Everything Exams

There are a variety of creative writing tasks set in 11 plus entrance exams and indeed in English exams for students aged 9-12. 11 plus assessments are increasingly competitive exams and, as there is usually only 25-30 minutes in which to shine, it’s vital that applicants understand what is expected of them and have had lots of practice on a regular basis of the specific creative writing tests they will face for their chosen private school.

Different Types of 11 Plus Creative Writing Tasks

A school entrance exam might include a creative writing piece which is a story based on an essay title or visual stimulus; they might set a descriptive task for candidates – to describe a person, favourite animal, object or what they might experience in a given situation; they might ask for an autobiographical piece of writing which involves describing a personal experience, perhaps where a lesson was learnt. A few schools even ask applicants to demonstrate their writing skills by completing an exercise in persuasive writing – this may take the form of a persuasive letter, article for the school newspaper or a speech to the class for example. Often, these creative writing tasks are accompanied by a reading and comprehension section. 

Continue the Story

Some schools however – such as the independent schools, The Perse and Alleyn’s – require candidates to showcase their creative writing skills by reading and continuing an extract;  this is what I will be addressing specifically here. The practice papers of these two schools in particular only ask for a creative writing piece and do not include a comprehension section. It might seem to be an easier exam paper but a lot is expected with this style of assessment…Personally, I think that this form of English paper is quite canny as it simultaneously tests candidates’ reading skills as well as creative writing skills. So, let’s take a look at the key elements  to consider when responding to a given text – this approach is also relevant to 13 plus continue the story style assessments.

Key Elements to Consider

1. Of course,  creative writing basics are expected such as accurate English spelling, punctuation, grammar, appropriate and accurate vocabulary and a variety of imaginative language. Some higher level vocabulary and more interesting punctuation would be looked for too. Capital letters, full,stops and exclamation marks are a given, but including semicolons, colons and hyphens correctly will help push up the grade.

2. Continue the text in the same person as it is written in. If it is in the first person – I do this, I did that etc – then continue with the same. If in the third person – he, she or it did this or that – then continue with the same.

3. Continue the story in the same tense. This one is easiest when the text is in the past, but can be a bit tricky if it is in the present tense, so be careful if that is the case. Sometimes present tense extracts can fool you if they flip flop into past tense recollections for example.

4. Continue the story in the same style. Now, we’re into slightly more challenging territory. An extract from a Dicken’s novel will probably have a more formal style than a contemporary text and this needs to be reflected in a candidate’s own writing style.

5. Candidates need to show the examiner that they have read and thoroughly understood the extract in their creative piece by continuing it from exactly where it finished. Think carefully about where the character is, what they are doing and how they might be feeling. Are they standing, sitting, afraid, excited, nervous etc? In that situation, what would you do next? Would you run away, fight back, come up with a plan or cry? A creative writing response should follow on exactly from where the extract ended. 

6. Keep it simple. Sometimes in my creative writing lessons, I ask students to write about what happens in only 30 seconds of time. Most think this is quite silly until we discuss all the creative writing elements we might be able to include – the thoughts, feelings and memories of our character, the range of senses which might be engaged by our character too, for example. What sounds can they hear? What smells do they experience? What options might they be weighing up in their mind? The response to an extract doesn’t have to be complicated and cover a long period of time, it simply needs to showcase a candidate’s writing skills and, importantly, make sense. It doesn’t need to have a complex, cleverly constructed plot either, but it needs to flow, make sense, and be neatly finished, just like an extra chapter.

7. Structure it clearly. After accounting for planning time, in a 25-minute writing task in an 11 plus creative writing exam, I would say that three paragraphs, with clearly related content, would be ideal. ‘Structure’ also includes using variety of sentence structures such as compound sentences, complex sentences, use of participle phrases, fronted adverbials etc. 

8. Include appropriate, interesting literary techniques in descriptions such as similes, rule of three etc. Try to use unique, surprising, original ideas for literary devices rather than overused ones like ‘as fast as a cheetah’. 

In the run up to any exam, regular practice helps. To find creative writing topics of this sort, take the first few pages from a selection of classic reads from the library or online and use these as the basis of a continue the story exercise. Project Gutenberg is an excellent resource and allows access to many of the classics in children’s literature, Exam preparation does pay off and techniques a student picks up when doing practice exercises can be quickly pulled out of the bag in an exam, saving precious minutes