Fictional Narrative
Our Goals
I will write stories with increasing stamina.
I will use relevant supporting details to enhance my story such as dialogue and descriptions of actions and emotions.
I will include precise or interesting words, descriptive words, technical language, varied verb choices or creative phrases.
I will organize my writing with a logical sequence using connecting words related to time.
I will reread to add to, delete from, or reorganize my text to strengthen content.
Think of the stories that you like best. What do they have in common?
Are the character types similar?
Are they the same genre?
Are the themes or messages similar?
Is the description detailed or simple?
Do the plots have something in common?
Generating Ideas
Create a Character
Think of a character. Use ideas from different people you know or have observed.
What does the character look like? Give a physical description.
What does your character like/dislike?
What does you character want/need?
What are some key character traits (strengths/weaknesses)?
Who is in this character's life? How do they impact him/her/them?
Where does this character feel safe/scared?
Example on Jamboard
*After you have finished your lists for this character, start thinking of why your character is this way. What is his/her/their motivation?
Examples:
Harry Potter had a scar because...
Gregor feels protective of his mom because...
Zinkoff meets Claudia when...
Eugene Krabs is a crab who loves making money. He is smart but obsessed. He employs SpongeBob and Squidward at his restaurant. His enemy is Plankton, who wants to steal his Krabby Patty recipe. He loves his daughter and girlfriend.
What if...? Scenarios
Think of something you know, a place, a person, a true story from your life, etc. Then ask yourself, "What if...?" and make a change using your imagination. How does that change affect the characters, the plot, and the theme?
Examples:
You wake up with wings.
You step out your door and you are in 1982.
There is a little alien in your lunch bag.
Setting Mood Board
A good setting can really influence your writing. Make yourself a mood board for different settings using JamBoard. Use description words in your search. Look at the top of the image search and find other words you can use.
spooky setting
fictional space setting
fantasy art setting
enchanted forest setting
fantasy castle setting
Example on Jam Board
Consider your Theme
There are many themes that can be used for stories. Remember, the theme isn't your plot, it is the idea behind the story. You need to know your theme before you write. You want it to be easy for the reader to understand.
Beating the odds
Change is sometimes necessary
Communication is important
Courage
Desire to escape
Empowerment
Emptiness of attaining false dream
Facing reality
Fading beauty
Family
Fear of failure
Friendship
Greed
Growing up
Human rights
Dangers of judging others
Heartbreak of betrayal
Heroism – real and perceived
Identity crisis
Illusion of power
Immortality
Injustice
Isolation
Jealousy
Overcoming (fear, weakness, etc.)
Peer Pressure
Power and corruption
Power of words
Pride and downfall
Progress
Quests
Reunion
Secrecy
Simplicity is best
Technology in society – good or bad
Tradition
Wealth and poverty
Will to survive
Winning and losing
Working together
Decide on the Conflict
How do you show your theme? You need conflict. This is what drives the action in the story. There are six main types of conflict. Which one will fit your theme?
person vs person
person vs self
person vs society
person vs nature
person vs supernatural
person vs technology
What kind of events fit that theme? How will your character deal with these events? Make some notes.
Choose, Ask Questions, Talk it Out
Look at all the ideas you have generated: characters, scenarios, settings, themes, and conflicts. Which of them go together? What changes should you make if you put them together?
Ask yourself questions to get more details.
What information do you need to give in your exposition?
What major plot points will you have to show your theme and conflict?
Talk with a partner. What questions can you ask your partner?
What kind of details are you wondering about?
What parts of the story outline interest you or sound exciting?
By the end of class, you should have:
Protagonist fully described
Character list
Scenario
Setting
Theme
Conflict
Organize Your Thoughts
Every Story Has a Problem
Suspense: Think about how your problem gets worse for your character.
Sympathy: Why are we rooting for your character?
Solution: How will the problem be solved?
We plan our stories in the same way we summarize stories.
Somebody wants... What does your main character want?
But... What are the problems?
So... What does the character do in response to the problems?
And... Tell about how the problem is gets worse.
Then... How does it all end up? Is the problem resolved? Did they get what they wanted?
Example from How to Trick Your Sister (Readworks)
Emily wanted to have a perfect birthday party so she could make friends with the girls in her class. Rick wanted to ruin his sister's birthday, because he loved playing tricks on his organized sister who was very different from him.
But she had planned her party perfectly and her mom had ordered Rick to stay downstairs during the party.
So Rick hooked up a remote control to some fireworks in the pantry. Later, he sneaked out of the basement and put the fireworks in the cupcakes so they would go off when his mom brought them out.
And in retaliation, Rachel (who felt sorry for Emily) hooked Rick's journal where he recorded his pranks to a fishing line and a motor.
Then Rick chased his journal through the house, only to see it go into the fire and get burnt. Emily used the same excuse he gave to get out of trouble. She and Rachel became friends.
develop your ideas
Write the Bones
Try to write your first draft quickly. Just get your ideas down. Leave spaces or markers for where you want to add things later. Remember "TK" means "to come." Underline words you might want to change. Don't stop to research or find the exact spelling right now. Just get the draft down, so you can capture the important ideas.
Excerpt from my story:
Holly heard a TK sound. Was it starting to rain? Around her, people were rushing to get into the nearest shops. She noticed the shop keepers were pulling DOWN? ACROSS? their THINGIES over the brightly lit windows. It was at that moment, she realized how dark it had become. "Ouch!" she cried. Something had hit her hand, and she saw blood welling out of a small cut. Was it hail? DIALOGUE WITH SOMEONE RUNNING PAST TK
"What ever you do...don't look up!" he cried as he sprinted WHERE?
Holly crawled under the nearest thing she could find, a DESCRIPTION TK bench near the bakery. Sweeping her eyes over the cobbled streets, she could see piles starting to accumulate. Black MORE DESCRIPTION... She bent down and saw they were letters, little letters that had rained down from the sky.
"Ack!" Something fell through the slats of the bench and hit her head. She put her hand up to touch her hair and picked something out. It was a small, sharp letter 'v.'
Interrupt Your Partner
Right now, you only have the bones of your story. Today, you are going to want to add more to your story. I know that you left some notes for yourself. Your partner is going to help you work through some of those areas. Your partner may also find new areas for you to work on. At the end of class, you are going to know how you will reshape your story.
Partner 1:
Listen to your partner as he/she/they share the first draft.
As soon as you notice there is some information missing say, "I'm sorry, may I interrupt?"
Then ask a question to get them to tell you the missing details.
Partner 2:
When you are asked a question. Stop telling your story.
Rewind a little and retell it, but this time give the missing information.
Setting
Can you describe where this is happening?
What did you see/hear?
When does this take place?
Action
Back up and take me through a bit more slowly.
What was the next thing he/she/they did?
Could you show me with a story board?
Dialogue
What did he/she/they say?
What were the exact words?
Thinking
What was this character thinking when that happened?
What was going through his/her/their head when that was said?
Feeling
What was that character feeling right there?
Can you describe how the character looks when they feel that way?
Time Markers
"A long time ago, in a galaxy far away..." ~Star Wars
It is important to establish a sense of time for your reader. You do this in the exposition as well as throughout the story. Then they can imagine the setting better and understand how much time is passing in your story. Today, go into your notes and think about when each part of the story is happening. Add it to your notes.
Of course, you use regular transition words, but in stories you will also use these more specific time phrases.
Establishing the Setting
Several years ago...
Nearly a week ago...
In 2053...
In August...
Monday morning...
Time Within Your Story
A little after three o'clock...
Early that morning...
Later that day...
Earlier... (for flashbacks)
Moments later...
Happening at the Same Time
Simultaneously...
While this was going on...
Meanwhile...
How can we use time markers to turn these sentences into a smoothly flowing story?
___________________I woke up late for school, because I forgot to plug in my phone.
___________________I jumped into the shower, but the water was cold.
___________________my sock ripped as I pulled it on, and I had to find another pair.
___________________I ran downstairs to grab some toast, and smoke was pouring out of the toaster.
___________________I finally got to school, and everyone was already in PE class.
Write the Inside Story
What is going on in your character's mind? How do we know their feelings and thoughts? Many people put in the action and dialogue right away, but you also have to remember to give us a window into the protagonist's mind. This lets your reader really get to know him/her/them.
The example below is taken from Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan.
Character Talk
*Do you remember how to paragraph and punctuate dialogue? Check our "Writing Conventions" page.
Do your characters seem like real people to you? Have you thought about how they talk? Considering this can really help your character seem unique.
What kind of voice does your character have?
volume (whisper, bellow, shout)
pitch (low grumble, high and squeaky, calm and even)
tone (serious, joking, sarcastic)
What is the rhythm of his/her/their speech?
quick (clipped, short sentences)
slow (thoughtful, long sentences)
Does your character have a distinctive way of talking?
dialect (pop or soda, slippy or slippery, "I'm done" vs "I'm done of it")
accent (British: "drawring" instead of "drawing," French: "'otel" instead of "hotel")
often used word ("like" for younger people, "snozzcumber" in the BFG)
Does your character use slang or abbreviations?
"wanna" for "want to," "kinda" for "kind of"
"lit" for amazing, "cringy" for "embarassing"
What's in a Name?
Authors give a bit of thought to what they name the characters and places in their books. There are many things to think about:
the sounds the letters make (alliteration, rhyming)
the sound of the name (boring, exciting, strange, etc.)
the meaning of the name
If you want your character's name to have a special meaning, you can try this search engine. If you type in the meaning you want (for example: brave), then it will show you gender neutral names, boy names, and girl names.
Zinkoff (from Loser)
It is an unusual name that makes him weird.
It starts with the letter Z so in makes him last in everything.
Cruella de Vil (from 101 Dalmatians)
Her name sounds fancy and she thinks she is fancy.
It is a combination of cruel + devil.
Optimus Prime (from Transformers)
It means "the greatest" and "first" in Latin
Amelia Bedelia
Her first name means "work."
Her last name rhymes so it sounds silly.
Willy Wonka (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
It uses alliteration to make it memorable and a little silly.
"Wonka" also sounds like "wonky" which means "off centre."
Little Whinging (a place from the Harry Potter series)
To "whinge" means to complain persistently, so we can expect the people who live there to be unpleasant.
Neverland (a place from Peter Pan)
It is a place where you never grow up.
Underland (a place from Gregor the Overlander)
It is a place that is under New York.
Revising and Editing
What Else Happened?
Choose one event in your story. Ask yourself, "What else happened?" Remember, the reader can't see inside your head. What details have you left out? Do you say what all the characters are doing and how they react? Did you describe the scene?
My First Draft: Holly walked into the large room where she was supposed to wait for the queen. She could see faces watching her and she was nervous.
My Second Draft: Holly strode angrily into the throne room and then halted. At first, it had seemed like there was no one there but as she turned her head, she could see the walls were not walls at all. They were like filmy curtains. Behind them, there were ascending rows of benches that were packed so tightly it was hard to tell where one person ended and another began. Weird, animal like faces with noses that might have been beaks or snouts were leering at her malevolently. The children beside her kept calmly walking. For some reason, they didn't seem to see the creatures.
Art by Brian Froud
Think About How it Sounds!
Alliteration: using the same sound at the beginning of words
A frightening flurry of feathers and fur
Smooth strawberry soft-serve ice cream
Onomatopoeia: sound words
meow, bang, zap, crunch, jingle
Rule of Three: putting 3 descriptive words together sounds good
The morning was beautiful, sunny and warm.
The students were calm, cool, and collected.
Use Comparisons to Make it Clear
Simile: comparing 2 things using “like” or “as”
The fairy began to sparkle like glitter, and then she disappeared.
The space ship was as big as a school!
Metaphor: comparing 2 things without using "like" or "as"
He had a heart of stone.
The alien's eyes were two deep black pools.
Personification: giving an object the qualities of a person
Lightning danced across the sky.
The old car coughed and complained.
Don't Forget Your Title!
*Every Word in a Title That is Longer Than 2-3 Letters Must Start With a Capital Letter!
Most people have a working title they use when they are writing a story. It is often the name you save it under on the computer. But, it isn't usually the same as the title of the finished book.
These titles were changed. Do you think they made the right decision?
The first title for Dracula was The Dead Un-Dead.
The first title for Treasure Island was The Sea Cook.
The movie Beetlejuice was supposed to be called House Ghosts.
What do I look for in my title?
What do you want to say? Is it something to do with the theme? Are you trying to make people ask questions? Are you trying to create a feeling?
Give some information, but not too much. Usually fiction titles are 1-6 words.
Did you want to use alliteration or the rule of three?
Is there a word you could change to be more precise?
Could you cut a word and make it better?
You should write about a dozen possible titles and talk it over with your reading partner. Which one is the best?
Look at these titles? Do they make you want to read the book? Why do you think the author and publisher chose them?
