Before writing a narrative story we are going to review story elements and genre.
To review story elements click on the Cinderella Interactive.
To review genre click on Genre Characteristics from Read Write Think.
How to Plan and Write Your Story
It all starts with ideas, but where do these ideas come from?
What has happened in your life or to someone you know that would make a great story?
What kind of stories do you like to read? Could you write the same type of story (without copying)?
Do you want your story to be funny, sad, adventurous, or filled with impossible events? What events would create these types of stories?
Plan out your story on an organizer. Think about the following:
Who is your main character? Remember the main character is the person, animal, or thing your story is about. Every story starts out with the main character.
Who is your main character?
What does she, he, or it like or dislike?
What is your character's personality?
What does your character look like?
Who are your supporting characters? These are the main characters friends and enemies. They can also be characters that help move the story along.
Villians are characters that block the main character from reaching a goal.
Allies are friends who help the main character reach a goal.
Mentors are wise characters that help the main character.
Jokers are characters who bring humor to the story.
Remember when planning your story that characters can change over the story.
A villian might start off as evel and then decide to help the main character solve the problem.
Think of an interesting conflict (problem) for the main character to overcome.
The bigger the problem is the more interesting your story will be.
Don't let the main character solve the problem right away.
Before you write, decide how the problem is going to be solved.
The main character should solve the problem.
Don't have someone or something come in at the last part of the story to save the day.
Decide on the plot, or sequence of events, that happen to the main character as he, she, or it tries to solve their problem.
Start the story by introducing the main character, the setting, and the problem.
Next, tell how the main character goes about solving the problem.
Think about having the main character meet his enemy or friends. What obstacles are in his way?
Did he, she, or it learn any lessons along with the events?
What is the big event in the story, or climax that leads to the solution to the problem?
Bring the story to a close. This is a good place to give out rewards or punishments to characters.
What is the setting of your story?
Where does your story take place?
When does your story take place: past, present, future?
Will the setting affect your main character or how the events happen in the story?
Remember a setting can also create an atmosphere.
Now that you have an overview of your entire story think about how to place the events in your story. There should be a beginning, middle, and end.
Make sure that your beginning, middle, and end transition into each other.
The events should make sense as the story moves.
Write your rough draft. Remember to just focus on getting your ideas on paper. You can always go back later to fix or improve upon your writing.
Edit and Revise your work.
Check your work for spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.
Check your work for words you may have repeated too often.
Read your story to yourself out loud.
Remember that YOU may know what you meant, but your reader might not.
Be sure you gave enough detail to fully explain.
Publish your story. During the course of the school year you will publish stories in many forms. Some examples are creating digital books, writing final drafts, creating classroom books, etc.
From http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/TTravis/writing_class.cfm?subpage=641646