This started out as a writing prompt for the younger communities, but I think it is a worthwhile adventure for all of us to undertake! This is not meant to be a complete explanation of short story writing.  It is simply another way to try different ways of writing. Do try and start this writing prompt as soon as you can.  Let me now how it goes by giving us updates in your blog. I know that I am having  hard time coming up with an idea for my story:)

 

Writers tell stories.  A writer takes what they know, think, feel, imagine or wonder and they craft words into the shape of a story.  These stories are told in many different ways.  There are adventure stories, funny stories, ghost stories, fairy tales, mysteries, romances, fantasies, science fiction, myths, parables, horror stories, true stories, historical stories, short stories and epic tales, and they all have the same thing in common—they want to entertain us and keep our attention. Good stories are called “page turners” because they make the reader keep turning the pages until the end.  Sometimes it’s hard to know why you like a story so much, because you just do.

 

All stories have a few if the same things in common.  They all have a main character, who is called the protagonist; they all have someone or something that makes things difficult for the main character.   He, she, (or it) is called the antagonist.  The main problem or problems the antagonist makes for the protagonist is called the conflict. Usually we don’t know exactly what the final conflict is going to be, but a good writer gives us hints throughout the story.  These hints are called foreshadowing and/or rising action.  Every good story has a conflict of some sort; otherwise, it is not a very good story. Towards the end of the story the main character has to face the conflict created by the antagonist in what is called the climax—always the most exciting part of the story.  And then the story ends.  How the events unfold in a story is called the plot of the story. Use separate paragraphs for every new event! How you, as the author, end a story is completely up to you.  Everyone right now is talking about the final book of the Harry Potter series. Everybody is curious how it is going to end.  Will Harry die?  I’m sure the author won’t tell us early in the book, but I’m sure she will keep us turning the pages until the very end!

As a way of practicing story writing, you can use one of your own experiences as material to create a dramatic story about something that happened to a person who is just like you.  The story can be real or make-believe, but the important part is to make it “believable” to your readers.  When we finish reading your story you want us to say, “Wow, did that really happen?” So that means for this story you can’t take us on a trip to the planet Gorup to fight the Lekkhukulians for control of the universe—though you are welcome to do that in another story you write.  This story needs to sound like it could really have happened.

 

Here is what I want you to do:

 

1. Give yourself a make-believe name.  Don’t use the “I” voice (which is called ‘the first person voice). Use the third person voice, for example: Billy woke up on the day of the big race across the lake and saw the weather report: “Major storms will pummel New Hampshire later this afternoon.” Billy hoped they would cancel the race, but he knew that it as the last day they could have the race and Mr. Johnson never cancel anything! This is called writing in the third person, just like you were reporting on what happened to someone else.  In this story, Billy is the main character or “protagonist.”

2. Think of something that you have done in your life that was hard for you, such as overcoming a fear, or dealing with someone who made life difficult for you. This thing or person is the antagonist. It is important to use a real life story as the basis for your story because I want this to be a believable story.

3. Before you start writing, make sure you know what the climax is going to be and how it is going to end up. How does the main character solve the problem? Everything you write should lead up to the climax.

4. Make a list of the series of events that lead up to the climax.  Remember that each series of events has to be at least one paragraph—if not more than one paragraph.

5. Start writing and see what you come up with!  This is called your “rough draft.”

6. Post your rough draft on your blog and read what people in your community have to say. If you like the suggestions, use them to help edit and revise your final draft. You might need to take some stuff out, or you may need to add more stuff in to your story to make it better.  All good writers edit and revise.  It is just as important as the idea for the story.

7. When you feel your story is ready to publish, post it again on your blog as your final draft.

8. Be proud of what you have accomplished! Have people guess whether it was true or not.

 

Here are a few more tips:

 

    * You are able to use your main characters thoughts to help tell your story, but not for the other characters. To help your reader create an image in his or her mind, use descriptive words when describing a place or person. Don’t just say, Billy looked at the lake.  Try to say it more like: Billy shivered in the morning coolness and stood on the old wooden dock his grandfather built out of old pine slabs, and he looked across the lake, which was now as calm and black as a mirror.  Or something like that.  The more your reader sees, the easier it is for them to follow your plot.

 

    * Use dialogue to help your reader understand what your characters are like.  We learn a lot by hearing what people say—and how they say it!

 

    * A short story only introduces and uses a few characters at most.  Any more than three and your reader will start to get confused. You want to keep yourself and your reader focused on the main character, the antagonist and the coming conflict.  You can use minor characters, but don’t make them important in your story.

 

The most important thing is to have fun! I need more practice writing stories like this myself, and I promise to try and write my own dramatic story and post it to my blog, no matter how bad I think it is as a story. Writing is all about trying, and that is all I can ask of you—and me.

 

Good luck,

 

Fitz