Eng Adv Module C Creative Help :,( (1 Viewer)

[larry_j]

Hello, Im in year 12 and am preparing for my half yearlies for English Advanced (worth 30% of my grade)
I did pretty bad in my first task, so im really counting on this exam to pull me up. My exam this term is an essay and a creative based on an unknown prompt. The teachers are expecting us to bring a base creative that we can adapt to this prompt (if applicable)

My issue is that ive genuinely never gotten a good mark for a creative. The teachers always comment on how my use of language etc is very good, but that my ideas are either too cliche or too weird, or not explained enough etc.

Does anyone have any tips or potential story lines/story types that might increase my chances of success...
Thank you

 

[ilovemitski]

i think its best to write a story that is simple & resonates a bit with you and your own personal experiences. a lot of inspiration can come from developing awareness of what matters a lot to you, what you like/enjoy, and that can fuel some creativity in your piece. interweaving your own culture or some historical event can help make your work more unique too.
for instance, i had some segments of another language in my HSC piece, which was received well.
lmk if you have any questions

 

[larry_j]

i think its best to write a story that is simple & resonates a bit with you and your own personal experiences. a lot of inspiration can come from developing awareness of what matters a lot to you, what you like/enjoy, and that can fuel some creativity in your piece. interweaving your own culture or some historical event can help make your work more unique too.
for instance, i had some segments of another language in my HSC piece, which was received well.
lmk if you have any questions

was ur story a historical fiction? I find it hard to write historical fictions because they always feel so forced... thanks for replying

 

[ilovemitski]

its okay
I guess it could count as that. it was moreso some simple idea i’d conjured in my head, and then I grounded it in a specific time period & context. of course, your story could be more detached from the real world/fantastical or even set in the future if that’s what you prefer i would try to solidify the context of your story though, wherever that may be, just to give your writing more originality (to beat out the cliche)

 

[tigerian]

Hello, Im in year 12 and am preparing for my half yearlies for English Advanced (worth 30% of my grade)
I did pretty bad in my first task, so im really counting on this exam to pull me up. My exam this term is an essay and a creative based on an unknown prompt. The teachers are expecting us to bring a base creative that we can adapt to this prompt (if applicable)

My issue is that ive genuinely never gotten a good mark for a creative. The teachers always comment on how my use of language etc is very good, but that my ideas are either too cliche or too weird, or not explained enough etc.

Does anyone have any tips or potential story lines/story types that might increase my chances of success...
Thank you

Im an HSC marker , retired qualified English teacher who has taught and marked Mod C. If I can help with advice or marking or tips feel free to send a pm and I will send some info if you wish

 

[cloudsinmycoffee]

i agree, you should write things you know WELL and can describe in a lot of detail. write about your childhood home, favourite supermarket, dad's car, whatever it is if you can really picture it when you're writing it will make it so much more vivid and your writing more expressive. adapting to prompts can be quite tricky, but try and have more of a skeleton e.g. i want to write about seeing a friend for the first time years after a falling-out , and then practice adapting that to different visual or written prompts . you don't have to write it out just brainstorm for 5 mins how you would go about answering. if you can do enough of those, you'll be prepared for anything.

 

[flummi]

like everyone said, if youre ever unsure on which topic to write about in depth, then choosing a niche personal experience will always work out. its still acceptable to write with cliches if youre uncomfortable using complex ideas but just make sure the cliche isnt the central idea. if you need help writing stylistically, spam read a bunch of b6 essays and take inspiration from those.

dont sleep on your reflection either, write it as though youre selling the composition to someone who hasnt read your paper. also you can lie about where you got your inspiration from too because they wont check

+ piss easy marks by sustaining a relevant motif (light is always a good one) throughout. dont overuse basic language techniques such as zoomorphism and alliteration because they can tell when youre just trying to get marks

 

[Mood_124]

similar to writing akin to a personal experience: write fanfic or take heavy inspo from smth historical or fiction. I'm not joking, my ext 1 trial creative was literally Mrs Dalloway fanfic (just changed the names slightly) and my advance english final mod c was incredibly inspired by the book thief and a bunch of other ww2 set books and historical events set around the time i saw briefly from like trove, etc. and i got fullmarks in this section btw.
fanfic is also like nesa level perfect: flouncy language, over-the-top but understandable metaphor, characterisation that makes your cringe but they love it, stories that are short but have an entire plotline (look at one-shots if you want to write a story but dont have the time to completely flesh out all characters and spaces) dialogue that is seeped in double meaning and comes across like teen angst turned up x100 (go on ao3 literally greatest nesa english study tool ever).

 

[whatsaloaf]

similar to writing akin to a personal experience: write fanfic or take heavy inspo from smth historical or fiction. I'm not joking, my ext 1 trial creative was literally Mrs Dalloway fanfic (just changed the names slightly) and my advance english final mod c was incredibly inspired by the book thief and a bunch of other ww2 set books and historical events set around the time i saw briefly from like trove, etc. and i got fullmarks in this section btw.
fanfic is also like nesa level perfect: flouncy language, over-the-top but understandable metaphor, characterisation that makes your cringe but they love it, stories that are short but have an entire plotline (look at one-shots if you want to write a story but dont have the time to completely flesh out all characters and spaces) dialogue that is seeped in double meaning and comes across like teen angst turned up x100 (go on ao3 literally greatest nesa english study tool ever).

i remember i would always get such good feedback on my creative writing in junior years and all i ever did was read fanfiction omg it was so great