strawberrye
Premium Member
Introduction:
Creative writing is another opportunity for you to show the depth of your historical research about this module. It is definitely not simply an exercise of creative writing, in the sense that you create plots and details, it is heavily founded upon a display of a DEEP contextual understanding of the post WWII era in your character development, plot, the experimental forms your story may adopt or integrate.
Please feel free to supplement anything I have missed by replying to this post below
How to excel in your Creative Writing for After the Bomb:
1)As reiterated in my ATB post on general tips/selecting related texts, when you are selecting your related texts and are reading/watching possible texts, you should record down possible ideas that you can explore in your creative and can even draw some inspiration on the structure, characterisation, ways of expression that can immerse your marker, the teacher, into the post WWII period.
2)You should avoid writing just one creative story and perfecting it-and hope that it could be adapted into all possible questions, it is just impossible. You need to experiment with forms and structures and plots, i.e. integrating the words of poem/lyrics of a contextual song into your story to enhance its expression of post WWII contextual concerns, integrate a letter, an extended conversation, a diary entry into your story. Practice writing creative compositions to various stimuluses several times before you come up with a structure and plot that you like. Try, if possible, to integrate all the four post WWII paradigms into your story-philosophical, scientific, economic, and religious.
3)Make sure you have a look at short stories written during this period to expand your mind about the possibilities; an example of a good writer to look at would by Ray Bradbury’s short stories and novels.
4)Before you write your story, it is essential you have a thorough idea about your characters (don’t have too many) and that you have thoroughly researched the particular aspects of the paradigms you are going to examine and how these aspects are going to be expressed in the plot and any extended metaphors or symbolic objects/motifs you plan to integrate into your story. You must ensure that you enhance the realism of your story by undertaking thorough contextual research of the particular period you choose to focus, i.e. 1980s, and integrate specific expressions of the era-i.e. Reds under Beds, truth dollars, McCarthy’s 1950s Communist witch hunts, the Red Scare to show that CONTEXTUAL understanding, reference to specific historical events can also help, i.e. from the Space Race, Arms race, political speech of prominent leaders of the period, i.e. from a Russian/American Prime Minister.
5)Unless you have undertaken THOROUGH research into the lives of spies-i.e. beyond internet research, read biographies of spies, watch interviews of spies etc. Otherwise, if you are not confident and are not knowledgeable about this area, do not write about spies-because if not done carefully, the subject matter can easily be considered clichéd and you will lose marks.
6)Consider carefully the names of your main characters, make them symbolic, make them a satire/parody of the key scientists/leaders/philosophers of the after the bomb period, to add an additional layer of meaning to your story and this can further ENHANCE the conceptual depth of your story when used correctly and creatively. Make sure whatever names you used-it possesses significant meaning in the context your story is set within-and subsequently, the actions of that character can bear some resemblance to the particular person you have derived his/her name from.
7)In an exam condition, don’t latch onto using your prepared creative if it doesn’t fit with the question. Make answering the question as best as you can your first priority, find ways to change parts of your story and write extra parts. Don’t address the question in a superficial way, i.e. use the stimulus at the start and at the conclusion of your story-it is essential that you address the stimulus in a literal/metaphorical way CONSISTENTLY throughout your entire story and ensure that IT TAKES ON SIGNIFICANT MEANING, in enhancing your display of the depth of your contextual knowledge about the After the Bomb period.
Conclusion: So research, experiment, and repeat the process until you have a creative you are happy with.
Creative writing is another opportunity for you to show the depth of your historical research about this module. It is definitely not simply an exercise of creative writing, in the sense that you create plots and details, it is heavily founded upon a display of a DEEP contextual understanding of the post WWII era in your character development, plot, the experimental forms your story may adopt or integrate.
Please feel free to supplement anything I have missed by replying to this post below
How to excel in your Creative Writing for After the Bomb:
1)As reiterated in my ATB post on general tips/selecting related texts, when you are selecting your related texts and are reading/watching possible texts, you should record down possible ideas that you can explore in your creative and can even draw some inspiration on the structure, characterisation, ways of expression that can immerse your marker, the teacher, into the post WWII period.
2)You should avoid writing just one creative story and perfecting it-and hope that it could be adapted into all possible questions, it is just impossible. You need to experiment with forms and structures and plots, i.e. integrating the words of poem/lyrics of a contextual song into your story to enhance its expression of post WWII contextual concerns, integrate a letter, an extended conversation, a diary entry into your story. Practice writing creative compositions to various stimuluses several times before you come up with a structure and plot that you like. Try, if possible, to integrate all the four post WWII paradigms into your story-philosophical, scientific, economic, and religious.
3)Make sure you have a look at short stories written during this period to expand your mind about the possibilities; an example of a good writer to look at would by Ray Bradbury’s short stories and novels.
4)Before you write your story, it is essential you have a thorough idea about your characters (don’t have too many) and that you have thoroughly researched the particular aspects of the paradigms you are going to examine and how these aspects are going to be expressed in the plot and any extended metaphors or symbolic objects/motifs you plan to integrate into your story. You must ensure that you enhance the realism of your story by undertaking thorough contextual research of the particular period you choose to focus, i.e. 1980s, and integrate specific expressions of the era-i.e. Reds under Beds, truth dollars, McCarthy’s 1950s Communist witch hunts, the Red Scare to show that CONTEXTUAL understanding, reference to specific historical events can also help, i.e. from the Space Race, Arms race, political speech of prominent leaders of the period, i.e. from a Russian/American Prime Minister.
5)Unless you have undertaken THOROUGH research into the lives of spies-i.e. beyond internet research, read biographies of spies, watch interviews of spies etc. Otherwise, if you are not confident and are not knowledgeable about this area, do not write about spies-because if not done carefully, the subject matter can easily be considered clichéd and you will lose marks.
6)Consider carefully the names of your main characters, make them symbolic, make them a satire/parody of the key scientists/leaders/philosophers of the after the bomb period, to add an additional layer of meaning to your story and this can further ENHANCE the conceptual depth of your story when used correctly and creatively. Make sure whatever names you used-it possesses significant meaning in the context your story is set within-and subsequently, the actions of that character can bear some resemblance to the particular person you have derived his/her name from.
7)In an exam condition, don’t latch onto using your prepared creative if it doesn’t fit with the question. Make answering the question as best as you can your first priority, find ways to change parts of your story and write extra parts. Don’t address the question in a superficial way, i.e. use the stimulus at the start and at the conclusion of your story-it is essential that you address the stimulus in a literal/metaphorical way CONSISTENTLY throughout your entire story and ensure that IT TAKES ON SIGNIFICANT MEANING, in enhancing your display of the depth of your contextual knowledge about the After the Bomb period.
Conclusion: So research, experiment, and repeat the process until you have a creative you are happy with.
Last edited: