Craft of Writing

[Nirmani]

Hello!
For term 2, our teacher has told us that we will be working on Craft of Writing. What does that mean and what can I expect? I asked her by sending her an email the day before easter holidays but she has not replied to me. I'm in year 10.

[literally lauren]

Hi Nirmani!

Welcome to AN! It sounds like your teacher is going to be focusing on creative writing, which encompasses imaginative, persuasive, and expository styles (e.g. looking at short stories, speeches, feature articles, etc.). Generally, the 'craft of writing' is all about what makes 'good' writing good - you might be studying one specific text in class, or your teacher might go through a range of genres and styles with you like a sample platter!

Did your teacher set any particular holiday homework for you? Are there any books/films that you know you'll be studying in Term 2? If not, no stress (you can kick back and enjoy the break!) - that probably means you'll just be looking at examples of writing in class and then working on refining your own writing ability. For example, your teacher might show you an example of a highly emotional and impactful speech and then tell you to write your own speech using techniques that you picked up on from that text as inspiration.

If you're lucky, your teacher might really delve into your writing style with you, breaking down your essays, short stories, and analysis to determine what your strengths and weaknesses are. An awareness of 'craft of writing' will be a huge help in your VCE years, so hopefully you find this term useful!

Beyond that, if you want something to do over the holidays, consider: who are your favourite authors, and why? How would you describe the 'craft' of their writing style? If you can list multiple authors, compare how their writing differs. If you were to write a short piece emulating the style of one author, what language choices would you make? Asking those sorts of questions will get you in the right frame of mind for evaluating the craft of writing

[Nirmani]

Wow! Thank you so much for your detailed response. I really appreciate your help. our teacher has not assigned us with any homework or any particular text to study. So I guess, ill just chill at home. Is there any chance you would have some advice/methods on creative writing or sample essays for Craft of Writing?

[TSEtuition]

Wow! Thank you so much for your detailed response. I really appreciate your help. our teacher has not assigned us with any homework or any particular text to study. So I guess, ill just chill at home. Is there any chance you would have some advice/methods on creative writing or sample essays for Craft of Writing?

Hi Nirmani!

Literally Lauren's reply is really great, so I'll just add the following to it:

The new study design for VCE English and EAL has an emphasis on the process of writing (or, the 'craft' of writing ) that's quite different from the current VCE English and EAL study design. So my assumption would be that your teacher is preparing you for the new Units 1+2 next year. I wouldn't stress too much about it if your teacher hasn't given any holiday homework (they're probably still figuring it out because the study design only dropped VERY recently), but if you want to get a head start on that Area of Study for next year, I recommend reading widely (think opinion articles, short stories, personal essays, etc), and really dissect how it is that the writer has 'crafted' or put together their message in meaningful ways for maximum impact. This will help you tick the box in the new study design that refers to 'mentor texts'.

Try the following questions:
What's the message/feeling being conveyed? How do I know this? What words did they use? In what order? Would the meaning/impact change if the words were different? If the sentences/ideas were in a different order? What's the range of techniques (literary, persuasive, etc) being used? Why this range? What would it change if the range were narrower or broader?