HSC English Creative Writing: How I Wrote a Band 6 Creative About Hitler

I wrote an English Advanced creative about Hitler’s suicide that achieved a Band 6. In this post I will explain how I got a Band 6 despite writing about the taboo topics that English teachers warn you not to write about. I will also break down what I did so you can write about whatever the hell you want and get a Band 6. There is a download link at the end for my Band 6 Hitler creative.

Key Takeaways

• Taboo topics aren’t banned. Bad execution is. The topic never cost me marks; weak writing would have.
• Show don’t tell, pushed further: don’t spell things out, let the marker infer it themselves.
• An emotional arc beats a “safe” structure every time. Make the marker feel something.
• Repeated motifs build meaning fast, which is perfect for a short creative where you have no words to waste.
• The full Band 6 creative is downloadable free below, so you can see exactly how it reads.

Why English Teachers Are Wrong About “Safe” Topics

Like most students, I hated English with a passion. I loved reading and deep ideas, but despised the process of writing structured essays in school. There was something so stifling about being forced to write in an unnatural format, within an utterly unrealistically time-bound process. I highly doubt most authors would produce high quality work under those conditions. Most of the top students just memorised creatives and essays that they paid tutors to help them produce. English felt like an unnecessarily torturous subject that ended up being pay-to-win and rote-memorise-to-win. If you’re going to rote-memorise anything, at least do it efficiently, though I’d rather beat the game a different way. The thought of beating the stupid game by breaking all the rules gave me a strange measure of satisfaction.

Here’s what nobody tells you: the topic itself is almost never what loses marks. Markers reward control, insight, and craft. A “dangerous” topic handled with skill can soar. I did it about the most hated man in history and walked away with a Band 6.

The Creative: A Band 6 About Hitler’s Final Five Minutes

English teachers warn students not to choose topics that are supposedly incapable of being written well about, like suicide, war, death, and trauma. I incorporated all of these into my creative and added a sprinkling of genocide. My creative was set during the last 5 minutes of Hitler’s life, as he stares at his gun in his bunker contemplating suicide. My creative outlines his internal reflection on his journey from an artist in Vienna to a rampaging anti-semite. My goal was to troll my teachers by writing so well that they would not only give me a Band 6 but they would also feel empathy and connection with the world’s most hated villain.

3 Techniques That Won the Band 6

How did I do this? Here are the three distinctive things I did.

1. Force the reader to solve the puzzle themselves

Rather than just reveal that it was Hitler from the outset, I titled the piece ‘The Artist from Vienna’ and slowly dip-fed hints about the identity of the main character as the creative went on. This is the principle of ‘show don’t tell’ on steroids. Use history, allusion, and figurative language to drop hints so that the marker draws the dots themselves. My piece does not have the word ‘Hitler’ anywhere in it.

When they draw the dots they feel smart. When they feel smart, they feel good and give you good marks.

2. Take the marker on an emotional ride

The creative largely follows the internal thought process of Hitler as he realises that maybe he shouldn’t have genocided the Jews. Initial triumph turns to reflection and shock as he realises that he made some bad moves. The piece ends with a sense of sorrow and regret combined with a vain hope that his legacy would be preserved as an artist. Fight back against English by using emotional manipulation. A marker who feels something remembers your piece.

3. Build meaning fast with repeated motifs

In keeping with the artistry theme of the creative, I repeatedly cast Hitler’s actions through art metaphors. Contrasting images of a black and white approach versus the warm glow of candles and family dinners. Strands of desire and joy woven into a tapestry of life that Hitler burnt and reduced to ashes. Vibrant colours of diversity and monochrome shades of conformity. Repeated motifs and symbols are a powerful way of quickly building up meaning in a short creative, each repetition adding another ‘layer’ of meaning.

If you do these things, you too can beat the English game and get a Band 6 writing about whatever you want, whether you’re prepping in Blacktown or anywhere in Western Sydney. If you want a second pair of eyes on the craft, our HSC English tutoring in Blacktown drills exactly these skills. It’s the same mindset I used to hack HSC Chemistry when I was lazy: find the rules of the game, then beat them.

Download the Full Band 6 Creative

Don’t take my word for it. Read the piece and see how the techniques actually land on the page.

You can grab my full Band 6 English Advanced creative, “The Artist from Vienna”, from our free HSC resources page. It’s a no-cost download.

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