PSLE Composition: How to Choose Between the Three Pictures

You get a theme and three pictures. You choose one. Then you write.

Most children spend about ten seconds on that choice. It deserves two minutes, because the picture you pick decides how hard the next fifty minutes will be.

The trap

Children usually pick the most exciting picture. A fire. A lost wallet. A rescue.

Exciting pictures are hard. They need a big event, lots of action, and a believable ending. Halfway through, many children run out of story and start adding more and more drama.

The quiet picture is often the easier one to write well.

Four questions before you choose

• Can I see the whole story already? Beginning, middle, end. If you can only see the middle, choose another.
• Has this happened to me, or to someone I know? Real memories give you real details. Details are what make writing feel true.
• Does it fit the theme? The theme matters more than the picture. Read it twice.
• Can I write one strong feeling? Not five. One. Fear, or relief, or guilt.

If a picture gets four yes answers, take it. Do not keep looking.

You do not have to use the picture literally

The picture is a starting point, not a rule. If the picture shows a bicycle, your story does not have to be about cycling. It could be about the person who lent you the bicycle.

What matters is that your story clearly connects to the theme.

Two minutes of planning

Once you have chosen, write four short lines on your paper before you start.

• Where and when it starts
• The problem
• The worst moment
• What is different at the end

Four lines. Two minutes. Now you know where you are going, and you will not run out of story in paragraph three.

Read next

• Cohesion: The One Thing That Moves You Up a Language Band
• Tense Control: The Commonest Reason Scripts Sit at 11 or 12

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