Creative writing flashcards
14 cards on Creative writing: the key points, worked examples and the slips to watch. Swipe through them, or print them.
Card 1 of 14
Creative writing
The writing task and its marks
What does the creative writing task ask you to do, and what are its 40 marks given for?
Answer it in your head, then turn the card over.
The writing task and its marks
Key points
- You choose one task: a description, often of a picture, or a story, which may be just its opening.
- On AQA, 24 marks reward content and organisation (AO5) and 16 reward technical accuracy (AO6).
- Match what you write, and its tone, to the purpose and audience the task sets.
- Choose the task you can control best, not the one with the most exciting plot.
Watch out
Accuracy is 16 of the 40 marks: a brilliant idea in run-on sentences still loses them.
Creative writing
A description or a story
How is a description different from a story, and how do you keep each one on task?
Answer it in your head, then turn the card over.
A description or a story
Key points
- A description lingers on one place or moment, with very little plot.
- A story moves through events, usually with a single change at its heart.
- Keep the picture or prompt in view all the way through: it is your anchor.
- Reread the task before you plan, and write in the form it asks for.
Watch out
If your description starts saying ‘and then’, it has slid into a story.
Creative writing
Choosing one mood
Why decide the mood of your writing before you start, and how do you keep it?
Answer it in your head, then turn the card over.
Choosing one mood
Key points
- Pick one effect first: tense, peaceful, eerie, joyful.
- Choose every detail, image and sentence to serve that one mood.
- A piece that holds one deliberate effect reads as controlled, and control is what gets rewarded.
- A change of mood works when it is planned, such as calm before a storm.
A tense mood, held
The corridor was too quiet. Somewhere a tap dripped, each drop louder than the last.
At the far end, the light flickered, and held, and flickered.
Watch out
One cheerful detail in a tense piece breaks the spell, unless the shift is deliberate.
Creative writing
Planning a shape
How do you plan a story or description so it has a deliberate shape?
Answer it in your head, then turn the card over.
Planning a shape
Key points
- Spend about five minutes planning: it buys a shape instead of a drift.
- Give each paragraph a job, such as a wide view, a zoom to one detail, a shift in time, a return.
- Keep a story to one moment and one or two characters, with a single change at its heart.
A plan for a station at dawn
1 Wide: the empty platform, the clock, the cold.
2 Zoom: one suitcase with a broken handle.
3 Shift: a memory of the day its owner arrived.
4 Return: the same platform, crowded now, as her train pulls out.
Watch out
Cramming in a whole plot leaves no room for detail and forces a rushed ending.
Creative writing
Cyclical structure and short paragraphs
How can a cyclical structure and a one-line paragraph shape a piece of writing?
Answer it in your head, then turn the card over.
Cyclical structure and short paragraphs
Key points
- A cyclical (circular) structure ends by returning to the opening image, now changed.
- It shows the piece was planned, and lets the reader see how far it has travelled.
- A one-line paragraph isolates a key moment, so the reader pauses and feels it.
- Break paragraphs on purpose: for a new time, place, focus or speaker.
A one-line paragraph
The rain had stopped hours ago, but she stayed at the window, watching the road for headlights.
None came.
Watch out
Make every paragraph one line and the effect is lost: save it for the moment that matters most.
Creative writing
Precise vocabulary
What makes vocabulary ambitious in creative writing, and why does the exact word beat a long one?
Answer it in your head, then turn the card over.
Precise vocabulary
Key points
- Ambitious means precise: the exact word for what you mean, not the longest one.
- A strong verb does the work of several weaker words, so the picture is sharper.
- Choose words for their connotations, so each one adds to the mood.
- One exact word outscores a pile of adjectives and adverbs.
Weak words made precise
‘He went quickly up the stairs’ becomes ‘he bolted up the stairs’.
‘The wind was blowing very strongly’ becomes ‘the wind howled’.
Watch out
A thesaurus word that doesn’t quite fit reads as less control, not more.
Creative writing
Show, don’t tell
What does ‘show, don’t tell’ mean, and how do you do it in your writing?
Answer it in your head, then turn the card over.
Show, don’t tell
Key points
- Reveal a feeling through actions, body language and details, instead of naming it.
- The reader works the feeling out, which makes it more vivid than being told.
- Ask what someone feeling this would do or notice, then write that.
Telling, then showing
Tells: Tom was nervous before his speech.
Shows: Tom read his first line again, then a third time. The paper had gone soft where he gripped it.
Watch out
Showing and then adding ‘she was sad’ undoes the effect: trust the reader.
Creative writing
Imagery and the senses
Which imagery techniques make a description vivid, and how do you keep them under control?
Answer it in your head, then turn the card over.
Imagery and the senses
Key points
- Simile compares with ‘like’ or ‘as’; metaphor says one thing is another.
- Personification gives a thing human qualities: the house groaned.
- A metaphor that returns later in the piece ties the whole thing together.
- Use sound and smell as well as sight: onomatopoeia such as ‘creaked’ lets the reader hear it.
One image, brought back
Opening: The town was a held breath, waiting for the storm.
Ending: The storm passed, and the town breathed out.
Watch out
Five similes in a row clutter the writing: one striking image beats a paragraph of them.
Creative writing
Sentence types
What are simple, compound, complex and minor sentences, and what can each one do?
Answer it in your head, then turn the card over.
Sentence types
Key points
- Simple: one main clause. Short and blunt, it can make an action feel sudden.
- Compound: two main clauses joined by ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘or’ or ‘so’, balancing two ideas.
- Complex: a main clause with a subordinate clause, opened by a word such as ‘although’, ‘when’ or ‘because’.
- Minor: a fragment with no main verb, often one word, used for a jolt.
Example
Simple: The phone rang.
Compound: She reached for it, but the ringing stopped.
Complex: As soon as she sat down, it rang again.
Minor: Silence.
Watch out
Minor sentences used everywhere stop looking deliberate and start to look like slips.
Creative writing
Varying sentences for pace
How do you vary the length and openings of your sentences to control pace?
Answer it in your head, then turn the card over.
Varying sentences for pace
Key points
- Long, flowing sentences slow the reader down into a scene.
- A short sentence after long ones stops the reader dead, for shock or tension.
- Vary the openings: a verb (‘Gripping the rail, …’), an adverb (‘Slowly, …’) or a subordinate clause (‘When …’).
- Varied openings show the examiner each sentence was built on purpose.
Long, then short
The fog rolled in off the sea, swallowing the harbour wall, the boats and at last the lighthouse itself.
Then the horn sounded.
Watch out
Starting sentence after sentence with ‘The’ or ‘I’ makes the writing plod.
Creative writing
Ambitious punctuation
Which punctuation marks add range to your writing, and what does each one do?
Answer it in your head, then turn the card over.
Ambitious punctuation
Key points
- Semicolon: joins two closely linked main clauses that could each stand alone.
- Colon: holds back a reveal or an explanation until after a pause.
- Dash: marks an interruption, an aside or a sudden turn.
- Ellipsis: shows a voice trailing off, or stretches the suspense.
Example
Semicolon: The house was cold; nobody had lit a fire in weeks.
Colon: There was one thing left in the box: a key.
Dash: She opened the door — and froze.
Watch out
A comma can’t join two sentences: ‘The rain stopped, we went out’ needs a full stop or a semicolon.
Creative writing
Accuracy and proofreading
Which accuracy slips cost the most marks, and how should you check your writing?
Answer it in your head, then turn the card over.
Accuracy and proofreading
Key points
- Get the basics right first: full stops, capital letters, apostrophes and speech marks.
- In speech, put the punctuation inside the speech marks and start a new line for each new speaker.
- Spell with care, especially words that are easily confused: their, there, they’re; its, it’s; where, were.
- Leave about five minutes to read your work through and correct it neatly.
Speech punctuated
‘Wait,’ she called. ‘You forgot your key.’
‘Keep it,’ he said, without turning round.
Watch out
Running sentences together with commas where a full stop belongs is the commonest slip of all.
Creative writing
Openings that grab
How should you open a story or a description so the reader wants to read on?
Answer it in your head, then turn the card over.
Openings that grab
Key points
- Start inside a moment that matters, not at the start of someone’s day.
- Starting in the middle of the action is called in medias res: the background can come later.
- A line that raises a question makes the reader need the answer.
- The first and last lines are the two the marker remembers.
Example
Weak: My alarm went off at seven and I got out of bed.
Strong: The letter had been under my pillow for a week before I dared to open it.
Watch out
Opening with an alarm clock or someone waking up is a cliché examiners see all the time.
Creative writing
Endings that land
What makes a strong ending to a story or a description?
Answer it in your head, then turn the card over.
Endings that land
Key points
- Echo the opening, now changed, so the piece feels complete and planned.
- Or land on a final image that sums up the mood or the change.
- Leave a little for the reader: you don’t need to explain everything.
- Plan the ending before you start, so it isn’t rushed when time runs out.
An ending that echoes
Opening: The letter had been under my pillow for a week.
Ending: That night, for the first time, it was just a pillow again.
Watch out
‘It was all a dream’ cancels everything the reader has just believed in.
Print these cards
Four cards to an A4 sheet, each the size of a standard A6 revision card.
One-sided
Each card prints on one face: the question at the top, the notes under it.
Two-sided
Questions on the front, notes on the back. Print double-sided and flip on the long edge, then cut along the lines.
Put it into practice
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