3 Ways To Be More Creative in Composition Writing

Feeling unsure of how to help your child tackle creative writing? Here are three useful techniques that can vivify your child’s composition and give them that coveted ‘A’!

Write from a different perspective

Let us put ourselves into the shoes of the examiner for a second. Suppose the examiner marks dozens of scripts that have similar character and plot. Surely it gets a little monotonous after a while?

Most students tend to write their compositions from the perspective of a child or student like themselves, even though the current PSLE composition topics that comes in examination format provides room for students to be more creative. While this approach allows them to write with verisimilitude, the lack of variation can cause the compositions to come across as being somewhat stale. 

How then should students breathe some originality into their compositions? Let us look how they can tackle creative writing from a more imaginative perspective. Take for example a topic that requires students to write a story about a character scoring well in an exam. When tackling this topic, students who write from their own perspective are a dime a dozen. However, there are more exciting points of view that can be considered when approaching this prompt. What about writing from the perspective of an elderly graduate? Or from a teacher who successfully whipped a delinquent into shape?

Imagination is like a muscle. A helpful creative writing class provides students with thought-provoking prompts that pushes them to exercise their imagination. At Write Edge, our creative writing tuition classes offer both guided compositions and challenging independent writing lessons that bring a myriad of new writing perspectives to your child every week.

Use pathetic fallacy

A salient aspect to tackling creative writing is to illustrate the character’s emotions. How can emotions be expressed more vividly and creatively? One impressive method is to make use of pathetic fallacy.

Pathetic fallacy is a literary technique that uses emotive language to describe the elements of the setting in order to accent a character’s feelings. Think about how sorrowful scenes in movies are frequently accompanied by torrential downpours, or how jubilant endings go hand in hand with bright sunshine and a rainbow in the sky. 

However, this does not mean that rainy days can only be used to reflect sad events and sunny days for happy incidents! The bright, cheery sun shining on a beautiful beach can feel unbearable to a person who is feeling under the weather. Likewise, the pitter-patter of raindrops might sound soothing to a someone curled up at home with a cup of hot tea, but harsh and mocking to a character experiencing anguish.

To employ pathetic fallacy effectively, diction is very important! Let us look at how the choice of vocabulary impacts the mood of the scene by learning from a piece of classic. In Robert Browning’s poem “Porphyria’s Lover”, the speaker reveals that “The sullen wind was soon awake, /It tore the elm-tops down for spite”. Describing the wind as “sullen” implies that the speaker’s moroseness is impacting the way in which he regards the weather, viewing the otherwise nondescript wind as a ruinous force.

As such, pathetic fallacy is a great way to make emotions come alive in a story. Sadly, simply knowing what pathetic fallacy means is not enough for students to be able to employ it effectively in a story! They need a combination rich vocabulary, imagination and most importantly, consistent writing practice!

Create an internal conflict for the protagonist

Internal conflicts are the dilemmas and struggles faced by characters in a story. Internal conflicts help flesh out a character; they give characters depth and make characters seem more believable to the reader. More often than not, composition topics require students to write about an external conflict- a brawl, an accident, an argument and so on. However, internal conflicts should not be neglected in these stories! In fact, injecting a quandary into these compositions adds more dimension to the plot.

To illustrate, let us look at some examples of how internal conflicts generate more emotional depth in a story. Imagine a protagonist who is trapped in a burning building. Should they dash to safety as fast as they could, or take a moment to help an injured child? Similarly, in a story about a robbery, should the victim accede to the robber’s demands, or stand up to the robber? An even more enthralling way to approach this topic is to write from the perspective of the robber. Should they rob a defenceless old man to pay for their loved one’s medical bills, or stay true to their moral compass at the cost of their loved one’s life? 

To become creative in writing, you should know the components of composition. So let’s walk through the ingredients of a typical English composition, and know about what you should include in each section. Essential Elements for English Composition Writing

At Write Edge, our creative writing classes build your child’s writing finesse by propelling your child to the zenith of their imaginative potential. You may find out more about the creative writing tuition we offer here.