Year 10Creative Writing

Lesson Objectives

• To understand the importance of character in a story.

• To write a paragraph about a character which you have created.

• One of the reasons we read stories is to see the way characters behave. We get to know them at the start of the story and we follow their progress.

• The secret of showing your reader what a character is like lies in choosing your vocabulary carefully. One word can be a vital clue to what a character is thinking or feeling.

For example:

• The man shuffled towards the run-down house.

• Rita sat on the bottom step and placed her head in her hands.

• As he listened to the student’s story, Mr Smith’s hands tightened.

Hints!

• Keep your details brief and precise – not great slabs of description.

• Keep description visual – appearances, textures, colours, movements – to help your reader see the scene.

• Give specific details – ‘He ate his half-melted Kit-Kat’ is more interesting than ‘He ate his chocolate bar’.

Task

• Individually, think of a few details about a character.

• He /She needs a name and an age. Think about the type of person they are.

Write 4 objects that your character has in their bag or pocket.

• For Example, Mrs Leonard is 42 years old and has a champagne cork, pink lip gloss, a train ticket to Ascot and a wedding ring in her bag.

• Mr Lewis may have an expensive looking leather wallet containing several credit cards and a betting slip.

Write two paragraphs about the character your partner has created, making use of some of the items.

Think about:- Their family life Hobbies/Interests

Appearance Where they live Job