Improve Your Creative Writing (5) - the dark pit...

How do you structure a piece of creative writing?

As an English tutor, I am asked this question, and the ending of my creative writing highlights the power of using "the dark pit" as a ready-made structure.

[To understand the story, you can read the first four posts in this series: 1, 2, 3, 4

He suddenly came to vividly, eyes wide open, bright light streaming in through the window.

A single blackbird gave him a final, malevolent look before flying away with a chuckle.

He was alone again.

It was a bright morning, and the sun had now risen above the rooftops that surrounded his home.  Only on a Sunday could he sleep in like this.  But it was Easter Sunday, too, and he knew that he still had half an hour before the rest of his family would start to stir.

~

The Third Visit

He gazed at the sun, shielded enough by thin cloud so as not be blinding.  It was so bright, so pure, so beyond everything else – the dirty rooftops, the cackling of the birds, the darkness of the cave of The Beast, that now seemed just like a distant memory.

His grandfather had died on Friday, and he wondered if he was up there, somehow, shining in the sun.  But he knew it wasn’t as simple as that – there was space, the solar system, universes, empty spaces.  So where had his grandfather gone?

How childish, to be bothered by those silly dreams!  He wouldn’t be attacked again – he would make sure of it by taking a different route to school.  And as for The Beast – well, he’d learnt how to keep quiet so he wouldn’t get shouted at so much.  It was all about survival.

The sun was shining brightly from heaven.  It was the third day since Grandad had passed away, and he now had the peculiar sensation of rising, somehow, out of his room, beyond the rooftops, up, towards that hypnotising sun.

This time Quest wanted to go.  There was a strange calling to escape into a new life.  He did not know if it was now, or if it was the future.  It was as if time had been suspended in an eternity of light.

He had finished his journey to the deepest, darkest place; and now a new way lay before him. 

This is the dearest place, he decided.  Wherever this light would lead him would be his way.

If a character faces "a dark pit", what kind of structure is suggested to you?

Can you see how my story has followed this structure?

I offer a free 30 minute online consultation, with no ongoing commitment, to advise families about GCSE and A Level tutoring, which you can book via this page.  And you can learn more about my extensive experience via the About page.

Thanks for visiting Literature of the Hart!

Michael