Writing composition, Year 8: stories, information and poems

The climax

提示On a story mountain, it is the peak.

为什么Everything before it builds towards this point and everything after it deals with the result. It usually comes late in the story.

The resolution

提示The same word is used for a promise made at New Year.

为什么It shows the consequences of the climax and where the characters are left. It can be very short, but without it a story feels cut off.

The climax arrives too soon

提示The reader has had no time to start caring.

为什么Tension has to be built. If the reader does not yet know the characters or what is at stake, the big moment has nothing to release.

Discovering that his rival has cheated

提示Find the event after which Ali's situation can never be as it was.

为什么Before the discovery the story is about training; after it, the story is about a choice. A turning point changes the direction of the story and sets up the climax.

No — keep to the facts

提示The reader came to learn, not to be persuaded.

为什么Informative writing is judged by how clearly and accurately it passes on knowledge. Opinions belong in writing that argues or persuades.

Define the term

提示Never assume the reader shares your vocabulary.

为什么A short definition the first time a technical word appears keeps the beginner with you. After that the word can be used freely.

Step by step, in the order you do them

提示Think of a recipe.

为什么The reader will carry out the actions in sequence, so the writing should follow that sequence. Words such as 'first', 'next' and 'finally' mark the way.

'I' — the first person

提示A diary is written by whoever it is about.

为什么Writing in role means becoming the character, so their experiences are reported from the inside: 'I heard the guns', not 'he heard the guns'.

He could not know about cars

提示Check the date he lived in.

为什么A voice in role is limited to what that person could have seen, known and believed. One modern detail breaks the illusion.

No — the voice must fit the character

提示Listen to how a child of that age really talks.

为什么Vocabulary and sentence rhythm are part of a persona. A five-year-old narrator notices different things and says them in simpler ways.

Proof-reading fixes errors; redrafting improves the writing

提示One is about being correct, the other about being better.

为什么A draft with perfect spelling can still be dull or muddled. Redrafting changes content, order and word choice to make the piece stronger.

The verb

提示Look at the one word that changed, and at its word class.

为什么'Went' says only that the dog moved. 'Bolted' gives the speed and the panic in one word, with no adverb needed.

Cut it

提示Every sentence has to earn its place.

为什么Taking out what is not needed is one of the most effective changes in a redraft. What remains has more force.

A line break

提示In prose, the edge of the page decides; in a poem, the writer does.

为什么A poet can break a line to create a pause, to make a word stand out or to surprise the reader with what comes next.

It emphasises 'alone'

提示A pause follows the last word of any line.

为什么The word sits by itself at the edge of the line, with space after it, so the layout acts out the meaning.

An image

提示The word 'imagination' grows out of it.

为什么Many strong poems are built around one clear picture and not around a list of feelings. Many such pictures together are called imagery.