CREATIVE WRITING TIPS

Commonly misspelled words

a lot Two words - do not use too often.
at least Two words
appreciation
background
better
break
can’t The apostrophe stands in the place of the missing letters (contraction/omission)
cannot One word
certificate
coming
definitely
do not Two words
don’t
finally Word ends in –lly
grateful
guidance
happened Word ends in –ed
hard work Two words – even better, say: ‘difficult work’
listen
ma’am Short form of Madam
myself
nowhere One word
realise
really Word ends in –lly
received Rule: ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’
restaurant
separate
surprise
themselves Rule: To convert to plural – the ‘f’ falls away and is replaced by ‘ves’.
tomorrow
totally
want
weird This is an exception to the rule: ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’.
when
yesterday
yourself
yourselves

Commonly confused words

accept I will accept your invitation.
except I eat all vegetables except broccoli.

access I will need access to your computer records to solve the case.
excess If you eat an excess of sweets, you will feel ill.

advice I need some advice. (noun)

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advise Please advise me on what I should do. (verb)

alive I am glad to be alive.

life Life is a journey, not a destination. (noun)
live Live everyday as if it is your last. (verb)
lives He lives in a mansion on his own. (plural form of live – verb)
A cat has nine lives. (plural form of life – noun)

because I am tired because I have not slept in two days.

cause What is the cause of your tiredness?

been It has been a long time since I bought new clothes.

being She is being unfair towards her friends.

belief Which belief do you follow? (noun)

believe What do you believe in? (verb)

choose In Grade Ten we must choose which subjects to take. (present tense)
chose In Grade Ten I chose the subjects I wanted to finish Grade 12 with. (past tense)
chosen Which subjects have you chosen?

cloth Use that cloth to wipe the table.

clothes I bought new clothes to wear to the party.

it’s It’s my birthday in May. (shortened form of ‘it is’)

its The cat licked its paws.

know I know what to study for the test on Friday.

no No, I will not do what you say.
now I want to go home now.

lose She will lose marks if she doesn’t read the questions properly.
loose Loose hair must be tied up for school.

passed I passed by an accident on my way to school. (verb – past tense)

past I would prefer to forget my past. (noun – synonym for history)

patience One needs a large amount of patience when dealing with small children.
patient I think I am very patient as I don’t get angered that quickly.
The patient was admitted to the hospital.
patients The doctor saw many patients before it was my turn.

practice My doctor has opened a new practice in Main Street. (noun)

practise You must practise your Mathematics if you want a distinction. (verb)

principal The principal at our school is very fair.

principle The principle reason he was fired was because he stole from the company. (main)
right Turn right at the intersection. (direction/position)
She got all the answers right in the test.
write Please write a letter to your parents.
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wrote I wrote a letter to my parents. (past tense of ‘write’)
writing I am writing this letter to complain about the poor service I received.
written The answers to the test were written on the board.

seat Please take a seat. (noun)

sit Please sit down. (verb)
I like to sit in the front of the class. (verb)

staff The staff whom I work with are very friendly.

stuff I don’t know what stuff to pack for our weekend away.

the The dog is black. (definite article, used before a noun)

their It is their house which burnt down. (shows possession)
there I want to go there after school today. (place)
they Why do you think they are late.
they’re Why do you think they’re late. (shortened form of ‘they are’ - contraction)

though Even though she studied, she still failed her test.
threw John threw the ball over the wall.
through Don’t walk through the rain without an umbrella.

to She goes to church every Sunday.

too It is too cold to swim today. (shows excess)
I want to come too. (used in the place of ‘as well’)
two I bought two tickets to the movies.

were We were late for the movies, so we decided not to go.

where Where did you go on holiday?

DON’TS

Content
DO NOT centre the content around anyone of the following topics! It usually leads to inappropriate
content:
 Religion
 Sex (this includes rape, prostitution, abortion etc.)
 Alcohol
 Drugs
 Politics

Redundancy
This is the repetition of an idea or the use of two words which mean the same thing.
E.g. Error I was all the time, constantly checking my watch.
Rather I constantly checked my watch.
E.g. Error I am grateful for each and every present I received at my party.
Rather I am grateful for every present I received at my party.
E.g. Error I went back home.
Rather I went home.
E.g. Error He returned my book back to me after three weeks.
Rather He returned my book after three weeks.
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E.g. Error I can’t wait for her to respond back to my sms.
Rather I can’t wait for her to respond to my sms.
E.g. Error I was raised up by my older brother.
Rather I was raised by my older brother.
E.g. Error Both her two parents died when she was six.
Rather Her parents died when she was six.
E.g. Error At the camp we sat in a round circle around the fire.
Rather At the camp we sat in a circle the fire.
E.g. Error She was the only seventeen-year-old teenager who was at the party.
Rather She was the only seventeen-year-old at the party.

Forward slashes
Do NOT use forward slashes!
E.g. Error He/she must have known I would be late.
Rather He must have known I would be late.
They must have known I would be late.
E.g. Error It was three/four hours later when I arrived for the interview.
Rather It was three or four hours later when I arrived for the interview.
It was about three hours later when I arrived for the interview.

Brackets
Brackets are used for parenthesis or to give additional information. Brackets are very often used
incorrectly and it is advisable not to use them.
E.g. Error I wanted to run (I was scared) but I couldn’t move.
Rather I was so scared that I wanted to run but I couldn’t move.

Conjunctions
Do NOT start a sentence or especially a paragraph with a conjunction. Remember no more than two
conjunctions per sentence.
E.g. And then …
But …
Then …
Do NOT use two conjunctions immediately after each other.
E.g. But yet ...

Repetition of words
Do not use the same word or phrase over and over. Be aware of the overuse of words such as:
Always Rather: constantly, often, regularly, frequently, repeatedly
Nice Rather: lovely, wonderful, pleasant, enjoyable
Very Rather: especially, awfully, particularly
A lot Rather: many, numerous, several, various
Things Rather: Be specific! ‘Things’ can refer to: possessions, belongings, groceries,
ingredients, items etc

Remember good writing is descriptive. Use words which are as specific as possible. This will create a
vivid picture in the reader’s mind.

Abbreviations

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Do NOT use abbreviations. Mxit language is completely unacceptable. No ampersands (&) unless it
forms part of a name e.g. ‘Murray & Asscociates’.
E.g. SABC Tv
ID no. ur
nd
2 b4
ur cuz
e.g. etc.
& str

Incorrect plural form

Do NOT write the following words in plural:
homework NOT homeworks
class work NOT class works
fruit NOT fruits

Clichés
Do NOT use clichés. A cliché is an overused expression. The expression loses its emphasis due to
being overused.
E.g. ‘Education is the key to success’.
‘A wise man once said …’
‘pass with flying colours’
‘go the extra mile’
‘at the end of the day’
‘to put food on the table’

REGISTER
Ensure the level of language (register) or word choice (diction) is appropriate to the type of writing and
the audience.

Verbosity
Avoid using too many or unnecessarily long words (e.g. hereby, whereby etc.) This is often done with
the intention of trying to impress the reader but often results in meaninglessness.
E.g. Error Her friend is a girl by the name of Jane and lives two houses away from her.
Rather Her friend, Jane, lives two houses away from her.
E.g. Error We live in a city by the name of Polokwane which is located in a province
by the name of Limpopo.
Rather We live in Polokwane in Limpopo Province.

Slang
NO SLANG is acceptable even if it is written it inverted commas.
E.g. ‘bru’ ‘cool’
‘crew’ ‘chill’
‘hustling’ ‘swag’

Colloquial register
More informal register should be used carefully.
Use university instead of varsity
Use temporary jobs instead of piece jobs
Use the oldest instead of the first born
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TIPS
 Error: I was schooling at Northern Academy.
I attend school at Northern Academy.

 High school is written in capitals only when it is part of the name of a school.
E.g. I go to school at Northern Academy High School.
I enjoyed my years at high school.

 When referring to tertiary education, do not use the word tertiary on its own. To avoid making a
mistake, rather use the words: college or university.
E.g. I hope to attend the University of Pretoria in 2012.

 When referring to primary or secondary school, always follow the word ‘primary’ or
‘secondary’ with the word ‘school’.
Error: I started primary in 1998.
I started going to primary school in 1998.

 Order of adjectives
Opinion Size Age Shape Colour Origin Material Purpose
a silly young English Man
a Huge round metal Bowl
a Small red sleeping Bag
DO NOT use more than one of the same type of adjective to describe a noun.
E.g. Error It was some few minutes before he arrived home.
Rather It was a few minutes before he arrived home.

 Adjectives: comparatives and superlatives

A comparative adjective usually ends in –er where a superlative mostly ends in –est. If an
adjective is made up of more than one syllable we keep the form of the word and add ‘more’
(for comparatives) and ‘most’ (for superlatives) before the adjective.
Positive Comparative Superlative
Rich Richer Richest
Kind Kinder Kindest
Beautiful More beautiful Most beautiful
E.g. Error She felt more better after seeing the doctor.
Rather She felt better after seeing the doctor.
E.g. Error It was the most happiest day of my life.
Rather It was the happiest day of my life.

 Pronoun usage
Female: She Her Hers Herself
Male: He His His Himself

DO’S

I not ‘i’
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When you refer to yourself, always write the personal pronoun ‘I’ with a capital letter.

Dates
Write the date out in words when it appears in a paragraph. If a date forms part of the address of a
letter, heading to a diary entry, invitation etc write the day in numbers.
E.g. It was the second of December 2010 when we left for Durban.
I am referring to the article ‘Crime escalates’ published on the thirty-first of January 2010.

Months of the year

January July
February August
March September
April October
May November
June December
Days of the week
Write the days of the week starting with a capital letter and pay attention to your spelling.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Time
Write time out in words.
E.g. ten o’ clock
ten minutes past eight in the morning
quarter past three in the afternoon
half past seven in the evening
quarter to nine at night

The following are examples of how time is incorrectly written:

10:00 a.m.
8h10 minutes
15:15 in the afternoon
19:00
20h45 at night

Be careful with titles

Mr Smith
Mrs Jones
Miss Aphane
Dr Paul
Uncle Bobby
Grandpa George

Numbers
All numbers under 100 must be written in words.
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E.g. Grade Twelve
thirty-four
All numbers 100 and greater must be written in numerals.
E.g. 2011
215 learners

Check your spelling:

one ten
two twenty
three thirty
four forty
five fifty
six sixty
seven seventy
eight eighty
nine ninety

Prepositions
Pay attention to your prepositions.
E.g. I am in Grade Twelve.
I am at school.

Sentences
Start each sentence with a capital letter and end it with a full stop, exclamation mark or a question
mark.
Ensure each sentence contains a subject and a finite verb!

AVOID USING
Avoid making unnecessary mistakes by NOT using the following, unless the format demands it:
 Dates
 Times
 Direct speech
 The ellipses (…)

THE WRITING PROCESS

1. Read through ALL the topics and select a topic you have a good knowledge of, in terms of
FORMAT and CONTENT.
2. Write out a rough draft in FULL. Always include planning before the final draft.
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3. Edit the rough draft, checking your word count.
4. Final draft:
4.1 Write the question number at the top of the page. For example: Topic 2/
Question 1.2)
4.2 Give your essay or writing an original title, without giving away the
conclusion!
4.3 Write a neat, well presented final draft paying careful attention to your
format.
4.4 Include an accurate word count at the bottom of your response.