In this article, our Senior Curriculum Specialist and teacher, Miss Vanessa Scully, shares how children can make their compositions rise above the rest by beginning with an Interesting Story Starter.
Make Your Composition Stand Out (Part 1): ISS
“How should I begin this blog post?” I muttered to myself. I leaned back against my chair and shut my eyes, hoping and praying for inspiration. My mind whirled with past experiences and one particular image that came to mind was that of a parent I encountered a while back. With her eyebrows furrowed and her jaw clenched, it was an understatement to say she was just a little concerned.
“How can my child’s composition be better?” she asked as her fingers tightened around the straps of her red leather handbag, eager to hear my response.
As compared to my previous blog post introductions, would you say that you found this Introduction more engaging?
The most common concern parents have when it comes to English in primary school is about writing. Pages of information await you on Google if you type “How to improve in composition writing”. There are so many elements that a child can work on to make a story stand out. In Part 1 of this series, we will explore how to grab the attention of the reader, beginning with the Introduction.
The first few sentences have to “hook” the reader into wanting to continue reading your story. How can we do this? For starters, if your child often begins with “One sunny morning” or “Last Sunday”, do away with this habit at once.
An effective Introduction has to entice the reader from the first sentence and drop subtle hints about what might occur later. Simply beginning with the “when” (e.g. On Friday,) would not be as engaging.
Here are 4 Interesting Story Starters (ISS) your child can use instead:
1. Direct Speech or Dialogue Story Starter
Direct speech would be a single line of speech, whereas dialogue is a conversation involving two or more characters in a story. Of all the story starters, this type is the most versatile because it is easily applicable to all topics.
So that your child does not get carried away with this technique—writing a story Introduction which resembles a play script—it is important to remember the following:
- Keep it brief but attention grabbing: If using dialogue, it should not be too lengthy (at most 3–4 exchanges of lines). Additionally, it should be relevant to what might happen later and not just meaningless banter.
- Be aware of your 4Ws: Who are the characters speaking and how are they related to the story? When and where is this occurring? What is your character doing at the start of the story?
The Introduction in the yellow box is relevant to the story and also begins at an interesting moment. The dialogue between the main character and Mdm Tang gives the reader a sense of urgency and excitement. A reader would feel compelled to read on to find out whether the team would arrive on time for their match.
TOP TIP: Make your direct speech and dialogue authentic (reminiscent of conversations that can take place in real life). Avoid using Singlish unless there is a purpose to it.
2. Action Story Starter
Another interesting type of Story Starter that can be used is Action. Think about what your character is doing at the beginning of the story and use relevant verbs (verbs = action words).
However, to stand out from the crowd, you should not use any verb at the start of your story. When beginning with an action, ensure that you select one which is leading to the conflict or climax in the story.
Imagine we are writing a story on the topic “A Surprise”, where the main character wakes on her birthday morning only to find the entire house dark and empty. Which Action Story Starter below is more interesting?
While both examples used precise verbs and descriptive language, the verbs used in Example B create a greater sense of suspense as compared to Example A. Right from the very first sentence, Example B begins at a thrilling point in the story.
3. Sound Story Starter
Sound Story Starters are best used to begin an Introduction when it comes to emergencies or when the sound word reflects the action being done in the first paragraph. Onomatopoeia (pronounced on-uh-mat-uh-pee-uh) is when a word describes a sound, but also sounds like that sound (e.g. slurp, click-clack).
However, bear in mind that Sound Story Starters are often considered clichéd, especially when students use very simple sounds simply for the sake of it.
OVERUSED SOUND WORDS TO AVOID:
- “Ding dong!” chimed the doorbell.
- “Ring!” sounded the school bell announcing the beginning of the school day.
- Rrrrrinnnnng! I groggily reached out my hand to stop my annoying alarm clock from ringing.
- Chirp! Chirp! Susan woke up to hear the birds in the trees singing sweetly.
Instead, use less commonplace sound words and try inserting them into various parts of a sentence. For example,
- The door opened slowly with a faint “cr-e-a-k”…
- I was walking back to my flat when—Crash!—a flowerpot dropped out of an upstairs window directly in front of me.
- The students ran to their seats as they heard the “click-clack” of Miss Tan’s high heeled shoes approaching.
4. Descriptive Story Starter (of the setting)
This is probably the most common Story Starter used by students. For this technique, they begin their Introduction by describing the time and place in which the beginning of the story occurs.
However, this is a common misconception parents have about their children using a descriptive Story Starter:
“If my child memorises phrases from the guidebooks or model compositions about the weather and chucks them at the front of his/her composition, the description part is done.”
Memorising weather descriptions is definitely not a sure thing. It is only considered an effective Story Starter if:
- The description of the weather is relevant to the Introduction (e.g. a sweltering hot day which will cause your character to get a heat stroke OR a torrential downpour which will result in a serious traffic accident).
- The weather condition results in your character making a decision in the Introduction (e.g. decided to stay at home because of the thunderstorm).
To start your story by making a good impression on the reader, make an attempt to use one of these 4 Story Starters to begin your composition next time!
Write purposefully and creatively with LiteracyPlus
At LiteracyPlus, we teach our pupils from Primary 1 to begin their compositions with an attention-grabbing Story Starter. With an early foundation laid down, our pupils have a strong understanding of how to “hook” the reader when crafting an Introduction.
This June, we are offering writing programmes for various primary levels to help pupils learn essential writing skills, as well as more advanced strategies to take their writing to the next level.
For more details about our:
Have questions about our programmes? Reach out to us!
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