Listicle: How to aim for top marks in the Creative Writing exam

1. Stick to the brief. It's great to add detail and show your creative side, but the brief tells you what you need to include, and if you stray too much from this it can get confusing and wishy-washy.
2. You writing should have a clear and engaging opening and have a sense of purpose: it's a good idea to plan your writing so you have a set path of what you want to include and where you want to finish.
3. Signposting (showing your reader where your writing is heading) can be achieved by linking paragraphs together and using repetition or emphasising particular ideas. Some examples of signposting phrases are 'the aim of this is to…', 'the purpose of this is to…' and 'this essay argues that…'
4. Remember that you only have 300 words so it is better to have a tight and clear focus rather than try to cover a number of different topics and ideas.
5. The ending can be more effective than you think. To get top marks, refer back to the very first idea in the piece to show your understanding of structure and cohesion.
6. It's been proven over the last year that students who vary sentence types and punctuation are more likely to get good grades, so be sure to do this in the exam.
7. Pretentiousness is not everything. Of course, flaunt your extensive vocabulary if you have one, but be careful that you don't fall into the trap of overwriting and misusing words.
8. Cliché is not always phrases like 'her eyes shone like the stars'. Even phrases like 'all is not lost' and 'at the end of the day' are phrases that examiners are sick of reading over and over again. Try to be more original.
9. Sometimes in the midst of trying to include as many fancy terms as possible, students make mistakes when it comes to simple skills like using adverbs and adjectives. Make sure your basic English skills are solid before you try and venture into more complicated terms and skills.
10. Drafting work is key, but check that you have made it clear to the examiner that you don't want it to be marked. Cross out any work you don't want to be considered by the examiner so there is no confusion.
11. Be kind to the examiner! Don't have them scrabbling for spare paper to write notes on- leave them space between each response so that they can write comments and place their marks.