A 10-minute writing task - SHOW, DON'T TELL USING A MYSTERIOUS BIRD

Week Seventeen Writing Challenge! 🖤🐦⬛

This week, we’re stepping into the shadows and focusing on how to Show, Don’t  Tell a mysterious feeling in your writing. Instead of saying a scene is scary, tense, or uneasy, we’ll use a spooky raven’s actions, sounds, and silent presence to create that mood for the reader. Ravens are powerful symbols — often linked to secrets, warnings, and the unknown — and by describing how they move, watch, and call, you can make a scene feel tense without ever naming the emotion.

Our focus this week is on mysterious and suspenseful scenes.

🕯️ Section: Spooky Ravens (Dark & Mysterious Mood)
Think of a lone raven perched on a crooked branch, watching silently.
Think about:
• How does the raven move — hopping, swooping, circling, gliding, or vanishing into the mist?
• What does it sound like — a sharp caw, a whispering croak, a sudden flap of wings?
• What might it represent — fear, worry, danger, secrets, or curiosity?

Figurative Language You Might Use:

Metaphor
• The raven was a shadow stitched into the sky above me.
• The bird was a warning sign, nailed to the night.

Simile
• The raven’s call cracked the silence like a breaking twig.
• Its wings spread like a dark curtain across the moon.

Personification
• The raven watched me with knowing eyes.
• The bird whispered secrets from the treetops.

Alliteration
• Silent, stalking wings swept the sky.
• Dark, drifting feathers fell at my feet.

Onomatopoeia
• Caw! The sound echoed down the empty path.
• Flap! The wings burst into the cold air.

📝 10-Minute Task:
Write 3–4 sentences using a raven to build an idea of mystery. Don’t  write, ‘It felt mysterious’, but rather  let the bird show this through its actions, sounds, and presence.

✍️ Example Sentences:
• The raven perched above me, its sharp eyes pinning my feet to the ground.
• A dark wing brushed the moon, and the night seemed to hold its breath.
• The bird’s whispering caw followed me down the path like a secret I couldn’t escape.
• Feathers drifted from the sky, soft and silent, as if the air itself was warning me.

✨ Coming Up Next:
We’ll move into forest birds to explore calm, peaceful, and gentle moods — a perfect contrast to this week’s shadows.

Happy writing, everyone! ✍️
Anna Donovan
Qualified Teacher (QTS 2005)
Specialist 11+ Exam Essay & Creative Writing Tutor