Structuring paragraphs effectively in creative writing

English

Developing reading skills by responding to Murakami's 'After Dark'

'After Dark': selecting evidence to support language analysis

‘After Dark’: exploring Murakami’s extended metaphor

Exploring structure in Murakami's ‘After Dark’

Emulating Murakami’s craft to write a descriptive opening

Analysing Saramago's use of structural devices in 'Blindness'

Emulating Saramago's use of structure in 'Blindness'

Using inversion and asyndeton to craft interesting sentence structures

Using onomatopoeia and alliteration to craft interesting sound imagery

‘Suite Française’: forming opinions on fiction

Suite Française’: evaluating ideas about a writer’s craft

Exploring and emulating character description in Nemirovsky's 'Suite Française'

Analysing images of hope and destruction in Galloway's 'The Cellist of Sarajevo'

Exploring the use of time in Galloway's ‘The Cellist of Sarajevo’

'The Cellist of Sarajevo': expressing a personal and critical response to a text

Exploring and emulating Galloway's use of symbols in ‘The Cellist of Sarajevo’

Crafting an engaging narrative

In 'Fiction: Read Around the World', pupils identify and comment on a range of language devices in extracts from texts. In 'Fiction: Science Fiction Writing', pupils identify and comment on recurring images and symbolism in texts.

In 'A World at War: Short Stories', pupils read short stories, analysing how authors structure full texts. In 'Fiction: Read Around the World', pupils analyse structural choices in smaller extracts of texts.

In this unit, pupils read extracts from four novels from around the world, and use them to develop their narrative writing. In particular, pupils explore writers' use of structure. At the end of the unit, pupils consider their own use of paragraphs for effect and write an engaging narrative.

Fiction: read around the world

setting is introduced via wide perspective

shift the focus to a point of dramatic tension 

Starting with the first, put the points to create an engaging paragraph structure in the correct order.

If we use a wide perspective to describe what are we most likely to write about?

describe what you can smell, taste, hear and see within a scene

If we use a zoomed in perspective what are we most likely to do?

gradually build intrigue as our writing progresses

If we want to build tension in a narrative, which of these can we do?

Complete the sentence: paragraphs are the {{}} blocks of a piece of writing.

To help us transition from paragraph to paragraph when describing a scene, it is helpful to use ...

When should we start a new paragraph in our writing?

carefully consider the organisation of our writing

To improve the structure of our writing what can we do?

The necklace's alluring glow drew attention.

The scorching sun created an alluring heat, leaving people uncomfortable.

The vendor's smile was alluring, making customers feel welcomed.

Which of these sentences uses the word 'alluring' correctly?

write the last sentence of each paragraph

create a plan for the whole piece of writing

What should you do first when asked to write a piece of creative writing?

to write down all the language devices we will use

 to make notes about what we might write about in each paragraph

to write a list of ambitious vocabulary we will use

What might be the most thorough and effective way to plan a piece of creative writing?

Starter Quiz

When should we start a new paragraph in our writing?