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Composition Guidelines I
Planning Your Story
Before we discuss about how to plan a composition, you must ask yourself if you plan your compositions at all in the first place. Although some students claim they plan their composition, after careful enquiry, you will realise very few students indeed plan their compositions. Do you belong to the guilty lot?
It is always an uphill task to persuade any student of the need to plan their composition since most of them have survived to-date without having to do so.
In doing anything, including writing composition, we have to believe in a simple rule: "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail".
You MUST plan. Don't just use the first idea that pops into your head. That is quite like playing Russian Roulette. You're relying on pure luck whether that idea is a good or bad idea. We all know that it's a bad idea to answer any (test) paper relying on plain luck. Remember: you MUST plan!
Often, the first idea that pops into your head is the most obvious idea. It also means it will be first idea that pops into every other student's head. Your composition will drown in a flood of hundreds of other almost exactly identical stories. Unless you like the idea of writing the exact same thing as everybody else and scoring low marks, consider other alternatives.
We can add in a bit of originality and excitement by including a drowning, accident, criminals, daring rescue and so on. Unfortunately, the very same idea has occurred to all their classmates. Come on, Beach... Drowning... not exactly original material. Unfortunately, if you don't plan, that's the kind of story you will come up with. My point is, YOU MUST PLAN!
By Raymond Ang and Oldschool
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