Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CREATIVE WRITING
TEMPLATES
A practical tool for primary-
school students
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Using Composition Templates to Facilitate Creative Writing
A tool for primary school students
Selena Sol | selena@selenasol.com | http://www.slideshare.net/selenasol/
POSITIONAL PERSUASIVE
To be continued….
Imagine
Imaginethat
thatthe
thegrocery
grocerystore
storeisis
aatown
townwhere
wheredifferent
differentfoods
foodslive.
live. Suppose
Write Supposeyou youwoke
wokeupupand
and
Writeaastory
storyabout
aboutaaday dayinin found out that you had become
found out that you had become
Grocery
GroceryTown
Townwhen whenoneoneofofthe
the aasuper
foods superhero
heroforforaaday.
day.What
What
foodsdoes
doessomething
somethingthat that happened?
happened?What Whatpowers
powersdid
did
changed
changedthe thelives
livesofofall
allthe
thefoods
foods you
ininthe youhave?
have?WhatWhatdiddidyou
youdo?
do?
thetown.
town.What
Whatdid didthe
thefood
food Write
Writeaastory
storyabout
aboutyour
yourday.
day.Be
Be
do?
do?What
Whathappened
happenedtotoititand andtoto creative!
the creative!
theother
otherfoods
foodsafterward?
afterward?
You love to read stories! You should also love to write stories!
Many stories follow a very simple pattern.
D
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ACT 1
The Setup
It all begins with Act 1 where the author gets the reader
interested in the characters and excited about the story
6. Moment of
Enlightenment
MAK
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UDIENC
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UDIENC
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1
As it turns out, this one structure works for probably 80% of the
stories you’ll come across (maybe 99% in primary & secondary
school)
STORYTELLING STAGE
ACTIVITY TIME!!!!!!
THE INTRO
Introduce characters & context
THE HOOK
The hook – what sets story in
motion
THE CHALLENGE
Facing a series of obstacles
THE COMEBACK
Advanced Writer Note:
THE AH-HA! If you get a book for really
young kids, sometimes they
A moment of enlightenment stop at the end of Act 2 to
make it simpler for new
THE TEST readers. Then it is just 1)
Intro, 2) Obstacles, 3) Victory
THE VICTORY
THE INTRO
Introduce characters & context
THE HOOK
The hook – what sets story in
motion
THE CHALLENGE
Facing a series of obstacles
THE LOW POINT
THE COMEBACK
THE AH-HA! “It’s not what we do, it is doing it together that matters!”
1 A moment of enlightenment
THE TEST
THE VICTORY
THE AH-HA! “It’s not what we do, it is doing it together that matters!”
A moment of enlightenment
THE TEST
THE VICTORY
THE AH-HA! “It’s not what we do, it is doing it together that matters!”
A moment of enlightenment
THE TEST
THE VICTORY
And of course, all the challenges need to lead to the low point
where the reader feels worried about the hero!
Q: What did you do during school holidays?
THE COMEBACK We found another way to have fun despite missing the beach
4
THE AH-HA! “It’s not what we do, it is doing it together that matters!”
A moment of enlightenment
Advice:
THE TEST The comeback needs to tie
the obstacles to the ah-ha!
This is how the hero learns
the ah-ha, so it needs to
THE VICTORY make sense!
But unless you want to leave the reader crying, you need to turn
the story around and show the hero growing
Q: What did you do during school holidays?
THE COMEBACK We found another way to have fun despite missing the beach
THE AH-HA! “It’s not what we do, it is doing it together that matters!”
A moment of enlightenment
THE TEST Will it rain and we miss day 2 also?!? Here is where I prove
5 myself!
THE VICTORY
But after the hero has grown and discovered the moral of the
story, we need to test her to make sure she really learned her
lesson!
Q: What did you do during school holidays?
THE COMEBACK We found another way to have fun despite missing the beach
THE AH-HA! “It’s not what we do, it is doing it together that matters!”
A moment of enlightenment
THE TEST Will it rain and we miss day 2 also?!? Here is where I prove
myself!
6 THE VICTORY No! We made it to the beach and had a great time.
Finally let’s all say “Hooray!” Our hero has overcome all the
obstacles and learned a life lesson.
Q: What did you do during school holidays?
THE COMEBACK We found another way to have fun despite missing the
beach
THE AH-HA! “It’s not what we do, it is doing it together that matters!”
A moment of enlightenment
THE TEST Will it rain and we miss day 2 also?!? Here is where I prove
myself!
THE VICTORY No! We made it to the beach and had a great time
But wait, we still need to go back to write the starting! You’ll need something to
make your reader “excited” enough to read your story. This hooks the reader like
a fish on the line. Think about what goal the hero had that was thwarted by the
obstacles you came up with earlier!
Q: What did you do during school holidays?
THE COMEBACK We found another way to have fun despite missing the
Thought provoker:
beach
Isn’t it interesting that we
write the intro last? Planning
THE AH-HA! “It’s not what we do, it is doing it together that matters!” is like that. You need to first
A moment of enlightenment decide where you are going.
Then, you figure out how to
THE TEST Will it rain and we miss day 2 also?!? Here is where I prove get there. Finally, you start
myself! the journey! It’s all
backwards in a plan!
THE VICTORY No! We made it to the beach and had a great time
Finally, write the Intro. Sometimes authors say you should introduce
who, what, where, & when. Try to make your characters interesting to the
reader. After all, who wants to read about someone they don’t like!
Q: What did you do during school holidays?
THE AH-HA! “It’s not what we do, it is doing it together that matters!”
1 A moment of enlightenment
THE TEST Will it rain and we miss day 2 also?!? Here is where I prove
5 myself!
6 THE VICTORY No! We made it to the beach and had a great time.
Alright, so here is our Story Plan! All you need to do now is fill
in the details following your plan and you’re done!
STAGE THE STORY PLAN STORY
Introduce I went to Penang Beach During the last 2 weeks of school holidays, my family went to Penang to meet relatives and to learn about
characters & Resort with family Malaysia, where my mother’s family comes from. We went to a beach resort , so having fun at the beach was
8 context also my plan. We arrived on Friday night and settled into our rooms, which were comfortable. The big bathtub
was my favorite part!
The hook I was very excited to By 7AM on Saturday morning, my sister and I were awake and ready for the beach.
7 play on the beach
Facing a series First , we were slow to It took every ounce of patience to wait until 7:30 when my mummy and daddy woke up. But they did. I couldn’t
of obstacles wake up, then wait! Unfortunately, it was not to be. Mummy insisted that we needed to eat a proper breakfast, so we had to
breakfast, then the go down to the restaurant first. I had two eggs, bacon and bread. My sister had the chicken porridge (they
2 hospital! don’t eat pork in Malaysia). By 8:30, everything went wrong. My sister got very sick. There must have been
something bad in her porridge. She was vomiting and her temperature went up to 39. We all rushed to the
hospital and ended up waiting all day while my sister got treatment and medicine.
The low point The whole day was By the time we got back to the hotel, it was already too late to go to the beach.
3 ruined
The comeback We found another way In the end, we ended up playing on our iPads for the rest of the evening and watching videos. At first I was really
4 to have fun despite
missing the beach
upset. How could my sister waste the whole day?!? But as we played Dungeon Hunter 2 together, things just
seemed to get better and by the time it was bedtime, we were joking and laughing together like normal.
A moment of It’s not what we do, it is I realized that it really didn’t matter where we were or what we were doing. Anything could be fun, if we did it
1 enlighten-
ment
doing it together that
matters!
together.
One last test Will it rain and we miss But, by the next day, I was really anxious to get going. Unfortunately, the sky looked dark and mummy said it
5 day 2 also?!? Here is might rain. My sister looked like she was going to cry. So I said, “Don’t worry, let’s just cross our fingers and see
where I prove myself! if the clouds go away. In the meantime, we can finish the final levels of Dungeon Hunter2”
Victory at last! No! We made it to the And sure enough, within 30 minutes the clouds disappeared and we all went down to the seaside. My sister and
6 beach and had a great I had a really, really fun time playing in the water and collecting hermit crabs and putting them in the tide pools.
time. But even if we hadn’t, I knew I still would have had a fun time!
Even though everyone uses the same structure and even if their
plans are very similar, everyone’s story will be different. That is
the magic of writing!
ACTIVITY TIME!!!!!!
Introduce
characters &
8 context
The hook
7
Facing a series of
obstacles
A moment of
1 enlightenment
Victory at last!
6
PRINT THIS WORKSHEET
Type 2: The Descriptive Structure
Pretend
Pretendthat
thatyou
youhavehaveaa
cousin
cousinyou've
you'venever
nevermet.met.
Your
Yourcousin
cousinlives
livesinin
another
anotherstate,
state,but
butyouyouwant
want Think
him Thinkabout
aboutsomething
somethingthatthat
himor
orher
hertotoget
getto toknow
know made
you. madeyouyouhappy
happyrecently.
recently.
you.Write
Writeaaletter
lettertotoyour
your Describe
cousin Describefully
fullywhat
what
cousindescribing
describingyourself.
yourself. happened
Include happenedand andhowhowyou
you
Includewhat
whatyouyoulook
looklike,
like, felt.
your felt.Also
Alsoexplain
explainwhywhyitit
yourpersonality,
personality,andandyour
your made
interests. madeyouyoufeel
feelthat
thatway.
way.
interests.
IS A
He is a
• Human
• Boy
• Singaporean
ISA HAS A
He is a He has a:
• Human • Finger
• Boy • Hand
• Singaporean • Arm
IS A HAS A DOES A
He is a: He has a: He does:
• Human • Finger • Gymnastics
• Boy • Hand • Dancing
• Singaporean • Arm • Homework
When you are writing a description, you can’t write about everything, or
you’d write a 1000 page book! Instead, choose only a few things to write
about from isahasadoesawasaina. But which ones to choose?!?
IS-A-HAS-A-DOES-A-WAS-A-IN-A
SO-WHATA
Q: Describe yourself!
SO-WHATA
• I love to be different
• I am a responsible person
• I just like to have fun
The final bit of a Description brings everything together into one simple
message. That means you need to choose isahasawasadoesaina items
that fit like a puzzle piece into a single sowhata!
Q: Describe yourself!
INTRO
SO-WHATA
IS A Girl
P4 class
Singaporean
HAS A Strong legs
Short hair
DOES A Runner
Swimmer
Dancer
WAS A Medalist in Perth CSTD
IN A Singapore
Asia
SO WHATA When I grow up, I want to
be an athelete
IS A Girl
P4 class
Singaporean
HAS A Strong legs
Short hair
DOES A Runner
Swimmer
Dancer
WAS A Medalist in Perth CSTD
IN A Singapore
Asia
SO WHATA When I grow up, I want to
be an athelete
3 4 5
POSITION
I like the color blue
First you need to state your position! In this case, the position is
you liking the color blue.
Q: What is your favorite color?
POSITION
I like the color red
2
THE AH-HA!
Blue makes me feel calm and
comfortable.
At the other end is the Ah-Ha. In the Ah-Ha you tie the position to
something meaningful or interesting to the reader.
Q: What is your favorite color?
POSITION
I like the color blue
3 4 5
2
THE AH-HA!
Blue makes me feel calm and
comfortable.
Finally, you need 3 observations that link the position to the ah-ha. Why
3? I don’t know!?! Whatever the case, remember you can choose any 3
things, but they all must lead to the Ah-Ha!
Q: What is your favorite color?
POSITION
I like the color blue
3 4 5
2
THE AH-HA!
Blue makes me feel calm and
comfortable.
POSITION
I like the color blue
3 4 5
2
THE AH-HA!
Blue makes me feel calm and
comfortable.
When you are making an observation, you can also think about
context. Where does this thing occur? Is it left, right, up or down?
Q: What is your favorite color?
POSITION
I like the color blue
3 4 5
2
THE AH-HA!
Blue makes me feel calm and
comfortable.
OBSERVATION Because water is blue Blue is also the color of still water. Now I don’t mean seawater, which has lots
of crashy white foam in it. I mean still water, like in a mountain lake.
OBSERVATION Because my mom’s eyes Blue is also the colour of my mummy’s eyes. Although she wears glasses at work
are blue and when she comes home, when we are chatting in bed before we go to sleep,
the night light always lights up her eyes.
AH-HA Blue makes me feel clam I guess, if I had to sum everything up into a single word, I would say “peaceful.”
and comfortable. Blue makes me feel peaceful. It is calm, it makes me feel cool and still like water,
and it makes me feel loved when I am with my mummy.
The Advanced student
Did you notice I
referred back to all 3
observations at the
end?!? Do that!
Teachers love it!
OK, so when you need to take a position, you can use the Positional
Plan to organize your ideas!
Type 4: The Persuasive Structure
To be continued….