Creative Writing: Kickstarter Video Masterclass
The Club 11 Plus Creative Writing: Kickstarter Video Masterclass is designed to help develop confidence, creativity and control when writing stories, with a strong focus on understanding effective story structure. It is delivered through structured video lessons and guided writing tasks, and includes individual marking and personalised feedback from experienced 11 Plus tutors.
Because our Creative Writing: Kickstarter Masterclass involves individual marking from our 11 Plus experts, this course isn't included in the Club 11 Plus subscription, or in the 7-day free trial, but is available to purchase separately, either alongside a Club 11 Plus subscription or on its own.
The Creative Writing: Kickstarter Masterclass is a three-lesson video programme designed to help build creativity, confidence and control when writing stories.
Across the course, children learn how to generate strong story ideas, build vivid settings, create believable characters, and shape a complete story with a clear beginning, middle, climax and ending.
Each lesson includes guided practice and a written assignment, all of which are individually marked, with personalised feedback from experienced 11 Plus tutors. Our tutors always aim to return feedback within 3 days of a child submitted their work.
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In Lesson 1, children learn where story ideas come from - whether from memory, imagination or a twist on reality - and how to turn a small idea into a strong opening. They’re taught a simple planning framework using four key words (place, weather, feeling and detail), how to use the five senses to bring a setting to life, and how to use similes to make their writing more vivid. The lesson ends with a guided assignment in which children plan and write the opening of a story.
You should allow approximately 1 hour for your child to complete Lesson 1, although this can vary, depending on how long your child takes to complete the written task.
In Lesson 2, the focus shifts to character. Children learn how to create believable characters by showing personality and emotion through behaviour rather than appearance, and how to “show, not tell” when describing feelings. They’re also taught how to punctuate speech correctly so dialogue sounds natural and clear. The accompanying assignment asks children to develop a character and write a short scene from the middle of a story.
As for Lesson 1, you should allow approximately 1 hour for your child to complete Lesson 2, although again this can vary, depending on how long they spend on the written task.
In Lesson 3, children learn how to plan and write a complete story using the Story Mountain technique, understanding how beginnings, middles, climaxes and endings work together to create a satisfying plot. They explore how tension builds, how key moments develop, and how strong endings show change. The final assignment guides children through planning and writing a full story from start to finish.
You should allow approximately 90 minutes for your child to complete Lesson 3, but some children may take longer.