Creative Writing

Time flies. Society has become so different. Education is no longer like the past. In the past, the best way to score is to study hard, memorise rules and practise more. Now, it's more than that. Mere studying helps but only to a certain extend. It's all about thinking out of the box, being mature, unique and creative.

Many parents once feedback to me, they are able to coach their child Math, Science & English because there are so many resources available. Most synthesis books you grab from the shelves in Popular include rules and examples. With most parents being educated and billingual, it's really not difficult for them to coach their children.

However, many have told me that they are not able to teach Creative Writing. Actually, it is really not as difficult as what many thought.

How to do well in Creative Writing ?

Yes, it is very easy to load your children with list after list of good words, idioms and phrases but the question is, how many do your children use in the exams ? 1, 2 or NONE?

Creative Writing is unlike grammar. It is 'alive' ! To do well, you need more than just good words. You have to arouse your children's interest. You have to expose them to different themes and possibility. What's the point of attending a Creative Writing class when the teacher made everyone write the same story ? What's the point of scoring close to full marks in your tuition class but borderline pass in school ?

So, to answer the questions from so many parents. The secrets to scoring well in Creative Writing are:

1) Put aside curriculum or assesment books and work on interaction. An 'alive' subject needs to be taught through words and actions, not text and memorisation.

2) Instead of learning 10 good words from each emotion categories, pick just 4. Remember, a good composition is like a roller coaster. You can have a compo that is happy all the way. If that's the case, why not pick a few from each emotion categories and use it well.

3) Plot must be unique and interesting. Throw away the first idea that comes into your mind. There's really no point writing the same as the majority. Think out of the box. Play with the different possible perspectives.

4) Introduction must be alluring. Weather is certainly out. Flashback, question, twisted, dialogues or definition. There are so many for you to choose from.

5) Sentence structure cannot be boring. Why must we start a sentence with Noun (I, Tom, The man) or connectors (However, Before long). Why can't we start with, adverbs (ly), (ing), idioms or more.

6) Focus on vivid verbs. Change run to scuttle or scamper and eat to gobble.

Lastly, make your teaching interesting !