General tips by Rivalry and I:
- Do random math questions within the week! (Previous years' content)
- Learn the tricks and trades of each text type and write samples to improve your writing!
- Many schools use creative writing as one of the aspects of their English assessments, so be aware of that.
- Practice writing as many stories as you possibly can. Write in a wide variety of genres! Use creative writing “prompts” which can be commonly found on the Internet and are extremely helpful if you cannot think of a meaningful topic to write about.
- Avoid clichés (“and a chill went down my spine”, “It was all a dream”) and try to use as many language techniques as possible as these improve your story.
- DO NOT ASK QUESTIONS TO YOUR OWN CHARACTER IN THE STORY (Where am I?, What can I do now?, The scenery around me changed, Who am I now?)
- The creative writing section in the specific school that you are trying out WILL VARY.
- However, a stimulus will always be given, so ALWAYS write a story that is relevant to the stimulus.
- DO NOT GO ASTRAY in terms of your story and make sure that it pertains to the stimulus since markers will prefer a story which relates to the stimulus compared to a better written one that doesn’t.
- It is like answering the question in essay type questions. Don’t just regurgitate your knowledge. Mould your knowledge to suit the stimulus.
- Saying this, an excellent trip for creative writing is to write 2 or 3 stories from different genres before the exam and to repeatedly draft them. Make these stories VERY GENERIC and adaptable to any stimulus. With the right creative from your (providing your story is VERY ADAPTABLE) selection, you can achieve excellent marks.
- Don’t ONLY write a crime story or a fantasy story because only it interests you.
- By no means is it necessary to have excessively flowery language; however a strong vocabulary is the key to a good creative story.
- Markers like seeing flair in creative stories, so try writing in a unique manner. What can make your story stand out from the others?
- USE UP ALL YOUR TIME! There are people who finish about 20 minutes early and just sit there doing nothing or sleeping... Usually, these students are the ones who are not successful in gaining a placement... If you have extra time, use it on double-checking all your questions OR use the time to add more to your writing task! KEEP WRITING is a wise option at times! Work until they say “pens down”!
- If there is multiple choice involved, answer every question! Guess a random one or using the process of elimination if you have to! Remember, there is always a 20% or 25% possibility of getting a question right (Depending on how many possible answer options there are).
- FILL UP EVERY LINE! Quantity can make quality!