Tips for Creative Writing

• Read all the given topics at least twice, before choosing the topic you want to respond to.
• Choose the topic according to your strengths and preparation, and whether you have enough ideas to write between 350 – 500 words.
• Avoid  writing an argumentative essay, unless you have thoroughly practiced this type of writing.
• Plan before you start wiring and always recheck your work before you hand it in. You can divide the examination time in the following way:
• 1. Planning your response: 7/8 minutes.
• 2. Writing: 45 minutes.
• 3. Editing: 5 – 6 minutes. 
• Descriptive and Argumentative essays should have a proper introduction (1 paragraph), a detailed body (3 – 6 paragraphs) and a logical conclusion (1 paragraph).
• Stories should have an engaging opening, with an intriguing middle to sustain readers’ interest and a logical ending to bring a proper resolution to the plot.
• Use similes, metaphors and effective descriptive words to create verbal pictures in a descriptive essay.
• Keep your stories believable and realistic. Use flashback, dialogues and description of setting to make your narrative composition engaging for the reader.
• Avoid writing stories which end up as a ‘bad dream.’ Avoid copying the plots from popular movies you have watched. Also refrain from showing violence, racism or glorifying crime in your stories.
• Editing your essay is immensely important before handing it in. You should know what your common errors in grammar, punctuation and spelling are. Also keep an eye out for commonly committed slips in English writing: its/it’s, there/their, ‘i’ instead of ‘I’, use of articles (a, an and the), subject-verb agreement (He don’t/doesn’t etc), run-on sentences etc.
• Don’t try to use ambitious vocabulary unless you are sure about its meaning and use. Using a simple word correctly is going to gain you more marks than using an unfamiliar word incorrectly, while trying to impress the examiner.