creative writing titles for 11

11+ creative writing guide with 50 example topics and prompts

by Hayley | Nov 17, 2022 | Exams , Writing | 0 comments

The 11+ exam is a school entrance exam taken in the academic year that a child in the UK turns eleven.

These exams are highly competitive, with multiple students battling for each school place awarded.

The 11 plus exam isn’t ‘one thing’, it varies in its structure and composition across the country. A creative writing task is included in nearly all of the 11 plus exams, and parents are often confused about what’s being tested.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that the plot of your child’s writing task is important. It is not.

The real aim of the 11+ creative writing task is to showcase your child’s writing skills and techniques.

And that’s why preparation is so important.

This guide begins by answering all the FAQs that parents have about the 11+ creative writing task.

At the end of the article I give my best tips & strategies for preparing your child for the 11+ creative writing task , along with 50 fiction and non-fiction creative writing prompts from past papers you can use to help your child prepare. You’ll also want to check out my 11+ reading list , because great readers turn into great writers.

Do all 11+ exams include a writing task?

Not every 11+ exam includes a short story component, but many do. Usually 3 to 5 different prompts are given for the child to choose between and they are not always ‘creative’ (fiction) pieces. One or more non-fiction options might be given for children who prefer writing non-fiction to fiction.

Timings and marking vary from test to test. For example, the Kent 11+ Test gives students 10 minutes for planning followed by 30 minutes for writing. The Medway 11+ Test gives 60 minutes for writing with ‘space allowed’ on the answer booklet for planning.

Tasks vary too. In the Kent Test a handful of stimuli are given, whereas 11+ students in Essex are asked to produce two individually set paragraphs. The Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CCSE) includes 2 creative writing paragraphs inside a 60-minute English exam.

Throughout the UK each 11+ exam has a different set of timings and papers based around the same themes. Before launching into any exam preparation it is essential to know the content and timing of your child’s particular writing task.

However varied and different these writing tasks might seem, there is one key element that binds them.

The mark scheme.

Although we can lean on previous examples to assess how likely a short story or a non-fiction tasks will be set, it would be naïve to rely completely on the content of past papers. Contemporary 11+ exams are designed to be ‘tutor-proof’ – meaning that the exam boards like to be unpredictable.

In my online writing club for kids , we teach a different task each week (following a spiral learning structure based on 10 set tasks). One task per week is perfected as the student moves through the programme of content, and one-to-one expert feedback ensures progression. This equips our writing club members to ‘write effectively for a range of purposes’ as stated in the English schools’ teacher assessment framework.

This approach ensures that students approaching a highly competitive entrance exam will be confident of the mark scheme (and able to meet its demands) for any task set.

Will my child have a choice of prompts to write from or do they have to respond to a single prompt, without a choice?

This varies. In the Kent Test there are usually 5 options given. The purpose is to gather a writing sample from each child in case of a headteacher appeal. A range of options should allow every child to showcase what they can do.

In Essex, two prescriptive paragraphs are set as part of an hour-long English paper that includes comprehension and vocabulary work. In Essex, there is no option to choose the subject matter.

The Medway Test just offers a single prompt for a whole hour of writing. Sometimes it is a creative piece. Recently it was a marketing leaflet.

The framework for teaching writing in English schools demands that in order to ‘exceed expectations’ or better, achieve ‘greater depth’, students need to be confident writing for a multitude of different purposes.

In what circumstances is a child’s creative writing task assessed?

In Essex (east of the UK) the two prescriptive writing tasks are found inside the English exam paper. They are integral to the exam and are assessed as part of this.

In Medway (east Kent in the South East) the writing task is marked and given a raw score. This is then adjusted for age and double counted. Thus, the paper is crucial to a pass.

In the west of the county of Kent there is a different system. The Kent Test has a writing task that is only marked in appeal cases. If a child dips below the passmark their school is allowed to put together a ‘headteacher’s appeal’. At this point – before the score is communicated to the parent (and probably under cover of darkness) the writing sample is pulled out of a drawer and assessed.

I’ve been running 11+ tutor clubs for years. Usually about 1% of my students passed at headteacher’s appeal.

Since starting the writing club, however, the number of students passing at appeal has gone up considerably. In recent years it’s been more like 5% of students passing on the strength of their writing sample.

What are the examiners looking for when they’re marking a student’s creative writing?

In England, the government has set out a framework for marking creative writing. There are specific ‘pupil can’ statements to assess whether a student is ‘working towards the expected standard,’ ‘working at the expected standard’ or ‘working at greater depth’.

Members of the headteacher panel assessing the writing task are given a considerable number of samples to assess at one time. These expert teachers have a clear understanding of the framework for marking, but will not be considering or discussing every detail of the writing sample as you might expect.

Schools are provided with a report after the samples have been assessed. This is very brief indeed. Often it will simply say ‘lack of precise vocabulary’ or ‘confused paragraphing.’

So there is no mark scheme as such. They won’t be totting up your child’s score to see if they have reached a given target. They are on the panel because of their experience, and they have a short time to make an instant judgement.

Does handwriting matter?

Handwriting is assessed in primary schools. Thus it is an element of the assessment framework the panel uses as a basis for their decision.

If the exam is very soon, then don’t worry if your child is not producing immaculate, cursive handwriting. The focus should simply be on making it well-formed and legible. Every element of the assessment framework does not need to be met and legible writing will allow the panel to read the content with ease.

Improve presentation quickly by offering a smooth rollerball pen instead of a pencil. Focus on fixing individual letters and praising your child for any hint of effort. The two samples below are from the same boy a few months apart. Small changes have transformed the look and feel:

Sample 1: First piece of work when joining the writing club

Sample 2: This is the same boy’s improved presentation and content

How long should the short story be.

First, it is not a short story as such—it is a writing sample. Your child needs to showcase their skills but there are no extra marks for finishing (or marks deducted for a half-finished piece).

For a half hour task, you should prepare your child to produce up to 4 paragraphs of beautifully crafted work. Correct spelling and proper English grammar is just the beginning. Each paragraph should have a different purpose to showcase the breadth and depth of their ability. A longer – 60 minute – task might have 5 paragraphs but rushing is to be discouraged. Considered and interesting paragraphs are so valuable, a shorter piece would be scored more highly than a rushed and dull longer piece.

I speak from experience. A while ago now I was a marker for Key Stage 2 English SATs Papers (taken in Year 6 at 11 years old). Hundreds of scripts were deposited on my doorstep each morning by DHL. There was so much work for me to get through that I came to dread long, rambling creative pieces. Some children can write pages and pages of repetitive nothingness. Ever since then, I have looked for crafted quality and am wary of children judging their own success by the number of lines competed.

Take a look at the piece of writing below. It’s an excellent example of a well-crafted piece.

Each paragraph is short, but the writer is skilful.

He used rich and precisely chosen vocabulary, he’s broken the text into natural paragraphs, and in the second paragraph he is beginning to vary his sentence openings. There is a sense of control to the sentences – the sentence structure varies with shorter and longer examples to manage tension. It is exciting to read, with a clear awareness of his audience. Punctuation is accurate and appropriate.

11+ creative writing example story

How important is it to revise for a creative writing task.

It is important.

Every student should go into their 11+ writing task with a clear paragraph plan secured. As each paragraph has a separate purpose – to showcase a specific skill – the plan should reflect this. Built into the plan is a means of flexing it, to alter the order of the paragraphs if the task demands it. There’s no point having a Beginning – Middle – End approach, as there’s nothing useful there to guide the student to the mark scheme.

Beyond this, my own students have created 3 – 5 stories that fit the same tight plan. However, the setting, mood and action are all completely different. This way a bank of rich vocabulary has already been explored and a technique or two of their own that fits the piece beautifully. These can be drawn upon on the day to boost confidence and give a greater sense of depth and consideration to their timed sample.

Preparation, rather than revision in its classic form, is the best approach. Over time, even weeks or months before the exam itself, contrasting stories are written, improved upon, typed up and then tweaked further as better ideas come to mind. Each of these meets the demands of the mark scheme (paragraphing, varied sentence openings, rich vocabulary choices, considered imagery, punctuation to enhance meaning, development of mood etc).

To ensure your child can write confidently at and above the level expected of them, drop them into my weekly weekly online writing club for the 11+ age group . The club marking will transform their writing, and quickly.

What is the relationship between the English paper and the creative writing task?

Writing is usually marked separately from any comprehension or grammar exercises in your child’s particular 11+ exam. Each exam board (by area/school) adapts the arrangement to suit their needs. Some have a separate writing test, others build it in as an element of their English paper (usually alongside a comprehension, punctuation and spelling exercise).

Although there is no creative writing task in the ISEB Common Pre-test, those who are not offered an immediate place at their chosen English public school are often invited back to complete a writing task at a later date. Our ISEB Common Pre-test students join the writing club in the months before the exam, first to tidy up the detail and second to extend the content.

What if my child has a specific learning difficulty (dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, ASD)?

Most exam boards pride themselves on their inclusivity. They will expect you to have a formal report from a qualified professional at the point of registration for the test. This needs to be in place and the recommendations will be considered by a panel. If your child needs extra arrangements on the day they may be offered (it isn’t always the case). More importantly, if they drop below a pass on one or more papers you will have a strong case for appeal.

Children with a specific learning difficulty often struggle with low confidence in their work and low self-esteem. The preparations set out above, and a kids writing club membership will allow them to go into the exam feeling positive and empowered. If they don’t achieve a pass at first, the writing sample will add weight to their appeal.

Tips and strategies for writing a high-scoring creative writing paper

• Read widely for pleasure. Read aloud to your child if they are reluctant.
• Create a strong paragraph plan where each paragraph has a distinct purpose.
• Using the list of example questions below, discuss how each could be written in the form of your paragraph plan.
• Write 3-5 stories with contrasting settings and action – each one must follow your paragraph plan. Try to include examples of literary devices and figurative language (metaphor, simile) but avoid clichés.
• Tidy up your presentation. Write with a good rollerball pen on A4 lined paper with a printed margin. Cross out with a single horizontal line and banish doodling or scribbles.
• Join the writing club for a 20-minute Zoom task per week with no finishing off or homework. An expert English teacher will mark the work personally on video every Friday and your child’s writing will be quickly transformed.

Pressed for time? Here’s a paragraph plan to follow.

At Griffin Teaching we have an online writing club for students preparing for the 11 plus creative writing task . We’ve seen first-hand what a difference just one or two months of weekly practice can make.

That said, we know that a lot of people reading this page are up against a hard deadline with an 11+ exam date fast approaching.

If that’s you (or your child), what you need is a paragraph plan.

Here’s one tried-and-true paragraph plan that we teach in our clubs. Use this as you work your way through some of the example prompts below.

11+ creative writing paragraph plan

Paragraph 1—description.

Imagine standing in the location and describe what is above the main character, what is below their feet, what is to their left and right, and what is in the distance. Try to integrate frontend adverbials into this paragraph (frontend adverbials are words or phrases used at the beginning of a sentence to describe what follows—e.g. When the fog lifted, he saw… )

Paragraph 2—Conversation

Create two characters who have different roles (e.g. site manager and student, dog walker and lost man) and write a short dialogue between them. Use what we call the “sandwich layout,” where the first person says something and you describe what they are doing while they are saying it. Add in further descriptions (perhaps of the person’s clothing or expression) before starting a new line where the second character gives a simple answer and you provide details about what the second character is doing as they speak.

Paragraph 3—Change the mood

Write three to four sentences that change the mood of the writing sample from light to gloomy or foreboding. You could write about a change in the weather or a change in the lighting of the scene. Another approach is to mention how a character reacts to the change in mood, for example by pulling their coat collar up to their ears.

Paragraph 4—Shock your reader

A classic approach is to have your character die unexpectedly in the final sentence. Or maybe the ceiling falls?

11+ creative writing questions from real papers—fictional prompts

• The day the storm came
• The day the weather changed
• The snowstorm
• The rainy day
• A sunny day out
• A foggy (or misty) day
• A day trip to remember
• The first day
• The day everything changed
• The mountain
• The hillside
• The old house
• The balloon
• The old man
• The accident
• The unfamiliar sound
• A weekend away
• Moving house
• A family celebration
• An event you remember from when you were young
• An animal attack
• The school playground at night
• The lift pinged and the door opened. I could not believe what was inside…
• “Run!” he shouted as he thundered across the sand…
• It was getting late as I dug in my pocket for the key to the door. “Hurry up!” she shouted from inside.
• I know our back garden very well, but I was surprised how different it looked at midnight…
• The red button on the wall has a sign on it saying, ‘DO NOT TOUCH.’ My little sister leant forward and hit it hard with her hand. What happened next?
• Digging down into the soft earth, the spade hit something metal…
• Write a story which features the stopping of time.
• Write a story which features an unusual method of transport.
• The cry in the woods
• Write a story which features an escape

11+ creative writing questions from real papers—non-fiction prompts

• Write a thank you letter for a present you didn’t want.
• You are about to interview someone for a job. Write a list of questions you would like to ask the applicant.
• Write a letter to complain about the uniform at your school.
• Write a leaflet to advertise your home town.
• Write a thank you letter for a holiday you didn’t enjoy.
• Write a letter of complaint to the vet after an unfortunate incident in the waiting room.
• Write a set of instructions explaining how to make toast.
• Describe the room you are in.
• Describe a person who is important to you.
• Describe your pet or an animal you know well.

11 Plus creative writing tips and examples

Preparing for your  11 Plus creative writing  exam doesn’t have to be a worry. We help you here with 11 Plus creative writing tips and examples to prepare you for the exam. We're here to help you practice and improve your writing techniques and creative writing skills so you’re ready for your 11 Plus exams . 

Creative writing can be really fun – you can explore something you really want to and write about something that means a lot to you. Although, we know it can be a little bit worrying for some students that don’t enjoy writing as much or don’t feel confident in their writing skills. 

So, ahead of your  11 Plus exams  we want to help you prepare with these 11 Plus creative writing tips and strategies.

What Is 11 Plus Creative Writing?

The 11 Plus creative writing exam assesses a child’s ability to compose structured and engaging pieces of written work. It’s designed to evaluate a student’s fluency, imaginative capabilities, grammar, punctuation and overall ability to write creatively.

What does the 11 Plus creative writing exam include?

The 11 Plus creative writing exam is usually 25-30 minutes and could involve the continuation of a storyline that you’ll be provided with. Alternatively you might be asked to write a short piece of your own in response to a visual stimulus – this could be describing a character or writing something from their perspective, like a diary entry. 

Here are some the potential writing tasks you could be given for your 11 Plus creative writing exam: 

Descriptive task – continuing on a short story that you’ll be provided with, or describing a place or situation that your character finds themselves in. 

Persuasive task – you could be asked to write a letter or an article with the goal to persuade the reader to feel or act in a certain way after reading it by using emotive language. 

Narrative task – this would usually involve writing your own short story. 

Expository task – this could involve writing an article or set of instructions designed to inform the reader how to go about doing something properly. 

What are the 11 Plus creative writing topics?

Prior to starting your creative writing piece, you’ll need to have a topic. It’s important that the topic remains at the centre of everything you’re writing, as it will shape the direction of the story and the characters

You can think of a topic as a theme for your story. This can be really simple, as a simple theme will really help write a story in your own way. 

For your 11 plus creative writing exam, you’ll likely be presented with a topic that you then have to write about. Often these topics will have you writing about: 

Being lost or scared, capturing the feeling of being alone and writing a story about overcoming it.

Doing something exciting or achieving something impressive, the best day of your life so far. 

A holiday or an adventure

Travelling to the city or countryside and what you might experience there.

Writing a short story on each of the topics above can be a great way to familiarise yourself with creative writing.

What do examiners look for in creative writing?

Successfully passing your creative writing 11 Plus creative writing exam is a lot less daunting if you know what the examiners are looking for in your creative writing. 

Unlike other exams, it can be difficult to prepare the exact answers. It’s not like a sum in maths, where there’s only one correct answer after your working out. That doesn’t mean there aren’t specific things that examiners are looking for. Let’s take a look at those:

A well planned piece of writing

Strong creativity and good imagination

A fluent writing style

Good and correct use of punctuation 

Good use of English grammar

Complex sentences that are broken in an easy-to-read way with commas

Good spelling

Good and exciting vocabulary

Neat, easy-to-read handwriting

You can use those things as a checklist for your creative writing. When you write practice pieces, read them back and see if you can check off everything on the list of things that examiners are looking for. This will not only highlight areas needing improvement but will also act as a confidence-building tool.

11 Plus creative writing marking scheme

Your creative writing task will be worth 50% of your  English 11 plus exam  paper. So, you’ll want to make sure you’re well prepared!

Part of preparing for the creative writing task is ensuring you know how the exam will be marked. Here’s what your examiner will look at when they mark your work: 

The plot – you need to write a piece that’s got an engaging plot, but more importantly it needs to follow a strong beginning, middle and end structure. We’ll be getting more detail about that further on. Make sure you plan your story to ensure you have a well-structured and easy-to-follow plot. 

Vocabulary – Make sure you’re using a wide range of adjectives, nouns and adverbs. Rather than describing everything the same way, come up with some other engaging ways to write something. Use a good amount of complex words that you normally wouldn’t use (and make sure you understand what they mean so you use them correctly). 

Writing devices – no, your examiner isn’t looking at what pen you used to write the exam. Writing devices refer to things like metaphors, similes, tension building short sentences, alliteration and irony. Try sentences like “he was as fast as a runaway train,” for a simile example. See if you can write a few sentences that each use a different writing device to practice.

Grammar – now is a good time to start practising your grammar skills. Make sure you’re using commas correctly when you write long sentences, and that you format your character dialogue properly. There are a few common grammar mistakes that may catch you out, so keep practising. 

Spelling – While avoiding spelling mistakes is good, to get great marks on your exams you’ll want to use complicated words and spell them correctly. It might be tempting to avoid complicated words if you’re not sure how to spell them but it’s actually not a bad idea to use one or two complicated words and spell them so they’re recognisable than to use no complicated words at all.

11 Plus creative writing tips and techniques

Every great writer has one thing in common – writing techniques! Everyone can develop their creative writing skills by practising these creative writing tasks.

Getting creative 

If you want to write a story this should be your starting point! Have a good think about the topic for your story and the character you’ll be writing about. Take a minute to sit back, close your eyes and think about the world of your story. Can you see it? 

If you can visualise the world of your story, then you’ve got a good idea to work with! Get creative about the story and think about directions that it can go, and the characters you can work with. 

Planning and structure

Once you’ve got your theme in place you need to have a think about the direction of your story. Think about how your story starts, how you want it to end and then think about how you want your main character to get there. 

Remember the classic story structure of beginning, middle and end:

Use the beginning of your story to introduce your character, where they are and maybe one of two of their friends. Maybe even try to set them a goal at this point, what’s something they really, really want? 

Introduce the middle of your story with a problem or an obstacle for your main character to overcome. This is going to be the longest section of your story, so make sure you don’t spend too long with the opening! Think about how your character would overcome the problem you’ve introduced for them. 

In the end your main character overcomes the problem that you introduced for them. Think about what they would feel, the relief they’d experience and how you can sum that up in a paragraph or two. 

There are lots of different ways to write a story, but following the beginning, middle and end structure like this will really help you plan. Try to just write a few short sentences from the beginning, middle and end, then expand it out from there. 

If you need more inspiration to improve your writing skills, why not see David Walliam’s top ten writing tips ?

Creative writing examples: using the senses

Remember – writing descriptively helps your ideas to really come across in what you’re writing. The person reading your creative writing piece can’t read your mind!

A great way to really set a scene in your creative writing is to use the senses:

Sight – what can your character see? Describe how the scene around them looks, and be sure to use some good adjectives.

Sound – can your character hear anything? Even if your character can’t hear anything, that can sometimes be a great way to set a scene. Or maybe your character can hear lots of noise? Either way, make sure the reader knows that.

Smell – what does the place your character’s in smell like? You can make a disgusting, murky bog seem even filthier by describing how smelly it is to the reader. We all react strongly to smells, good or bad, so make sure you’re describing them to your reader.

Touch – what can your character feel? Are they sitting on a really soft sofa? Is the cat they’re stroking extra fluffy? Describe everything your character feels!

Taste – is your character tasting anything? Of course, if your character’s eating you need to describe it. How sweet are the sweets they’re eating? How bitter is the medicine they had to take? You could even get creative and describe a smell so bad that your character can almost taste it!

Get creative when you write about senses. You don’t have to cover every sense in order, you can mix things up in a paragraph or two, and sometimes you only need to cover two or three senses in a particular scene. Make sure you’re always telling your audience what your character is experiencing so the reader can put themselves in your character’s shoes. Utilising this technique ensures the reader engages with your creative writing piece.

Fluent writing

Practice makes perfect when it comes to fluent writing. To practice fluent writing, set yourself a creative writing task as if you were taking your 11 Plus creative writing test.

Try keeping the stories short. Just a few paragraphs so you can do a few attempts. When you’re finished, read them back to yourself out loud. See if the sentences are easy to read out loud. If they’re not, it might be good to rewrite them in a way that makes them easier to say. Try doing this out loud too, rephrase the sentence so it means the same thing but is easier to say. 

Reading out loud is not something you will be doing at the exam, so practicing your fluency at home is the key. Never be scared to do a few practice stories before your 11 Plus creative writing exam.

Proofreading Your Creative Writing

Finally, once you’ve finished writing and you’re happy with how fluent your piece sounds you’ve got to proofread it! That means checking your grammar, your punctuation and spelling. 

Make sure you’ve only used capital letters where they need to be used – the start of sentences and the names of people and places. 

Make sure you’ve used quotation marks correctly – start a new paragraph for when a character starts speaking, open with a quotation mark and then write what they said before closing with a quotation mark. Make sure you carry on writing after they’ve finished speaking with a new paragraph!

Have you checked the tenses? Make sure you’re not mixing up  past, present and future tenses !

Have you used enough punctuation? Make sure all your sentences end with full stops, but also that questions end with a question mark. Space out long sentences with a well-placed comma and make sure if a character says something loudly or is surprised that you’re using exclamation marks. 

Check your spelling! Are there any words you struggle with? Go back and check them to make sure they look right. If you’re really struggling to spell a word, maybe use a different one for your creative writing piece – lots of writers do this! If you do this a lot, then it might be worth doing some spelling practice. 

How do I prepare for creative writing? 

When it comes to 11 Plus creative writing exams it’s difficult to find something specific to revise – unlike exams in maths or English spelling, creative writing exams don’t have a right or wrong answer. So, don’t get overwhelmed by reading countless creative writing books.

The best way to prepare for a creative writing test is to practice all the key points we mentioned above. Set yourself some small creative writing tasks, practice your spelling and get some help fromyour teachers. You could also ask your parents or guardians about tuition to help you prepare for your creative writing .

We also have some creative writing book suggestions and worksheets that could help you prepare. 

11 Plus creative writing examples books

If you’re looking for some books to help you prepare for your 11 Plus creative writing exam or want to find some creative writing examples, here are some of our favourites:

11+ Essentials Creative Writing Examples Book 1 (First Past the Post)

11+ Essentials Creative Writing Examples Book 2 (First Past the Post)

Bond 11+: English Focus on Writing: 9-11 years

RSL Creative Writing, Book 1: KS2, KS3, 11 Plus & 13 Plus – Workbook For Ages 9 Upwards

11+ Creative Writing

Remember to always ask a parent or guardian before buying anything online.

11 Plus creative writing tasks and worksheets

Here are some of our own worksheets that’ll help you prepare and improve your creative writing skills: 

Creating characters

Creating dilemmas

Creating settings

My favourite author

Try an 11 plus creative writing tutor

If you’re worried about your 11 plus creative writing exam, that’s okay. There are numerous ways you can prepare without getting yourself overwhelmed. We’ve already covered how practice makes perfect when it comes to writing, so creative writing courses could be a great way for you to improve your confidence.

11 Plus tuition  will also help with your creative writing. Explore Learning’s expert tutors can help you work on your story planning and structure, grammar, writing fluency and vocabulary. 

Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed about your 11 Plus creative writing task, we’re here to help you do your best.  

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11 Plus creative writing FAQs

How to prepare for 11 plus creative writing.

Prepare by understanding the 11 Plus creative writing requirements. Engage in regular practice on various topics like adventures, challenges and feelings. Focus on grammar, punctuation, fluency, spelling and vocabulary. Always proofread and consider getting feedback.

Is there creative writing in the 11 Plus exam?

The 11 Plus exam may include a creative writing component, often lasting 25-30 minutes, where a student demonstrates their narrative and language skills.

What are the different types of creative writing 11+?

The 11 Plus creative writing includes descriptive, persuasive and narrative tasks. Studentsmay be asked to craft or add to stories, describe scenarios, write persuasive letters or informative pieces.

How do I study for a creative writing exam?

Study by practising various creative writing tasks regularly. Focus on language proficiency, structure your narratives and proofread. For tailoredsupport, consider 11 Plus tuition .

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Ten 11+ & 13+ Creative Writing Tips For Excellent Exam Stories

When my students get the hang of these techniques, it makes an enormous difference to their creative writing – but it takes practice.

M y advice for 11 plus stories in this article applies just as well to 8 plus, 13 plus or GCSE … in fact, although I have written with 11 plus creative writing in mind, my suggestions should be relevant at any level.

I’ve been teaching these things to young people for many years, and I hope you also find them useful. Please write a comment if you do!

The creative writing materials offered by 11 Plus Lifeline teach students to use all the techniques explained on this page.

Every writing paper has full example answers, as well as detailed step-by-step discussions, marking guidelines and story-planning advice. Papers are structured to help students develop high-level skills – and just as importantly, to enjoy themselves!

Click on the infographic to view a zoomable version in a new tab:

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1 – before you write, daydream.

If you can see your story’s world in your head, you will be able to describe it powerfully.

If you can’t, your descriptions risk being superficial and your writing uninteresting.

After a little daydream, your next step is to turn it into a simple plan:

THE STORY PLANNING PROCESS

1) the main event.

The first thing to write in your plan is the main event in your story (see point 2 , below). Keep this simple for now.

2) Your Main Character

Next, jot down a few notes about your main character (see point 3 ). What is interesting about them? Try to imagine them sitting in the place next to you. See them clearly in your mind. Who are they, really?

3) Getting There

Now note down some ideas for how you will get to the main event. Make this simple too: don’t write more than a couple of lines.

4) … And Getting Out Of There!

Finally, write a few thoughts about what will happen after the event: why does it matter, and – above all else – how does it affect your characters?

The reason I suggest this order of planning is that when you only have a short time to write, there are two important things which will hold your story together: the main event (what it is about ) and your central character (who gives us a reason to care ).

Everything else should be very simple, allowing you to focus on describing beautifully.

In fact, you can probably guess what the next of my 11 plus tips is …

2 – Keep things simple! In an 11 plus exam story, choose  one main plot event & bring it to life.

If there are too many things happening, your descriptive skills may get lost.

What’s more, once there are lots of dramatic events in a story, many students struggle to write about all of them properly.

Look at this example:

As they walked through the forest a tree fell and nearly crushed them. That was close , thought Claudia. Then they sat down to scrutinise the map.

It’s good to describe the small details of life – and especially with an interesting verb like “scrutinise”.

But if you forget to fully describe big events, such as a tree almost killing your characters, the effect is very peculiar. It implies that a near-death experience is no more interesting than reading a map!

Either give dramatic events their due importance, by describing them powerfully and giving a clear sense of your characters’ reactions, or steer clear of them altogether.

This is often a problem in exam stories with too much action, or with too many plot events in general.

It’s best to structure your story around one main event, which isn’t too extreme. Spend the rest of your time building up to it and showing its after-effects.

3 – Focus on one character

Just as it’s best to focus your writing around one main event, it makes sense to have one core character.

You probably won’t have time to make more than one person interesting and believable in a thirty minute writing exam. If you try, you’re at risk of coming unstuck.

(If you feel really confident, you might manage to develop two characters: a brother and sister, for example. But in the exam itself, ask yourself: Is it worth the risk? )

Make your main character really interesting, and only refer to others in passing.

4 – Put a little dialogue in … but don’t write a play script!

“Because writing dialogue is easier than thinking,” he said.

“That makes sense,” I said, “because otherwise I can’t explain why we’ve been chatting pointlessly for two full pages.”

Dialogue is excellent in an exam piece, and you should aim to include some in every story. However, there are risks, demonstrated by the example above!

Don’t let your story turn into a play script.

Use a little dialogue in 11+ creative writing, but focus on your descriptions of the setting, characters and events.

When you do write conversations, don’t stop describing. Avoid repeating “I said”, “she said”, “Mum answered”, and so on.

Instead, add little details which help the reader to imagine the scene as the characters talk.

Describe how people move around between saying things, the expressions on their faces, and so on:

“Because writing dialogue is easier than thinking,” he replied, a hint of a smile twitching like a worm at the edge of his mouth.

A quick note about paragraphing:

Examiners are likely to expect that a new speaker begins on a new line, if somebody else has already spoken in the paragraph.

This doesn’t happen in every book you’ll read, but it’s a convention – a normal way of doing things – which you are supposed to know about.

Look at this way of writing the example at the top, and think about where a sentence should begin a new line :

“Why are we still talking?” I said. “Because writing dialogue is easier than thinking,” he said. “That makes sense,” I said, “because otherwise I can’t explain why we’ve already been talking for two full pages.”

Now check the original again, to see whether you were right!

And now for the advertising break. Time to run away and make a cup of tea …

RSL Creative Writing is the children’s writing course from RSL Educational, written by Robert Lomax.

It’s perfect for Key Stages 2 and 3 and for 11+ exam preparation, at home or in the classroom. It’s also ideal for anybody aged 9 or above who enjoys writing and wants to do it better.

Click on the covers to learn more and view sample pages from the books:

RSL Creative Writing: Book 1

Rsl creative writing: book 2, rsl creative writing: book 3, the rsl creative writing collection (£40.47), 5 – short stories don’t need an introduction.

Robert was 33. He lived in a small flat with his cat and his wife. One day, he decided to go for a walk to the shops. The shops weren’t very far away: it took about ten minutes to get there. It was a cloudy day. It was the middle of February and it was a bit cold but not cold enough for a scarf. The road was in need of some repairs. He was wearing a blue jumper and black shoes and some fairly old jeans.

You don’t need to introduce your story as though it is a 300 page novel!

The reader doesn’t have to know everything about the main character, and especially not at the start. This way you waste a paragraph, when you might only have time for four or five in your whole story.

Anything that really matters about your characters can be mentioned along the way. In creative writing for 11 plus exams, everything else can be left out.

Get into the main business of your story from the very first line.

6 – Show, don’t tell … Whether you’re writing an 11 plus story, or whether you’re a famous novelist!

In real life, we can’t see what is in other people’s minds.

We have to work it out from what they do – and sometimes from what they say, although this can be very misleading!

For this reason, other people’s creative writing is often most interesting when we have to work out what characters are thinking and feeling.

This makes the characters seem like real people whose thoughts we can’t immediately know.

It also helps to get us – the readers – involved in the story by making us do some thinking for ourselves!

You might initially want to write this:

Simon looked up. He was angry.

But this is much more interesting to read:

As Simon looked up I could see his jaw muscles flexing.

Have a go at re-writing the following paragraph to make it more interesting . You can change things around as much as you like.

I admit: this is the sort of thing which you will sometimes read in a book. It isn’t necessarily  always bad writing, in itself.

However, it is a missed opportunity to bring a character to life. In a time-limited 11-plus exam story, you need to take advantage of such moments.

The rule is:

Where possible,  show me  what a character is feeling … don’t  tell me .

Have a look at my way of re-writing the paragraph above:

All Anna’s thoughts have gone.

Instead, there are some strong clues which steer you towards a particular idea about what she thinks and how she feels: but you still have to decide for yourself.

This forces you to imagine Anna clearly in your own mind.

How does my answer compare to your approach?

7 – Use a range of senses throughout your story

This is good writing. The trees may be “green” (which is a bit dull), but they are “swaying”, which is an effective detail and more than makes up for it.

The simile in the second sentence (“like wisps of cigar smoke”) is vivid and well planned.

The sandwich bag is “crumpled”, and “bag of bacon” is a nice moment of alliteration to emphasise this robust, commonplace item of food.

But imagine a story which continues in the same way, all the way through.

Everything is visual: a sight image.

For the reader, it is like being in a world without the ability to hear, smell, touch or taste.

Furthermore, the narrator seems to be looking around constantly, noticing everything. Is this normal behaviour?

It’s an unrealistic way of seeing the world, and after a while it becomes exhausting to read.

For a student, there are two simple but very useful lessons:

1) Always think about the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell).

2) Sometimes avoid the most obvious sense when describing a thing (see point 8 below).

These tips are easy to apply in your creative writing for 11+, but they make a huge difference.

What’s more, unlike a clumsy simile (see point 9 ), a sensory description rarely ends up  harming  your writing. It can be effective or ineffective, but that’s another matter!

Take the example above:

“The trees were green and swaying”  could become:  “The trunks were groaning, and overhead I heard the dull rustle of a thousand fresh leaves slapping against one another.”

There’s nothing startlingly original here, but because it is a slightly less obvious way of describing trees, it creates a much more powerful atmosphere.

If you want a metaphor as well, try turning  “dull rustle”  into  “distant applause” , which makes the leaves seem like a mass of enthusiastic people.

Similarly,  “I looked at the bag of bacon sandwiches crumpled on the seat next to me”  takes on more life like this:

I smelt something like old sick; then I remembered the bag of bacon sandwiches crumpled on the seat next to me.

Notice how easily similes (“like old sick”) and metaphors happen, almost by themselves, when you focus on describing with a range of senses .

This is one of my most important 11 plus writing tips.

8 – Sometimes describe things using a less obvious sense

Using a range of senses, as I discussed in point 7 , is really, really important.

But how can you come up with surprising, powerful descriptions – descriptions to make the marker stop ticking your work for a second, raise their eyebrows and smile?

Imagine that you are just about to write the following sentence:

It was a cold morning.

But you stop yourself, think for a second, and write this:

I could hear the crackle of thawing ice on car windscreens.

This is much more interesting. Rather than using the sense of touch (a “cold” feeling), you are using a sound: “the crackle of thawing ice”.

There’s a good chance that the reader will think:  “Yes! I never considered it before, but you really do hear a sound when ice thaws quickly.”

This version also tells you much more about the weather:

The reader can work out that the night has been exceptionally cold, but also that the temperature is now rising quickly.

The thought process to produce descriptions like this is much simpler than it seems:

1) Think of the sense which is most obvious to describe the thing you are writing about.

3) Think of the second most obvious sense.

4) Ban that too!

5) From the three remaining senses, pick the one which is most useful.

6) Ask yourself how the thing would sound, feel, smell or taste – whichever three of these you have left (you’ve almost certainly banned sight!).

7) Write about it.

9 – Use similes and metaphors carefully in your creative writing

Similes and metaphors are useful (and can be impressive), but they have to make things clearer for the reader, not create confusion.

“She won the sprint like a racing car” asks more questions than it answers.

Was she noisy? Was she travelling at 150 miles per hour?

On the other hand, “She ducked her head and slipped across the line as cleanly as a racing car” helps me to picture the event exactly as intended.

Here’s another simile for speed, which I’ve seen a great many times (you’d hardly believe how many) in 11-plus stories:

Donald wrote like a cheetah.

Does this mean that Donald wrote savagely and meaninglessly, like a wild animal with a pencil jammed between its claws ?

Or perhaps that he wrote largely about the themes of hunting and sleeping ?

My guess is that Donald wrote quickly , but I’m not sure … because if that’s all you meant, WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST SAY IT?

This sort of thing is not really the fault of a young writer, who after all is (hopefully!) doing their best.

It is the fault of those dastardly teachers who advise children to include, for example, “at least one metaphor and two similes” in each story.

The result of this, for most children, is a succession of poorly chosen descriptive tricks, which add nothing.

Indeed, we’ve seen how these things can end up making a story comical for all the wrong reasons!

The right approach to creative writing doesn’t start with the need to include a simile: it starts with the need to describe effectively .

To me, this means allowing the reader to imagine the situation fully, and helping them care what happens.

Let’s play around with the image of Donald writing “like a cheetah”.

What happens if we just get rid of the simile?

Donald wrote quickly.

OK, but it doesn’t tell us much: did he write quickly because he wanted to finish his story before  Newsnight , or because he was really excited by his work?

Let’s say that it was the first reason: he wanted to get his work out of the way. Perhaps he was feeling annoyed, given that it might interrupt his favourite TV show.

When somebody is writing rapidly while annoyed, what might this look like?

I imagine Donald’s arm wiggling as the pen moves — especially the elbow. The movement is fast and constant because he is worried about getting the work finished, and because in his irritation he doesn’t much care about its quality.

So I ask myself: What moves to and fro constantly, performing a task in an unimaginative way?

And the first thing I think of is a machine in a factory:

Donald hunched over the page, his arm jerking to and fro with the quick, regular movements of a factory robot.

This sentence by itself would go some way to making your story the best in the exam room.

I hope I’ve persuaded you that with a well-organised thought process, a good simile isn’t too difficult to write!

Because children have been taught to work in this way, a story will often contain the required two similes, a metaphor, a personification, even an interesting alliteration …

… but everything in between is lifeless.

What students need is a different sort of checklist, to help them make the rest of their writing interesting .

I hope this article will give you some ideas!

10 – Stephanie was writing a beautiful story in the 11-plus exam hall. Or was she …?

Suspense is good if it’s appropriate to the story, but don’t jack-knife it in clumsily!

“It was a calm, sunny day. Or was it?” doesn’t really make me curious.

It makes me think that you’re trying to pester me into being excited, rather than persuading me to feel that way through your excellent writing.

If you write in a way that builds suspense by making me interested in the characters and events in the story – while keeping some important information hidden from me, just out of sight – this will speak for itself.

However, not every piece of creative writing needs it!

If you found these story writing tips useful or if you have a question, please leave a comment below! I’d love to have your feedback. (Tick the “Receive email updates” box to receive an email when I reply.)

For the most comprehensive range of resources to help with preparation for the 11+ exam,  you might like to try 11 Plus Lifeline (with a money-back guarantee in the first month). Every practice paper has full example solutions, with a detailed discussion and explanation for every question – like being taught by an excellent private tutor. There’s lots of material to help develop creative, high-scoring exam stories!

According to Tutorful, it’s “ the gold standard for independent and grammar school 11-plus preparation ”.

Watch Your First Video Now

Watch your first free 11-plus video straight away. Videos 2 & 3 will reach you by email within a few days.

At the same time, you’ll receive 121 Pages of award-winning RSL practice material, with step-by-step solutions – for free!

I'll also send you some useful information about RSL Educational resources and more advice for exam preparation. You’ll be able to unsubscribe from my emails any time you like.

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89 Comments

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me here. I’ll do my best to help you out!

Hi, I’m preparing my son for 11+. His story ideas are good but he needs to add more details/depth. How can I encourage that? Thanks

That’s a very difficult question to answer, because there is so much that I could say! Many of my suggestions are in the article above. The sample at http://digioh.com/em/27284/164929/84za5s4g4u may offer more ideas. If this is useful, then 11 Plus Lifeline offers many further resources.

What’s the syllabus of creative writing for 11plus. I understand there is no definitive one, it varies with target school as well, but still I’d like to know the min types of writing children should be knowing end of year 6 e.g. story writing, descriptive writing, poetry writing, persuasive writing, diary, reconnect, fiction, non fiction writing, script writing, book/film review, blog writing etc. Really confused with the list of categories and subcategories under each. I just need a good structure with every details. Please help with a detailed table of contents.

Hi Jay. I’m afraid I don’t have such a list – because there isn’t one. Schools can set anything that they like! However, I think getting children used to responding to a range of formats is more important than covering everything. The most common formats are probably: 1) A story based on a title or topic 2) A continuation of a passage (usually the passage already used as a comprehension text) 3) A story based on a picture

You provide excellent tips that we can use to guide our children. Done in a very simple but effective way. Even more – as times are hard and money is tight your generosity shows you truly do wish to help children and not just make money out of them. Thank you

Thank you Alison. I’m glad you found the article useful. Robert

Thank you ever so much for your very useful tips. Would you have some advice (or a sample essay) on writing a descriptive essay based on a given image?

Hi Aparna, There is some relevant content in 11 Plus Lifeline. For more along these lines, keep an eye on the website in the autumn …

Hi Robert, I found the article above very helpful. My daughter is in year 5 and we have just started our 11 plus journey. She seems to be struggling air with creative writing. She has such great ideas and an amazing imaginative mind, however she struggles to express this on paper as compared to her peers also studying for the 11 plus. How can I help her become a better writer?

Speaking as she writes might help: perhaps she will write more fluently if she just thinks of it as a way to record her verbal ideas.

My RSL Creative Writing books might help her to develop her ideas.

What is a good range for the word count for a “continue the story” creative writing task at 10+? I see suggestions of 4-5 paragraphs, but paragraphs vary hugely in length. My son is only writing around 150 words, and I fear this is taking “quality not quantity” to the extreme!

It really depends! Sometimes you’ll be given an 8-10 line answer space, in which case that would be appropriate. On the other hand, if you have 30-40 minutes, you should be pitching for 1 to 1.5 pages. Robert

Thank you so much! Very informative

I’m glad to help!

how much your fees for creative writing, and how many lesson? please let me know [email protected]

Hello Hemang. I’m afraid I don’t work as a tutor these days. However, you might be interested in my creative writing books at https://www.rsleducational.co.uk/rsl-creative-writing . These will take your child through their skills step by step, much as I would if I was teaching them. Good luck! Robert

Hi Sir! Sir, you suggestions are greatly useful. Sir, can you assist me on how to incorporate Strong Verbs in my writings as I do not know many and I struggle on account of it ?

There’s no easy answer, but the best starting point is to look for specific ways of describing things. For instance, instead of “he talked”, you might say “he muttered”, for example. You’ll learn more verbs if you look out for them as you read things, and perhaps note interesting ones down in a book. Good luck!

Dear Robert Hope you are doing well , my son is in year 5 and he is going to set for 11 plus exam for very highly competitive grammar schools , he need help for is creative writing . I advice that you are the best , I’m seeking help from you ,please . Yours sincerely Saha Mcewan

Hello. Have a look at 11 Plus Lifeline , perhaps, and my RSL Creative Writing books. I do intend to release some new things for creative writing in the future: watch this space!

Hi Robert. These are great tips. My question is how to come with effective descriptions that vary. When I do descriptive writing, I describe with only the five senses and often run out of ideas. Also, how can we write in a way that will make a clear image in the readers mind. Thanks for the time

Hi Yatharth! My video at https://youtu.be/LKnvrad6jpw is all about this, so why not have a look at that? If that’s useful, look at https://www.rsleducational.co.uk/product/rsl-creative-writing-1

I completely agree with your article, and as a teacher who prepares children for GCSE and the 11 tests, I employ a lot of the ‘strategies’ you mention. What children need ultimately is time to read, digest and above all enjoy stories and poems and then to talk about what they’ve read and in some ( or maybe a lot of cases) relate the themes and ideas etc in what they have read to their own lives. This I feel, can give a greater sense of ‘reality’ to what they can eventually write; and then we as teachers (and parents) can model how to write ‘good’ creative stories (and include all the SPAG) which can go a long way to ensuring children actually begin to feel that they themselves can be imaginative and write great stories.

Thank you for taking the time to comment, Molly. I very much agree with you.

What children need ultimately is time to read, digest and above all enjoy stories and poems and then to talk about what they’ve read and in some ( or maybe a lot of cases) relate the themes and ideas etc in what they have read to their own lives.

The only thing I’d add to this is that it works both ways: reading informs writing, but the very best way to develop critical reading skills is to become more sophisticated as a writer!

Hi Robert,l am a Creative Writing teacher for 8+ Do you think 6+ can be taught Creative Writing that will yield excellent result? I asked this question from my experience of teaching Creative Writing,I observe that more 6+ struggle with understanding and implementing Creative Writing stages than 8+ Also,I teach Creative Writing easily because I believe I have the skills to teach it but how can I come up with a special syllabus to teach my colleagues how to teach Creative Writing in the class that will be result oriented.

Hello Soremi.

I would not think too much about results, if by that you mean percentage scores, when children are 6 or so and developing their writing. I would focus on their enjoyment and on encouraging them to explore their imagination, creating interestingly described characters and environments. It’s a different situation in 11+ exams, where children must demonstrate certain skills and perform well in comparison with their peers.

However, it is very important to encourage the development of accurate and clear English from an early stage. Creative writing is a good opportunity to uncover and address problems.

I found this very useful and straightforward, and also very funny… The tips will take me flying in my writing!

Thanks Lily-Grace. The work you sent for me to look at this week was very impressive: you’re already flying!

Thanks Robert this description is very helpful

I’m very glad it’s useful. Thanks for commenting!

Hola me gustaria hacer unas infografias mas dinamicas

Thank you for the topic

It’s a pleasure. I hope the advice helps.

I thought that this was a brilliant summary. Thank you very much. Engaging and thoughtful. Very much appreciated.

I’m delighted to hear it. Thank you!

I found your creative writing tips very insightful, a real shame for us it was right at the end of our 11+/13+ preparation.

Thank you Sara. I hope they made some difference, even at a late stage.

Very useful tips! I like the way you have broken down the advice into bite-sized chunks! Thanks Robert

I’m glad you found them helpful! Thanks for commenting.

Great tips, thanks Robert. Do you have tips on non fictional writing as well? E.g. how a child can do a stellar job when asked to write a suggestion letter to the council. My child struggles with writing on everyday things that she deems uninteresting like describing everday things but is flying when writing on imaginary topics. Thanks in advance.

Hi Tolu. I have some resources for less creative subject matter in 11 Plus Lifeline .

I think the best way to add interest to potentially unexciting things, like letters, is with examples. “I think you should do more to reduce bullying, because it discourages children from studying” is not interesting. “Last week, a boy trudged towards me across the playground, clenching and unclenching his fists, with the dead-eyed look of meaningless aggression that I’ve come to know so well. This is happening too often in our school!” is much more impressive.

Thanks for these tips . Would you suggest any topics for DS to practice .

There are a great many writing topics with fully explained example answers in 11 Plus Lifeline . I might add a blog post with some suggested topics in the coming months. Robert

These SPECTACULAR tips helped me a lot when I was planning and writing a story. I think that these AMAZING tips will help me a lot when I am doing the exam. THANKS Robert!!!!

Thanks Raon! I hope you’ll share the link. Good luck in your exam. Robert

Thanks for the tips to improve the writing skill for the content writers and the students.

Thank you Nihal – I’m glad my advice is useful.

What can I Say?

My son is about to take the 11 + and part of the material is creative writing,

Can you recommend any good material please?

The key is reading and I don’t think he reads as much as he should do

Please advise

Hi Fazal. I would of course recommend my own creative writing material in 11 Plus Lifeline . There’s a free sample here .

Reading is certainly important, but it won’t do any magic without good writing practice alongside it.

If your son isn’t keen on reading, trying to push him to read more may not work. However, you can help to improve the quality of the reading he does do, by discussing it whenever possible in a way that encourages him to think about it in more depth. You can also introduce new vocabulary into your conversations, and so on.

Also, the reading list here may help him to find books that he does want to read!

Hi, my son 11, is really struggling with creative writing, the main problem being he can’t think of anything to write about. he’s a clever boy but more into science and computers. He thinks he can’t do it and I’m worried he’s going to freeze in the exam. how can i get him to access his imagination and not panic. Thanks

Practice is certainly the main thing. If he can start to “access his imagination” (a nice phrase) without exam pressure, he is more likely to be able to do so in the test.

When you say that he can’t think of anything to write about, you’re describing a problem that I can relate to. However, it should not be a big concern at 11+, for the simple reason that the best stories tend to be about very little! If he can construct a simple plot, focused on one event – even something very ordinary and apparently dull – then he has what he needs. From that point, all his effort should be focused on describing well, so that the story creates atmosphere and has a believable main character.

The real problem at 11+ is when children have too many creative ideas. They construct complex, overwhelming plots, about which it is impossible to write well – or even plausibly – in the time available.

Hi Robert Have you got any tips for the CSSE style quick 10 mins Continuous Writing tasks please. These have included instructions, descriptions and this year the exam paper included a picture to write about- what’s happening- story /description?

Many thanks for your help.

This is very difficult to answer in a brief comment. I do have some specially designed resources for these CSSE writing tasks in 11 Plus Lifeline , if that is of interest.

If writing creatively, keep the plot to an absolute minimum. Imagine that you are describing a ten second scene from a movie – not writing the plot for a whole film. Focus on effective use of the senses, in particular – very much as I outline in this article. Don’t waste any space introducing your writing.

If describing a picture, the same applies. Focus on details from it, and try to find a logical structure. For example, a character might move around the image, finding things; or you might imagine the scene changing over a period of time.

For instructions, try to visualise the activity as precisely as you can, then use words to convey your thoughts exactly. This will lead to good vocabulary. Rather than saying “Screw the lightbulb into the socket”, say something like this: “Steadying the socket with your spare hand, twist the bulb gently in a clockwise direction until you encounter resistance.” This doesn’t come from trying to be fancy: it comes from very clearly imagining the action before I write.

There is a great deal more to be said, but I hope these pointers are useful.

Great tips and advice here. I have 4 boys, all at different levels of education. This has helped me to help them. Thanks!

That makes me very happy. Good luck to your sons!

Anybody who found this useful might like to read more of my creative advice at https://www.rsleducational.co.uk/creative-writing-less-is-more .

This article is very helpful. Thank you.

Thanks for taking the time to say so!

I found this very helpful, thank you

Hello Good Afternoon and thank you very much for my help. I am a young child preparing the eleven plus. I don’t necessarily have any questions i just don’t have any questions. Good luck on your educative journey.

Good luck to you, Lukas! Well done for taking the initiative and researching your exams.

I am a 8 years old child and I am doing your 11+ RSL comprehension, do you have any tips that might help me improve my writing? Thank you for your help!

Hi Kate! I’d like to help, but I’m not sure how to. You’ve written this under an article about improving your writing, and you’re working on a book that also helps with this. I don’t know what tips to add here. If you could be more specific, perhaps I’ll be able to say something. Good luck with your work! Robert

Hi Robert! I really like your tips and they did improve my daughter’s writing! Thank you so much!

I’m so glad! Well done to her.

Hi Richard, Does cursive or printed handwriting affect the writing score a 11+ level? Thanks in advance.

No, it shouldn’t make any difference. All that matters is that the writing should be easy to read, and that the student can write reasonably quickly.

Hi there, I am doing 13+, My tutor says that I should not use metaphors or similes, but I think I should. Do you have any advice for me on descriptive writing? And can you explain what a metaphor is?

I think you are probably misinterpreting your tutor. A good simile or metaphor, in the right place, is a good thing, but I would guess that your tutor is concerned that you are over-using these things and that this is distracting you from simply writing well. An alternative is that you haven’t quite understood how to use them effectively. A misjudged simile can look odd: using no simile (or metaphor) is better than using a bad one!

For a good explanation of what a metaphor is, see https://www.grammarly.com/blog/metaphor/ .

Hi, I’m currently helping a student prepare for entrance exams, and I just wondered if you could help me with a question. He was struggling with the timed element of creative writing and wanted to know if he DID run out of time, what would a marker prefer? To just leave the piece unfinished, or to quickly make an ending for the story, even if it meant it was quite an abrupt ending that didn’t necessarily do the story justice?

I think it depends on the marker. I’d prefer an unfinished piece to one with something actively bad in it, like a bad ending. However, can they leave an unfinished ending that nonetheless has something final about it: for instance, zoom out and describe the trees swaying in the distance, or the waves, so that there’s a sense of the world rolling on, despite the events in the story? If this is done well, it might even appear that they intended to finish this way.

great work, keep it up.

Amazing website! The content is wonderful. Highly informative indeed.

That’s brilliant to hear. Thank you!

Do you have to pay to get your work marked?

Yes, that’s right. Most people do it via an 11 Plus Lifeline Platinum subscription .

My daughter is not good at creative writing and I am apprehensive as she writes her pre-tests on 11th November . How do I help her with the following formats?

1) A story based on a title or topic 2) A continuation of a passage (usually the passage already used as a comprehension text) 3) A story based on a picture

Hello! I cover all these things in my RSL Creative Writing books – see https://www.rsleducational.co.uk/rsl-creative-writing You will also find creative writing videos covering these things at https://go.easy11plus.org/VIDEOLIST Good luck! Robert

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11 plus creative writing

By Atom | Jun 3, 2024, 3:35 PM

If your child is preparing for secondary school entrance exams, you may have heard conflicting information about whether there will be a creative writing task. Read on to find out:

what to expect from 11 plus creative writing exams

how to help your child prepare

which schools will require your child to do a creative writing test

What is 11 plus creative writing?

Children applying for 11 plus entry to selective schools may need to complete a creative writing task as part of the exam. The task could be to write an original short story or continue a story from a given text.

The main 11 plus exam boards ( GL Assessment and the Independent Schools Examinations Board (ISEB) ) do not include creative writing tasks in their tests. If a school includes a creative writing element, it has likely been set by the school itself.

Some grammar schools include creative writing as part of their 11 plus exams. We've included a list of these below.

Many independent senior schools include creative writing tests in their English exams. You can find out whether your child's target school includes creative writing in the entrance exam by visiting the 'admissions' page on the school website.

Free creative writing course

Improve your child's writing skills with Atom's free creative writing course. Get four free video lessons and downloadable resources (including a creative writing practice paper!) sent straight to your inbox.

Which grammar schools use creative writing exams?

Children applying to Reading School take an 11 plus exam set by Future Stories Community Enterprise . This includes a creative writing task.

What are common 11 plus creative writing themes?

The content and format of 11 plus creative writing tests can vary depending on the school. Some tests might ask your child to:

continue a short story based a paragraph of narrative text

describe a place or a situation

write a letter or an article to persuade the reader to feel a certain way

write their own short story based on some bullet points for guidance

write their own descriptive or narrative piece based on a picture

Getting used to writing for different audiences and purposes can put your child in good stead for 11 plus creative writing exams. Why not download Atom's creative writing prompts to get started?

What are examiners looking for?

Creative writing is subjective. After all, everyone has different interests when it comes to reading for pleasure! However, there are specific things examiners are looking for when marking 11 plus creative writing papers. These include:

Structure – does the piece have a clear beginning, middle and ending?

Creativity – has your child introduced unique ideas and demonstrated a strong imagination?

Spelling, punctuation and grammar – are they all accurate, and have they made use of sentence variety?

Vocabulary – have they used more advanced vocabulary (while making sense in context) than others their age? Have they introduced a wide range of adjectives, nouns and adverbs?

How to prepare for 11 plus creative writing tests

Developing creative writing skills can be one of the most challenging parts of preparing for exams. Here are our top tips to help your child become a confident writer!

Developing a wide and varied vocabulary is key for children to produce an interesting piece of writing. Including lots of adjectives and adverts is one of the best ways to grab a reader's attention.

We recommend that your child keeps a vocabulary log . As they read, they should record any new words with their definition and an example of the word used in a sentence.

In 11 plus exams, creative writing tasks usually last around 30 minutes (although this can vary from school to school). This isn't very long to produce an extended piece of writing – including planning time!

While it can be tempting to skip planning and start writing immediately, this will result in an unstructured piece of writing. As examiners are looking for evidence of a clear structure, your child may lose important marks.

We always recommend spending at least 5 minutes planning at the beginning of any creative writing exam. Your child should use this time to define what they will include in the beginning , middle and end of their piece.

Spelling, punctuation and grammar

Creative writing marks are not only awarded for content and creativity, but also for accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar. Your child can practise these topics on Atom Home .

Your child's learning plan includes questions and activities in Key Stage 2 English. These adapt to their performance, so they'll see questions at just the right level of difficulty to keep them motivated. On your 'Track' page, you can see how your child is progressing and any topics which need improvement.

One of the most effective ways to improve writing is through reading . Reading is a fantastic way to introduce your child to new vocabulary, as well as accurate grammar and punctuation. Reading a wide variety of content and genres will expose them to new writing styles and ideas that they can incorporate into their work.

If your child enjoys a particular book, ask them why they like it. Is it the vivid character descriptions, use of adjectives, or adventurous plot? This can help your child recognise what to include in their own writing.

You can use prediction and storytelling games to help develop your child's creativity. Once they reach the end of a chapter, get them to write a paragraph on what they think will happen next. If they didn't like the end of a story, they can have a go at writing an alternative ending.

Looking for reading inspiration? Download Atom's free Key Stage 2 recommended reading list .

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11 Plus Creative Writing Success Comprehensive Guide

• Advice for the Creative Writing element of 11 plus exams

The 11 plus exams, upon which students’ entry into UK Grammar Schools and Private Schools depends, test children’s understanding of core subjects: English , Maths , Verbal Reasoning , and Non-Verbal Reasoning . This article will focus on the creative writing test, which forms section B of the age 11 English paper. Read on to find out about the following topics:

• the basics of what the 11+ creative writing test is;
• what may come up in the creative writing for 11 plus exams;
• how to revise for the 11 plus creative writing, including how PiAcademy can help;
• tips and tricks to help your child ace the exam in the moment;
• and guidance as to how you may tutor your child in creative writing yourself.

First things first… what exactly is the 11 plus creative writing test?

11+ creative writing topics – what could come up, how to revise for the wealth of possible 11+ creative writing topics…, introducing… in january 2020, our new 11 plus creative writing guide.

*** Please note: creative writing is not required in all iterations of the 11+ exams. Double-check whether your child will be tested on this subject! ***

Check this Out: Top 5 Creative Writing Tips to Score Full Marks

The best way to get to know and understand the format of an exam is always to look at examples of past papers – if you haven’t done this yet, do so! Check which exam is relevant to you and familiarise yourself and your child with how it looks and what it asks for. There are some differences between the 11 plus creative writing test for Private Schools and those for Grammar Schools. Review below a brief summary of each:

11+ English Creative Writings With Answers can be found here >>

Private Schools’ 11 plus Creative Writing Summary:

Most private schools do test the creative writing of their prospective students; part B of the English paper is dedicated to creative writing. Children will have 25-30 minutes to complete the section, choosing one of two questions choices to answer in this time. The questions are often based around the continuation of a provided storyline. Some schools, however, (e.g., Haberdasher Askes – a.k.a. ‘HABS’) also give the option of responding to a visual stimulus included in the question. Other schools could provide a random topic and have children write on this, such as describing a character or crafting a fictional diary entry around a given event.

Grammar Schools’ 11 plus Creative Writing Summary:

Unlike private schools, where most do test creative writing , many grammar schools will opt not to test children on this subject (again, be sure to check exactly which tests your child will face). Some schools do not test creative writing at all (e.g., Queen Elizabeth School – ‘QE Boys’ in Barnet), whereas others will only test this if the student passes the initial round of exams. The style of creative writing testing at grammar schools is very similar to that detailed about private schools (above). *** For a full list of schools, their information, and details of their testing habits check ‘Schools in the UK’ under the advice tab on our website! *** For both grammar school and independent school tests, we suggest a planning time of 3-5 minutes before starting to write an answer. Planning ensures that the student remembers to include everything that they should, and will lead to a better and surer structure to their writing.

In terms of 11+ essentials, creative writing examples are, of course, paramount. What should you expect from age 11 essay titles? What should you expect as topics for creative writing for 11 plus ? The easiest way to get your head around what your child needs to be prepared for is to consider the infinite unseen possibilities of questions within the following four categories:

• Descriptive tasks - A descriptive task may ask the student to describe a place or situation or continue a given storyline
• Persuasive tasks - A persuasive piece is more likely to take the form of a letter of complaint, or a student may be asked to script a convincing speech
• Narrative tasks - A narrative task would entail the composition of a short story
• Expository tasks - An expository task is more likely to require the writing of an explanatory article or set of instructions

As anything could come up in the test, it is helpful to think of ways to revise for each different type of question which may occur in the creative writing task.

With an unlimited number of possible topics to prepare for, flicking through a couple of creative writing books for 11 plus , or reading never-ending lists of 11 plus creative writing tips online, is sure to result in bewilderment… But the good news is – there is no reason to overwhelm yourself! We are here to help. As always, we must advocate one very important element of exam preparation… Practice , practice , practice! Key things to think about when practicing include writing skills such as grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. Throughout practice papers and in every piece of writing, these should be accurate and varied. Sit down with your child and a list of creative writing topics for 11 plus and work through writing some practice answers - this is inarguably a strong start to their revision. However, no matter how many creative writing 11 plus topics you cover, these can only help a limited amount without the aid of an 11+ creative writing mark scheme ; getting to know the mark scheme is the best way to understand what boxes your child’s writing must tick in order to succeed. This all sounds like a lot of information for you to gather, doesn’t it? Well, this is where we come in! Currently, on the PiAcademy website, you can find 11 plus creative writing examples. That is, 11 plus essay titles for creative writing , along with an example plan and answer (remember the importance of planning!). As well as this, among the 11 plus tutoring courses , you can find an 11 plus creative writing course incorporated into the English courses . And just when you thought we couldn’t be any more helpful – to add to the above, we have exciting news…

PiAcademy’s new 11 plus creative writing resources will include 50 tasks to practice creative writing. Each of the four types of question mentioned earlier will be covered (15 descriptive writing tasks, 15 persuasive, 10 narrative, and 10 expository), and a mark scheme for parents’ use will be also included. The mark scheme will explain what constitutes a ‘poor response,’ as well as an example of ‘good response,’ and commentaries explaining why each is categorised so. An 11 plus creative writing PDF document will be downloadable, consisting of an invaluable checklist – this way you can ensure that your child includes everything they must! (Getting to know the checklist, and visualising it in the exam, is the perfect way for your child to successfully carry out their creative writing under time pressure.) This will essentially be an online 11 plus creative writing workbook, with tips and tricks to maximise its usefulness! Perfect for parents who are opting out of hiring an 11 plus creative writing tutor .

Good luck with your revision, and eventually, exams… Remember:

• Always follow our checklists!
• PLAN your answer first!
• Practice each of the four question types!

Practice makes perfect, and our resources allow for lots and lots of practice! Don’t forget to check in in the new year to make the most of our new and improved 11 plus Creative Writing Guide .

Wait! Don’t go yet! Whilst you’re here… Scroll to the bottom of the website to subscribe to our weekly newsletter – we will deliver weekly worksheets, videos, news, tips, and much more, straight to your inbox! (Sounds helpful, right?)

Practicing 11+ Creative Writing would improve pupil’s writing skills and would help in boosting exam performance

11+ Creative Writing subscription has 23 exercises from different categories like Descriptive, Persuasive, Narrative, and Expository. Each exercise is provided with hints, plan, model answer, checklist, and highlights to help students become better at writing.

In our 11 plus Creative Writing Subscription we cover all the basic tips and techniques to help your child get better at creative writing. We also offer 11 plus Creative Writing Mastery course for students who are further interested in learning more.

We recommend that your child should practice 2-3 creative writing exercises from different categories weekly.

Practicing topics like Vocabulary, Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar are beneficial in gaining mastery over creative writings.

11 plus English past papers are a good resource for practicing creative writing. Also, our 11 plus creative writing subscription has a variety of questions to practice from different categories with hints, plan, model answers, and checklist.

• "Amazing creative writings, there are 23 creative writings which include all types of creative writings. Value for money. Thank you for recommending this to me." Tina Singh , 11+ Parent "Very Helpful resource, especially the hints and plan for each creative writings helped my son a lot. He loves it, thank you." Wazid , 11+ Parent
• "Great resource for kids who are appearing for grammar exams. It helped my daughter and I would recommend these resources to my friends/family." Oliver , 11+ Parent "I have visited many websites for sample creative writings but the resource we found here is exceptional. I didn't find similar resources for the affordable price anywhere else. I sincerely recommend the pi academy website for the best resources at affordable prices." Anne , 11+ Parent
• "Checklist for all the creative writings provided is the unique format. You are a genius. Thank you Pi academy."  Mike , 11+ Parent "Amazing creative writings, there are 23 creative writings which include all types of creative writings. Value for money. Thank you for recommending this to me." Tina Singh , 11+ Parent
• "Amazing creative writings, there are 23 creative writings which include all types of creative writings. Value for money. Thank you for recommending this to me." Tina Singh , 11+ Parent
• "Very Helpful resource, especially the hints and plan for each creative writings helped my son a lot. He loves it, thank you." Wazid , 11+ Parent
• "Great resource for kids who are appearing for grammar exams. It helped my daughter and I would recommend these resources to my friends/family."  Oliver , 11+ Parent
• "I have visited many websites for sample creative writings but the resource we found here is exceptional. I didn't find similar resources for the affordable price anywhere else. I sincerely recommend the pi academy website for the best resources at affordable prices." Anne , 11+ Parent
• "Checklist for all the creative writings provided is the unique format. You are a genius. Thank you Pi academy." Mike , 11+ Parent 

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11 Plus Creative Writing: Exam Preparation Guide

What is the creative writing element of the 11 Plus and what does it include?

Both 11 plus exam boards (GL and CEM) don’t have a creative writing element, however some schools may decide to add this element in to assist with the selection process. For instance, it may be used in cases where two students have very similar scores and so the creative writing piece will be the deciding factor.

Each school will have a different format for the writing element; some schools may ask for a creative piece of writing from scratch and others may ask students to complete a story from a passage they‘re provided with. Independent schools, on the other hand, usually require an essay or creative writing piece as part of the exam. 

In private schools, this section is crucial and is always marked, however in grammar schools this section may not always be marked. Nonetheless, it shouldn’t be overlooked as it could be a deciding factor of whether or not your child gets an offer at their target grammar school.

This element of the eleven plus will require students to manage their time well and be able to complete their story in just under an hour. Generally, students are given a scenario or prompt that they are free to interpret in their own way. Students will then be required to put their ideas together in a creative style.

Some examples of past prompts that have come up in grammar and private school 11 Plus exams include:

• Describe a situation which you have experienced which might also be called A Magical Moment, showing what your thoughts and feelings are
• The Prince of Darkness is a Gentleman
• The Broken Window

As you can see from these titles, there’s no specific category that they fall into and they are very unpredictable. The trick here is to ensure your child has lots of practice with these past paper questions, so they can better understand how they’re going to draft their ideas together coherently.

The structure of the writing piece should include:

• A beginning that sets the scene
• Characters who have a motivation behind their actions and drive the plot forward
• An ending that wraps up the original idea that was set out at the beginning 

How to prepare for the creative writing part of the exam?

Practice is of course a crucial element of the revision process. It may also be useful to jot down ideas and descriptions of: emotions, actions, characters and the environment. Having these sets of descriptions ready will save lots of time in the actual exam. Even though the emotions and characters your child has practised writing don’t match the question in the exam, they will have a better idea of how to formulate the structure and plot in a timely manner by developing the descriptions they practised. 

Themes to practice writing about:

• Nature : this could be rivers, rain, mountains, lightning
• Emotions : this is an essential part of the story as it helps to set the tone. Some emotions can be: joy, anger, sadness. It may be beneficial to visualise the ‘inside out’ movie and write out the emotions according to how each character behaves
• Activities you enjoy : this will help with writing the plot in the eleven plus exam since you can adapt and build on these descriptions based on the title question
• Animals : this may be your favourite animal or your pet
• Your surroundings : this could be houses, parks, churches, villages, roads. Understanding how to write about basic structures in a captivating way is a very important of this writing element

Techniques to practise using in your writing:

• Personification : This technique involves associating something that isn’t human with human qualities. For example: the trees danced in the wind . This technique allows the objects throughout the story to have meaning and gives energy to something that is usually expressionless. 
• Metaphors : This is a figure of speech, where a word or phrase is defined as another object or action to which it is not literally applicable. A famous example is from one of Shakespeare’s plays, As You Like It, is: ‘all the world’s a stage. ’ This metaphor compares the world to a theatrical stage. While this is not literally true, the metaphor demonstrates that the world is like a show and the people are like actors. Metaphors allow the reader to think more deeply about a subject, and they can also add emotion and dramatic effect.
• Similes : This is like a metaphor, except similes use the connective words ‘like’ or ‘as’ to draw comparisons. For example: her eyes were like diamonds . The purpose of similes is to make comparisons to better illustrate your ideas, which makes the story more vivid and entertaining for the reader. 
• Hyperbole : This is an exaggeration to emphasise a point to the reader. For instance: I have waited forever for this to happen . This makes the sentence more dramatic and grabs the reader’s attention, which makes the emotions more memorable.
• Alliteration : This is having two or more words with the same letters consecutively in a sentence. An example of this could be: the big bug bit the little bee . This will have a different effect depending on whether the letters sound soft or harsh, but generally alliteration adds a rhythmic sound to the sentence and accentuates your descriptions.

Some revision techniques

Although the topics for the creative writing section are unpredictable, they are usually very broad so your child can use their imagination to think of a plot or build on the descriptions they have already practised. They can start off by writing short stories on the themes mentioned above in this article, and attempt to implement the literary techniques throughout their writing.

It’s crucial to keep your reader hooked throughout your story, so having an interesting plot and characters will help, but it’s also important to focus on developing the techniques listed. Use past paper questions and practice writing short stories under timed conditions, then read over it and see how many techniques your child managed to implement. 

If your child is struggling to come up with ideas, it may be useful to encourage them to pick up one of their favourite books and allow them to get inspiration from there. This will encourage their creative thinking skills to grow; the first few pages of a book are especially important as they sometimes outline the main characters and setting of the entire story. 

Reading and analysing the first few pages can allow them to imagine how they’re going to start their own. Even better, try to encourage them to annotate the pages they read with how the characters are displayed, the emotions, actions and the techniques used. After this, they can try to use their structure and techniques in their own writing. Adding these techniques can improve their score tremendously in the eleven plus creative writing section.

General tips and informative articles on 11 Plus:

• 11 Plus for Parents
• 11 Plus Creative Writing
• 11 Plus English
• 11 Plus Non Verbal Reasoning
• 11 Plus Maths
• 11 Plus Verbal Reasoning
• 11 Plus Comprehension Tips
• 11 Plus Reading List
• What Is 11 Plus Exam
• 11 Plus Maths Questions

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The complete guide to preparing for the 11 Plus

• What is the Eleven Plus?
• A parent’s guide to coping with the 11 plus
• On the day of the test
• Results Day
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• Verbal Reasoning
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11+ Essay Writing

Independent School Essay Writing  Next Page.

With thanks to various 11+ Forum members, particularly Freya, for their helpful posts on this topic.

Children often feel that the essay element of the 11+ is a monumental task, and parents preparing them for it often feel the same way! We hope that the advice on this page will help your and your child to break the task down into manageable pieces, and also provide you with some useful shortcuts.

On this section you will also find advice on essay writing from an 11+ veteran who took several Independent School exams. The advice given is particularly helpful for longer essays and for more challenging topics and tests.

The essay test may be as little as 20 minutes or as long as 50 minutes, and may be factual or fiction. There is usually a choice of titles, but it is important to check the type of topics that have come up in the tests for each school in the past. There are some examples below of essay titles that have come up in past 11+ tests around the country to get you started.

Examiners in different areas may have different priorities. In some areas they will mainly be interested in the content of the work, rather than demanding good spelling or punctuation. In other areas accurate grammar, punctuation and spelling may be required as well. All examiners will be looking for one key thing: the “beginning, middle and end” that most children find so difficult to achieve in essays.

If your child does not excel at fiction writing and you know for certain that they will have a choice of factual or fiction topics, you could focus on developing their ability to write a persuasive factual essay rather than battling uphill with creative writing.

Learning good planning technique is essential to success in an 11+ essay. The elements that need to be planned are:

• Who are the characters? Can you describe them?
• Where is the story set?
• What is the plot – what will happen in the story?
• How will the story begin?
• What will happen in the middle?
• How will it end?

With very limited time for planning an essay in the 11+ a child must learn to make rough notes on all of these points within a very tight timescale. In some areas the children are given 5 minutes specifically to plan their essay, but in other areas that time is included in the time allotted for the whole task, and speed is critical.

Building up a “bank” of characters and settings that your child can fall back is well worth doing. Typical characters might be: a criminal; an old lady; a spooky person; a scary man, a nice friend, etc. Settings might include: A rocky seashore; a dark wood; an old, empty house, etc.

To develop the “beginning, middle and end” balance, you can work out how much your child is likely to write in the allotted time and then start to rule 3 sections on their page, one short one, a longer one and a third short one. They then have to complete the “beginning” within the space allowed in the first section, fit the middle into the longer section and the ending must take up the whole of the last section

Even after extensive practice a child may still find that they are running out of time. It is well worth preparing some “emergency endings”, and never,  ever  falling back on the stock phrase: “And then I woke up and realised it was all a dream”. It is an ending that makes the hearts of teachers and examiners sink to their boots!

Plenty of adjectives and adverbs will make for interesting writing, and you can help your child to make “stock lists” of appropriate words for different settings. For example, if the story is a “spooky” story, help them to think of dark, scary adjectives and adverbs.

As time goes on it is also worth helping a child come up with “stock phrases” that can fit into almost any essay, such as:

• Linking mood to weather: Tears like the rain/waterfalls; Eyes bruised like dark clouds; Heart beating as raindrops thundered; Eyes twinkling like dew on fresh grass.
• Descriptions of surroundings: Sweet, cloying scent; Patchwork of autumn leaves – vibrant reds, ochres, etc; Shafts of sunshine dappling; Trees whispering to each other; Angry water seething and boiling.
• Descriptions of being frightened: Being chased, hiding and anticipating being found.

Essay Topics

For creative writing, the topics set for 11+ essays tend to have the same common themes, and it is worth having a “stock” story that can be used in each of these settings:

• Being lost, scared or alone
• Doing something exciting or achieving something (’the best day of my life was . . . ’)
• Taking a holiday
• Having an adventure
• Being in a city or in the countryside

These are topics that have come up on past 11+ papers around the country, with a few additional titles contributed by our 11+ Forum members:

• A surprising spy
• Break time at school
• Write a story about a lost key
• Is life too hectic to enjoy fully?
• My favourite memories
• A farewell party
• An attempted robbery
• It was a while before I realised my cat could talk
• Moving Houses
• I don’t know what that noise was …..
• The new pupils
• The Burglary
• My Brilliant Idea
• Visiting Relatives
• The Balloon
• The school rules
• A place that inspires you
• Your favourite day out
• Are Jamie Oliver’s new school dinners a good idea.
• What makes a good friend?
• Describe the scene and the activities at a bus station.
• What are your reactions to discipline? How far is it necessary both at home and at school?
• How does the life of your generation differ from that of your grandparents?
• Discuss the good and bad effects of competition in modern life

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11+ Essentials – English Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar Book 1 (First Past the Post®)

Knowledge of spelling, punctuation and grammar is at the heart of 11 plus and Common Entrance exams, such as those set by Granada Learning (GL). The questions in this book have been designed to replicate the last three sections of the current GL 11 plus English test.

11+ Essentials – Creative Writing Examples Book 2 (First Past the Post®)

Creative Writing: Examples presents 11+ students with a variety of high-quality, creative writing pieces, written by their peers in preparation for their exam. This book is designed to address the key elements of the 11+ creative writing exam, using real creative pieces as examples.

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How do I use writing topics in my classroom?

Do you want to inspire your students to write great narratives, essays, and reports? Check out these grade-specific writing topics organized by mode (explanatory, creative, and so on). Or search for writing topics that relate to a theme, such as “life” or “animals” or “family.”

Jump to . . .

Explanatory writing.

• A day in the rainforest
• After-school games
• An important person I know about
• At the library
• Foods I don't like
• Friendly places
• Games I play with friends
• Games we play at recess
• Good things in my neighborhood
• How plants grow
• How to make my favorite dessert
• How to make new friends
• I like spring because . . .
• I like to make . . .
• I'd like to see . . .
• Insects, insects everywhere
• Learning to ride a bike
• My favorite food
• My favorite pet
• My favorite season
• My mom's/dad's hobby
• My new friend
• My shopping list
• Our clubhouse
• The biggest bubble-gum bubble
• The funniest zoo animal
• This person makes me laugh
• What I know about . . .
• What I know about an animal
• What I know about dinosaurs
• What I know about stars
• What I know about the ocean
• What I like about math
• What makes me laugh?
• What will I share?
• Who I will be in the future
• Who's at the zoo?
• Why I like to read
• Why I love to sing
• Words I think are funny

Persuasive Writing

• Don't litter!
• Things that would make my neighborhood better

Narrative Writing

• A day at the beach
• A special birthday
• Buying something with my own money
• Cooking dinner with Mom/Dad
• Eating lunch with my friends
• Going grocery shopping
• Going to the circus
• I rode on a . . .
• I'm happy when . . .
• Losing my teeth
• My adventure
• My trip to . . .
• Noisy times and quiet times
• Playing a game with Grandma/Grandpa
• Playing with pets
• Something funny that happened to me
• The biggest thing I ever saw
• The last time I cried
• When _ was born

Response to Literature

• A book I just read
• Some of my favorite books

Creative Writing

• A story about a holiday
• A trip on a rocket ship
• Dear George Washington
• Seeing the world through the eyes of . . .
• Sometimes I wish . . .
• What if I met a . . .
• What if I were 10 years old?
• What if I were someone else?
• What if toys could talk?
• What's under my bed?

Research Writing

• I wonder why . . .
• Something I don't understand
• A bicycle I'd like to have
• A day in the desert
• A great place to go
• A great treehouse
• A place I like to visit
• A sport I'm good at
• A trip on a monorail
• Activities for indoor fun
• Activities for outdoor fun
• Amazing facts I know
• An amazing animal
• Dancing to the music
• Having fun at school
• Helping out around the house
• Magic tricks I can do
• Making my favorite food
• My favorite baby-sitter
• My favorite board game
• My favorite teacher
• My homework place
• Our classroom pet
• Some things I like about the museum
• The best house pets
• The weirdest house pets
• Things that are hard to believe
• Things to do in the snow
• Unusual fruits and vegetables
• Water balloons!
• What I like about where I live
• What makes me special
• Who is beautiful?
• Let's help the environment by . . .
• Things I'd like to change
• A cozy spot at home
• A funny time in my family
• A great day with a friend
• A helpful person I have met
• A person who means the world to me
• A walk in the woods
• Funny things my pet has done
• My best birthday
• My favorite family story
• Putting on a play
• Swimming at the pool or lake
• When everything goes wrong
• Book characters I'd like to meet
• A dark hallway
• Donuts for dinner
• Something I wish would happen
• What if there were no electricity
• All about an amazing animal

Business Writing

• A cartoon character that I like
• A song that means a lot to me
• A special photograph
• A special, secret place
• A trip in a submarine
• An important time in history
• Building a fort
• Creatures that live in the ocean
• Creepy, crawly things
• Dirt bikes and skateboards
• Do I want to be famous?
• Doing homework
• Going to the dentist
• Gone fishing!
• How to stop hiccups
• How we divide the chores at our house
• I don't understand why . . .
• I'd like to invent a machine that . . .
• If I started my own business, I'd . . .
• Instructions for a pet sitter of my pet
• Let's help the animals by . . .
• Looking at the globe
• My favorite clothes
• My favorite form of exercise
• Pizza is . . .
• Staying at a friend's house
• The first day of school is the worst/best because . . .
• The rules we follow
• Things I see when I take a walk
• What I use a computer for
• What if I were the teacher?
• What is important to me?
• What it's like to use a wheelchair
• What my dreams feel like
• When I see nature, I . . .
• Why I like/dislike playing team sports
• Why my mom and dad are the greatest
• My school really needs . . .
• A day in the life of my pet
• A visit to a friend's school
• An excellent birthday party
• Discovering a new friend
• Getting my first pair of glasses
• Grandma's attic
• I'll never eat another . . .
• My best day
• My first school memories
• My most embarrassing moment
• Rings on her fingers
• Talk about being scared!
• When I did something amazing
• When I was upside down
• When the big storm hit
• If I wrote like the author of . . .
• A really spooky story
• Summer games
• What if we suddenly had to move?
• A game that meant a lot to my childhood
• A school field trip
• A toy I've held onto all these years
• A trip to a space station
• A typical lunch hour
• Can farmers grow enough food for everyone?
• Here's what a new student needs to know
• How I can change the way I look
• How I picture myself four years from now
• How I would define the word . . .
• I would have liked to have lived during this time.
• I'm principal for the day. Here is my schedule.
• I've done something that no one else has done
• If I could be someone else, I would be . . .
• My bedroom from top to bottom
• My favorite place
• My idea of a fun weekend
• My life as a . . .
• My participation in an activity outside of school
• One thing I want to do by the time I leave 8th grade
• Overcoming health problems
• The wildest hairstyle I have ever seen
• What a family member taught me
• What a house of the future might look like
• What I broke or lost that belongs to someone else
• A big hazard on the road
• A big problem in education is . . .
• A cool store
• A dedicated teacher or coach
• Dear Senator
• Discover nature
• Finally, a good assembly
• How could TV be better?
• Let's save _ in our schools
• My best class ever
• My favorite neighbor
• My favorite singer(s)
• Rights that kids in my grade should have
• The worst food I ever ate
• This really bugs me
• What's good about hard work?
• Why I deserve a larger allowance
• Why parents should be honest with their kids
• Why school fund-raisers are important
• Why weekends need to be longer
• A memorable bus ride
• A narrow escape from trouble
• A time that was just not fair
• A visit to a relative's house
• If I lived back in history
• If only I would have listened!
• My first concert
• My first friend
• Summer in a cabin by a lake
• The most fun I've had recently
• We couldn't stop laughing!
• We got caught!
• When I was lost
• A great book made into a great movie
• My favorite character from a book
• What if a book came to life?
• What this story means to me
• How _ came to be.
• Life among the cloud people
• Long ago and far away
• Meeting myself in the future
• Traveling west in a wagon train
• When the dinosaurs returned
• A job I'd really like to have
• All about an amazing place
• The most fascinating things I learned
• The tallest, the deepest, the longest, the biggest
• When I conducted an experiment
• When science took a big leap forward

Personal Writing

• The book that got me hooked on reading
• A day I will always remember
• A friend who moved away
• A great scientific breakthrough
• A person who changed history
• A personal habit I'd like to change
• A project I am working on
• A typical evening at home
• A visit with the doctor or dentist
• An invention that transformed the world
• Causes of a huge change in the world
• Coping with brothers and sisters
• Hanging out
• How a vehicle works
• How do people cope with constant pain?
• How I express myself artistically
• How it would feel to walk in space
• I admit it: I enjoy professional wrestling.
• I take some things too seriously
• If I were a superhero, I'd be . . .
• Is pollution a necessary evil?
• Is this love?
• Morning madness
• My craziest experience in a restaurant or shopping mall
• My dream car
• My first crush
• My first encounter with a bully
• My muscles were so sore after . . .
• My Web site
• Self-esteem
• Something this school really needs is . . .
• Sometimes, adults seem . . .
• The environment: problem and solution
• The hardest thing I have ever done
• The idea hit me like a tornado.
• The next wave of social media
• The toys I'll never give up
• Tools I will need in my intended profession
• We all make mistakes
• What animals can teach people
• What different colors mean to me
• What do Americans do well?
• What do I do to break routine?
• What do I worry about?
• What if school sports were dropped?
• What invention would I like to see in my lifetime?
• What it's like where I work
• Who knows me best?
• Why are crime dramas so popular?
• Why are some people so cruel?
• "Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal."
• A change that would improve school life
• Foods I love, foods I hate
• I couldn't believe that Mom/Dad volunteered me for that job
• It's a rule, so it's right . . . right?
• Let's hear it for my favorite senior citizen
• Let's push alternate forms of energy
• Putting my foot in my mouth
• The government should . . .
• What most drives me crazy is . . .
• Why appearance is not so important
• Why I deserve the job
• _ is like a boomerang
• A funny thing happened when . . .
• A meaningful gift I've given or received
• A time when I got in trouble
• An unforgettable dream
• Looking at pictures of family and friends
• My brother or sister made me so mad
• My worst vacation
• What I regret most
• When I faced my fears
• When I learned something difficult
• When I traveled to . . .
• A remarkable artist
• An all-new album from an important artist
• An amazing work of art
• Meet the characters of . . .
• The music that moves me most
• The theme of my favorite story is . . .
• Alone on a desert island

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11 Plus Creative Writing Tasks List

by Danielle | Jan 11, 2023 | Blog , Creative Writing

The questions your child might be asked in an 11+ creative writing assessment is endless but here is a list which you could use to guide you. These tasks are all taken from real 11+ papers, from schools including Latymer Upper, St Pauls Girls, The Perse School, Emanuel School, Alleyn’s School, Merchant Taylors and the Essex CSSE Exam.

Write a Story

• ‘Taught a Lesson!’ Write a story about a bully who is taught a lesson.
• Write a story entitled, ‘Alone’.
• “The Fire” Write a story with this as your title. Concentrate on describing a fire and its effects, and the thoughts and feelings of the people involved, so that it is convincing for your reader.

Continue a Story

• Continue the story that begins with,  Outside my front door, someone had left a large cardboard box .
•   Continue the Story  that begins with,  Pushing the door, his hand shook uncontrollably as he watched the ground open up to reveal a spiral staircase winding down to the unknown.  

Write a recount

• Imagine you are a Martian landing on Planet Earth. Write a diary entry (in English!) about your first day.
• A Walk in the Dark. You have had to go out after dark to carry out an errand. Write a letter to a friend telling them: • What you saw. • What you heard. • How you felt about being out by yourself in the dark.

Write a Description

• Imagine it is very early in the morning and you are all alone in your school just before anyone else has arrived. Describe your observations and what you feel.
• Describe a visit to a very cold place.
• Imagine that your train stops in a tunnel in the dark for half an hour. Describe what you see and how you feel.
• Describe someone you will never forget and explain why.

Write about an Experience

• Write about a time when you had to do something that scared you. Explain what happened and describe how you felt. You should make your writing as interesting and detailed as possible.
• Write about a time that you or someone else became frustrated by something. Explain what happened and how you felt.

Write a piece of Non-Fiction

• Write a persuasive letter to your local MP about the litter in your area and what you want them to do about it.
• Do you think children should have access to smart phones? Write a discursive magazine article in which you outline reasons for and against.
• Explain what is your favourite time in the whole year. You should aim to write  at least  six sentences.
• Write down, in six or seven sentences, instructions for a younger brother, sister or friend on how to clean their teeth.
• Write six or seven sentences describing an animal. For example, a cat, a dog, a guinea pig, a horse. Make your writing as vivid as possible.
• In six or seven sentences, write down clear instructions how to make a piece of toast with jam. Make your writing as precise as possible.

Write about an Image

• Write a story based on the picture below.
• Describe the image.

Creative Writing: Core Skills and Story Writing

11+ Interview Preparation Course

Years 4-6 Comprehension Course

Years 2-3 Creative Writing Club: Smashing Story Skills

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Best 11 Plus Online Practice Exams|11+|Free Tests|Independent Schools|CEM | CSSE|GL Assessment|Creative Writing| 11 Plus Forum|Mock Exams – 11Plus e Help | 11PluseHelp.co.uk

Best 11 Plus Online Practice Exams

11+ Creative Writing

Creativity is a gift to children, and their brains are so sharp than all of us. Why not make them work for good reasons than leave them lethargic to the stinky games? House arrested Televisions. We offer quality resources for 11 plus and a great opportunity for many children out there to showcase their wits. Rush to 11plusehelp.co.uk for more details on Creative Writing and promote your child’s creativity to the world.

Creative Writing is a form of Writing where creativity is at the forefront of its purpose. Here the writer must use his imagination , creativity , and innovation to tell a story through strong written visuals. Creative Writing is probably one of many students’ most challenging sections of the 11+ exams . The reason is that you could not gather enough thoughts under the tight time constraints during the exam.

Creative Writing for the 11 plus test is in two ways – either you are asked to write an original story for the given title or complete a continuous prose exercise in the same writing style. Both types of tasks will examine your ability to plan, create and then write in a structured manner using good vocabulary.

11 Plus Creative Writing:

11 Plus Creative Writing

Creative Writing is the main difference between most Grammar Schools’ tests and Independent Schools’ tests . Grammar School tests usually don’t include this section as their tests are of multiple-choice format. However, Independent secondary Schools do because humans mark the tests.

11 Creative Writing and Story Writing:

https://www.11plusehelp.co.uk/blog/2021/04/17/11-creative-writing-and-story-writing/

What topics could come up?

The possibilities of questions are within the following four categories:

1. Descriptive tasks – to describe a situation or a place

2. Persuasive tasks – to script a convincing speech like writing a letter or a complaint

3. Narrative tasks – to compose a short story

4. Expository tasks – to explain an article or set of instructions

Please note that you can upload the 11+ Creative Writings either by directly typing or by taking a picture and attaching it here:

https://www.11plusehelp.co.uk/blog/submit-creative-writing/

This is the crucial section that decides the child’s ability because the most important thing is how you present your ideas on paper though you get good thoughts in your mind. Having an idea of how your story holds together and ends before you start writing gives you a sense of direction when you write.

11 Plus Creative Writing Validation Check List:

https://www.11plusehelp.co.uk/blog/2016/07/24/11-plus-creative-writing-validation-check-list/

11Plusehelp.co.uk has some guidelines, so check out the resource: 11 Plus English Creative Writing Suggestions

The tutors can only give necessary guidelines for the children on how to carry out creative Writing. They cannot help in making your child start writing scripts and check for reviews. The child himself should start building the features needed for it, like developing a sufficiently wide vocabulary and improving style.

Free 11 Plus Creative Writing Practice:

FREE PRIVATE 11 Plus Creative Writing practice………….

For this, self-practice and revision are a must. It is a good idea to revise each different type of question that may occur in a creative writing task. Key things to remember while practising include grammar , punctuation and sentence structure .

11 Plus Free Creative Writing:

https://www.11plusehelp.co.uk/blog/2018/07/12/11-plus-creative-writing-2/

11 Plus Creative Writings:

https://www.11plusehelp.co.uk/blog/category/11-plus-creative-writings/

The examiner looks for :

• Effective planning of the content
• Creativity in presenting the topic
• A ‘ fluent ‘ and exciting writing style
• Correct usage of punctuation marks
• Use of sophisticated words
• Correct spellings
• Sentences with good English grammar and vocabulary
• A well-structured piece of Writing
• The work is precise and simple

Using Creative Writing Blog , the child can upload a creative writing piece. We publish the best Creative Writing pieces on our blog. This’ll encourage children to write a creative writing piece and improve their writing skills.

11+ Creative Writing – what makes it more effective and impressive?

Some Creative Writings from students:

“The Sun” by Zishan

“Spring the beginning” by Nithila Senthil

“The Summer Tree” by Hafsa

“THE BEAUTIFUL TREE” by Stuti

Note to all Parents and Children on Creative Writing: Please write as much as possible, and if you’ve more time, then don’t stop with one paragraph. Try to put more paragraphs. This’ll improve speed in the final exam.

You can access 11 Plus FREE Papers by visiting the below link: https://www.11plusehelp.co.uk/11-plus-free-online-papers

You can access 11 Plus FREE Sample Papers by visiting the below link: https://www.11plusehelp.co.uk/11-plus-sample-papers

11 Plus complete solution features:

https://www.11plusehelp.co.uk/blog/2017/05/01/11-plus-complete-solution/

Practice and Perseverance Over Genius and Talent

11Plusehelp.co.uk

Published by 11Plus Blog View all posts by 11Plus Blog Leave a Reply Cancel reply Title Generator Unleash your creativity with our AI-powered title generator! Simply enter your text below and hit the button to get the perfect title. Below are 0 curated titles based on your input Our versatile tool is tailored to aid in crafting titles for a variety of texts. Ideal for different users like bloggers in search of eye-catching headlines, students working on essays, or professionals preparing detailed reports, it employs AI technology to generate a range of title options. This is possible through your input, ranging from a title idea or summary to your entire text. This free service's AI is designed to generate titles closely aligned with your content's theme. The technology aims to grasp the essence of your text, offering titles that are not only unique but also relevant to your work. 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This action cannot be undone. 🎉 Our next novel writing master class starts in – ! Claim your spot → WEEKLY WRITING PROMPTS Join (probably?) the world's largest writing contest. Flex those creative muscles with weekly writing prompts. Showing 2205 prompts Heroes and villains, write the origin story of a notorious villain.. LIVE – Character Center your story around someone facing their biggest fear or enemy. Write about two mortal enemies who must work together., start or end your story with a hero losing their powers.. Introducing Prompted , a new magazine written by you! 🏆 Featuring 12 prize-winning stories from our community. Download it now for FREE . Write a story from the antagonist’s point of view. Set your story during the hottest day of the year., center your story around an unexpected summer fling., write about a character who is allergic to heat., start or end your story with a heatwave announcement., subscribe to our prompts newsletter. Never miss a prompt! Get curated writing inspiration delivered to your inbox each week. Write about a summer vacation gone wrong. Write a story in the form of a series of thank you cards., write a story about an unsung hero., write a story about a cynic who has been told to start a "gratitude journal," and does so — begrudgingly., write a creative nonfiction piece about something you're grateful for., write a story about a character trying to find a way to express their gratitude to someone., write a story using the most clichéd twist of all; it was all a dream., write a story that includes the line, "i didn't see that one coming.", write a story about someone who realises the story of their life has been pre-determined — until they decide to divert from the expected path., write a story in which a character learns something unexpected about someone they thought they knew well., win $250 in our short story competition 🏆. We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250! Contest #263 LIVE Enter our weekly contest. This week's theme: Heroes and Villains Prize money Contest entries, closes at 23:59 - aug 16, 2024 est, recent contests ✍️. #262 – Turn Up the Heat #261 – Gratitude #260 – A Twist in the Tale #259 – The Elephant in the Room Recent winners 🏆 Sandrine Hu – read Elizabeth Hoban – read Christine Foy – read Rozmarin Ideas – read Leaderboard 🥇 #1 Zilla Babbitt 32398 points #2 Deidra Whitt Lovegren 28765 points #3 Abigail Airuedomwinya 22427 points #4 Graham Kinross 14637 points #5 Scout Tahoe 13199 points #6 Chris Campbell 11702 points #7 Thom With An H 10703 points #8 Rayhan Hidayat 10219 points #9 Michał Przywara 9965 points #10 Deborah Mercer 9614 points Bring your short stories to life Fuse character, story, and conflict with tools in Reedsy Studio. 100% free. Creative Writing Prompts When the idea to start a weekly newsletter with writing inspiration first came to us, we decided that we wanted to do more than provide people with topics to write about. We wanted to try and help authors form a regular writing habit and also give them a place to proudly display their work. So we started the weekly Creative Writing Prompts newsletter. Since then, Prompts has grown to a community of more than 450,000 authors, complete with its own literary magazine, Prompted .   Here's how our contest works: every Friday, we send out a newsletter containing five creative writing prompts. Each week, the story ideas center around a different theme. Authors then have one week — until the following Friday — to submit a short story based on one of our prompts. A winner is picked each week to win $250 and is highlighted on our Reedsy Prompts page. Interested in participating in our short story contest? Sign up here for more information! Or you can check out our full Terms of Use and our FAQ page . Why we love creative writing prompts If you've ever sat in front of a computer or notebook and felt the urge to start creating worlds, characters, and storylines — all the while finding yourself unable to do so — then you've met the author's age-old foe: writer's block. There's nothing more frustrating than finding the time but not the words to be creative. Enter our directory! If you're ready to kick writer's block to the curb and finally get started on your short story or novel, these unique story ideas might just be your ticket. This list of 1800+ creative writing prompts has been created by the Reedsy team to help you develop a rock-solid writing routine. As all aspiring authors know, this is the #1 challenge — and solution! — for reaching your literary goals. Feel free to filter through different genres, which include... Dramatic — If you want to make people laugh and cry within the same story, this might be your genre. Funny — Whether satire or slapstick, this is an opportunity to write with your funny bone. Romance — One of the most popular commercial genres out there. Check out these story ideas out if you love writing about love. Fantasy — The beauty of this genre is that the possibilities are as endless as your imagination. Dystopian – Explore the shadowy side of human nature and contemporary technology in dark speculative fiction. Mystery — From whodunnits to cozy mysteries, it's time to bring out your inner detective. Thriller and Suspense — There's nothing like a page-turner that elicits a gasp of surprise at the end. High School — Encourage teens to let their imaginations run free. Want to submit your own story ideas to help inspire fellow writers? Send them to us here. After you find the perfect story idea Finding inspiration is just one piece of the puzzle. Next, you need to refine your craft skills — and then display them to the world. We've worked hard to create resources that help you do just that! Check them out: How to Write a Short Story That Gets Published — a free, ten-day course by Laura Mae Isaacman, a full-time editor who runs a book editing company in Brooklyn. Best Literary Magazines of 2023 — a directory of 100+ reputable magazines that accept unsolicited submissions. Writing Contests in 2023 — the finest contests of 2021 for fiction and non-fiction authors of short stories, poetry, essays, and more. Beyond creative writing prompts: how to build a writing routine While writing prompts are a great tactic to spark your creative sessions, a writer generally needs a couple more tools in their toolbelt when it comes to developing a rock-solid writing routine . To that end, here are a few more additional tips for incorporating your craft into your everyday life. NNWT. Or, as book coach Kevin Johns calls it , “Non-Negotiable Writing Time.” This time should be scheduled into your routine, whether that’s once a day or once a week. Treat it as a serious commitment, and don’t schedule anything else during your NNWT unless it’s absolutely necessary. Set word count goals. And make them realistic! Don’t start out with lofty goals you’re unlikely to achieve. Give some thought to how many words you think you can write a week, and start there. If you find you’re hitting your weekly or daily goals easily, keep upping the stakes as your craft time becomes more ingrained in your routine. Talk to friends and family about the project you’re working on. Doing so means that those close to you are likely to check in about the status of your piece — which in turn keeps you more accountable. Arm yourself against writer’s block. Writer’s block will inevitably come, no matter how much story ideas initially inspire you. So it’s best to be prepared with tips and tricks you can use to keep yourself on track before the block hits. You can find 20 solid tips here — including how to establish a relationship with your inner critic and apps that can help you defeat procrastination or lack of motivation. NEW VIDEO COURSE 🎉 How to Write a Novel Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months . Learn more → Explore more writing prompt ideas: Adults Writing Prompts ⭢ Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢ Angst Writing Prompts ⭢ Character Writing Prompts ⭢ Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢ Dark Writing Prompts ⭢ Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢ Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢ Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢ Fall Writing Prompts ⭢ Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢ Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢ Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢ Funny Writing Prompts ⭢ Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢ High School Writing Prompts ⭢ Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢ Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢ Horror Writing Prompts ⭢ Kids Writing Prompts ⭢ Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢ Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢ Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢ Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢ Novel Writing Prompts ⭢ Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢ Romance Writing Prompts ⭢ Sad Writing Prompts ⭢ Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢ Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢ Spring Writing Prompts ⭢ Summer Writing Prompts ⭢ Teens Writing Prompts ⭢ Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢ Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢ Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢ Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢ Winter Writing Prompts ⭢ Oops, you need an account for that! Log in with your social account: Or enter your email: 15 Creative Writing Prompts for 11-year-olds Preparing for the 11 Plus English Exam If your child is in year 5 of primary school, then chances are they may be sitting their 11+ exams soon. In many of the 11 Plus exams will be an English paper that includes a creative essay, in which your child will be expected to demonstrate their literacy skills creatively by using extensive language, grammar and punctuation. In order to put their best foot forward, your child will need to prepare adequately – there is no such thing as too much practice when it comes to writing. That’s why we have created some free creative writing resources , including the following 15 creative writing prompts to help your child exercise their creativity Don’t forget – we have lots of writing prompts books and booklets, too! See below: 15 Creative Writing Prompts Let’s say you could create your own animal, what would it look like? How would you describe it in terms of size, colour and height? What would it sound like? What does it eat? Write a story about a day in your life from the viewpoint of a mouse. Imagine you are 10 years older. Write about what the 21-year-old version of you would be like. Imagine that you were chosen as one of the first people to visit Mars. What would you take with you and what do you think the planet would be like? If you switched places with your parents for a day, how would you run the house? What rules would you introduce and which rules would you change? Pages: 1 2 3 Share this: 2 responses to “15 creative writing prompts for 11-year-olds preparing for the 11 plus english exam”, leave a reply cancel reply. You must be logged in to post a comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed . Primary Tuition: 11+ Exam Tuition and Key Stage 1 and 2 Tuition Secondary Tuition: Key Stage 3 and GCSE Functional Skills Courses for 16+ and Adults T&C’s Help your child succeed in their 11 Plus exams The 11 plus guide - free advice and help for the 11 plus exams. The 11 Plus Guide – FREE advice and help for the 11 Plus exams. 11 Plus Exam Papers & Books 11 Plus Exam Preparation 11 Plus Subjects Independent & Private Schools Grammar School Test Areas 11 Plus Forum Numerical Reasoning What do Maths tests include? Maths preparation mistakes Most common Maths mistakes Early years Maths preparation Year five Maths preparation CEM Numerical reasoning GL 11 Plus Maths School written Maths papers Maths- KS2 Syllabus topic guide Independent School Maths How to prepare for Engish English preparation mistakes Common English exam mistakes Gauging English performance level Early years English preparation Year five English preparation GL 11 Plus English CEM 11 Plus English School written English papers Key topics from the KS2 English Syllabus How to prepare for VR GL style tests CEM style tests Independent School VR VR preparation mistakes Most common VR mistakes Pressure and VR VR preparation in years three and four VR specific year four work VR preparation in year five How to prepare for Non-Verbal Reasoning GL Non-Verbal Reasoning CEM Non-Verbal Reasoning Independent School NVR Preparation mistakes NVR Exam mistakes NVR Pressure and Non-Verbal Reasoning Year three NVR preparation Year four NVR preparation Year five NVR preparation Classic Books Vocabulary How Children Develop Vocabulary Vocabulary Development Plan 11 Plus Vocabulary Books and Reviews 11 Plus Vocabulary Development 11 Plus Vocabulary List Commonly Misspelt Words – 11 Plus Homophones for the 11 Plus KS2 Statutory Spelling Words When to double letters in spelling 11 Plus Creative Writing – Example Topics and Tasks 11 Plus Creative Writing – Essay writing guidance Helping children with creative writing. Most tuition centres are not set up to help children effectively because they don’t have the time to mark a whole classroom of scripts and sometimes don’t employ staff who can mark work. Equally its very difficult for parents to know where to start as to a large degree the books that are available don’t deliver a step by step process. For more information about the creative writing aspect of 11 Plus exams please continue reading. For more general information on 11 Plus exams, including the types of exam and their structures,  please follow this link . If you want more information about the English aspect of the 11 Plus please follow this link . There are some core guidelines that will help children to improve Practice and revision of work is very important. Whenever children write a piece they must then, a couple of days later, revisit it critically and think about how they could improve it. This process of self-criticism and correction allows children to naturally develop their skills. Their stories naturally become better first time out. Creative writing books and resources for 11 Plus preparation It is really difficult to find the right resources to help children at home. Our guidance below will help you to understand what you could focus but even then it is a difficult task. There are also very few books out there which attempt to do the job and even fewer that we would recommend. Descriptosaurus- supporting creative writing ages 8-14 What areas of creative writing should children focus on? The common areas where most children could improve are as follows: 1/ Spelling and punctuation – Getting the basics right is very important. Children should read through their work critically and correct errors. The better an impression they can make (few mistakes) the greater their scores will be. It is also the case that demonstrating their knowledge of punctuation also helps (e.g. Correct use of direct speech). 2/ Simplicity of plot –   Children often have a limited amount of time to write. Examiners do not expect them to come up with a complicated plot with numerous characters and lots of action- children who attempt this always fail. Simplicity is essential, children need to get used to the idea that a very simple plot with a limited amount of action and very few characters is the right way forward. They will then find they have something they can deliver properly in the time that they have. 3/ Descriptions, descriptions, descriptions – Having grasped the idea that simple plots with limited action work best children will then find that most marks can be gained by describing characters and action well. Children who think through a number of descriptions as a sort of descriptions bank often do very well in these test. They automatically have some good vocabulary or turns of phrase to describe people or situations or emotions or the environment and they can use these naturally as they tell their story. 4/ Using accurate language – Naturally as part of developing their descriptions children will think about interesting vocabulary and turns of phrase and also about using literary devices ( such as similes). Additionally though they should steer clear of obvious such as like or said or good- they will find more accurate vocabulary exists should they give it some thought. 5/ A sensible ending – Children sometimes fall foul of this by using endings such as ‘and then I woke up’ . Examiners will be marking lots of scripts and so this sort of ending will naturally attract poor marks. Children will find that if they develop a simple story and describe it well then they will have the time to naturally bring a story to its conclusion without needing to revert to odd endings. A  final word – handwriting – With increasing screen time sometimes children lack well developed handwriting skills. Children either write illegibly or cannot write quickly enough to get a story out in the time available. There’s no easy way to resolve this other than practice. If children are writing practice stories and revising them then they will find this allows them to naturally develop their handwriting. 11 Plus Creative writing example topics and tasks Tasks vary by area. In Essex for instance currently they ask for circa ten sentences on two topics. One tends to be more factual, the other more descriptive. Other areas like Kent or schools like St Olaves or Henrietta Barnet ask for more extensive writing- while tasks can change year to year this could be a creative writing task lasting 40 minutes. Whatever the task or length children will benefit from focussing on the six areas (above) that we have identified above. We have developed a list of sample creative writing topics and tasks which you could you to start writing at home. 11 Plus areas asking for creative writing, essays or extended writing Kent – set a  40 minute creative writing task for all pupils but it is only marked where they need to decide on the last few students to take. Kent Medway  – As Kent, 40 minute creative writing task but only marked in a few cases. Essex (all schools apart from Chelmsford county high school for girls)  – 2 Extended writing tasks. One factual – how to make toast as an example and one more creative  such as describe your pet or your favourite animal. They ask for a few sentences on each. Devon –  The following schools ask for creative writing as part of their 11 Plus test- Colyton, Torquay Boys, Torquay Girls, Churston Ferrers, Devonport Girls Surrey –  Tiffin Boys and Girls schools, Wilsons and Sutton Grammar school, Nonsuch and Wallington schools St Olaves School Henrietta Barnet School Trafford  – Altrincham Grammar School for boys Wirral – St Anselm’s College Yorkshire – Crossley Heath and North Halifax School To review the books that we suggest you use during your preparation, then try some of these links: CEM 11+ Verbal Reasoning Resources and Preparation CEM 11+ Non-Verbal Reasoning Resources and Preparation CEM 11+ Numerical Reasoning Resources and Preparation 11+ English Resources and Preparation 11+ Maths Resources and Preparation 11+ Verbal Reasoning Resources and Preparation 11+ Non-Verbal Reasoning Resources and Preparation Recommended Forum Feature The 11 plus forum - answers to common questions about the 11 plus exam, favourites links, independent school past papers. 11 Plus Exam Format by Region Preparation Options Pages of Interest Top ten tips, 11 plus guided courses, which books to use, 11 plus mock exams. 11 Plus Guide Copyright © 2024 Site Managed by Matt Porter 0 Shopping Cart £ 0.00 --> 11+ creative writing titles Good titles for creative writing, essay titles for creative writing, titles for creative writing, further information. how can critical thinking help you evaluate claims in the media best college application essay ever written literature review can help to define research question and methodologies cpm homework help 3.1.6 creative writing cg shs roman homework help ks2 Contact Details Modern Bookbinders Ltd Pringle Street Blackburn Lancashire BB1 1SA UK Email: modern.binders@btconnect.com Tel: 01254 59371 Fax: 01254 59373 London Contact: +44 020 8874 6422 New York Contact: +1 646-457-8119 [email protected] 7+ 8+ Entrance Exam Tuition 11+ Tuition 11+ ISEB Common Pre-Test Tuition 13+ Tuition 16+ Private Tuition (I)GCSE Tuition AS/A2 Levels Tuition International Baccalaureate Oxbridge Admissions Tests English As A Foreign Language How The British School System Works UK School Interview Practice School Interview Questions, Tips & Preparation UK University Applications University Interview Practice Personal Statement Advice Oxbridge Applications US University Application Summer School Industry 1.1.1 11+ Creative Writing Tips Tips To Help Prepare For The 11+ Creative Writing Exam 11+ creative writing is arguably one of the most difficult components of the 11+ exams for candidates. At My Tutor Club, our tutors are fanatical about essay planning. It takes 5 minutes of your time but it is time so well invested. Having an idea of how your story holds together, and ends,  before  you start writing gives you a sense of direction when you write. Unless you are a very able writer, navigating your story to a well-structured conclusion  while  you are writing, having avoided the initial planning section, is incredibly difficult to do. Keep it simple  Descriptive writing that is deep and meaningful will always win the day over action packed stories. Most candidates at this level write about action. The stories tend to be “action packed thrillers” talking about how this happened, and then that happened and then this happened. Writing about action well is actually a very difficult skill to acquire. It is much better, and simpler, to write about one object, say a “tree” or a “mountain,” and talk more about emotion, feelings, sentiment and description. In these stories very little will actually  happen   but the level of descriptive writing and attention to emotion will result in a piece of 11+ creative writing far more impressive, mature and sophisticated. Brainstorming If you are having trouble thinking of a story, don’t panic, start brainstorming. The best way to do this is to take a blank sheet of paper in the exam and just start noting down anything that comes into your head relating to your title. Spend a couple of minutes putting anything down, don’t hold back. Ideas are more likely to come to you as you write down snippets that come into your head. All creative writing pieces need a beginning, a middle and an end. At My Tutor Club, we use the “hamburger” analogy: the top bun for the beginning, the 100% pure British beef (or veggie bit if you’re vegetarian) in the middle, and the bottom bun for the ending. When brainstorming, think which of the three sections your ideas will fit into. How to be descriptive Revise your key lists of adjectives, adverbs, similes, metaphors, colours and emotions. As an emergency, have a couple of phrases that you can use. Of course the idea is not to learn phrases by heart, but if you have a couple of “golden phrases” up your sleeve that can be applied to many circumstances, then they are worth remembering in case your writing flow starts to cease up. Leave 5-7 minutes to read through what you have written. It is so much better to write less but higher quality (with no silly grammar or spelling mistakes) than to write more but with mistakes. Less is more (to an extent). It’s amazing how you will probably pick up 8-12 silly errors when you read back through your work. Don’t let these silly errors drag your mark down. Check your work. Next steps.. Below is a list of 11+ creative writing titles that have frequently appeared in past 11+ papers: The Day Trip The Broken Window The Abandoned House The Voice in the Darkness We are more than happy,  a gratis , to take a look at a 11+ creative writing piece over the coming weeks if you email them to us so that we can mark them and offer suggestions for improvement. At My Tutor Club, we emphasise the importance of writing about description over action. Using a range of literary techniques such as adjectives, adverbs, metaphors and similes we can make our writing more rich, detailed and ultimately unique. Below are some example template sentences in order to give you an idea of what you should be aiming for in your 11+ creative writing. They should not be learnt off by heart and used in your creative writing! Rather use them as inspiration and as a guide to ignite your own imagination in coming up with your own sentences that you can use in a variety of 11+ creative writing situations. He installed himself in the tiny lounge and loomed oppressively over the settee… Sick and shaken he was unable to make sense of what had happened. How long had he been lying there? Only a minute surely? The clear water mirrored the clear sky and the angular bright constellations Along the advancing clearness of the shore, I could see strange, moon-beamed bodied creatures with fiery eyes. She looked out of the window of her hut. She lifted a corner of the mosquito net and saw fireflies – a hundred points of dancing light – and heard the croaking of frogs. She ran upstairs into her room and slammed the door with a crash that shook the entire house. When her tears subsided she stayed sitting with her back against the wall, hugging her anger. The house was surrounded by neatly gravelled driveways which wound through immaculate wide-spreading lawns. At the back of the house were the stables, where the grooms and boys worked, rows of servants’ cottages, and long lines of grape vines, green pastures, orchards and berry patches. His strength ebbed and his eyes began to glaze as the cold finally began to take its merciless toll. His clothing was threadbare, almost transparent with age. I began to wriggle under by brown blanket like a mole who burrows away from noise. I was not quaking with fear but rather tingling with it – it was a prickling sensation on the skin like having a temperature. For further details about 11+ preparation, 11+ creative writing, targeted 11+ tuition, or My Tutor Club’s 11+ revision courses between now and January 2017, please contact us . Recent Posts How To Increase Your Chances Of Getting Into Oxbridge What Are The ISEB Common Pre-Tests? How To Become A Private Tutor Ideas for cultural enrichment for children in London Exam Techniques To Help You Tackle An Upcoming Test 11+ North London Consortium Groups 1 & 2: What Is It? Applying To Study Medicine At University: Tips & Advice Why Disappointing GCSE/A-level Grades Are Not The End Of The World Exam Technique and Study skills General Resources Private Tuition Resources University Advisory Blog Posts Privacy Overview The Creative Writing Breakfast Club Sunday 18th Aug 2024 Join writer Laurie Bolger for Creative Writing Breakfast Club, a chance to get scribbling from the comfort of your own space via Zoom. Date and time Refund policy, about this event. Event lasts 1 hour The Creative Writing Breakfast Club as featured in Time Out is a Free Flow Creative Writing hour with writer Laurie Bolger. This session is about letting your creativity lead the way, generating new and exciting writing in your own unique style. During this 60 minute workshop Laurie will take you through fast paced writing exercises to boost mindfulness. All you need is a pen and paper and somewhere chilled to sit and let your imagination do it’s thing. Laurie Bolger is a London based writer & the founder of The Creative Writing Breakfast Club. Laurie’s work has been widely anthologised & has featured at Glastonbury, TATE & Sky Arts. Laurie’s first publication Box Rooms celebrated community & her W10 roots. Laurie was the winner of The Moth Poetry Prize & was shortlisted for The Sylvia Plath, Bridport & Forward Poetry Prize. Her latest books include Makeover & Spin celebrating the resilience of working class women, autonomy & love. Laurie has collaborated with global brands, charities & organisations such as Google, Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Liberty, Penhaligons, Nationwide, Glastonbury, Choose Love, Mind UK, TATE & Sky Arts. Laurie has been teaching creative workshops for over a decade bringing people together to celebrate their own unique voices & scribbles. “ If you ever want a cosy, creative, calming place to explore writing, Laurie's workshops are perfection…My heart is so full (I know what that means now)” Breakfast Clubber 2024 "My first workshop of Laurie's & definitely won’t be my last… ideas exploding all over the shop - thank you, loved it" Writing: Water Participant 2023 “Laurie’s workshops are a safe & at the same time dangerous place for writing..." Writing The Seven Deadly Sins Workshop Participant 2022 "Probably the best, most productive w/s I've ever attended. Fantastic. Thank you!" Writing The Body Participant 2023 “If I could jump inside her poems I would…I imagine it’d be lovely & warm in there” Hollie McNish Instagram @lauriebolger_ | Twitter @lauriebolger www.lauriebolger.com Online Events Things To Do Online Online Classes Online Arts Classes #creativeworkshop #creativewriting #creativewritingbeginners #creative_class #creative_workshop #creative_writing_workshop #creativewritingworkshop Organised by Tim Walz was named 'most inspiring teacher' — and other memories from former students As a teacher and coach at Mankato West High School, Tim Walz gave out hallway high-fives, was named “most inspiring teacher,” motivated students to become educators themselves and helped create a turnaround story for the football team. Now governor of Minnesota and the vice presidential pick on the Democratic presidential ticket, Walz is still remembered fondly by his former students and players. “He was probably one of the most well-liked teachers in the school while he taught there,” said Katie Heintz, 41, who had Walz as a teacher her junior year of high school and is now the director of a library in the area.  His lectures on topics like history and government have stuck with her to this day, she said. He really taught both sides of everything,” she said. “He wasn’t pushy about, you know, right or left or whatever.” He was also an influential assistant coach who mentored students beyond the field and helped lead the football team to a state championship.  Both Walz and his wife, Gwen Walz, worked at Mankato West, and Tracy Frederick Corcoran, 41, took classes with both of them.  “Between Tim and Gwen, those were two people in the high school that were always there for students,” she said. “Both Tim and Gwen had this magic of helping you see possibilities and potential in yourself that maybe you didn’t actually know was there.” Walz, a Nebraska native, moved to Mankato after having served in the military for almost 20 years. It’s a city of around 45,000 people 80 miles south of Minneapolis, and residents describe it as the ideal place to raise a family. Both Corcoran and Heintz, Walz’s former students, moved back to Mankato years after graduation to raise their families. They’ve seen their old teacher a handful of times each since then; he still attended some high school football games as governor, they said.  Despite his political ascent, Heintz said, his disposition is exactly the same.  “He’s standing true to what he believes in,” she said. “We hadn’t spoken in 15 years, but he remembered I was a student. We just picked up right where we had left off, no awkwardness.” Corcoran now works in educational consulting and is making her own foray into politics by running for the local school board. It’s something she said Walz inspired her to do.  “Tim is definitely one of those teachers that left a lasting impact on me,” she said. “Tim really provided a window for me to see that actually you can have a bigger impact on a larger scale and public office is one of those ways that you can do that.” Mankato is fairly mixed when it comes to politics, Corcoran said, nearly split down the middle between Democrats and Republicans. But with his deep community ties, Heintz said, Walz is liked across the board. She thinks he has the potential to attract those on the right to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. “I think people that know him will vote for him because of who he is,” she said. “My dad is a die-hard Republican, served in the military, and he is fond of Walz.”  Watching their high school teacher become their representative and governor and now join the running to be vice president has been strange and thrilling, Corcoran and Heintz said. They’re both voting for him and Harris in November.  “You can just feel the excitement from everyone who has been impacted by him,” Corcoran said. “He hunts and fishes like many Minnesotans do, and I think that really humble, human side of him is what makes people rally around him.” Patient but ‘full bore’ as a coach who helped lead a lagging team to state championships It was his junior year, and Dan Clement wanted to drop out of Mankato West. A self-proclaimed “troubled youth,” he hung out with a group of kids who preferred to skip class, drink alcohol and do drugs rather than sit in a classroom. But a conversation in the summer of 1998 with his linebackers coach, Walz, changed his mindset heading into the final year of high school. “He really pulled me along,” Clement, 43, said. “He really just showed a lot of care for me to the point where I’m like, ‘OK, I’m going to continue going to school, and I’m going to work hard for you.’ I played football for him. I didn’t really play football for much of anything else.” Clement’s recollection of Walz is far from unusual from former coaches and players, who say he was an integral part in turning a once-lackluster football program into the best team in Minnesota.“They didn’t win a game for two or three years,” Clement said. “Mankato West was awful. A really bad football team for many, many years. And then quite literally from ’96, ’97 and ’98, within those years, it just went from awful to state champs.” Walz moved to Minnesota from Nebraska with his wife, Gwen, in 1996 to be closer to her family. They both joined the school as teachers, and Walz was brought up as a possible assistant to then-head coach Rick Sutton. Sutton, 62, said they immediately hit it off. “Tim is the kind of guy that just makes people feel comfortable. He’s got really good people skills,” Sutton said. “Without a doubt, one of the most important things in coaching and teaching is the ability to build relationships with students and other people, and that’s definitely Tim’s strength. No question, when I first met him for that informal interview, that this was a guy that I wanted on my staff.” Walz initially coached the linebackers and then transitioned to defensive coordinator. In 1999, they had a team with major potential but started the season 2-4. Sutton and Walz made sure to emphasize to the players that the year was not done quite yet. They then rallied for eight straight wins and eventually took home the state championship with a dramatic 35-28 victory over Cambridge-Isanti. Walz’s defense limited one of the state’s star running backs to just over 100 yards, a major success considering he was coming off a semifinal game in which he had more than 250 yards on the ground.Seth Greenwald, a linebacker on the championship team, said Walz’s energy on the sidelines helped change its fortunes that season. “He brought a lot of energy,” Greenwald said. “He wasn’t a big yeller; he wasn’t a big screamer at us. He was always coaching with us. Always very present as a coach. Never took days off, never wasn’t prepared. He just enjoyed the game. His passion stood out. When he rolls up his sleeves and decides that he’s going to go ahead and attack something, he goes full-bore.” Clement added: “He wasn’t screaming when you failed. He was screaming when you did well. He’s two fists over his head, jumping 3 feet in the air. That’s how I envision Coach Walz.” ‘The Education Governor’ Walz attributes his decision to switch from educator to legislator to an incident that happened in 2004.  President George W. Bush was in Mankato to give a speech, and Walz brought a group of children to listen to him, hoping to give them a unique educational experience. But the students were denied entry because they had previously volunteered for the Democratic Party, according to Walz. “My students, regardless of political party, deserved to witness the historical moment of a sitting president coming to our city,” Walz tweeted in August 2020 , adding: “It was at this moment that I decided to run for office. While I had a passion for politics, I had never been overly involved in political campaigns, and many people thought that a high school teacher and football coach didn’t stand a chance.” Educators and advocates applauded Walz, a fierce proponent for children’s causes who they felt was a welcome addition to the national stage. “Gov. Walz is known as the ‘Education Governor’ because he has been an unwavering champion for public school students and educators and an ally for working families and unions,” Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, said in a statement Tuesday. Among the actions he has taken: Last year, Walz signed a bill into law that enabled all K-12 students in Minnesota to receive free school breakfast and lunch, regardless of their families’ incomes. His legislation followed a Covid-era federal waiver that had temporarily made universal free school meals available to all students nationwide during the height of the pandemic; only a handful of states other than Minnesota have made the free school meals permanent. A group of children fist-bumped and hugged Walz when he signed the bill into law at their Minneapolis elementary school. Republican critics in his state, meanwhile, have panned the free-meals legislation, arguing that the more than $400 million in taxes spent on it could serve a better end.  Walz has been steadfast in his defense of the legislation. “The haves and the have-nots in the school lunchroom is not a necessary thing,” he said at a news conference last summer . “Just feed our children.”He has taken the same straightforward approach to other aspects of education , singing off on increasing spending by billions of dollars.  The National Education Association, a union representing about 3 million teachers and other school staff members, said educators are “fired up and united” to elect a Harris-Walz ticket. “We know we can count on a continued and real partnership to expand access to free school meals for students, invest in student mental health, ensure no educator has to carry the weight of crushing student debt and do everything possible to keep our communities and schools safe,” Pringle said. Sakshi Venkatraman is a reporter for NBC Asian America. Greg Rosenstein is the sports editor for NBC News Digital. Elizabeth Chuck is a reporter for NBC News who focuses on health and mental health, particularly issues that affect women and children. Share full article Advertisement Supported by Tiny Memoir Contest for Students: Write a 100-Word Personal Narrative We invite teenagers to tell a true story about a meaningful life experience in just 100 words. Contest dates: Nov. 6 to Dec. 4, 2024. By The Learning Network Illustrations from Modern Love’s Tiny Love Stories , the inspiration for this contest. Can you tell a meaningful and interesting true story from your life in just 100 words? That’s the challenge we pose to teenagers with our 100-Word Personal Narrative Contest, a storytelling form popularized by Modern Love’s Tiny Love Stories series . After running this contest for two years, receiving a total of more than 25,000 entries, and honoring dozens of excellent miniature teen-written memoirs, we have discovered the answer is a resounding yes . So, we challenge you to try it yourself. We’re not asking you to write to a particular theme or to use a specific structure or style, but we are looking for short, powerful stories about a particular moment or event in your life. We want to hear your story, told in your unique voice, and we hope you’ll experiment with style and form to tell a tale that matters to you, in a way you enjoy telling it. And, yes, it’s possible to do all that in only 100 words. For proof, just look at last year’s 15 winning entries . We also have a step-by-step guide full of advice that is grounded in 25 excellent 100-word mentor texts, as well as a rehearsal space , published for our first year’s contest, that has over 1,000 student-written mini memoirs. Because that space was so successful, we’re keeping it open for this year’s contest. We hope students will use it to get inspiration, experiment and encourage each other. Take a look at the full guidelines and related resources below. Please post any questions you have in the comments and we’ll answer you there, or write to us at [email protected]. And, consider hanging this PDF one-page announcement on your class bulletin board. Here’s what you need to know: Resources for Teachers and Students Frequently Asked Questions Submission Form We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber?  Log in . Want all of The Times?  Subscribe . Cast & crew User reviews Miller's Girl A creative writing assignment yields complex results between a teacher and his talented student. A creative writing assignment yields complex results between a teacher and his talented student. A creative writing assignment yields complex results between a teacher and his talented student. Jade Halley Bartlett Martin Freeman Jenna Ortega Bashir Salahuddin 163 User reviews 67 Critic reviews 41 Metascore Top cast 11 Jonathan Miller Cairo Sweet Boris Fillmore Winnie Black Beatrice June Harker (as Dagmara Domińczyk) Joyce Manor Restaurant Patron (uncredited) All cast & crew Production, box office & more at IMDbPro More like this Did you know Trivia The blocking (where and when characters move during a scene) is very important when Mr. Miller tells Cairo she needs to rewrite her paper. Mr. Miller's desk is raised on a small platform. A character's elevation above one or more characters is often used to indicate who has the power or who is "winning" a scene. At the start when Mr. Miller tells Cairo he won't accept the paper, he is up on the platform and Cairo is on the floor. Cairo soon challenges him and gets on the platform while the two debate their relationship. By the end of the scene, Cairo has "won" and is now standing above Mr. Miller who has stepped off the platform. Jonathan Miller : Don't you get scared, walking through those woods? Cairo Sweet : I'm the scariest thing in there. Connections Referenced in Latino Slant: Jenna Ortega's Kiss, PLUS Erotic Scene Reactions! (2024) Soundtracks There's a Blessing written by Johnny Copeland performed by Johnny Copeland User reviews 163 KFstudios2009 Feb 21, 2024 How long is Miller's Girl? Powered by Alexa January 26, 2024 (United States) United States Nàng Thơ của Miller Cartersville, Georgia, USA (Dellinger Park, Address: 100 Pine Grove Rd, Cartersville, GA 30120-4070) Lionsgate Films Good Universe Point Grey Pictures See more company credits at IMDbPro $4,000,000 (estimated) Technical specs Runtime 1 hour 33 minutes Related news Contribute to this page. See more gaps Learn more about contributing More to explore Recently viewed. 158 IMAGES Titles 31 Creative (But Easy!) Title/Heading Ideas For Your Bullet Journal 31 How To Prepare For 11 Plus (11+) Creative Writing Catchy Titles for Articles Creative Writing Gcse English Creative Writing Titles COMMENTS 11+ creative writing guide with 50 example topics and prompts The real aim of the 11+ creative writing task is to showcase your child's writing skills and techniques. And that's why preparation is so important. This guide begins by answering all the FAQs that parents have about the 11+ creative writing task. At the end of the article I give my best tips & strategies for preparing your child for the 11 ... 11 Plus Creative Writing Topics Their book, Creative Writing Skills, has sold over 4,000 copies and has been a Number One Best Seller on Amazon. It is suitable for children aged 7-14. The questions your child might be asked in an 11 plus creative writing assessment are endless, but here is a list which you could use to guide and inspire your child's practice. 11 Plus Creative Writing Power. The Broken Window. The Abandoned House. Lost Boy. The Voice in the Darkness. The Garden. Sleeping. Write a story with Alone as the title, where you suddenly realise that you are on your own. It may be a true or entirely made up, but it should include your thoughts and feelings as well as what happened. 11 Plus (11+) Creative and Persuasive Writing: Student Model Answers Take a look at some examples of verbal feedback we've sent out recently. Maybe some of the top tips provided could also help improve your child's writing! Verbal Feedback Voice Note 1. The Exam Coach. Verbal Feedback Voice Note 2. The Exam Coach. Verbal Feedback Voice Note 3. The Exam Coach. 11 Plus Creative Writing Tips & Examples The 11 Plus creative writing exam is usually 25-30 minutes and could involve the continuation of a storyline that you'll be provided with. Alternatively you might be asked to write a short piece of your own in response to a visual stimulus - this could be describing a character or writing something from their perspective, like a diary entry. The Ultimate 11 Plus Creative Writing Guide Use a little dialogue in 11+ creative writing, but focus on your descriptions of the setting, characters and events. When you do write conversations, don't stop describing. Avoid repeating "I said", "she said", "Mum answered", and so on. Instead, add little details which help the reader to imagine the scene as the characters talk. 10 Types of Creative Writing (with Examples You'll Love) A lot falls under the term 'creative writing': poetry, short fiction, plays, novels, personal essays, and songs, to name just a few. By virtue of the creativity that characterizes it, creative writing is an extremely versatile art. So instead of defining what creative writing is, it may be easier to understand what it does by looking at ... Guide To 11+ (11 Plus) Creative Writing Children applying for 11 plus entry to selective schools may need to complete a creative writing task as part of the exam. The task could be to write an original short story or continue a story from a given text. The main 11 plus exam boards ( GL Assessment and the Independent Schools Examinations Board (ISEB)) do not include creative writing ... 11 Plus Creative Writing Success Guide That is, 11 plus essay titles for creative writing, along with an example plan and answer (remember the importance of planning!). As well as this, among the 11 plus tutoring courses, you can find an 11 plus creative writing course incorporated into the English courses. 11 Plus Creative Writing Guide: Tips & Techniques for Success 11+ Revision Weekly Classes. Enrol your child on our weekly 11+ class course and they'll benefit from small groups and individualised learning. Book Now! from just £3.75 per class! Some revision techniques. Although the topics for the creative writing section are unpredictable, they are usually very broad so your child can use their ... 11+ Creative Writing: The Ultimate Guide Preparing for your 11+ creative writing exam doesn't have to be a worry. We help you with 11+ creative writing tips and examples to prepare you for the exam! ... They could easily ask you to describe enjoyment through a title like My brilliant day. Sometimes the titles may overtly lead you in a very clear direction. Activities you enjoy doing. Eleven Plus English Essay Writing For creative writing, the topics set for 11+ essays tend to have the same common themes, and it is worth having a "stock" story that can be used in each of these settings: ... These are topics that have come up on past 11+ papers around the country, with a few additional titles contributed by our 11+ Forum members: A surprising spy; Removed ... Writing Topics Writing Topics. Do you want to inspire your students to write great narratives, essays, and reports? Check out these grade-specific writing topics organized by mode (explanatory, creative, and so on). Or search for writing topics that relate to a theme, such as "life" or "animals" or "family.". Jump to . . . Grade 1. How To Prepare For 11 Plus (11+) Creative Writing To succeed at an 11 Plus comprehension task, students need a range of skills, including: Source. 1. Imagination and creativity. One of the most important skills for creative writing is the ability to come up with an original idea which fully answers the given question and uses imaginative language. 11 Plus Creative Writing Tasks List Write a Story. 'Taught a Lesson!'. Write a story about a bully who is taught a lesson. Write a story entitled, 'Alone'. "The Fire" Write a story with this as your title. Concentrate on describing a fire and its effects, and the thoughts and feelings of the people involved, so that it is convincing for your reader. 11+ Creative Writing Creative Writing for the 11 plus test is in two ways - either you are asked to write an original story for the given title or complete a continuous prose exercise in the same writing style. Both types of tasks will examine your ability to plan, create and then write in a structured manner using good vocabulary. Title Generator Unleash your creativity with our AI-powered title generator! Simply enter your text below and hit the button to get the perfect title. Our versatile tool is tailored to aid in crafting titles for a variety of texts. Ideal for different users like bloggers in search of eye-catching headlines, students working on essays, or professionals ... 1800+ Creative Writing Prompts To Inspire You Right Now Here's how our contest works: every Friday, we send out a newsletter containing five creative writing prompts. Each week, the story ideas center around a different theme. Authors then have one week — until the following Friday — to submit a short story based on one of our prompts. A winner is picked each week to win $250 and is highlighted ... 11-Plus Creative Writing Example Spend 5 minutes planning, 5 minutes proofreading and 20 minutes writing. This will help you to improve your speed and accuracy in preparation for exams. Once you've done this, go back and read your story a few times to see how it could be improved. You could even write the same story everyday until it's perfect. 15 Creative Writing Prompts for 11-year-olds Preparing for the 11 Plus 11 Plus Creative Writing, Independent Schools, Preparing for the 11-plus If your child is in year 5 of primary school, then chances are they may be sitting their 11+ exams soon. In many of the 11 Plus exams will be an English paper that includes a creative essay, in which your child will be expected to demonstrate their literacy skills ... 11 Plus Creative Writing 11 Plus areas asking for creative writing, essays or extended writing. Kent - set a 40 minute creative writing task for all pupils but it is only marked where they need to decide on the last few students to take. Kent Medway - As Kent, 40 minute creative writing task but only marked in a few cases. Essex (all schools apart from Chelmsford ... 11+ creative writing titles Get better at any skill through practice, characters, making notes, mum answered, a creative titles 11 creative writing titles in fun and updated. Just sit end-of-year internal audit report letter, where the result: 1200 creative writing book 1. 11+ Creative Writing Tips Tips To Help Prepare For The 11+ Creative Writing Exam 11+ creative writing is arguably one of the most difficult components of the 11+ exams for candidates. ... take a blank sheet of paper in the exam and just start noting down anything that comes into your head relating to your title. Spend a couple of minutes putting anything down, don't ... The Creative Writing Breakfast Club Sunday 18th Aug 2024 During this 60 minute workshop Laurie will take you through fast paced writing exercises to boost mindfulness. All you need is a pen and paper and somewhere chilled to sit and let your imagination do it's thing. Laurie Bolger is a London based writer & the founder of The Creative Writing Breakfast Club. Laurie's work has been widely ... Week of Celebration & Learning 2024 9:00 - 9:15 a.m. - New Canvas Discussions. Where: Virtual - Register Here Description: The Canvas Discussion Board has a new look; attend this 15-minute workshop to view the new tools available via Canvas Discussions. 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. - Syllabus+. Where: Virtual - Register Here Description: Get ready to take your syllabus to the next level! Attend a one-hour training with a ten-minute ... Tim Walz's former students and players remember him as a teacher and coach Aug. 6, 2024, 11:37 PM UTC. By Sakshi Venkatraman, Greg Rosenstein and Elizabeth Chuck. As a teacher and coach at Mankato West High School, Tim Walz gave out hallway high-fives, was named "most ... Tiny Memoir Contest for Students: Write a 100-Word Personal Narrative A step-by-step guide for writing a 100-word narrative: This guide walks you through six steps, from reading examples of tiny memoirs, to brainstorming your own meaningful life moments, to writing ... Miller's Girl (2024) Miller's Girl: Directed by Jade Halley Bartlett. With Martin Freeman, Jenna Ortega, Bashir Salahuddin, Gideon Adlon. A creative writing assignment yields complex results between a teacher and his talented student. essay homework paper phd project resume review speech thesis