5. Theory – How to write an Imaginative text
Theory – How to write a imaginative text
#1 What is the purpose of an imaginative composition?
- How does this affect the way you write and the structure?
#2 Content
o Setting:
▪ Write about experiences that relate to others
▪ Authentic references
▪ Verbal cinema – open with extreme close-up and then draw back to
medium shot. Use mise-en-scene to create the setting
▪ Synaesthesia
▪ Pathetic fallacy
o Character:
▪ Back story and relationships
▪ Shifting emotions
▪ Complexity and paradoxes of life
▪ Dialogue and voice
#3 Structure
The linear structure of a story goes a little something like introduction, stimulating incident, rising action, climax, falling action and then the resolution… but stories don’t necessarily have to follow
this structure, do they?
There is no definite and sure-fire way of structuring an imaginative text; it is called an imaginative text because you possess the freedom of experimenting with literary techniques and forms, writing styles and perspectives. You are not only exercising writing and stretching your imagination, but you are also broadening and deepening your understanding of the central ideas/themes of the module/text
- However, here is the conventional structure of a narrative if you do require clear direction. Keep in mind that you may follow the scaffold or deviate from the norm
- E.g. you may start the piece at the climax in order to capture the reader’s attention from the start, or you may leave the piece at a cliffhanger (meaning no resolution written)
#4 Voice/Stance
well, this depends on your narrative voice. Are they a child full of naiveté? A well-informed and well-educated scholar? A broke and unemployed uni student? Or an omniscient and neutral
narrator? The voice and stance of the text will depend on that.
#5 Language
Again, that depends on your narrative voice. Be creative and imaginative – that is the whole point of an imaginative text. However, keep in mind that you will need to utilise descriptive and figurative language.
Consider:
▪ Sound of the vowels and consonants to amplify or create
euphony, discordance or disruption, plosive or fricative
Consonants.
▪ Playing with syntax (anaphora, epistrophe, anadiplosis,
asyndeton, polysyndeton
Cohesion – do you need a thesis? Absolutely not
o Stylistic/figurative/linguistic features/techniques: it is essential for you to use a range of stylistic, figurative and linguistic features and techniques in your writing – from metaphors and allusions, to dialogue and distinctive use of syntax and diction, and complex characterisation.
Make sure that you have considered elements of imaginative texts. Your imaginative composition does not have to be in this order.
| Orientation | – Who are the characters? What are their names? What are their roles? How many characters are involved?- What is the setting? Are they in the past, present or future? Are they on earth, a completely different universe, another country, outer space, heaven or hell – where are they? |
| The problem | – What are they doing? Are they lost? Are they fighting a war? Are they running away? Are they trying to finish an assignment?- What are the characters fighting for? Do they have a goal? Do they have any ambitions? |
| Rising action | – What are they doing to achieve their goals? What are they doing to win?- How are they going to make their dreams come true? |
| The climax | – This is what your readers have been waiting for – A climax is the major event of a narrative- A major hurdle your character/s need toovercome before finally accomplishing their goal- Usually witnessed in the form of a big battle, the discovery of something new, rise of any internal or external conflict, an argument between two characters, the return of an unexpected character – theclimax can be pretty much anything, but it is something that causes your readers to sit at the edge of their seats |
| Falling action | – How has the problem been solved?- What are the characters doing now that their goal has been achieved?- How have your characters developed and changed? Have they changed for the better or worse? |
| Resolution | – What conclusions have your characters come to? What have they learned? What is their approach to life from here on out?- Do you want to keep the ending conclusive or open-ended? |