Write a Story                                 

Writing a story can be lots of fun.  It is also lots of hard work because you really have to put on your thinking cap and concentrate.

To write a story you must know what you are going to write about.  You can't just sit down and jot ideas off the top of your head because that will make your story sloppy and disorganized.  Before you start your story you should always know the beginning, the middle, and the end.

How many of you have started stories that you were not able to finish?  Or perhaps you got stuck in the middle and just can't seem to move forward?  The reason you have this problem is the fact that you haven't thought out the beginning, middle and end of the story.  You might have a great beginning or a very exciting middle but if you don't know what or where your characters are going or what they are doing...  You get lost.

To avoid this problem always try to web your ideas or create an outline.  I like to create an outline because I have so many historical facts that need to go into my story, I need to know where and when to place them into the action.  For a 200 page book, I generally have a 50 page outline to guide me.  You don't need an outline that big or a gigantic web, but you do need to know your beginning, middle and end.  It is like a map for your story.  You wouldn't think about taking a long trip without a map, because you wouldn't know where and when to stop for lunch, when or where to have dinner or get a hotel room for the night, and if you aren't sure where you are going, because you don't know how to get there (because you don't have a map) you might just keep traveling and traveling and never know when you have arrived at your destination.  An outline or a web is like the map of your story.  Always remember to know your begging, middle and end before you start writing!

Also, when you write a story you must have believable characters in your story.  They must be well thought out.  You need, first, to know what they look like, how they sound, and what they want out of life before you can begin to use them in your story.  If you, as the writer of the story, do not know these things first, your reader will never know them either.  Remember as a writer you are writing for the reader to really understand the story and its characters.

Now here is a short writing assignment to try.  Can you fill in the blanks?

One day two ________ were walking down the __________.  They decided they were going to go to the _______ because they wanted to _______. 

When they got there they met _____ who was very _______ because _________________________.

Both _______ and _______ told _______  not to worry because they would help _____ find the ______.

They searched and searched and walked deeper into the _____________, until ______ decided they were going in the wrong direction.  ______ wanted to continue on but suddenly they both heard something in the ________.

______, ______,and ______ hid.  They were afraid, they had never heard anything like that before.

Being careful not to be seen _____ peeked out around the _____ to see what was making the noise when he/she spied a _________ coming right towards them.  ________ screamed, _______ ran and ______ stood frozen to the spot.  What was it?

Now can you finish the rest of the story using your imagination and the ideas we have already started above?

Good Luck!