Meet Morgan, and English teacher who is also giving away free resources. You can check out his Substack here.
This is one of his descriptive stories - so it will fit either the description or the narrative question.
Morgan
In this model, I will provide insight into my creative process as I’m writing, focussing on the aspects of writing I know secure marks in any exam. Firstly here is the descriptive piece in its entirety and the photo used for inspiration.
The Lightning Strike
Percy was looking down the aisle with suspicion, wary they had been followed. While Alison looked out of the window with mild concern as clouds began to gather. Without turning to look at Percy, she asked him if he thought they had made the right choice.
'Yes–yes, of course darling,' he said somewhat absent-mindedly, still looking down the aisle, 'we'll soon be free.' And he began to drink his whisky, when suddenly there was a jolt which caused him to spill half the glass over his shirt.
Turning to Alison, he saw her face was pressed right up against the window so he tried to grab her attention.
'Alison, did you feel that? I've spilt all my bleeding whisky. Alison...'
Still she didn't respond, and then, then he saw why. Through the window, he could see lightning dancing in the distance. The next moment the sky bellowed, rattling the whole cabin. He heard the quiet ding of the seatbelt alarm, noted the sign was now on, and this was promptly followed by the typical announcement from the captain to fasten seatbelts and remain seated.
‘Oh God, this is why I hate flying,’ Percy groaned, gripping both arms of his chair.
Alison finally turned away from the window and tried to reassure him it was only a small lightning storm, a bit of turbulence which would soon pass; but she could tell by the way Percy winced at every hard slam he was anxious. It was as if they were driving down a rickety dirt road with many ditches on an old double decker. So she gripped his hand in hers. It felt clammy she thought as he gripped back.
After taking a few deep breaths to try and steady his nerves, he turned to Alison, gulped, wiped his forehead and said, ‘Do–do you think we’re being punished?’ In all honesty, Alison had thought it too–perhaps it was no less than they deserved, but she simply gave Percy a soothing shh and squeezed his shoulder.
‘Don’t worry, Piggy,’ she said, her voice as soft as velvet, ‘we’ll soon be sipping margaritas in our infinity pool.’
And Percy reclined, closed his eyes and transported himself back to the villa they had booked for the next week.
Until something overhead fell with a thud, jolting him upright… He looked down the aisle. A few seats ahead, a suitcase had fallen. There was no getting away from the present horror, no mental retreat. Everyone was holding on for dear life. Seatbelts firmly fastened. He tried to resist looking out of the window; he knew it wouldn’t do his nerves any good. Yet everyone else’s panic made him all the more anxious. And when the babies started wailing, he couldn’t help it: it was as if his head was magnetised and pulled towards the little oval.
Within that frame, the sky was ablaze. He had pictured himself looking out to serene blue skies with billowy cloud clover below, like a giant duvet. Yet the scene before him was hellish. Mountainous columns of blue black clouds towered over. Cumu–cumulo–cumulonimbus. That was the one he thought, a smirk rising despite everything, appreciating the little victory; but then lightning flashed and forked all too close for comfort. In fact Percy felt that the lightning was heading their way, a moving body, appearing in bursts, each time closer than before.
And soon–not so long now–they would be struck. The lightning would rain down on the plane and disable all systems. The thought was unbearable. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
What To Learn From This
This is my absolute number 1 tip.
Write as though it is a first chapter in a novel.
Forget the examiner. Forget the show-off vocabulary. Forget cramming your writing with techniques.
Because, when you write the first chapter, you keep obsessing about your reader. You ask yourself:
What do they need to see and hear?
What do they need to picture the scene?
How will they know what my characters look like, and what they feel?
How will they understand the relationship between my characters?
The answers to those questions will give you the vocabulary and descriptive techniques that your writing needs. Answering these questions will get you top grades, every time.
Morgan’s post takes you through his answers to all of these questions. It is well worth a read. You can find it here!
Thanks for sharing! 😊