creative writing workshop notes

8/11/2019 Creative Writing Workshop Notes

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Mainspring Learning Centrewww.mainspring.com.sg

1 Copyright.Mainspring Learning Centre2011 Joelson Tang

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Instructor: Mr Joelson Tang

Name: _______________________________


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2 Copyright.Mainspring Learning Centre

Continuous Writing

Continuous Writing is part of the PSLE English Paper 1 There would

be 2 questions to choose from

one with a picture and the otherwithout a picture.Continuous Writing is worth 40 marks. Students are assessed largelyon the relevancy of their Content(20 marks) to a given situation aswell as their competence in Language and Organizat ion (20 marks).

The objectives of this workshop include:

TheSCIENCE of WritingBe able to explain the SCIENCEof Writing

Be able to understand how a piece of writing is structured

Be able to use appropriate terminology for a given situation

Be able to PLAN the Introduction, Bodyand Conclusion

Be able to utilize the Composition Planning Framework (Annex A)

Be able understand how to WRITE as according to PLANconfidently

Be able to understand the aspects of EDITING

The ARTof WritingBe able to explain the ARTof Writing

Be able to come up with synonyms for various words

Be able to consult useful resources to aid in writing

Be able to utilize and personalize good phrases from materials read

2011 Joelson Tang


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Article 1 for discussion:

_____________________________

______________________________A total of 25 pilgrims were injured when their tour bus rolled over inHualien County yesterday. According to initial police investigations,the accident may have been caused by excessive speed when thevehicle made a swift turn on a steep downward slope.

_________________________________Windows of the automobile were shattered and people tumbled ontoeach other as the bus lay upside down.

_________________________________None of the injured passengers were in a critical condition. Twelve ofthem were discharged by 4:00 p.m. yesterday, while seven people

suffered from more serious injuries, including fractures anddislocated shoulders.

_________________________________By the time local ambulances arrived at the scene, all passengershad escaped from the bus under the assistance of people passing by.

_________________________________The driver was taken to the police station for questioning, with thecause of the accident still under investigation, local police said.

Adapted from The China Post 9 May 2011

2011 Joelson Tang


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Article 2 for discussion:

________________________________

_______________________________JEMPOL - A 71-YEAR-OLD man came home to find his grandson and hisfriends ransacking his house - and when he decided to call the police, one ofthe youths stabbed him to death.

_______________________________According to his wife, the man was shocked when he came across his 17-year-old grandson and three other teenagers ransacking his house at 9pm on

Thursday. The 57-year-old woman said the couple had earlier found theirclothes strewn all over and the cupboards ransacked upon their return fromattending prayers for her mother-in-law.

________________________________'We found a parang on the floor and a short while later, we heard voices from aroom upstairs,' she said, adding that they were shocked to see their 17-year-oldgrandson chatting with three teenagers inside. She said her husband lost his

temper then and immediately told her to call the police.

________________________________'One of the youths suddenly lunged at my husband and began stabbing himrepeatedly. The same youth also hit me,' she said tearfully at her home. Shesaid although her husband was bleeding profusely, the youths grabbed a bagcontaining cash and jewellery worth some RM10,000 (S$4,211) before fleeing.

________________________________'He was grabbing his abdomen and watching the kids run away. I'll never forgetthe look of disappointment on his face to see his own grandson committingsuch a heinous crime,' she said. Her husband died from excessive blood losswhile she needed 30 stitches for cuts on her shoulder, chest and arms.

________________________________Police said the grandson and his friends, including a girl, were detained several

hours later. The suspects were aged between 15 and 18 years.

Adapted from The Straits Times 15 Jan 2011

2011 Joelson Tang


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The SCIENCEof Writing It is studying about the parts of a composition

Categorizing

There is a general structure to every piece of writing

Each article/story has a ________

Each article/story is divided into ________________

Paragraphing

Each paragraph tells the reader _________________

Each paragraph has a _______________________, which

gives a ___________ of the paragraph

Terminology Terminology refers to words or phrases used for a particular

______________.

By looking at the terminology used, the reader will have a

rough idea about what your composition is

The following terminology have to do with:

Vegetables, Knife, Soup, Kitchen, Pot, Ladle

_________________________

Trophy, Opponents, Goalkeeper, Goals, Field

_________________________

Animals, Zookeeper, Animal Show, Tram, Souvenir Shop

_________________________ Drenched from head to toe, Thunder, Lightning

_________________________

2011 Joelson Tang


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Using Proper TerminologyThink of relevant terminologies for the following

situations:A) A bad stomachache in school

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________

B) A wallet was missing

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

C) Struck by a fever

_______________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2011 Joelson Tang


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Introduction In most cases, the marker could have an idea of how good or

how poor a students composition will turn out by looking at

his/her introduction!

As a rule of thumb, Introduction will be about _______ lines.

______________ to the situation, do not start with anything

unrelated.

E.g. An accident you witnessed on the way to school.Whats wrong with this?

The alarm bell rangyou woke upbrushed your teeth

and had your breakfastwore your uniformleft the

housetook the lifttook a bussaw the accident

It has a lot of ______________________ details!

A better suggestion would be:

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

Keep the reader _____________ . Do not reveal what willhappen later on!

E.g. A quarrel between 2 neighbours.

Mr A and Mr B scolded each other vulgar wordsthey

threw objects at each otherother neighbours saw

police arrived to maintain order

A lot of these can be written in the ______and___________

Think of interesting ways to start, NOT:

One sunny day, ; One Monday morning, ; Ring! rang

the school bell2011 Joelson Tang


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Body This should be the ____________ portion of the composition

The more imagination, the better!

Make sure you answer the points in the question, and add more

interesting ______________ to each point (if possible).

Reveal one event after another little by little: write more details for

one event before writing about the next event (you could have

another paragraph for another event).

For example,Tom was seen struggling in the swimming pool. His arms

were thrashing about desperately, as he tried to keep himself afloat.

However, it seemed that the more he struggled, the more anxious

he became.

At this time, Jimmy realized the danger Tom was in. He had to

do something. Without much thought, he looked around him to see

if there was any lifeguard on duty. Alas! There was none! Waiting nolonger, he decided he would have to become the lifeguard at all

cost!

Each paragraph should have ONE main idea.

In the above example, the 1stparagraph describes ______________.

Each paragraph should have a TOPIC SENTENCE

In the above example, the topic sentence for the 2ndparagraph is___________________________________________.

The 2 paragraphs describe _________________________________.

Do not only write about ________________________, but also

describe the _______________ and _______________ about the

characters.

Choose a minimum of ____ characters, a maximum of ____

characters.

Write only those details that are ____________ to the situation.

Avoid using _____________ speech (unless you see it makes

your story more interesting); use ________________ speech.2011 Joelson Tang


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BodySuggest 2 consecutive events for the following themes and give more details for

each event. Give a title for each event.

A) Billy fell down during the soccer match1) _________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

2) _________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

B) The bowl of noodles was overturned and spilled out

1) _________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

2) _________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

C) Both boys were fighting

1) _________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

2) _________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________2011 Joelson Tang


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Conclusion

Tell the reader what happened in the end

As a rule of thumb, the conclusion would be

about ______ lines, slightly longer than in the

Introduction.

Some ways to conclude are:

Moral of the story (have been used too

often!)

Problem was solved

Problem was not solved

A lesson learnt

How one felt about the day/event

2011 Joelson Tang


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ConclusionSuggest a suitable conclusion for each of the following

situations, and write down the method you used.

A) Police fighting with robbers of a bank who tried to escape

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

B) The doctor told me I had to rest at home for three days

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

C) Sallys parents came to know that their daughter was playing

truant

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

2011 Joelson Tang


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WRITING If your planning was well-done, writing should be relatively easy!

As a rule of thumb, write about ________ to ________ words Leave enough space to _____________. Leave a line between 2

paragraphs.

Each paragraph must have:

A _______________ sentence

____________________ sentences

A ____________________ sentence Use _______________ to link sentences (to make ideas look more

connected)

E.g. The dog dashed toward me. It glared at me. It looked malicious.

Connect the above sentences into one:

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

If you easily make grammatical errors, keep your sentences short.

E.g. I was feeling thirsty and uncomfortable and I went to the

kitchen to grab a can of Pepsi which was too enticing to resist and I

gulped the Pepsi down greedily and my thirst was satiated and I felt

refreshed.

Make shorter sentences of the above sentence:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

A new idea may be taught of while writing. Include that idea.

Do not become too carried away with one event. Make sure all

important events are given enough description.

Do not worry about little mistakes made, focus on ______________

as you refer to the ideas in your _____________.

Make sure that your ______________ can be read by most people.

In all use about _________ minutes.2011 Joelson Tang


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Composition Discussion

Example 1:

You were playing a game of catching with your friends at yourplayground in the neighbourhood. All of a sudden, the

neighbourhood bully appears, and pushes one of your friends onto

the ground.

You must make use of the points below in your story:

What did your friend do

How did all of you react

What happened in the end

You may reorder the points. You may also include other relevant points.

Example 2:

You were at a shop in a shopping centre when you saw a person

behaving suspiciously in a corner. After observing him a while, yousaw him taking things from the shop and hiding them.

You must make use of the points in your story:

What did the person take

What did you do

How did it end


Example 3:

Your younger brother kept complaining he was feeling pain around the

stomach area.

You must make use of the points in your story:

What had occurred What did you do

What happened in the end


2011 Joelson Tang


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Composition Planning Framework

Title: ________________________________________

Place(s):

Characters:

INTRODUCTION

BODYKey events:1.____________________________Sub-event 1 Sub-event 2 Sub-event 3

2.____________________________Sub-event 1 Sub-event 2 Sub-event 3


CONCLUSION

Annex A

2011 Joelson Tang


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EDITING3 main aspects to focus on:

1. Check for Spelling Errors Make sure you are 100% sure of the spelling of the words

you use!

2. Check for Grammatical Errors

Make sure your sentences sound OK.

Avoid starting sentences with words like But and Because

Put a comma (,) if you feel that a pause is needed

Use an exclamation mark (!) when there is something very

_______________

3. Replace simple words with better Vocabulary

Use Vocabulary that would better describe a situation,

rather than average Vocabulary.

E.g. The discipline master walked angrily with her eyebrows

closer together at the bully.

Replace the underlined words above with better Vocabulary:

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

Dont use bombastic words just to impress! Make sure you

know the ____________ of the word very well and it fits

well with the situation.

It is always possible to ___________ a Composition written,so use the remaining time you have to edit!

Read your story ________ and ________, make sure you

_________ it!

2011 Joelson Tang


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What makes a good

compositionVocabulary

Grammar

Organization

Content

ContentThe most ________________ part. It must answer the optionyou chose and all of its given points.

Organization

The reader can see clearly how one event leads to the next

event.

Grammar

There no serious grammatical errors e.g. Betty was not athome when her mother calls her.

VocabularyChoice of words used will distinguish an __________ studentfrom a student who has a good command of English. Morewill be discussed in the ART of Writing

2011 Joelson Tang


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TheARTof Writing It is writing about ideas in a creative way

A good writer can better describe

The ____________ of the characters

How the ____________ and place looked like

Using better Vocabulary and Language

Example:

He was very angry with her, and his face turned red.

(______________ student)

He became infuriated with her, and his face flushed red-

hot. (______________ student)

Now try to make the sentences below sound better:

She was feeling very happy and proud when she saw her

friends with her prize she won.

_______________________________________________

___________________________________________.

The teacher scolded her for being late for school yesterday

and today.

_______________________________________________

___________________________________________.

Try not to repeat a word you have used, but use a

__________ word that has the ______ idea (Synonym)

2011 Joelson Tang


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Using Synonyms

Think of at least 2 Synonyms for each of the followingwords. Use a Thesaurusto help you if need be.

1) Tired _______________________________

2) Lovely ______________________________

3) Smart ______________________________

4) Shocked ____________________________5) Big _________________________________

6) Serious _____________________________

7) Scared ______________________________

8) Angry _______________________________

9) Strong ______________________________

10) Smelly ______________________________

11) Walked _____________________________

12) Embarrassed _________________________

13) Stupid ______________________________

14) Attacked ____________________________

15) Dangerous __________________________

16) Kind _______________________________

17) Hardworking _________________________

18) Fast ________________________________19) Painful ______________________________

20) Sad _________________________________

2011 Joelson Tang


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Resources to help meHow to improve on the ART of Writing:

I should read:________________________________

________________________________

________________________________

________________________________

________________________________

________________________________

When I find the meanings of words new to me,

I would use these Dictionaries:

________________________________

________________________________

________________________________

because _____________________________________

___________________________________________.

I will ____________ forming _______________ with newwords I have learnt.

(Go back at the articles)

I will modify good descriptive ___________ to construct my

own sentences.

E.g. made a swift turn on a steep downward slope (article

1, 1stparagraph)

The car driver tried to avoid colliding into a vehicle in front

so he made a swift turn on a steep downward slope, causing

his car to burst into flames.2011 Joelson Tang


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Making use of good phrases(Look at the articles you have discussed again)

Make a sentence with 3 good phrases you can find from eacharticle:

Article 1

Phrase: ________________________________________

Sentence: ______________________________________

_______________________________________________

Phrase: ________________________________________

Sentence: ______________________________________

_______________________________________________

Phrase: ________________________________________

Sentence: ______________________________________

_______________________________________________

Article 2

Phrase: ________________________________________

Sentence: ______________________________________

_______________________________________________

Phrase: ________________________________________

Sentence: ______________________________________

_______________________________________________

Phrase: ________________________________________

Sentence: _____________________________________________________________________________________

2011 Joelson Tang


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Composition Planning Framework

Title: ________________________________________

Place(s):

Characters:

INTRODUCTION

BODYKey events:1.____________________________Sub-event 1 Sub-event 2 Sub-event 3



CONCLUSION

Annex A

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