 sentences.

Zoom in to specific detail

•

Zooming into different sections of your scene allows you to control the reader’s reaction.


• Telling: He sits on the couch holding his guitar.

• There’s nothing wrong with that sentence. It gives the reader some basic information, but it doesn’t create an image.

• Compare that sentence with this:

• Showing: His eyes are closed, and he’s cradling the guitar in his arms like a lover. It’s as if he’s trying to hold on to something that wants to let go.

• The second example takes that basic information and paints a picture with it. It also uses figurative language—in this case, the simile “cradling the guitar in his arms like a lover”—to help create an image.


• Your turn:

• Have a go. Write a short paragraph (2/3 lines) that “shows” rather than “tells”, for this sentence:

I live on a very busy street.

Over to you…

• Now it is your turn. Find an image as a prompt for a piece of descriptive writing.

• Today, start by mind mapping words, adjectives and ideas.


Use the five senses (what can you see, hear, feel,

taste, smell?)




Remember you will be aiming to include…

Descriptive writing

• Now it is your turn. Use your notes on an image as a prompt for a piece of descriptive writing. Try to write about 300 words.


Use the five senses (what can you see, hear,

feel, taste, smell?)




Self-assess:

Highlight use of

figurative language and

label. Could you include

more?Exte

nsi

on

WEEK THREE

Learning Objective• To develop character description by exploring the use of ‘show, don’t

tell’.

Write THREE sentences describing this person…

CharactersThe most successful creative writing always has interesting, well

described characters.

How many memorable characters can you think of?

Sherlock Holmes, Frankenstein, Dracula, Tracey Beaker, Stanley Yelnats, James Bond, Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen…

Miss Havisham: what are your first impressions of

this character?

Pip: What are your first

impressions of this character?Might there be

something significant about

his name?

Harry Potter - J K Rowling

Harry had always been small and skinny for his age… Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of cellotape because of all the times Dudley had punched him in the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead which was shaped like a bolt of lightning.

1. Can you tell me what information we learn about Harry from this description?

2. Is there much left for us to work out?

Bleak House – Charles Dickens• It must be a strange state to be like Jo, not to know the feeling of a

whole suit of clothes—to wear even in summer the same queer remnant of a fur cap; to be always dirty and ragged; to shuffle through the streets, unfamiliar with the shapes, and in utter darkness as to the meaning, of those mysterious symbols so abundant over the doors and at corners of the streets, and on the doors and in the windows. To see people read, and to see people write, and to see the postman deliver letters, and not to have the least idea of all that language,—to be to all of it stone blind and dumb.

1. What do we learn about this character (Jo)?

Boy - Roald Dahl

• Her name was Mrs. Pratchett. She was a small skinny old hag with a moustache

on her upper lip and a mouth as sour as a green gooseberry. She never smiled.

She never welcomed us when we went in. By far the most loathsome thing about

Mrs. Pratchett was the filth that clung about her. Her apron was grey and greasy.

Her blouse had bits of breakfast all over it, toast crumbs and tea stains and

splotches of dried egg yolk. It was her hands , however, that disturbed us most.

They were disgusting. They were black with dirt and grime. They looked as

though they had been putting lumps of coal on the fire all day long. The mere

sight of her grimy right hand with its black fingernails digging an ounce of

Chocolate Fudge out of the jar would have caused a starving tramp to go running

from the shop.

1. Describe Mrs. Pratchett in 3 words.

2. What does she do for a living?

3. How do you think she would speak or move?

Your TurnYou are going to describe a character.

You may:

• Imagine and create your own character to describe

• Use an image provided as an inspiration for a character

• Think of a person you know (a friend or family member) to describe

TASK: Brainstorm ideas/create a spider diagram to plan ideas about your character.

Your Turn• Write a description of your character. Aim to write between 300-400

words.

• Remember your creative writing checklist:

Use ambitious vocabulary Use the five senses (what can you see, hear, feel, taste, smell?) Use imagery and figurative language Zoom in to specific details Don’t tell a story

WEEK FOUR

Learning Objective• To consider what makes an effective story opening.

• To be able to write an effective story opening.

Story Openings• What makes an effective story opening?

• As we look at the following story openings, consider how they HOOK you in. Are you left with any questions?

1984It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

Peter and Wendy (Peter Pan)

All children, except one, grow up

Paradise

They shoot the white girl first.

Graveyard Book

There was a hand in the dark. And it held a knife.

Hook the reader

• All of the opening lines HOOKED the reader in different ways.

• They left you with questions you wanted answering!

• Your opening sentence is very important and deserves a lot of care and attention – there are many books that have been left on book shelves because the opening sentence did not appeal to the reader.

Have a go.• Try and write FIVE different story openings. The aim is to HOOK your

reader and try and leave them with questions they’ll want answering.

• Try these:

• Begin with a description of place.

• Begin with a description of character.

• Begin with an unusual event.

• Begin with some dialogue from a character.

WEEK FIVE

Creative Writing Challenges

• On the next slide is a grid of different creative writing challenges.

• Choose THREE to complete this week.

Challenge:

Can you link together three or

more of these challenges into one

task response?

Describe walking around a spooky house without using the words ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so’ or ‘then’.

Use a thesaurus to find 5+ alternatives for each of these dull words:

Big, nice, happy, said, sad.

Write a short story using only 50 words – no more and no less!

Write a conversation between two friends after a terrible day at school without using the word ‘said’.

Invent a new superhero and describe it. Include similes, personification and a metaphor.

Choose ten random words from a dictionary and write an opening paragraph for a story, making sure you include all

the chosen words.

Write a story using 140 characters or less (count letters and punctuation, but not spaces).

Describe landing on a desert island. Each sentence should start with a different letter of the alphabet. For example, A

golden beach lay all around. Birds flew high above my head. Coconuts littered the ground beneath the line of swaying

trees…’

Invent a fifth season. Give it a name and then describe it. Include similes, personification and a metaphor.

Improve and develop the following description:

It was warm water and there were lots of colourful fish swimming around.

Creative Writing

Challenges

WEEK SIX

Great Grammar

Writing your own story

• You will pick a story title, setting, time of day and weather to help you write a piece of creative writing. This could be a short story or piece of descriptive writing.

• The aim is to HOOK your reader using all the techniques we have covered so far

Write a gripping opening line.

Develop your setting and character/s.

Include some detailed descriptions (check the ‘Descriptive writing’ checklist).

Use interesting vocabulary.

Choose a title –or come up with one of our own!

Choose a setting – or

come up with one of our

own!

Choose a time of day – or

come up with one of your

own!

Choose a type of weather – or come up with one of your

own!

Now write your story/Piece of descriptive writing

• Remember to HOOK your reader using all the techniques we have covered so far.

• Try to write at least 350 words.

Write a gripping opening line.

Develop your setting and character/s.

Include some detailed descriptions (check the ‘Descriptive writing’ checklist).

Use interesting vocabulary.

Year 8 Creative Writing - Amazon Web Services

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