A little helpful tip for the imaginative writing exam

Hello!

I've got my English Language paper 2 in a couple of weeks and I'm very confident about the imaginative writing portion for it. I've got a tip that will save you precious time in the exam, it just requires a bit of creativity.
BEFORE you go into the exam, think of what you want to write about. Think of a theme you want your story to be about, with that in mind start coming up with several possible ideas. When your exam rolls around and the prompts are given, simply edit your story idea to fit the prompt rather than panicking and spending 10 minutes coming up with something based on the prompt alone. This has given me so much valuable time in exams rather than anxiously thinking about a completely new idea, think of it like a fusion of prompts to fine tune your story!

For example, last year I had a mock paper 2 and I got a 9, having an idea beforehand was so beneficial to getting that grade. Before my exam, I had decided I wanted to write a story about losing a loved one as my favourite song at the time was about just that. The exam day arrives and the prompt I chose was the use of the title "A surprise visitor". Since I already knew it was going to be about losing a loved one, I thought of making a story about a surprise visit from the ghost of a loved one to a grieving person. It was just a link between my idea and the prompt. This bought me so much time and allowed me to write without hesitation (and well)! Writing skill obviously plays a part but time is such a crucial aspect of exams so I assure you this will help even if it's just a little bit.

If anyone does use this tip I wish you all the best, I'm sure your stories will be fascinating! I already know what I'm writing about in 2 weeks and I'm rather excited for it, I hope this can help someone else like it helps me

That's actually a really good tip! However what if the prompt you thought of beforehand is wayyy different to the prompt we get? Idk for me it would be kinda difficult to work my way around it, any tips ahah

Since it's imaginative writing the link between the prompt given and the story can be far-fetched, as long as there is some link it should be fine! I understand it can be difficult to make links on the spot if they're a bit of a stretch so my advice there would be to think of multiple rough ideas, that gives you some foundation to stand on and a higher possibility of finding a fitting prompt! Best of luck