HSC English Module C – The Craft of Writing
A Foreword on the Module
When you write, you lay out a line of words. The line of words is a miner’s pick, a woodcarver’s gouge, a surgeon’s probe. You wield it, and it digs a path you follow… You make the path boldly and follow it fearfully. You go where the path leads… The new place interests you because it is not clear.
You attend.
Annie Dillard’s ‘The Writing Life Begins’
Module C is just one of the newest beasts to tackle with the new HSC syllabus and, unsurprisingly, students are worried. Often, I hear my students doubting themselves before we’ve even begun the Module: ‘I’m not creative enough’ is a heartbreakingly common remark I receive. This module, surprisingly, is not only about creativity. Yes, it is an important factor but it is not a guarantee that you will succeed in the Module. Yes, it may make things easier for those of you who are more creatively inclined, but this post is particularly important for those students who struggle with the creative aspects of Module C. This post is for those students who also found themselves repeating the phrase ‘I’m not creative enough’, to yourselves or to your teachers in dismay, when it was introduced in class.
This blog post addresses the main anxiety around this particular Module, so I’ll begin by debunking a common misconception about creativity: “you either have it or you don’t”. I think we’ve all heard this before and to your benefit, this claim is, thankfully, false. Creativity has often been referred to as some sort of elusive and mystical entity that, on some days, whispers diligently in your ear, fills your heart and guides your hand across the page. While on other days, Creativity stays stubbornly silent. Creativity actually comes from hours of diligent practice and from the internalised knowledge you have gained in those practice sessions. Creativity, begins, first, as an analytical awareness of patterns and effects as it, then, develops into the ability to use those in a unique way.
For example, let’s take a common English literary technique: symbolism. In particular, let’s look at the colour red, which you can embed in your own writing through evocative description to convey a certain emotion or elicit a certain response in your reader.
First, let’s look at two things:
1. The patterns (how has this technique been used before in your set texts or otherwise?).
2. The effects (what is the impact created by the technique that has been used?).
- Red symbolises: passion, death, blood, love, danger etc. These are most likely the first few things that have popped up in your minds.
o These are the patterns that other authors have utilised and fallen in line with, and there is nothing wrong with following a trend! Although it may be overused, it works for a reason!
o Let’s look at the effect of any of the previous ideas that popped up in our minds. Almost exclusively, all of them convey some sort of high intensity emotion that, when used effectively in writing, induces similar emotions in the reader. The reader can be shocked by the vivid description of blood or the reader can be confronted by the blinding passion between two lovers, for example.
§ Now, I’m sure some of you find these two steps familiar… it’s what you’ve (hopefully!) been doing in your essays. This part is where you utilise your analytical awareness to find and analyse these patterns and their effects.
§ Also, it is important for you to think about your reader because you, as a writer, are trying to evoke an emotion within your audience. So think about what you want them to feel and whether your chosen technique actually achieves that.
Now, you can stop at the step above and just utilise the colour red in a way which follows the pattern in your own writing – it works, but you don’t stand out. I would like to push you further as writer, which is where the creative portion comes into play: how can I use the patterns and effects to create something different? If authors have always relied on the passionate symbolism of the colour red to convey high energy, why don’t I try to make it convey the opposite? A calming energy, instead of a dangerous one, is my purpose for writing.
Below is my attempt to achieve my purpose through an imaginative piece:
The sands shift beneath my weight as I kneel on aching, wind-chapped and sunburnt knees. The sky colours my world in reds, magentas and hues of violet that swirl together like the surfacing memories I have been avoiding: home and the pastel flowers my mother cared for in the garden, my younger sister and her fluffy princess dresses that she would refuse to take off at the end of the day. This time the memories politely wait for me to pay attention to them; resolute in their conviction to stay but, thankfully, silent. The sunset is slowly cooling with each minute like pulling away from a long and long-desired embrace but the horizon stays red. The sloping peaks of the desert dunes are painted crimson as the sand becomes still in a deep slumber, with neither a breeze nor a whisper present to disturb the grains. I watch the red horizon melt away and, in my mind’s eye, finally, turn to the memories and acknowledge them in the way they should’ve been acknowledged all this time.
The extract above combines my knowledge of patterns and effects with my capacity to engage in creative thinking by subverting the passionate and violent symbolism associated with the colour red. Instead, I’ve made it symbolise a calming sense of familial love that is personal to the protagonist in the piece where the red sunset has caused her to begin reflecting upon home and her family. This combination of being analytical and creative is what makes students succeed because it is not about trying to cram as many techniques into a piece of writing; instead, it is about carefully and consciously choosing which techniques will help to achieve your purpose for writing. That is, successful students are writing with a purpose in mind and they use their creative skills to achieve that purpose – this type of ‘creative problem-solving’ only comes from an analytical awareness of the patterns and their effects that emerge from literature which they can manipulate like a tool, like a limb, to create something unique. This, unfortunately, comes with hours of conscious practice.
I can practically hear some of you now: Hours of practice?! I only have x amount of time! So, for the students that don’t like to read, start looking at your set texts with a critical and analytical eye to look for those patterns and effects.
Then start thinking to yourselves:
- How can I use this in my own writing?
- What can I take from this text and re-imagine in my own work?
- I like how this writer has created this style (or something else), how can I apply it in my own writing?
Focus on yourself and how you can grow as a writer through the act of reading the words of others – there is no better way to become a better writer!
This first post is a way for me to ‘frame’ Module C in a way which is empowering for you as students, because I know how difficult it may be to engage with creative writing if you have always been told that, or believed that, you weren’t good at it. The high marks awarded in this Module is accessible to those who can combine their analytical skills from other Modules with the capacity to explore new possibilities with words and their meaning. It is accessible to those who don’t need to wait for the mystical and elusive entity that is Creativity to perch on their shoulder and instead, they can rely on their own judgement, analytical thinking and creativity to guide the pen across the page.
The next post will be about breaking down the Module C rubric and figuring out what it is asking students to do, so stay tuned!
© Phoenix Education. Unauthorised used and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission of the author and owner is strictly prohibited. The view and opinion expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect reflect the official position of Phoenix Education.