Unit 3

Planning to Write Creatively

Writing is the craft of creating written texts. Texts are whole pieces of

writing which hang together and make sense. Everyone can learn the craft of writing

if they are equipped with the right tools. Writing a text is like building a house. To

build a house, you need an overall plan or design the whole structure. You also need

tools and materials. In the same way when we write texts, we need a plan, we need

tools such as a pen or a computer, and we need materials – the words and grammar of

language.

Writing a text is like building a house. Each room in a house is used for

doing different things, and all these rooms put together create a whole house which

achieves its overall purpose as a place for people to live. In the same way, the

different sections or stages of a text have different jobs which distribute to the purpose

of the whole text.

To build a house, you need an overall plan or design of the whole structure.

You also need tools and materials. In the same way when we write texts, we need a

plan, we need tools such as a pen or a computer, and we need materials- the words

and grammar of language.

Building a house Writing a text

Overall plan

or design

Builders need to have an

architectural plan or design which

shows the overall structure of the

house and the materials needed.

The plan shows the different

rooms in the house and their uses.

It shows how materials are used to

put the rooms together so the

house achieves its purpose.

You need to have a plan or

design which shows the

overall structure of the text.

The plan shows the different

stages of the text and their

uses. It shows how words and

grammar are used to put the

stages together so the text

achieves its purpose.

Components Builders need materials to work You need materials to work

46

with: brick, timber, stones, glass,

mortar, tiles, nails, etc.

with: grammar and words.

Tools Builders need tools to work with: a

saw, a hammer, a power drill, etc.

You need tools to work with:

pen, paper, computer, printer,

etc.

Procedure Builders need to follow a

particular procedure, e.g.:

- Plan the house

- Measure and cut materials

according to the plan.

- Build the frame and join

the materials together to

make rooms.

- Finish the house off with

paint, tiles, decorations etc.

- Clean up and check

everything has been

finished off properly.

You need to follow a

particular procedure, e.g.:

- Plan the text

- Draft words and

grammar into

sentences.

- Tie the sentences

together and organize

them into paragraphs.

- Prepare the text for

presentation in terms

of layout, illustrations

etc.

- Edit and proofread the

text.

Developing

your own

designs

When architect and builders have

learnt how to build ordinary

houses effectively, they often feel

confident enough to try out

creative, innovative and

experimental ideas with house

design and materials BUT houses

must always achieve their purpose

of being places people can live in.

When you have learnt the

basic skills of effective

creative writing and feel

confident enough, you can

begin to try out even more

creative, innovative and

experimental text designs and

language use BUT texts must

always make sense and

achieve their purpose.

Developing

your skills

Builders continue to improve their

skills as they:

- make different kinds of

Your skill as a creative writer

will improve as you :

- write different kinds of

47

houses

- use a wider variety of tools

and materials

- control their tools and

materials more effectively

texts

- use a wider variety of

words and grammar

- gain increasing control

of words and grammar

(Adapted from Joyce & Feez, 2000, pp.1-2)

Exercise 1

Write some information like the above passage by creating some

information. From your own experiences on to add in the table. Compare writing a

text to other things.

Writing a text Drawing a picture

Cooking dinner

Making a kite……………

Building a bird cage…….

Riding a bicycle…………

Growing flowers………..

Constructing…………….

Making………………….

48

Techniques for Planning to Write Creatively.Preparing a mind map or a word map

A mind map is a useful way to build a bank of words for a description. You

build a mind map by:

1. Choosing a subject to describe.

2. Writing the subject to be described in the center of the paper.

SUBJECT

tree

3. Thinking of different aspects of the subject e.g. : appearance, parts and

activities.

4. Using these aspects as the basis of a word web, for example :

TYPE SUBJECT PARTS

tree ACTIVITIES

APPEARANCE/ QUALITIES

5. Using your five senses to help you think of words which describe these

aspects of the subject:

Sight parts: leaves, trunk, branches

appearance: tall, straight, old

color: white, silver, green

movement: standing, still, bending in the breeze

light and shade : dappled, shady

Touch smooth, shiny

Hearing rustling, brushing

Smell smoky

Taste bitter, sharp, sweet

6. Thinking about:

a. what type the subject is e.g.

gum tree, oak tree

b. what the subject is doing e.g. :

49

standing, bending, brushing

c. what qualities the subject has e.g. :

shady, elegant

7. Zooming in to describe one aspects of the subject in detail e.g. :

The top of the tree, the foot of the tree, the shadow of the tree

8. Considering what the subject makes you think of and writing appropriate

word i.e.

people: elder, ghost, guardian

human qualities not associated with the subject : gentle, wise

human activities “ “ : sighing, whispering, dancing

9. Deciding on the point of view from which the description will be written.

10. Deciding how the description will add to the mood of the setting.

11. Giving the reader a positive or a negative impression of the subject.

It is up to you how you finally organize your mind map.

Example of a mind map

Adapted from Joyce & Feez , 2000, p. 81)

50

Exercise 2

Using a mind map

A: On the mind map find words that describe:

- color and texture

- shape and size

- parts of a tree

- activities and behaviors of the tree

B: Complete a mind map for a subject you want to describe. Include

words that describe :

- color and texture

- shape and size

- parts

- activities and behaviors

Exercise 3

Scatter sheet

Here is a scatter sheet for the adjective funny.

comical mad jesting funny

hilarious dreggy

ridiculous

weird witty odd droll a hoot

jocular risible

joking funnier ludicrous

peculiar a a scream silly

laughable

whimsical absurd

hysterical mad funniest farcical

amusing

maddest

facetious abnormal strange unusual

bizarre queer humorous crazy

funny

51

1. on the scatter sheet find:

- positive words

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

- negative words

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

- a comparative

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

- a superlative

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

2. Choose a verb from your mind map and build a scatter sheet of words.

52

Word PicturesWriters often add impact to a description by using word pictures which give

us a fresh, new way of imagining the subject of a description. To do this they connect

the subject with things not usually connected with it but which somehow bring out its

qualities in a powerful way. There are two ways of making such a connection:

The writer makes the connection by saying that the subject is the same as

something else. This is called a metaphor. For example:

The tree was a ghost.

Metaphors also occur when the subject is given an action which is

associated with something else. For example:

The tree haunted the garden.

The writer makes the connection by saying the subject is like something

else, but not the same. This is called a simile. For example:

The tree was like a ghost.

Exercise 4

Write a simile to build a word picture of your own subject.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

53

Exercise 5

Write a metaphor to build a word picture of your own subject.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Writing from a Plan: Personal BrainstormingA better way to get more ideas and to be able to be more creative and to be

able to get a better order of ideas is to brainstorm.

To brainstorm is to stimulate and find thoughts and ideas. How will you get

your ideas? The word map or mind map can help you because of its open nature,

spread over a wide space. There’s room for you not only to see clearly what you have

written but also to expand from the ideas you already have.

A word map or a mind map is an easy-to-read plan of your main ideas,

formed from the key words of each main idea, and of the supporting ideas for each

main idea, with both main and supporting ideas put into order.

Exercise 6

Make a word map for the topic. My Home Province: My Heaven

- Check you have decided on the order of paragraphs and supporting

ideas.

- Write the title at the top, with capital ideas for key words and underlined.

- Write the introduction. A couple of short introductory sentences. And the

thesis statement.

- Write the body paragraphs. Short topic sentences. Short supporting

54

sentences.

- Write the conclusion. Short repetition of the thesis statement (the main

idea), a brief summary of the body, your feeling, the final conclusion,

a creative finishing sentence.

Make a word map for the topic. My Home Province: My Heaven

55

Write the introduction. A couple of short introductory sentences. And the thesis

statement.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Write the body paragraphs. Short topic sentences. Short supporting sentences.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Write the conclusion. Short repetition of the thesis statement (the main idea), a brief

summary of the body, your feeling, the final conclusion, a creative finishing sentence.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

56

Group Brainstorming: Ways to Get Ideas in a Group By interview someone or some people

By group brainstorming

By group discussion

By group cooperative research

You can interview someone to gather information for writing about his/her

country, for example. As you interview, you can get new ideas and form opinions

from what the person says.

The writing tasks from an interview may be as follows:

an article (for a newsletter, newspaper or magazine)

a book (a biography or a ghosted autobiography)

a play, screenplay or TV documentary

a song or a poem

a reference letter(to help someone get a job or a place at college or

university)

( Folland, 2004, p.28)

Activity

In group of five, you are going to interview a person for the college

newspaper, follow these steps for the plan.

First, you must consider what you are going to ask the person you are

interviewing, the interviewee. Imagine it’s a foreign tourist!

1. Decide who you are going to interview.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

1.1 What would you ask him or her?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

57

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

1.2 What else would you ask him or her?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

1.3 What wouldn’t you ask him or her?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

58

Second, make your own word map thinking of the main ideas you are going to base

your questions on. Write the name of the person in the middle.

2. Make a word map of the ideas for what you’re going to ask.

59

Then, think of at least 6 main ideas, plus as many supporting ideas as possible. Think

of ideas that will be interesting. If possible something unusual.

3. Make lists for main ideas.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

4. Make lists for supporting ideas.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

60

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

5. Write your questions.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

6. Ask the questions.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

61

7. Note down the responses.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

62

8. Finally, you are going to write about this person for the college newspaper, so you

must think about your readers, that they will enjoy your article.

Now, put the main ideas into order by adding numbers to your word map.

- Add supporting ideas.

- Put the supporting ideas in order.

These ideas will be used to make questions for your interview.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

63

Activity

Interview the person you have prepared the questions for.

- Take notes of the person’s responses to each question.

- These notes will be used to write up your article.

- Don’t forget to keep the main ideas in order, so you can write up

your interview in the paragraph order you originally planned.

Exercise 7

Write up your interview.

- This will be the form of an article.

- Begin with the catchy title.

- Write a short introductory paragraph.

- Then, write body paragraphs for each of your main ideas.

- At the end there should be a short concluding paragraph, maybe

about the person future plan.

Example: Introduction

Where/met – on the beach, Phuket

When – last Wednesday

Who – Question: What’s your name?

- Answer : Susie

Where/from –Question: Where are you from?

- Answer : Japan

Susie: Japanese Girl

There she was. On the beach. In Phuket. Sunbathing. She smiled. So, I

asked her some questions. Her name? Susie Where from? Japan. A Japanese girl.

Body paragraph on Main Idea – How long

How long / been

Question: How long have you been in Thailand?

Answer : 4 days.

How long / stay

64

Question : How long are you going to stay here ?

Answer : Here in Phuket. 3 more days.

How long / stay / Thailand

Question : How long are you going to stay in Thailand ?

Answer : 2 weeks. 10 more days.

So, how long had she been in Thailand ? Only four days. But two more days in

Phuket. After that, eight more days in other places in Thailand. Altogether. Two

whole weeks. On her Thailand vacation.

(Folland,2004, p.29)

Example: Conclusion

Restatement of main idea – Susie, Japan

Summary of body – do, how long, where, like, dislike

Opinion - happy

Question : What is your opinion of Thailand ?

Answer : I love it. Very happy here. I want to come again.

Concluding sentence- come again

This was Susie . Japanese girl, from Japan. On vacation in Thailand for two

weeks in Phuket, Bangkok and Chiangmai. She likes the food, but dislikes the traffic.

Very happy here. Wants to come again next year.

(Folland, 2004, p.29)

Activity

Do a real live interview of a foreigner living in Udon Thani. You are going

to submit this article to your college newspaper. Choose any foreigner living in Udon

Thani (not a tourist). Interview him or her, and then write up your article. Use the

writing plan given earlier.

For your review, checking and proofreading remember to check these points,

as follows:

Verb tenses: decide what you are going to use and keep the same tense

Sentences : check that each sentence is short without repetition of subject

65

Conjunctions: check that there are conjunctions where necessary, but only

one per sentence.

Plurals : check that if there is more than one of anything you have a

plural form of the noun or verb, usually meaning you must add an ‘s’.

Subject/verb: check that these agree, singular/singular and plural/plural

Punctuation: check that there’s a period at the end of each sentence and

that you have commas in the right places, i.e. not after and but before it.

Spelling : check each other’s spelling

Main idea/paragraph : make sure that each main idea is contained in one

paragraph, and that the supporting ideas are written in logical order.

Checklists for the final draft: Some topics are done for you, but you can add others.

Topics Done Not yet

Verb tenses

Sentences

Conjunctions

Plurals

Subject/verb

Punctuation

Spelling

Main

idea/paragraph

others