Imaginative writing: descriptive and narrative craft

Learning objectives

Control a descriptive piece by selecting a narrow subject, ordering the description through a deliberate movement of attention, and resisting the urge to tell a story instead

Build sensory detail through concrete nouns, precise verbs and restrained pre-modification, using figurative language where it adds information rather than decoration

Shape a narrative with a handled sense of time, using a defined viewpoint, controlled pace and a structure that withholds and releases information

Vary sentence length and structure deliberately for rhythm and emphasis, and use paragraph breaks as a structural device rather than at random

Create and sustain a voice appropriate to the chosen form, keeping tense, person and register consistent throughout

Open and close an imaginative piece with intent, avoiding a summarising final sentence that explains what the reader has just read