Student language teachers exploring literary texts for language education mostly focus on "what" is written, and the opportunities that could arise for stimulating classroom discussions. In teacher education, helping student teachers discover "how" a powerfully persuasive text is created is frequently overlooked. With this article I explore whether a brief unit with specific guidelines for creative writing in teacher education could achieve several related aims: supporting student teachers' confidence in guiding children to see "how" compelling texts achieve impact, supporting student teachers' confidence in how the activity of creative writing might work in the classroom, and supporting them in setting creative writing tasks themselves. I show how mentor texts, or literary models -- in this article by authors David Almond and Philip Pullman -- can illustrate sensory imagery, lexical chains, and the enlivening effect of semantic and phonological repetition. Such devices foreground language, catching the reader's attention, while ideally enriching and extending the sense of the text -- the meanings and perceptions. Examples from creative writing units I have taught over numerous years illustrate how student teachers can acquire a grasp of the mechanics of creative writing, hopefully to later help their own students enjoy both reading and writing. I contend that student teachers can best recognize the power of intentional repetition and inventive language choices through their own efforts in creative writing.