Original Writing: Overview and Planning

The original writing component of the NEA requires you to produce a piece of creative or transactional writing of approximately 1500 words, accompanied by a commentary of 750 words. Together, this piece and its commentary are worth 20 marks and account for approximately 8% of your total A-Level grade. While this may seem a smaller component than the investigation, the original writing offers you the opportunity to demonstrate your skill as a writer — to show that you can not only analyse language but also use it with expertise and purpose.

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What the Specification Requires

The AQA specification states that your original writing must demonstrate "expertise and creativity in the use of English" (AO5). It must be an original piece — not copied, adapted, or closely modelled on an existing text. You should, however, use a style model to inform your writing.

Key Definition: Style model — a published text in the same genre as your intended piece, which you study to understand the conventions, techniques, and linguistic features of that genre. Your commentary will include a comparison between your writing and your style model.