Why Is Creative Writing Not Just About Good Ideas?
Now that creative writing is part of the 11+ curriculum, it is a subject that needs to be taken very seriously, which means that the ‘creative’ part needs to be more refined and channelled than ever before.
The fundamental idea of creative writing is to let your imagination flow, producing something original, entertaining and interesting.
For some homeschooled children, a tutor may be needed to help them develop this skill, for some people are naturally more creative than others, even though youngsters tend to have a more vivid imagination than adults.
However, the reverse may be true on other occasions. Some youngsters may have all sorts of ideas and feel excited about them, but struggle to put them together coherently enough to produce a high-quality piece of work that achieves what the writer is aiming to communicate.
This is where a tutor can prove invaluable, turning the process of writing from a mish-mash of good ideas without much form into something tangible.
What Techniques Can Improve Creative Writing?
There are many techniques used by writers to hone their craft and a tutor could help your child to try these. Some are for more experienced writers, but many are things that anyone can try:
- Using the five senses to describe a scene
- Setting word limits to avoid overwriting
- Trying to write in a different genre than normal
- Using visual prompts
- Reading other work for inspiration (while avoiding plagiarism, of course!)
- More planning, with bullet points and diagrams to build shape and structure
Often, the last of these will prove to be the most important in bringing more discipline to a young student’s writing, helping bring their ideas together into something meaningful and impactful that flows well.
Creative writing is one of those things that wasn’t part of the 11+ curriculum in the past, so for parents, this can sometimes be a tricky area for homeschooling.
However, with a skilled tutor who is experienced in this area, you could help your child to refine their writing to produce some excellent written work.
