Many students approach creative writing without a strategy. After reading the composition question, students often race to pen whatever first comes to their mind. Although this reckless behavior can be attributed to the anxiety to complete the essay within the stipulated time given, many students simply have no winning strategies. The end product they produce is a ‘flat’ essay that will only yield a ‘B’ at best. These essays lack no X-factor to help them stand out from the competition. Below are 5 secret tips that will guarantee you an ‘A’ grade for PSLE compositions.
‘Hook’ your readers by ‘turning’
The anticipated, the unsurprising and the obvious close the mind of your readers. However, the unexpected ones open your readers’ minds and keep them engaged by making them imagine and ready to receive your stories. Unpredictable events are great for stories because they have the capability to ‘turn’ a story to ‘hook’ the reader. Hence, don’t go about writing a very predictable plot that will bore the examiner to death. Surprise your readers by looking beyond the obvious to hook them.
Always ask questions
You have to consider the situations and characters you create because that is the way you find the necessary complications of story and character. It does not really matter in the early stages what the answers are; what matters is that you ask the questions; lots of questions. The more answers you get, the better; they help you develop interesting characters and scenarios. The more ideas you can generate, the more likely we are able to come up with something special for both the character and story that engages the reader.
Viewpoint
One of the most important questions you should be asking while writing an essay is whose story is it and whose perspective it is from? Ascertain the viewpoint, the character’s perspective and consistently stick to it. Don’t shift viewpoints. An ever-changing perspective is one of the major causes of volatility in a story which will inevitably confuse your reader.
Time your ‘punches’
It is an awesome idea to have the ‘punch’ of a sentence, paragraph or story at the end of the essay. Remember, sending shockwaves is best done at the end, not at the beginning. It should be what you are leading up to, not what you are writing away from. If the interest is all in the first part of the story, the rest of it tails off which may disappoint your readers.
Conceal yourself
Not everything you intend to communicate to your readers has to be on the page – important elements of the story can be hidden and made present through structure and implication. You need to know them, they need to be there, but they can be implied and do not have to be explicitly stated.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, these secret tips are what examiners look for before stamping marked PSLE essays with an ‘A’. Why aren’t they an open secret then? Well, it’s true that these tips are easy for students to comprehend. Sadly, the same can’t be said for the application of this knowledge. Knowing is one thing, applying is another. That’s where tailored coaching plays a pivotal role in imparting critical skills. Educators should ensure that students master the secret tips above with specifically customised and effective materials. Only then, students can make that final jump to an ‘A’ grade for every essay they attempt.
For enquiries about our quality English lessons or writing services, please contact The Useful English Tutor at 9747-0937.
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