Creative Writing – The Iceberg Beneath
- Sarah Perry
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
When it comes to the 11+ test, few tasks strike fear into the hearts of children (and parents!) quite like creative writing. It might look like just a story prompt or a short descriptive task on the surface, but beneath that lies an entire iceberg of skills, decisions and structure – all quietly working to keep that piece afloat.
As a former Head of English, Year 6 teacher, and now a dedicated entrance exam specialist, I’ve seen this iceberg many, many times. Children are often expected to create something imaginative, technically accurate, and well-structured – all in a tight time frame. It's a big ask.
That’s exactly why I created the visual below: “A Great Piece of Creative Writing”. It breaks down just how many layers go into producing something truly high quality, and it helps children (and their grown-ups!) understand that it’s about more than “just writing a story”.
Let’s take a closer look at what’s really going on beneath the surface.
🧊 What Makes a Great Piece of Creative Writing?
1. Understanding of Text Type
Before a child even puts pen to paper, they need to identify what kind of writing they’re being asked to produce. Is it formal or informal? Should it be in the first person? Past or present tense? Do they need short, punchy sentences to build suspense – or longer, flowing ones to create atmosphere? This level of understanding is absolutely key and forms the foundation of everything that follows.
2. Ambitious Vocabulary
It’s not just about big words – it’s about the right words. Children need to carefully select vocabulary that matches the mood and style of the text, check spellings, and ensure words mean what they think they do. When vocabulary is powerful and purposeful, it elevates the writing – and that’s something I work on constantly with my students.
3. A Range of Punctuation
A truly mature piece of writing shows off a range of punctuation, but not just for the sake of it! Commas in the right places, brackets or dashes for parenthesis, colons for extra detail – all of these are small signs to the examiner that the child is in control of their sentence structure and voice.
4. Writing Features
These are the extras that really bring a piece to life: fronted adverbials, prepositional phrases, expanded noun phrases, and a lovely mix of sentence types. Getting that balance right takes time, modelling, and lots of practice – which is why so many children need support in this area.
Adult supporting a child with a piece of creative writing
Top Tips for Supporting Creative Writing at Home
Helping your child with their writing doesn’t have to mean hours of rewriting stories from scratch. In fact, small, focused steps are often the most powerful way to make progress. Here are some tried-and-tested tips to build strong creative writing skills at home – without the overwhelm.
1. One Brick at a Time
Focus on one skill at a time.
Rather than expecting your child to get everything right at once, choose a single area to work on each week – for example:
Using more ambitious vocabulary
Improving sentence starters
Practising parenthesis or fronted adverbials
Little by little, these skills will begin to layer up into polished writing.
2. Chop It Up
Don’t feel your child always has to write a whole story. Often, it's more effective to work on short bursts – describing a setting, writing a powerful opening paragraph, or rewriting a sentence to improve clarity. This builds confidence and stamina, one paragraph at a time.
3. Talk Before They Write
Oral storytelling, “talking the text” and discussing ideas before writing can make a huge difference .Ask questions like: What’s the problem in your story? How will your character feel? What’s the setting like? Speaking ideas aloud helps children structure their thoughts before putting them down.
4. Read Like a Writer
Point out great examples when reading together – a well-crafted description, an exciting opener, or a cleverly used piece of punctuation. Help your child see books as inspiration and models for their own writing.
5. Use Guided Resources
Sometimes, the hardest part is knowing where to start. That’s why I’ve created a range of 11+ study packs that do the heavy lifting for you. Each pack includes:
Carefully scaffolded creative writing tasks
Vocabulary-building activities
Inference, editing and sentence structure practice
Detailed examples and teacher guidance
They’re perfect for short, high-impact sessions that you can dip in and out of – especially during evenings, weekends or the summer holidays.
Final Thoughts
As someone who’s taught hundreds of children and marked thousands of pieces of writing, I can honestly say this: brilliant writing rarely happens by chance. It’s built over time, with care, encouragement and the right tools.
So next time your child sits down to write a story, remember – you’re not just looking at a paragraph on a page. You’re seeing the tip of the iceberg. And with the right support, what’s beneath the surface will be just as impressive.
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