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Wordsmith's Creative Writing Blog

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A Wordsmith crafts with words, as the name suggests. I am part teacher, part writer and part grammar grumbler, but I love all aspects of creative writing. I am alarmed to know that many schools do not have the time or speciality teachers to really teach CW in an inspirational way rather than focusing on technical aspects that can kill creativity before it starts. That is why I'm putting together these tutorials in order to fill the creative gap - whilst including technical skills - with the freedom to run when inspiration strikes.

I'm basing these tutorials on a random selection of writing prompts - see THE LIST - which vary from poetry, narrative, descriptive, instructive and persuasive tasks. Each tutorial will begin with a key skill or technical element, then a new idea or skill before the opportunity to use those skills and elements in a creative way. Each tutorial will also include a reflection so that students can take a guided opportunity to review and evaluate themselves and set personal targets for continued development. I will be completing each task as a part of the tutorial, and including my work and reflections on the blog pages with additional challenges and extensions if you feel inspired to continue.

These tutorials are generally aimed at KS3 (Year 7-9. Ages 11-14), but I'm happy to accept students of all ages, and even the more mature student should find interesting tasks to exercise their skills. You should take no more than 1 hour to complete the tutorial, but you have the opportunity to pause and come back whenever you have the time so if you only have 15 minutes free per day you can pop in and out as you need.

I suggest that you keep your Wordsmith tasks in a book or folder so that you can refer back to previous pieces in future sessions and also track and reflect on your progress.

Feel free to drop your work into the comments section of the blog, and I will give you a useful critique to help your skills develop.

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Reflections

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