Which O Level essay to write

The creative writing section of the O Level English exam may seem daunting to most people. The ideas need to be extremely original and raw, straight out of the depths of a person's mind. For people not accustomed to writing, it can be quite challenging. However, with a bit of help one can easily play to their strengths and get the marks that they have strived for.

NARRATIVE ESSAYS

Students prefer writing these because it is so much easier to make up a story than to write detailed facts. However, sometimes people are so engrossed in coming up with a good story that they do not concentrate on what they are writing about and whether it is factually correct. Another pitfall is that the story may seem incomplete and leave more questions unanswered. Cliffhangers are interesting but vagueness automatically distracts the readers and makes them have a negative attitude towards the overall essay.

A major aspect is that there has to be a very gripping introductory line that automatically draws in the reader. There has to be a buildup of tension known as the climax and then a resolution. Since there is the constraint of both time and word limit, it is better to make the structure of the essay simple and the content heavier. The simple structure would mean a chronological timeline for the story rather than one which goes back and forward in time repeatedly.

DESCRIPTIVE ESSAYS

Most students usually avoid these essays due to the very high demand of lexicon required to create a substantial one. Often these ask for the description of a person's favourite season, certain events in life, positive or negative emotions concerning a particular experience, and so on. They lack dialogues and thus rely heavily on how you present your ideas. The most important thing is to describe the smallest of details and this can really set apart your essay from the rest. It is easier to write them if there are certain events or emotions that you have experienced before because then you have something to draw on. For example, everyone has a favourite time of year and so it is easy to describe why it is a favourite. However, in cases like these you should try to describe all the five senses that get stimulated to make it such an important time of year. The same goes for describing experiences: you should try to draw on all the emotional turmoil to use as evidence in the essay to make it believable.

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS

These are often regarded as one of the riskier essays because the opinion of the student might not align with the opinion of the reader. If you do not have a clear idea about the topic, then choosing this essay will be disastrous. If you only know one side of the argument but cannot come up with the other side as elaborately, then it might not be the wisest choice either. For a very impressive argumentative essay both sides must be clearly highlighted and the opinion portion should be backed by strong evidence to support the choice made. Previous knowledge on the topic of discussion can really help to make the essay top notch and if you believe yourself to be quite good in debating, then this is a good essay to start with.

Creative writing can be a very rewarding experience if done correctly and you should try to not overthink the topics too much but have a clear plan on how to proceed with whichever essay you choose.

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