Choose the most suitable essay prompt and produce a quick, usable plan before writing

What this dot point is asking

In Continuous Writing you choose one essay from several prompts and write it well. Two decisions come before any writing: which prompt to pick, and how to plan it. Choosing well means matching the prompt to your strengths and to the ideas you can actually develop; planning well means a short, usable outline that keeps the essay focused and balanced. This dot point is about those first few minutes, the part many candidates skip and then regret.

The answer

Read every prompt before choosing

The first instinct is to grab the prompt that looks easiest, but the better move is to read all of them and think briefly about each. For each prompt ask: do I have real ideas or a clear story for this? Can I keep it going for the full length? Does it suit my stronger essay type (narrative, descriptive or discursive)? The prompt you can develop with specific detail beats the one that merely sounds interesting but leaves you stuck after a paragraph.

Match the prompt to your strengths

Essay types reward different skills. Narrative writing rewards a clear story and engaging detail; descriptive writing rewards vivid sensory language; argumentative and discursive essays reward clear reasoning and examples. Know which you do best, and lean towards it when the prompts allow. A candidate strong on argument should usually take the discursive prompt over a story they will struggle to bring to life, and the reverse is just as true.

Decode exactly what the prompt asks

Before planning, underline the key words in your chosen prompt. A story prompt may fix an opening line you must use ("Write a story that begins: ...") or a required element. A discursive prompt has a clear question ("Do you agree that...") that your essay must answer with a stand. Misreading the prompt is the most expensive error in the paper, because a brilliant essay on the wrong question still loses the content mark.

Make a short, usable plan

A plan is not a rough draft; it is a list of the essay's main moves in order. Two to three minutes is enough:

• One line for the introduction (a stand, a hook, or the situation that opens a story).
• Three or four main points or key events, in the order you will use them.
• One line for the conclusion (the final view, or how the story ends).

This skeleton keeps you on the prompt, balances your paragraphs, and frees your writing time for developing ideas rather than inventing them on the spot.

Examples in context

Example 1. Two candidates, same prompts. Given a choice between a story and a discursive essay on freedom, one candidate picks the story because it "sounds fun", runs out of plot after two paragraphs and pads the rest. Another reads both, realises she has stronger, more specific ideas for the discursive essay, plans four points, and writes a balanced, developed argument. The second candidate scores higher not because she writes better sentences but because she chose the prompt she could sustain and planned its shape, which is the skill this dot point teaches.

Example 2. A plan keeps an essay balanced. A discursive essay without a plan often spends three paragraphs on one side and a rushed half-paragraph on the other, leaving the argument lopsided. A simple plan that allocates a paragraph to "for", a paragraph to "against" and a paragraph to a qualified view forces balance. When the marker sees both sides developed and weighed, the content and organisation marks rise, all because the writer mapped the shape before starting.

Try this

Q1. Give two questions you should ask yourself when choosing between essay prompts. [2 marks]

• Cue. "Do I have real ideas or a clear story I can develop for the full length?" and "Does this prompt suit my stronger essay type (narrative, descriptive or discursive)?"

Q2. Explain why underlining the key words in a prompt is important. [2 marks]

• Cue. It makes sure you answer exactly what is asked, for example using a required opening line or taking a stand on the actual question; misreading the prompt produces an off-task essay that loses the content mark however well it is written.

Q3. Write a four-point plan for the prompt "Describe your favourite time of day." [3 marks]

• Cue. For example: 1. Introduction naming the time of day and the overall mood. 2. Sights and sounds of that time. 3. What you do and how it feels. 4. Conclusion on why it matters to you. Distinct, ordered points that would produce a coherent descriptive essay.