Everything Exams

Be warned – the secrets revealed in this blog post could change your creative writing forever…

I love to curl up in front of the fire with a good book, especially a real page turner. When I visit a bookshop to find my next read, I quite often skim through the first couple of pages of a potential candidate and if the content intrigues me and makes me want to read on, I will often buy the book. But what is it that makes me feel this way? Just like a fish is caught by a juicy morsel on a sharp hook dangling at the end of a fishing line, so we are trapped by an author’s words at the beginning of a tale – this is the hook.

Hooks are often used in advertising, where the writer is trying to sell their book or product to you. The opening of this blog was an example of a hook, used, in this instance, to encourage you to read this page – did it work? 

Hooks can also be used in creative writing. Have you ever felt compelled to read a story from the start because you really wanted to find out the solution to a situation posed in the first few pages? In creative writing, a hook is something which grabs your reader’s attention and makes them want to read on. Your first sentence might suggest that your story will reveal an intriguing piece of information or secret. Other hooks might catch you by introducing a problem which must surely have an original, creative, intriguing solution and which you simply must find out about. Hooks might also drop in a piece of information which is quite dark and mysterious, compelling readers to know more. 

In creative writing exams, the basics need to be there first in order to gain top marks. Techniques such as using a hook, provide the icing on the cake and might just push your grade up to the next level. So, what do I mean by the basics? 

 Private school entrance exams for example, such as the 11 plus and 13 plus assessments, are very competitive and the standard is high for creative writing tasks set.  Accurate spelling, perfect punctuation – not just capital letters, full stops and exclamation marks, but colons, semicolons and dashes too – varied sentence structure and appropriate, accurate vocabulary are a necessity. Additionally, lots of practice is needed so that you build a descriptions bank in your memory, filled with fabulous examples of unusual adjectives, extraordinary adverbs and original literary techniques, all of which you can draw upon in a creative writing exam. 

I also teach my students the importance of devising high quality opening sentences and constructing smart sentences to neatly tie up their endings as well. A super cool way to begin a piece of writing is with a hook. In a sense, when you produce a creative writing piece in the entrance exam, you are advertising your creative writing skills to your examiner or to the independent school you are applying to, so why not include one of the best techniques out there for this?

Below is a list of my top 10 favourites which I have used for creative writing examples when teaching. They can easily be adapted by students for their own stories:

With hindsight, James would never have stepped outside his front door that morning.

I’m often asked why I always wear a hat indoors. The answer is not what you might expect.

Anzu had no idea that her world was about to be turned upside down.

At this point, John was oblivious to the fact that he was in mortal danger.

Carefully hidden somewhere inside this house was the answer to Amy’s prayers.

What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him – right? If only that had been the case.

Jin was about to discover something deeply disturbing.

It would take Marian several hours to fully recover from her ordeal.

Exhaustion, frostbite, wolves – which would kill him first?

Charlie immediately regretted her decision.

Hooks can be used in creative writing tasks other than stories as well. The creative writing element of private school assessments sometimes ask candidates to write a persuasive letter or newspaper article for example. How about ‘Nine out of ten students think this would help them improve their grades. Wouldn’t this be great for our school?’, ‘This was a tragedy which had very surprising consequences’.

Most writing exams for 10-15 year olds are 25-45 minutes long, including planning time. If you’re nearing the exam date and you’re short of time, why not take a look a some practice papers and give yourself 5 minutes to come up with an overall plan of what you will write plus craft an opening hook, to impress the examiner. This will help you hone your planning technique as well as add to a bank of ideas which you can draw upon in the exam.

Have fun playing around with hooks and for more ideas on how you can improve your creative writing skills in preparation for exams such as the 11 plus, take a look here.