Creative Writing Skills

1. Creative Writing Skills Area of Study - Belonging

2. CREATING EFFECTIVE OPENINGS • Pose a question “True! - nervous - very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?” - The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe “I am the vampire Lestat. Remember me? The vampire who became a super rock star, the one who write the autobiography? The one with the blond hair and the grey eyes, and the insatiable desire for visibility and fame?” - Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice • Use dialogue “Will tugged at his mother’s hand and said, ‘Come on, come on…’” - The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman “’What’s it going to be then, eh?’ There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, Dim being really dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar…” - A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

3. Use an unexplained or intriguing fact “People are always trying to fool me” - Walk about the Park by author unknown “The loneliest place in a country town on a rainy Wednesday evening is the taxi rank.” - Taxi Driver by James Leslie “They tell me India is an undeveloped country.” - The Great Indian Novel by SashiTharoor • Start with a memory “It was the washing line I remember first, silver skeletal arms throwing long, afternoon summer afternoon shadows on the lawn.” - Sky High by Hannah Robert “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember the distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” - One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

4. SHOW DON’T TELL Michael was embarrassed. • Five senses – sight, sound, touch, smell, taste • Physical manifestation of emotion and experience He began to stare aimlessly out the window as his face burned crimson red.

5. EXPERIMENT • Writing can become predictable - rethink your style I woke up this morning and the alarm rang. I knew that it was going to be a dreadful day just by the sound. 0530.The smell of musk drifted into the room by the alcohol stained pillow. My eyes spasmed with each breath I took. • Varying sentence starters Start with a: - noun e.g. blood, salt, memories, power - question e.g. Was he always so critical? Who was she? - adverb e.g. Cautiously,…In a timid manner,…Stupidly,… - adjective e.g. congealed blood, distant memories… - verb ending in –ing e.g. feeling, knowing, throwing - short, dramatic sentence e.g. It moved….It was empty…Five were missing.

7. Wading through the long grass, Jim smiled at the azure sky above him. Delicate aromas of daffodils filled his nostrils as he gathered flowers for Mrs Dubois’ summer gala that evening. Ladybugs as red as rubies danced in the summer air. Quietly humming a melodic tune, the man felt the buzz of busy bees around him. A distant bell chimed. He sighed. Was it noon already?

8. Include a range of repetitive imagery in your writing • Think of a way in which to represent a connection(or not) between people, groups or places. • For instance, you could use the image of a rope, a tree, music, a wave. • Create a simile or, even better, a metaphor to represent the connection between people or places. Make the connection weak to start. • Then, extend the metaphor, making it stronger.

9. Example: using the metaphor of a thread and a rope tying people together

10. Pathetic fallacy – where nature embodies and mirrors human emotions or characteristics; for example, angry clouds; a cruel wind “It is a northern country; they have cold weather, they have cold hearts. Cold; tempest; wild beasts in the forest. It is a hard life. Their houses are built of logs, dark and smoky within. There will be a crude icon of the virgin behind a guttering candle, the leg of a pig hung up to cure, a string of drying mushrooms. A bed, a stool, a table. Harsh, brief, poor lives.” - “The Werewolf” from The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

11. Your Task • Select a place that has been significant to you at some point in your life. Compose a piece of writing in which you depict your relationship to this place. • This can be one of belonging or not belonging • Due: Monday 31st October