Writing
Fiction
Critique
Remember
.relevant content .vary sentence types .well-organised
.grammatical features paragraphs
.relevant genre
.punctuation is accurate. .carefully chosen sentence openings
.viewpoint .punctuation for effect and connectives
.characters are well-developed . events are logically sequenced
and portrayed from an opening to an ending
Consider
the
following
1. Read the heading carefully to know what is required.
2. Check the viewpoint (1st / 3rd person).
3. What genre is it?
4. What features should be used according to this genre?
5. Read the ‘Think about’ or ‘Consider the following’ points carefully
before writing.
6. Use the planning box for jotting down powerful words, sentence
openers, layout, etc.
7. When writing the story, make sure the use of
dialogues / direct speech is balanced with descriptive details.
Layout
To craft it well:
Which lead is it?
2. Use sentence openers / fronted adverbials FOLLOWED BY A COMMA
3. Use suspense and tension techniques such as
1. figurative language
2. short sentences
3. short paragraphs
4. block letters
5. ellipsis
6. fragment
7. repetition / anaphora
8. Powerful, descriptive statements for feelings (Show Not
Tell) Study the sheet!
9. Powerful words (Look at the alternatives toolkit.)
4. Use punctuation marks accurately!
A) When writing dialogues, you have to . . .
a. Use quotation and punctuation marks.
b. Write a reporting clause.
c. Use powerful synonyms for said.
When writing dialogues:
d. New speaker . . . New line
(If the direct speech in a text involves more than one speaker, a
new line must be used for each new speaker. This helps the
reader to follow what is being said.)
For example:
‘We are not letting him win!’ said David.
‘You’re right,’ agreed Tom. √
For example:
‘We are not letting him win!’ said David. ‘You’re right,’ agreed Tom. X
B) Check your use of commas.
Avoid Comma Splice
Why is it wrong? How can you fix it?
Tom is playing tennis, he is hoping to be a
champion one day.
A comma splice is when we join two main clauses with a comma.
Between two main clauses, we can use a full stop. Don’t forget a capital letter
for the second main clause:
e.g. Tom is playing tennis. He is hoping to be a champion one day.
We can also use a semi colon. (This time you don’t need a capital letter for the
second main clause):
e.g. Tom is playing tennis; he is hoping to be a champion one day.
Semi-colons are often used instead of a co-ordinating conjunction.
Why is it wrong? How can you fix it?
Swimming improved my body muscles, and raised my stamina.
Swimming improved my body muscles and raised my stamina.
It’s a simple sentence.
It is NOT a compound
sentence.
Other Punctuation Errors
a. Punctuation of Split Dialogues
one sentence broken up by information about who is speaking
“Wait for me,” I yelled, “You’re too fast.”
“you’re too fast.”
If the direct speech is one sentence broken up by information about who is speaking, you
need one comma (or a question mark or exclamation mark) to end the first part of the
speech.
In this context, use a lower case letter to start the second part of the direct speech.
Other Punctuation Errors
b- Capital Letters in Titles
5. Double-check the spelling!
Common Spelling Errors
Check!
a. Stoped
stopped-- begged
beged ––grabed
grabbed
b. Your mymy
You’re favorite.
favourite.
c.
c. They
They were
whereininthe
theforest
forest,
d. Ourselves
Ourselfs
e. mom vs mum Avoid American Spelling: mom, color, etc.
f. Spell & (and)
g. It was to
toobig.
big.
h. In the blick
blinkof
ofan
aneye
eye
i.
i -coz – cause X
because
j.j. You
You can
can do
do itit your self.
yourself.
k. II have
k. have aalot
lotof
ofhomework.
homework.
l. He stood confidently infront
in frontofofthe
thestage.
stage.
m.
m.At
Atthe
thebegining, I went
beginning, swiming,
I went runing
swimming, and joging.
running and jogging.
n. She dosen’t
doesn’t know
know how
how to
to play
play it.
it.
o. Turn the camera on it’s
its side.
side.
p. They were grateful for there
their parents.
q. He recieved
receivedaapraise
praiseletter
letterfor
for
his great acheivements.
achievements.
Study the irregular
verbs of the past tense.
Spelling Rules
Spelling
Rules
Spelling Rules
