english essays and creative writing (1 Viewer)

[victoria10]

Ok you no how we have too write essays and creative writing for SC.
I was wondering how do you write a good essay or a good creative writing piece under pressure, like in an exam.

I always am able to write them at home, but not when I'm in an exam and shiz.

Thanks, for anyone who can help.

 

[-may-cat-]

you need to pre-prepare but be flexible in the exam, yes its a bitch if you study something for ages and it doesnt fit the question, but thats just the nature of examinations.

I always spend 2-3 minutes making a rough scaffold for my essays, i know i write 5 pages every 40 minutes with 3 paragraphs on each page. So i draw a picture of 5 pages with three paras on each and make notes next to each paragraph in the picture saying what i should be talikng about.

Its good cuz it helps you stay on topic and prevents waffling, and if you run out of ideas, you just refer back to the scaffold.

 

[victoria10]

Yeah see I waste most of my time trying to figure out how to structure it all.
I am thinking of writing some at home with a time limit and seeing how I go with that.

I never no what too study for in English, it's not like other subjects where you no what you really need too study for.

thanks for the tips though

 

[-may-cat-]

mk this could be useful for creative writing http://community.boredofstudies.org/showthread.php?t=181588

ur going to freshwater next year? you'll like it

 

[-may-cat-]

oh, and if your spending too much time scaffolding, then you need to practice it! get some past exam papers and practice doing scaffolds for each essay question, try to spend no more then 5 minutes on it (its not a waste of time as you end up writing continuously, instead of having to stop and think about what to write next)

 

[victoria10]

yeah I just looked there, it's a good help.

yeah I am, did you go there yourself?

 

[-may-cat-]

nah, but a whole lot of my friends went there, they get much better grades now and actually like school, so it must be pretty good. Apparantly its really laid back but very supportive as well.

 

[victoria10]

yeah well im at cromer at the moment and it's very laid back in the educational side of it, the grades last year didnt go too well.
freshwater did better then cromer, plus it's right near my house so yeah. i really can't wait to leave cromer and finish year 10 cause it seems to be draggin on at the moment.

 

[-may-cat-]

yeah well im at cromer at the moment and it's very laid back in the educational side of it, the grades last year didnt go too well.
freshwater did better then cromer, plus it's right near my house so yeah. i really can't wait to leave cromer and finish year 10 cause it seems to be draggin on at the moment.

lol, dont worry, your hsc will disintergrate before your eyes.

 

[victoria10]

lol, dont worry, your hsc will disintergrate before your eyes.

Yeah well it went really fast up until now, now I am bored a sick of school.
We had our interviews and all and now everyone is ready to finish the year.

 

[speedofsound]

When writing an essay, I always pay particular attention to the structure of it. Having a logical structure always does wonders. You know, topic sentence -> examples -> effect -> link back to question. You'll immediately lose marks if the structure isn't flowing. Remember to make sure your essay isn't too "robotic" as such, change up your words (eg "this is exemplified by" as opposed to "this is demonstrated by") to make things a little less dull and link paragraphs together; as it constructs the piece as a consistent argument.

Fairly simple stuff to pay attention to during an exam.

 

[victoria10]

wow big words.
which i don't no, i think i have too read the dictionary more often.
or my english book. either way. lol