1. Creative Personal and Reflective Writing
N5 Writing
Creative
Personal and Reflective Writing

2. What do I have to do? Choose an interesting topic/incident/experience
Include your thoughts and feelings
Use a variety of stylistic techniques
Try to entertain your reader

3. Choose an interesting topic/incident/experience
Try to be original – avoid clichéd topics
Make a short list of 3 or 4– flesh out your ideas for each.
Develop your ideas for the one which has the most potential.
Make a plan, ensuring you’re not simply retelling the story – consider your thoughts/feelings and reflect

4. Ideas -1 Hobbies/sports and what they mean to you
Sibling rivalry – position in family/only child
A narrow escape – what it taught you
Your family – or family member and what they mean to you

5. Ideas - 2 Challenges you have faced The passing of time
What really annoys you?
A place that means a lot to you
Your hero – who do you admire and why
Being part of a team

6. Idea - 3 Friends and what they mean to you
Living in – Scotland, Forres, etc.
Moving – how you’ve coped
A keepsake/favourite possession
Choose a photo and reflect on the occasion

7. Ideas - 4 Solitude – why you like/don’t like being alone
Hopes and aspirations
Your idiosyncrasies – OCD traits, being late/ early
Obsessions – collections, games, etc
Technology – how it affects your life

8. Ideas - 5 School – why you love it/hate it
A trip which has had a huge impact on you
An achievement – your thoughts and feelings about this
Participation in a performance- music, drama, sport

9. Getting started Think of a really effective opening:
Start with a key event and then go back and explain
Start with a quotation
Start with a definition
Open with a description
Use unattributed dialogue
Make a statement

10. Techniques to include -1
Be selective –pick what you think will interest/ entertain your audience
Think about tone – use humour, sarcasm
Use parenthesis and/ordash tags to make comments, asides
Add description – figurative language, etc
Address the reader – use 2nd person: you

11. Techniques - 2 Use a chatty, informal style Use hyperbole/litotes
Use repetition
Use a variety of effective short/complex sentences
Use of emotive language, word choice

12. Reflection - 1 Ensure you integrate your thoughts and feelings.
Consider how you acted/reacted?
Consider how you felt at the time and then with hindsight

13. Reflection – 2 Consider if you made the right choice/decision
Consider what the future holds for you as result
Consider what other people thought then and now

14. Reflection - 3 Some helpful phrases: I realise… I now know…
Since this happened…
Now that time has passed…
Looking back, I now appreciate…
I learned so much about…

15. Ending Be sure to think of a good way to end your piece:
Use some of the techniques suggested to start your piece
Add a final reflective comment
How have you as a person moved on/changed/what have you learned about yourself/others/the world?

16. Finally
Give your piece an effective title – try a pun, one word, a question, use alliteration
Your piece should be no more than 1000 words – note length at the end
Read your piece aloud to someone – were they impressed/ entertained?

17. Before you hand it in
Proof read careful to ensure all errors have been eliminated:
spelling
punctuation
paragraphing
layout – 12, 1.5 line spacing
Can you improve your style, add further techniques, cut out sections, add further reflection?