A work in progress.

So here's Emily's description based on her people watching. Emily has promised to continue this piece of fantastic work so keep an eye out!

The bus rattled as winding country lanes blurred past the windows. The engine groaned as it heaved up the hill, like an ill goat struggling up a mountain. Fat, fair drops splattered on the bus, crying for the bus' pain. The bus suddenly came to a halt, sending shopping bags flying.
   A hunched figure cautiously stepped on to the bus. Checking out their surroundings, they handed the driver their pass. making sure no one could see their identity. They shuffled down the bus, and took a window seat near the back. Now they were closer, I could see that it was an elderly woman, about 65 years of age. She was wearing a large purple winter coat, which was unusual because it was one of the hottest days of the year so far. Her hair fell into four sections of thick greasy curls. The top of her hair was a dark gloomy grey colour that faded into a light ginger at the ends of her hair.
   She  nervously looked around the bus, avoiding eye contact. Her hairs started to shake, she turned too quickly and you could almost hear her bones crunch. Her eyes were stuck deeply inside her skull. They were a crystal blue and had dark shadows beneath them, they pierced  through every inch of me. Her skin was a tight, orangey leather that clung to her bony face.

Assignment 2

Writing with meaning...

This week the writers have to pick an object which holds sentimental value and means something to them to write about. The first part of the task is to use all 5 senses to describe the object but then they have to go a little deeper and begin to explain what the object means to them and the story behind it!

Watch this space!

...Let the writing begin!

We had our second meeting today and it was great to see a mix of old and new faces! Although everyone enjoyed the people watching only Emily managed to find the time to write up her character profile. (though the others are on the way!) She didn't want to read it out herself so I volunteered to read it for her... and well... you couldn't even hear anyone else breathing in the room it was that quiet! Everyone was so hooked by her words there was complete silence as I was reading it out, almost like a spell had been cast over the room. Everyone agreed that Emily had done a great job and we're all encouraging her to extend it in to a story! (Emily forgot to type it up but will post it up when she has!) 

We also had a go at writing 20 word and 15 word stories which was great fun and the group came up with some fantastic ideas... a selection of these to follow soon!

Once everyone gets used to the idea of blogging assignments we should have more great work posted up for you to read. In the meantime, happy writing :)

Creative Writing @ Flegg has now launched!

This week saw the first creative writing session at Flegg. We had four talented pupils in Years 8 and 9 come along to see what it was all about!

This week's assignment is all about people. Watching, understanding and learning how people work. After all, you need to be able to understand people in order to create interesting, throughful and well developed characters - without that your writing would be lacking.

The writers now have the next two weeks to 'people-watch' in order to gain an understanding of how people act and create a description of a character in their chosen scenario. It could be a cafe, a park, the playground - anywhere! We'll see what they come up with in two weeks time...

Happy writing!

BBC Radio 2 Short Story Competition!

A selection of Year 8 students had the opportunity to enter a short story competition held by BBC Radio 2 and from the 74,000 the show recieved Daisy Williams was talented enough to get in to the top 2,000!

We're yet to hear whether Daisy has reached the semi-finals but you can read her gripping story below!

They Had No Intention of Stopping

She slammed the heavy, black door behind her. The misty corridor instantly darkened as she shut the only light from the outside world out from behind her back. As she breathed in she couldn’t smell the familiar smell of her old home, the smell of comfort. All the air around her just felt like darkness, even as she breathed in the air felt heavy in her lungs.

Faintly in front of her she could hear a quiet rattle. She thought it was just old pipes from inside the tall, dark structure of the Victorian house. Somehow this house, she used to call home, didn’t feel normal, it felt like she was intruding in someone else’s territory.

Suddenly the rattle turned an octave higher and got increasingly loud. Knowing now that it was not rattling pipes, she started filling with fear. Her eyes were filled with darkness, she had no idea how close or how far away the source of this noise was coming from, she couldn’t trust her own sense of perspective. Slowly inch by inch she took a slow step backwards and pressed her bony spine against the cold, wooden door.

She stopped there, unable to move. Whatever it was, it wasn’t warning her but playing with her like an animal with its prey.

The only thing going through her mind was that she needed to get away from this noise and whoever was the source of it. She knew that she had to do it quietly in the least bit of hope of escaping. She spread her tiny body across the door, trying to hide herself in the shadows, and started sliding her shaking body across the sharp, rough shadows, scratching herself as she went.

The pain was almost too much for her but the terror that filled her whole body, head to toe, outdid the pain. After six agonising steps across the heavy darkness of the hallway her hand reached a rough door frame. She quickly spread her bony fingers out trying to find the door handle, failing that she peeled her aching body off the sharp walls in a desperate reach to find the door handle and to find a way to escape.

Suddenly, as if by force, her head turned quickly as the rattling turned to a drumming. Whatever it was, it was in time with her heart beat. She completely forgot about escaping, she just stood there, frozen. It felt like her heart was outside her body, like the drums were controlling the beating of her heart. It over whelmed her skinny body. Her head and chest were burning, like they were on fire. The hallway was icy cold yet her body was getting hotter and hotter, it was an unbearable pain. She wanted to scream but felt like if she screamed she wouldn’t ever be able to stop.

Whoever it was making the piercing drumming knew exactly what it was doing to her and they loved it. They had no intention of stopping.