Fiction Writing: GCSEs

Part of the GCSE English Language course is writing a fiction piece in your exam based on a picture prompt or a sentence provided for you. This is a great opportunity to show off your comprehension, and your imagination, as well as your more traditional language-based skills. I’ve put together a short list of ways to succeed in this aspect of your GCSEs:

1. Stick to the prompt: it can be tempting to write the story that’s in your head, or the tale that sounds the most interesting to you, but it’s important that what your write pertains directly to the picture or sentence you’ve chosen as this is something the examiner will grade you on. You can have some fun with it, but make sure that you’re writing what the exam board wants to see.
2. Think outside the box: although you need to stick to the prompt closely, the examiner who will grade your paper will likely have read hundreds of pieces of writing which all follow the exact same storyline and structure, so if you have a more interesting or diverse thought about how to approach the prompt, you should run with it! A different take on the same idea will capture your examiner’s attention, as well as making it nicer experience for you.
3. Plan: one of the explicitly laid out criterion of this section of your exam is how organised your writing is. This means the examiner will be looking for a comprehensive, well thought out and logical story that has an identifiable structure. While this isn’t easy, you can make it easier for yourself by planning before you start writing. Jot down what the start, beginning, and end will look like, who you’re writing about and which devices you’re going to include. If an examiner sees a plan, they’re also predisposed to thinking that they’re going to be reading a student’s work who has thought it out and may mark you higher because of this.
4. Use devices: you’ll go over these in detail in school, but writing a simple narrative isn’t what your examiner is looking for. More than anything, they’re paying attention to the way you write and how you capture a story more than the content of the story itself. So be sure to use devices like metaphors and similes, the rule of three, juxtaposition, varying sentence lengths etc. You’ll also learn mnemonics to help you remember to include them, and you should pay particular attention to these when revising.