General Tips for English Extension 2 (1 Viewer)

[veridis]

i always brings drafts an stuff to edit and have my mates read em over but a bringing my laptop would double the weight of my bag.
whenever i wanna piss off to do work i just go to the library or industrial arts staff. they always let me use the comps there an i keep all my work on USB
but come editing time for my film i think i may have to lug around the laptop

 

[Enlightened_One]

Don't leave it to the last minute (really trust me on this).

Try to make the characters interesting and "alive".

Don't go overboard, but it wouldn't hurt to through in the usual writing tricks (metaphors, similies, personification) etc.

Include description when needed. It's especially useful for setting the scene.

 

[Trixie Bird]

The Simplest Tip

Don't do it.

 

[Llyrai]

Have confidence!

Keep all your writen peices together and give your work a title, even if it doesnt suit perfectly. This will help give your work an identity, so you dont feel all lost and disorganised.

Name your drafts (eg, v1.1, v2.5 etc...) and keep all of them! <B>Any</B> changes to the draft bring you up from 1.1 to 1.2. While <B>major changes</B> to the storyline take you up from 1.1 to 2.0. Its simple, helps with organisation, is proof of progress (put them in your journal) and helps you feel like you are making progress! Im sure most of you will be working on your major work on your computer. <B>Never push the 'save' button. If you've made changes, it is 'SAVE AS'</B>

Write about something you love! Dont just do something cause your teacher says so, or because others are doing it. When my your teacher corrected my grammar and spelling, I accepted it. But when she commented and criticised ideas, syntax, layout and other aspects of my MW that hold subjective value, I challenged them if I felt my style worked better.

Research damnit! Although only about 20% of my research went into my major work, I did expand my knowledge on surrounding topics extensively! And besides, alot of ideas grow from your independant research. Dont assume, confirm.

Experiment! You have to show flair and originality.

 

[mayhemily]

Something I wish I had done in hindsight is to have finished my MW a little bit earlier to allow me to leave it for a bit and come back with a fresh perspective. Now, looking at my MW after the fact I can see a lot of areas that I would have changed but at the time because I had been working with it so closely for so long I was oblivious to those things.

 

[Llyrai]

Something I wish I had done in hindsight is to have finished my MW a little bit earlier to allow me to leave it for a bit and come back with a fresh perspective. Now, looking at my MW after the fact I can see a lot of areas that I would have changed but at the time because I had been working with it so closely for so long I was oblivious to those things.

This criticism could, however, be due to new experiences. So dont just assume that because you would have changed something, that it means the original idea is wrong. That is, unless you are refering to grammar, mayhemily.

 

[mewcou]

There is a chance that the marker will be a bitter and twisted old english teacher who is intent of destroying your self confidence.

I thought my story was great, my english teacher said it would get around or above 90%, all the other teachers in the english department said it was great. All the other people in my year (around 50% read it, no kidding) either liked it or open raved about it. My parents/grandparents cried when they read it...result: around 75% (I don't actually remember and I don't care to look again).

I write often and am published in collections of short stories (actual books, not magazines) and yet I did badly in ext2.

Moral of the story: Dunno, I'm just venting my frustration. *angst*

 

[rhapsody_bri]

not sure if this has already been said:
stick to the syllabus! if it says 6000-8000 words, make sure you do it!
this is especially the case when you come to the Reflection Statement, make sure you cover what the syllabus says they are looking for.
simply put, if you dont follow the syllabus, the markers wont be impressed.

 

[miffytoki]

for me these were the things that worked.

- try and get a draft done as soon as possible so u can basically spend half the year editing it. also sometimes it great if u finish your draft, then leave it for a month before you edit it again, this helped me to edit alot mroe efficiently with a fresh eye. Aim to finish your major work about 1 mnth before the due date, this also helps you out with trials and assessments)

- work on your journals but don't make it your top priority. in my opinion (feel free to disagree) but the journal is only there to help you keep track of where you are at. Its meant to aid your reflection statement which is REALLY important, but basically if u do a journal entry a week then thats fine.

- get as much ppl to read your work as possible and get feedback from them. this helps alot, because as u work on your MW you kinda get sick of thinking about it and your opinion isn't really reliable (in my opinion). as the year progressed for me i kept thinking my work was getting crapper and crapper cos i had read it just too many times.

- organise your time, but don't stress if you don't meet your deadlines. Alot of ppl in my class like wrote the whole thing like in the mnth before it was due (they got 48/50 and 50/50), my friend did it in basically the last 2 wks, i didn't see her at school for quite a while...the days i did see her she looked really sleepy....anyway she pulled it off and got 48 (no exageration).....unfortunately for the rest of us mere mortals this is almost impossible, in the long run it is easier and less stressful if u pace yourself out, but its possible to do it if you don't meet all your deadlines.

- oo and reading other ppl's works, esp the showcases are heaps useful. Esp in regards to your reflection statement. You have to be particularly careful with wording there because you have to make your thesis and argument really clear. read other ppl's works to get the general feel and layout.

- finally enjoy what your doing and have fun with it. looking back at it now, ext 2 was like the best subject i've ever done.

 

[drewgcn]

Mewcou, would you mind uploading your story? You have aroused my curiousity

 

[jhakka]

Re: ne1 from 04 willing to share sum words of wisdom?

Thread closed.

Lynn and I want to do some work on this forum, including fresh threads for the Assessments. Stay tuned.

Justin