Course Name & Code

Functional English (PA 1102)

Course Teacher
Lecturer Niamul Kabir
Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP)

Submitted By:
Arif Rayhan Shakil

ID : 16161007

1st Batch, 1st Semester B.S.S (Hons)

Session: 2015-2016
Department of Public Administration
Faculty of Social Sciences (FASS)
Bangladesh University of Professionals
(BUP)

Date of submission: 10th March, 2016

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 Creative writing techniques: Learners success stories
There are many ways of creative writing. Among them some of the techniques are given
below.

Three-act structure:
The three-act structure is a writing device used extensively in modern writing, including
for film and television dramas. These acts arent as distinct as acts in a play, as one
follows seamlessly on from another and the audience wouldnt consciously realize that
one act had ended and another began. The structure refers to a plotline that looks
something like this:

Set-up establishes the characters, how they relate to each other, and the world they
inhabit. Within this first act, a dramatic occurrence called an inciting incident takes
place (typically around 19 minutes into a film) involving the principal character. They try
to deal with it, but this results in another dramatic occurrence called a turning point.
This sets the scene for the rest of the story.

Confrontation the turning point in the previous act becomes the central problem,
which the main character attempts to resolve usually with plenty of adversity thrown
their way that hampers their efforts. In a murder mystery, for example, this act would
involve the detective trying to solve the murder. The central character with the help of
supporting characters undergoes a journey and develops their knowledge, skills or
character to a sufficient degree to be able to overcome the problem.

Resolution the climax of the story, in which the drama reaches a peak, the problem is
overcome, and loose ends are tied up.

Extended metaphors
Creative writing often makes use of extended metaphors. For example, when
Shakespeare wrote the passage in Romeo and Juliet referring to It is the East, and Juliet
is the sun! he was using an extended metaphor. With this in mind, its time to revisit a
point we made in a previous article about writing more original essays, in which we
argued that, rather than battling on with trying to explain a complex concept in a
straightforward way, it might be easier to use an analogy to convey the meaning by
drawing comparisons, which people find easier to understand. A metaphor is a kind of
analogy, so the similarities with creative writing are strong here. In our previous article

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we used the example of radioactive decay. An analogy for this is the pressure with which
water escapes from a hole in a bucket. It does so exponentially, just as radioactive
substances decay exponentially. In both instances, the rate of a consumptive process
depends on how much there is left of whatever is being depleted, which results in an
exponential rate of decay. This concept is so much easier to explain using the analogy of
water flowing from a hole in a bucket, as you give your reader something familiar to
visualize in order to explain a concept with which they are unfamiliar.

Interesting details about setting and location

Another way of keeping your reader interested is to bring your essay to life
with details about setting and location, just as creative writers do. Essays can
become quite dry if you focus solely on the academic problems, but you can
make them more interesting by peppering them with details. This may not
work quite so well for a scientific essay, but its certainly relevant for some
humanities subjects, in particular English literature, history and archaeology.
For example, an essay about the Roman emperor Augustus could mention
that he lived a famously modest lifestyle, quoting details from Roman
writers and archaeological evidence that support this: Suetonius mentions his
low bed (interesting because of what it says about accepted standards of
Roman beds!) and coarse bread and cheese diet, and the relatively small and
non-lavish remains of his house on the Palatine Hill in Rome back up the
idea of his having lived a modest life.

Incidental details like these can actually prove to be more significant than
you initially realize, and you can use them to build your argument; in the
case of Augustus, for example, his modest lifestyle is particularly important
when seen in the context of Romes troubled history with kings. As he
gradually acquired more power and became Romes first emperor, he had to
avoid coming across as being too regal, and the little details we know
about his way of life are significant in light of this. So, not only have you
brought your essay to life, but youve raised an interesting point, too.

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 Editing
Once youve written a first draft, read through it and think about whether the order of
your points is optimal and whether what youve written actually makes sense. Its easy in
the age of computers to chop and change you can simply copy and paste part of your
essay into another part where it might fit better, and then make minor changes to your
wording so that it flows. After youve finished editing, have a final read through and
check that youre happy with the wording. Dont forget to proofread to ensure that your
spelling and grammar is impeccable!

And finally record your ideas

Creative writers swear by having a notebook with them at all times, ready to
jot down any ideas that suddenly spring to mind. You can adopt the same
principle for your essay-writing, because you never know when the
inspiration might strike. Have a think about your essay topic when youre
out and about; youd be surprised what occurs to you when youre away
from your normal place of study.

As you can see, there are more similarities between two apparently unrelated
kinds of writing than you might have realized. It is, of course, possible to go
too far with the creative writing idea when youre essay-writing: literary
devices arent always appropriate, and your essay still needs to retain
objectivity and conform to the more formal conventions of academic
writing. But there are certainly techniques to be borrowed from creative
writing that will help your essays stand out from the crowd and give your
teacher or lecturer a welcome break from the monotony of essay-marking.

Learners success stories

Louise Kennedy

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Louise came up with a unique way to record life on a boat for her blog - from the viewpoint
of a cat. Baily Boat Cat was quickly picked up by a major publisher and turned into a book
which is now selling world wide. Here is Louise's story...

"When I first started the course I was very excited to be starting out on my writing career. I'd just
finished my degree with the Open University and suddenly had the time to do what I truly love
which is to write.

"The Writers Bureau has given me the confidence to follow my dreams. I started the course fresh
from university and quickly devoured the course materials when they arrived. I started a daily
blog to chronicle our adventures living aboard a boat from a fresh and creative viewpoint... our
cat's! Things really took off with the blog and I was offered a book deal with Bloomsbury. My
tutor was lovely, encouraging and offered me great constructive criticism. Now that the book has
been published and most of the initial promotion has calmed down I'm looking forward to getting
stuck back into the course and completing the rest of the assignments.

"When I was contacted by a senior editor from Adlard Coles, a subsidiary of Bloomsbury (and
the largest nautical publisher in the world), saying she loved my blog and wondered if I would be
interested in publishing a book along the same lines, I was literally jumping for joy. It sounds
very clichd but it really was a dream come true. Once I was officially offered a contract I
contacted my tutor at WB asking for advice. She advised me to join the Society of Authors as
they offer a service where they look through your contract. This was an amazing help for
someone who had never had anything published before. They helped me tweak the contract in
my favour and soon I was sitting down to write the manuscript of my very first book, Bailey
Boat Cat - Adventures of a Feline Afloat! I'm afraid my contract does not allow me to discuss the
details but I've made a modest income from the book and hope that it will continue to do well in
the New Year.

"The book follows Bailey's adventures on the boat. It was published in the UK in April 2014 and
shortly afterwards in Australia. It was then published in America and Canada in September 2014.
I was actually in Australia on holiday and was invited into the Bloomsbury office to chat to the
team that would be publicising my book down under. It was the most surreal experience and
actually one of my favourite moments of my first trip to Australia! The team in America have
been amazing and I was so lucky that Bloomsbury hired a freelance publicist for Bailey Boat
Cat. So Bailey and the book have been featured in lots of magazines and online articles. You can
read more about where Bailey's been featured at www.baileyboatcat.com in the my book' and
in the news' sections.

"I'm very close to finishing my first novel and it would be a dream come true if I manage to get it
published. I'm starting to seriously look for an agent now and I'd also really like to write articles
about our cruising lifestyle, travelling and life living aboard a boat. I'm also very keen to now
steadily work through the rest of the course and hopefully get more constructive criticism on
how to improve my writing."

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Ramya Srinivasan

Ramya enrolled on the Creative Writing course to find out if she had what it takes to be a
writer. As it turned out she has, and she's gone from strength to strength having close to 50
pieces published.

"I was curious to see if I could take my writing to a professional level and make something out of
my interest.

"The best thing about the course is the mentoring I have received. Here was someone with actual
experience guiding me through the nuances, telling me where I could improve and applauding
when I did well.

"The course has also taught me how to scout for markets and made me realize that I could
actually write on topics that I had never imagined before. It also gave me a structure to work
with; the assignments made me explore different genres and styles that I would have normally
felt reluctant to attempt.

"Other than the coffee table book which is expected to be published in the next couple of
months, all the other works are published already. My total earnings in the past year are
approximately 1,100.

"The highlight in my journey last year is when I interviewed Dr.CNR Rao, a Bharat Ratna
awardee and wrote a cover story on him. Bharat Ratna is India's highest civilian award.

"I sincerely believe I have come a long way over the past year. I thought that if I managed to just
see my name in print at least once, I'd have made it. But to my surprise, I got a lot of repeat
business and now I have the confidence that this is going to be my profession, my career, my
dream.

"I would sincerely like to thank the Writers Bureau and especially my tutor because I don't think
I would have had the courage to quit my job and pursue my dream had it not been for the
course."

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References
Oxford Royale Academy, 21 June, 2014

https://www.oxford-royale.co.uk/articles/techniques-creative-writing-improve-
essays.html