Bite Size Writing Assignment: Paragraph Progression in Creative Writing

While the world of creative writing has a wide open door, letting in all styles of writing and bending or breaking some archaic grammatical rules, the question remains: Is it good?

No matter what is written, natural progression is a key element to good writing. In critiquing creative writing, apart from the writer's style, the following questions should be asked:

• Does it make sense?
• Does it have an introduction and conclusion?
• Does it flow nicely?

This week, have your young writers work on natural progression in a paragraph. Make it simple, provide a topic, and give them a few rules to follow. Here's a suggested assignment:

1. Write one paragraph about an animal.

2. Make the paragraph exactly five (5) sentences long.

3. Make sure the paragraph has natural progression.

Here is an example:

My Dog

My dog, Lucy, is a great watch dog. One day she stood looking out my living room window and barked. I went to the window to see what she was barking at. A man I didn't know was in my yard. When he heard Lucy barking, he went away.

They key is to make sure the paragraph makes sense and progresses nicely. Happy writing!