Dear Students,
I hope to print and copy this to include along with other Writing.Grammar.Literature reference material.
I have prepared some ideas that should help you with creative writing.
Great Beginnings:
A great beginning captures the reader’s interest by introducing the characters and setting and by hinting at the conflict in the story. The first line sets the tone for the rest of the story, so it should hook your readers and make them want to read more and more!
Not only are you introducing the characters and where the story takes place, but you are introducing the type of story. A scary story will entice readers to the edge of their seats right off the start! A story about friendship may begin by introducing the characters, to make the readers feel more comfortable, as if they’re meeting new friends. A challenging and heroic story will set up a conflict or competition right away.
Some possibilities:
Once upon a time…
The night before last…
One day in the forest…
In another universe…
On the way to school…
In the middle of the night…
My friend…
Suddenly…
Plot:
The plot is what happens in your story. Exciting stories need conflict, suspense or a problem to solve. To create your plot, it helps to think about what happens before and after the conflict, and why it may have happened.
Think of the plot as a map of your story. Like the roads of a map, the path of your plot can be a straight line, or it can have lots of twists and turns. A plot unfolds through action and reaction; something happens, and that leads to something else. Actions and reactions move the plot along until they result in some crisis of a kind.
A character has a goal at the beginning of the story. He or she wants something. How he or she goes about getting it makes up the plot. Action and reaction, cause and effect—these elements move the story along until the character is just about to get what he or she wants (or not)…and then we reach the turning point!
Some possibilities:
…walking down the street…
…a plane flying by…
…she trips on a planet…
…ice cream falls off the cone…
…her cellular phone rang…
Turning Point:
Have you ever heard the expression “The plot thickens…”? It refers to the point in a story where things get complicated for the characters. Maybe events are not turning out as they should. Or someone unexpected comes along and changes everything. This is the turning point, the place in the story where the plot twists and things get interesting.
If your character was on her way to success, the turning point can be a place where it looks like she may not make it after all. If she was on the road to failure, the turning point appears like glimmer of hope. Maybe be there will be a happy ending!
When writing your story, you will introduce the setting and your character(s), and you will move the plot along in an entertaining way, but now it has to change! Throw in a challenge for the character and a surprise for the readers. This is what keeps your audience turning the pages to find out what will happen next!
Some possibilities:
Expect the unexpected!
Would they return?
And then…
How could that be?
Wow!
Did you see that? Was that…?
They anxiously anticipated…
Spice It Up:
We add spices to food to make it tastier. Spicing up your writing will make it more fun and interesting to read. You can spice up any story with descriptive words and details.
Knowing lots of different words is one way to spice up your story and make writing more fun. For example, imagine all the different ways that you can say big: gigantic, huge, large, jumbo, colossal, immense, or tremendous!
One way to write with more description, interest and spice is through active writing. Show, don’t tell. For example, you could say, “The fairy flies fast.” Or you could say, “Millicent, the friend fairy, whizzed past my cheek so I fast I didn’t even see her!”
Some possibilities:
…outrageous aliens leaped…
…sheepishly crept around…
…lean, long-legged pony…
…red-and-blue-spotted dog…
…speedy racing machine…
…dark middle of the night…
…behind her angelic smile…
…feigned innocence…
Wrap It Up:
When you end your story, it is like wrapping up a gift. You close the box, choose an appropriate paper, tape up the loose ends and tie the bow!
Whatever problem or obstacle you set for your character will be resolved by the end. Either the goal will be achieved, or a lesson will be learned. The resolution of the story, also called the conclusion, should fit the mood of the story.
It is important to answer any questions about the characters or the plot that have been brought up in the story. The ending is not the time to introduce a new character or bring up a new problem. It is a time to conclude the story so readers feel satisfied that all the questions have been answered.
What kind of endings do you like? Do you like happy endings? Surprise endings? Sad endings? How will your story end?
Some possibilities:
…happily ever after.
…the end of it all.
…we never saw them again.
…the very last sunset.
…her face lingered in the window.
Epilogues:
This is a story after a story, an ending that invites a new beginning. An opportunity to take an idea that you got from something you read and give it a new twist or explore a part of the story that did not sit right with you!
Subject: Some How-To Ideas 
Sat Nov 14, 2009 2:31 pm
