WRITING A DRAFT OF
A SHORT PIECE
Creative Nonfiction
Pointers or Steps in Writing a Draft of a Short Piece
• Creative Nonfiction merges the boundaries between literary art
(fiction, poetry) and research nonfiction (statistical, fact-filled).
• It allows a writer to inject himself/herself into the narrative of verifiable
facts he/she has collected.
• Creative nonfiction writing can embody both personal and public
history. It is a form that utilizes memory, experience, observation,
opinion, and all kinds of research.
Suggested ways on writing a draft of a short piece:
1. Choosing a topic. Picking the right topic for a short piece can save any
writer time and can help set up the essay for potential success before
beginning.
2. Formulating a thesis statement. It is usually a single sentence near the
beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph)
that presents your argument to the reader.
Suggested ways on writing a draft of a short piece:
3. Organizing and developing ideas. When all the parts of an essay are in
some sort of order, it is both easier for the writer to put the essay together
and for the reader to understand the main ideas presented in the essay.
4. Using any literary conventions of a genre. Literary conventions are
techniques used by the writers to create meaning in a story.
Suggested ways on writing a draft of a short piece:
5. Ensuring that themes and techniques are effectively developed. If a
story lacks theme, the reader might not connect with it.
ACTIVITY
Direction: Choose one of the following topics to write about.
1. Something you could never give away
2. A place you will never forget
3. Someone you respect deeply
4. Something that you want to forget
After choosing your topic, write your short piece of paragraph on a
yellow sheet of paper.
LITERAL OR FIGURATIVE
Literal language means exactly what it says, using words for their direct
dictionary definition, while figurative language uses words creatively (like
metaphors, similes, hyperbole) to create vivid imagery, deeper meaning,
or emotional impact, going beyond the literal sense.
Example:
Pulling my hair out.
It’s raining hard. – It’s raining cats and dogs.
ACTIVITY
Direction: Identify whether the adjacent sentences are literal or
figurative language. Write your answers on your notebook.
1. a. The flood gradually subsided.
b. A flood of letters arrived in the Christmas mail.
2. a. The farmer ploughed his fields.
b. The truck ploughed into the fence.
3. a. Her life was hanging by a thread.
b. The tailor was using a needle and thread.
4. a. Last night it rained heavily.
b. The prisoned guard rained blows upon the helpless prisoner.
TONE
• This refers to the attitude of the author towards the audience and
subject.
• Reader can infer the narrator’s tone from the words.
ACTIVITY
Direction: Choose the letter of the word that most clearly expresses
the tone in each passage. Write your answers on your notebook.
1. Often you feel you have done nothing when you have done a lot.
That is because what you did do seemed beneath notice—it was so
small that it did not “count.” But it did— just as each stitch counts
toward a finished dress, each brick or nail toward a house you can
live in, each mistake toward knowing how to do things right.
A. hesitant
B. encouraging
C. amused
ACTIVITY
2. A vaccine is a preparation of killed or weakened germs that is
injected under the skin and causes the blood to produce antibodies
against the disease. Effective vaccines, for instance, have been
developed for smallpox, rabies and polio.
A. Objective
B. arrogant
C. regretful
ACTIVITY
3. Yet another public figure has come forward to announce he has
signed into an addiction-treatment center to deal with his alcohol
problems. Reports say he has shown courage and honesty. Perhaps
so, but what it really takes to enter a treatment center is money.
What about the poor man, like my father, who may also have a
drinking problem—and courage—but who does not happen to have
Php 20,000.00 a day for a fancy rest home?
A. Bitter
B. revengeful
C. sentimental
ACTIVITY
4. Botulism, a type of rare, severe food poisoning, has been reported
recently in New Jersey. It is believed that the victim, who is in critical
condition at a local hospital, was stricken after eating from a jar of
incorrectly preserved homegrown green beans from last summer’s
garden. It has been ten years since the last instance of botulism
poisoning was reported in the state.
A. light-hearted
B. serious
C. tragic
ACTIVITY
5. Each year in the middle of March, when mud is underfoot and the
sky is a depressing gray, I begin dreaming of warm beaches, tropical
fruits, and sunsets. If only I could save enough for a summer
vacation! Maybe next year I will win the lottery. Meanwhile, I will read
travel brochures and sigh.
A. Unsure
B. joyous
C. longing