Creative Writing Ideas A collection

							Contents

  1.  Begin with one grain of sand.
  2.  Give the who, what, when, where, and why.
  3.  Step up to bat and take a few swings.
  4.  Give the reader a map.
  5.  Cut unneeded words and prune windy phrases.
  6.  Give your writing the conversation test.
  7.  Read widely Of course, you want to enjoy these works, not just read them for scholarly
      reasons. Even if you do not take a single note while you read, perusing great works will
      help you hone your writing style. The more well-written works you read, the better your
      own writing will be.
  8. Avoid Imprecise Words
      Some words have been used so often in the English language that they no longer have
      meaning. Words like "nice," "great," and "big" are overused and imprecise. Be as specific
      as you possibly can when you write, and use variations of these overused, vague words.
      Reading "the girl strolled through the park," is far more interesting to read than "the girl
      walked through the park." Both sentences mean the same thing, but the word "strolled"
      allows the reader to better picture the scene. The world "walk" can mean too many
      different types of movement.
  9. Purchase a good thesaurus. When you are tempted to use a common, everyday word
      that does not have a precise meaning, look it up in the thesaurus. Find a synonym that
      means what you intend, and use that instead. Of course, avoid using words that are too
      flowery or hard to understand. Strive for simplicity as you strive for precision. And use a
      dictionary to double-check the nuances of words you find in the thesaurus. Get somebody
      to check for malaprops. Avoid overwriting! (There is a happy balance you need to find
      it).
  10. Keep It Concise
      New writers often add extra, unnecessary words to their writing, such as adverbs. You
      can make your creative writing much stronger by eliminating these unneeded words.
      Many adverbs (words that end in -ly), for instance, can be weeded out of writing without
      changing the meaning. If you use a lot of adverbs, then you need stronger verbs.
  11. Another way to make your work more concise is to avoid writing in the passive tense.
      Passive tense verbs use some for of "is." For instance, instead of, "The man was fired by
      his boss," you could say, "The man's boss fired him." This uses fewer words, sounds
      stronger, and presents a more active image to the reader.
  12. Read through your finished work, and eliminate as many unnecessary words as
      possible. The more concise your writing is, the stronger it will sound to the reader.
  13. Your Creative Writing Success
      These tips will help you turn acceptable writing into writing that glows. Remember, when
      you are writing, less is more, precision is important, and the more you read, the better
      your finished written product will be!

       Melinda Copp
    Instructions
    1. First, get a partner to work with. Look to your library for help. Sometimes there are writers'
        groups that get together and critique each other's writings. This is the best place to get help
        initially.
    2. Second, write every day. Pick up a journal at the dollar store and dedicate time every day
        to writing for at least 10 minutes.
    3. Third, read the type of books you want to write. For example, if you are interested in writing
        nonfiction, then read several nonfiction books by different authors. This will help you to
        identify the type of writer you want to become.
    4. Fourth, read books that are opposite of what you want to write. Sometimes if we read books
        that are not in our usual scope, new ideas emerge. It may give you an idea on how to start
        your story or how to organize it in a different way
    5. Fifth, when you sit down to write, don't be critical of yourself. Tell yourself that you'll come
        back and edit later. Let the ideas flow.
    6. Sixth, when you are done writing, print it out and read it out loud. This doesn't mean read it
        in your head. Actually read it out loud to a friend or just to yourself. This will help you to
        catch many more mistakes.
    7. Seventh, write the introduction last. After you have written the whole story, go back to the
        beginning and write an introduction that will capture the audience and get them ready for the
        story
    http://www.ehow.com/how_2144908_improve-creative-writing-skills.html

    Instructions
    Things You'll Need:
   Paper and pen to write your story or a word-processing program on the computer

    1. Tip #1 - Make certain your story has a basic plot

       Every story needs a basic plot. It is the main idea that your story is about. So in as few words
       as possible, what do you want your story to be about? What is the main idea that you want
       your readers to hear, read, and understand?

       For example, the plot of the Grimm's Fairytale called "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" is
       while three bears go for a walk, a little girl enters their house uninvited. After using their
       belongings and breaking a few things, the bears come home and find her.

       All the other details found in the story are simply the author's choice of how he or she
       decides to flesh out the plot of the story.

    2. Tip #2 - Choose your characters

       Once you have your plot, what characters will help populate your story? Stories come to life
       when you have some kind of conflict or problem that needs to be solved. So decide on who
       you wish to portray your "good guys" and "bad guys." Since no one is all good or all bad,
       discover some positive characteristics for your "bad" characters to display. Find some
       negative characteristics or personality traits for your "good" characters to display.
   Quite often, the villains of the story do not view themselves that way. They feel like they are
   the hero of their own story. So how do your characters justify their actions?

   Who are the major characters essential to your tale? Who are the minor characters that help
   move the story along?

   What do your characters look like? How do they walk? How do they talk? How tall or short
   are they? Do they come from a large family, a small family, or are they an only child? What
   are their hobbies, their interests, their likes, and dislikes? Do they have any phobias? Even if
   you never mention any of these details in your story, it is helpful to really know your
   characters so that they don't end up sounding two-dimensional and like cardboard cut-outs.
   The more you know your characters, the more real you can make them for your readers and
   listeners.

3. Tip #3 - Make certain your story has a definite beginning, middle, and ending

   Once you have your plot, decide how your story will begin, how will it end, and what
   happens in the middle. What details will you include in between the beginning and ending of
   the story that would make for an interesting story line?



4. Tip #4 - Make an outline

   Make an outline of basic details you can use to flesh out your tale. This outline will help you
   organize your ideas. Later on, you can decide on what dialogue you use and other details to
   further enhance your story line.

5. Tip #5 - Setting

   You need to decide where you wish your story to take place. What location makes the most
   sense given your plot?

   Of course, you could add spice to this plot by having the story take place on another planet,
   in a zoo, on a wildlife reserve, in a suburban neighborhood populated by animals instead of
   humans, on a mountaintop where strip-mining is taking place, or in some other location that
   strikes the fancy of your imagination.

   You need to decide when you wish your story to take place. Does it happen in this current
   time period and make the papers? Does it take place back in the pioneer time period? Does it
   take place sometime in the far-off future?

   Also, decide what time of the year does this story take place. Does it happen in the winter, in
   the fall, in the spring, or the summer? Does it happen in a place where there are no seasons,
   or does it happen in a time period when crunching fall leaves could give away the presence
   of one of your characters who might be in hiding? Does it happen in the winter when there
   are little or no leaves to help shield that character from the view of another character in
   pursuit? Does it happen in the spring or summer when there is plenty of foliage to hide that
   escaping character?

6. Tip #6 - Dialogue

   Adding dialogue to your story helps bring it to life. If you simply list bare bone details, it
   will sound more like an essay than a story.

   Think back to a time when you have listened to a lecture, a speech, or a sermon. What part of
   the monologue did you find most interesting? Most likely, it was when the speaker told an
   anecdote. The way you can bring further interest and intrigue to an anecdote is by adding
   dialogue.

7. Tip #7 - Show - not tell

   To make a story more interesting, it is helpful to remember the adage to show - not tell. How
   can you convey the details of the story without being overly-descriptive?

   For example, rather than telling us a character is angry or happy or excited, can you convey
   this detail in the dialogue they use along with their actions and the way they walk or skip or
   stomp from one location to another?

   Don't just tell us that one character or a group of characters is upset with another character,
   show us by the action taken by one or more of the characters and the reflexive reaction of
   another. Show us by the dialogue that is exchanged between the characters. Show us by the
   way they hold their body, the way they move from one location to another, and the way they
   demonstrate their level of stress or discomfort.

8. Tip #8 - Check your spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

   Make certain you edit your work. Do a spell check. Also, do a grammar check. Most word
   processing packages contain the ability to do both.

   It is okay for your characters to display 'bad grammar' or slang terminology if that is true to
   their age and personality; however, your narrator should use correct grammar at all times.
   For example, quite often a teenager may use slang terms with friends like "gonna" or "cuz";
   however, when they speak to the significant adults in their lives, they may use correct
   grammar minus the slang. Strive to make certain that the terminology you use is true to the
   personality of the character you are writing about.

   If possible, get somebody you trust to check your grammar, spelling, and punctuation before
   you post your story on-line for everybody to see.
9. Tip #9 - Have a climax or turning point in your story

   In order for a story to be characterized a story, it needs to have some kind of conflict or
   problem to be solved. Every story also needs a climax or turning point that turns the action
   around so you can end your story in some satisfying way.

   In the case of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," the climax is when the bears come home
   and discover they've had an intruder.
   In the case of another Grimm's Fairy Tale called "The Three Little Pigs," the wolf climbs
   down the chimney of the brick house in hopes of eating the third little pig. That pig outsmarts
   him by catching the wolf in a cauldron of boiling water that kills the wolf instead.

   In the case of the fairy tale called "Little Red Riding Hood," the huntsman comes along just
   in time to kill the wolf before the wolf manages to kill the little girl.

   So as you near the end of your story, what big moment can you create that will activate the
   pulse of your readers and listeners? What will the big turning point be that will alert the
   listeners you are drawing to the end of your story? Make it as exciting or as satisfying as you
   can.

10. Tip #10 - Read your story aloud

http://www.ehow.com/how_5797685_improve-creative-writing-skills.html
Structure of Your Short Story

Novice writers are often given this advice on how to structure their short stories:

       Put a man up a tree
       Throw stones at him
       Get him down

When you come to think of it, it's good advice for any writer. So follow the steps in the plan below to start
writing great short stories.

Short Story Plan

Start with a situation - a problem to be resolved for your protagonist ( the man up the tree).

Then present the problems that can occur (throw some stones):

       Misunderstandings / mistaken identity / lost opportunities etc

The final step is to show how you can solve the problem - get the man down from his leafy perch - safely.

       Love triumphs / good conquers evil / honesty is the best policy / united we stand

Short Story Theme
Every piece of writing must have a message or thread of meaning running through it, and this theme is
the skeleton or framework on which you hang your plot, characters, setting etc.

As you write, make sure that every word is related to this theme.

It's tempting to use your short story to show off your talents at characterisation, descriptive writing,
dialogue or whatever ... But every excess word is a word that dilutes the impact of your story.

The best stories are the ones that follow a narrow subject line. Decide what the point of your story is and
even though it's tempting to digress, you must stick to the point otherwise you end up with either a novel
beginning or a mish-mash of ideas that add up to nothing.

Time Span for Your Short Story

An effective short story covers a very short time span. It may be one single event that is momentous in
the life of your main character or the story may take place in a single day or even an hour. Try to use the
events you depict to illustrate your theme.

Setting for Your Short Story

Because you have such a limited number of words to convey your message, you must choose your
settings carefully ... there's no room for free-loaders in a short story!
That doesn't mean you have to be trite or predictable when deciding on settings. For example, some of
the most frightening settings for thrillers are not cemeteries or lonely alleys, but normal places where
readers can imagine themselves.

Appeal to your readers' five senses to make your settings more real.

Characters in Your Short Story

Around three main characters is all a short story can effectively deal with because too many will distract
you from your theme.

Don't give in to the urge to provide detailed background on your characters ... decide on the
characteristics that are important for your theme and stick to those. If you fall in love with your
character, use him/her as the basis for a novel later on.

And if you have trouble making your characters come to life, this will be a boon! It's a store of 1001
Character Quirks! Just like having a magic box of ideas for every character you could ever imagine ... mix
and match characteristics to come up with memorable characters for all your stories.

Short Story Dialogue

Never underestimate the power of dialogue in conveying character, but it must contribute to the main
focus of the story - don't just use it to pad out your characters. Every word you put into the mouth of your
characters must contribute to revealing your theme ... if it doesn't, be ruthless and cut it.

And click now to get your *ultimate* FREE mini-course - "5 steps to a powerful vocabulary!

Vivid Imagery for Your Short Story

Capture the reader's interest through vivid imagery, and empathy for, your characters. You need to paint
such a vivid picture that the reader can imagine himself or herself to be in the scene. Again this goes
back to placing yourself there and transposing this into your writing.

That involvement is often referred to as reader empathy. And an empathetic reader lives the fictional
dream. Let's look at some of the ways in which this can be achieved ... Click to read more about how to
create vivid imagery in your short story.

Plot for Your Short Story
Begin with an arresting first paragraph or lead, enough to grab the readers and make them curious to
know what happens next. Make sure your plot works - there must be: a beginning; a middle and an
end. But don't spend too much time on the build-up, so that the climax or denouement (as in the twist
ending) is relegated to one sentence, leaving the reader bothered and bemused but sadly, not
bewitched.

Don't signal the twist ending too soon - try to keep the reader guessing until the last moment.

If you're telling a fast-moving story, say crime, then keep your paragraphs and sentences short. It's a trick
that sets the pace and adds to the atmosphere you're conveying to the reader.

http://www.write101.com/shortstory.htm
If you are having trouble getting started, look out the window. The whole world is a story, and every
moment is a miracle.
-Bruce Taylor, UWEC Professor of Creative Writing

    Keep a notebook. To R. V. Cassill, notebooks are "incubators," a place to begin with overheard
     conversation, expressive phrases, images, ideas, and interpretations on the world around you.
    Write on a regular, daily basis. Sit down and compose sentences for a couple of hours every day
     -- even if you don't feel like it.
    Collect stories from everyone you meet. Keep the amazing, the unusual, the strange, the
     irrational stories you hear and use them for your own purposes. Study them for the underlying
     meaning and apply them to your understanding of the human condition.
Read, Read, Read

Read a LOT of Chekhov. Then re-read it. Read Raymond Carver, Earnest Hemingway, Alice Munro, and Tobias
Wolff. If you don't have time to read all of these authors, stick to Chekhov. He will teach you more than any writing
teacher or workshop ever could.
-Allyson Goldin, UWEC Asst. Professor of Creative Writing



         2. Write a Catchy First Paragraph
         In today's fast-moving world, the first sentence of your short story should catch your reader's
         attention with the unusual, the unexpected, an action, or a conflict. Begin with tension and
         immediacy. Remember that short stories need to start close to their end.


        I heard my neighbor through the wall.

       Dry and uninteresting.

        The neighbor behind us practiced scream therapy in his shower almost every day.

       The second sentence catches the reader's attention. Who is this guy who goes in
       his shower every day and screams? Why does he do that? What,
       exactly, is"scream therapy"? Let's keep reading...

       The first time I heard him, I stood in the bathroom listening at our shared wall for
       ten minutes, debating the wisdom of calling the police. It was very different from
       living in the duplex over middle-aged Mr. and Mrs. Brown and their two young
       sons in Duluth.

         The rest of the paragraph introduces I and an internal conflict as the protagonist debates a course
         of action and introduces an intriguing contrast of past and present setting.

         "It is important to understand the basic elements of fiction writing before you consider how to put everything
         together. This process is comparable to producing something delectable in the kitchen--any ingredient that
         you put into your bowl of dough impacts your finished loaf of bread. To create a perfect loaf, you must
         balance ingredients baked for the correct amount of time and enhanced with the right polishing glaze." -
         Laurel Yourke
Developing Characters
Your job, as a writer of short fiction--whatever your beliefs--is to put complex personalities on stage and let them strut
and fret their brief hour. Perhaps the sound and fury they make will signify something that has more than passing
value--that will, in Chekhov's words, "make [man] see what he is like." -Rick Demarnus


In order to develop a living, breathing, multi-faceted character, it is important to know way more about
the character than you will ever use in the story. Here is a partial list of character details to help you
get started.

  Name                                               Pets
  Age                                                Religion
  Job                                                Hobbies
  Ethnicity                                          Single or married?
  Appearance                                         Children?
  Residence                                          Temperament
  Favorite color                                     Something hated?
  Friends                                            Secrets?
  Favorite foods                                     Strong memories?
  Drinking patterns                                  Any illnesses?
  Phobias                                            Nervous gestures?
  Faults                                             Sleep patterns
Imagining all these details will help you get to know your character, but your reader probably won't need
to know much more than the most important things in four areas:

     Appearance. Gives your reader a visual understanding of the character.
     Action. Show the reader what kind of person your character is, by describing actions rather than
      simply listing adjectives.
  Speech. Develop the character as a person -- don't merely have your character announce
      important plot details.
  Thought. Bring the reader into your character's mind, to show them your character's unexpressed
      memories, fears, and hopes.
For example, let's say I want to develop a college student persona for a short story that I am writing. What
do I know about her?

Her name is Jen, short for Jennifer Mary Johnson. She is 21 years old. She is a fair-
skinned Norwegian with blue eyes, long, curly red hair, and is 5 feet 6 inches tall. Contrary to
typical redheads, she is actually easygoing and rather shy. She loves cats and has two of them named
Bailey and Allie. She is a technical writing major with a minor in biology. Jen plays the piano and is
an amateur photographer. She lives in the dorms at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She eats
pizza every day for lunch and loves Red Rose tea. She cracks her knuckles when she is nervous. Her
mother just committed suicide.


4. Choose a Point of View
Point of view is the narration of the story from the perspective of first, second, or third person. As a
writer, you need to determine who is going to tell the story and how much information is available for the
narrator to reveal in the short story. The narrator can be directly involved in the action subjectively, or
the narrator might only report the action objectively.
    First Person. The story is told from the view of "I." The narrator is either the protagonist (main
     character) and directly affected by unfolding events, or the narrator is a secondary character telling
     the story revolving around the protagonist. This is a good choice for beginning writers because it is
     the easiest to write.


           I saw a tear roll down his cheek. I had never seen my father cry before. I looked
           away while he brushed the offending cheek with his hand.

    Second Person. The story is told directly to "you", with the reader as a participant in the action.


              You laughed loudly at the antics of the clown. You clapped your hands with joy.

             (See also Jerz on interactive fiction.)

    Third Person. The story tells what "he", "she," or "it" does. The third-person narrator's
     perspective can be limited (telling the story from one character's viewpoint) or omniscient (where
     the narrator knows everything about all of the characters).


              He ran to the big yellow loader sitting on the other side of the gravel pit shack.

    Your narrator might take sides in the conflict you present, might be as transparent as possible, or
     might advocate a position that you want your reader to challenge (this is the "unreliable narrator"
     strategy). Something is raised that needs to be questioned on the basis of reason or morality.

    First Person. "Unites narrator and reader through a series of secrets" when they enter one
     character's perceptions. However, it can "lead to telling" and limits readers connections to other
     characters in the short story.
    Second Person. "Puts readers within the actual scene so that readers confront possibilities
     directly." However, it is important to place your characters "in a tangible environment" so you
     don't "omit the details readers need for clarity."
    Third Person Omniscient. Allows you to explore all of the characters' thoughts and motivations.
     Transitions are extremely important as you move from character to character.
    Third Person Limited. "Offers the intimacy of one character's perceptions." However, the writer
     must "deal with character absence from particular scenes."


5. Write Meaningful Dialogue
Make your readers hear the pauses between the sentences. Let them see characters lean forward, fidget with their
cuticles, avert their eyes, uncross their legs. -Jerome Stern


Dialogue is what your characters say to each other (or to themselves).

Each speaker gets his/her own paragraph, and the paragraph includes whatever you wish to say about
what the character is doing when speaking. (See: "Quotation Marks: Using Them in Dialogue".)


        "Where are you going?" John cracked his knuckles while he looked at the floor. "To the
        racetrack." Mary edged toward the door, keeping her eyes on John's bent head. "Not
        again," John stood up, flexing his fingers. "We are already maxed out on our credit
       cards."

      The above paragraph is confusing, because it is not clear when one speech stops and the other
      starts.

           "Where are you going?" John asked nervously.
           "To the racetrack," Mary said, trying to figure out whether John was too upset
       to let her get away with it this time.
           "Not again," said John, wondering how they would make that month's rent.
       "We are already maxed out on our credit cards."

      The second example is mechanically correct, since it uses a separate paragraph to
      present each speaker's turn advancing the conversation. But the narrative material
      between the direct quotes is mostly useless.

Write Meaningful Dialogue Labels

"John asked nervously" is an example of "telling." The author could write "John asked very nervously" or
"John asked so nervously that his voice was shaking," and it still wouldn't make the story any more
effective.

How can the author convey John's state of mind, without coming right out and telling the reader about it?
By inference. That is, mention a detail that conjures up in the reader's mind the image of a nervous
person.


       John sat up. "Wh-- where are you going?"

       "Where are you going?" John stammered, staring at his Keds.

       Deep breath. Now or never. "Where are you going?"

       John sat up and took a deep breath, knowing that his confrontation with Mary had to
       come now, or it would never come at all. "Wh-- where are you going?" he stammered
       nervously, staring at his Keds.

      Beware -- a little detail goes a long way.

      Why would your reader bother to think about what is going on, if the author
      carefully explains what each and every line means?

Let's return to the first example, and show how dialogue labels can affect the meaning of a passage.


           "Where are you going?" John cracked his knuckles while he looked at the
       floor.
           "To the racetrack." Mary edged toward the door, keeping her eyes on
       John's bent head.
   "Not again," John stood up, flexing his fingers. "We are already maxed out on
our credit cards."

In the above revision, John nervously asks Mary where she is going, and Mary
seems equally nervous about going.

But if you play a little with the paragraphing..

   "Where are you going?"
   John cracked his knuckles while he looked at the floor. "To the racetrack."
   Mary edged toward the door, keeping her eyes on John's bent head. "Not
again."
   John stood up, flexing his fingers. "We are already maxed out on our credit
cards."

All I changed was the paragraphing (and I changed a comma to a period.)

Now Mary seems more aggressive -- she seems to be moving to block John, who
seems nervous and self-absorbed. And John seems to be bringing up the credit
card problem as an excuse for his trip to the racing track. He and Mary seem to be
desperate for money now.

I'd rather read the rest of the second story than the rest of the first one.
6. Use Setting and Context
Setting moves readers most when it contributes to an organic whole. So close your eyes and picture your
characters within desert, jungle, or suburb--whichever setting shaped them. Imagining this helps balance location
and characterization. Right from the start, view your characters inhabiting a distinct place. -- Laurel Yourke

Setting includes the time, location, context, and atmosphere where the plot takes place.

    Remember to combine setting with characterization and plot.

    Include enough detail to let your readers picture the scene but only details that actually add
     something to the story. (For example, do not describe Mary locking the front door, walking across
     the yard, opening the garage door, putting air in her bicycle tires, getting on her bicycle--none of
     these details matter except that she rode out of the driveway without looking down the street.)

    Use two or more senses in your descriptions of setting.

    Rather than feed your readers information about the weather, population statistics, or how far it
     is to the grocery store, substitute descriptive details so your reader can experience the location
     the way your characters do.


              Our sojourn in the desert was an educational contrast with its parched heat, dust
              storms, and cloudless blue sky filled with the blinding hot sun. The rare
              thunderstorm was a cause for celebration as the dry cement tunnels of the
              aqueducts filled rapidly with rushing water. Great rivers of sand flowed around and
              through the metropolitan inroads of man's progress in the greater Phoenix area,
              forcefully moved aside for concrete and steel structures. Palm trees hovered over
              our heads and saguaro cactuses saluted us with their thorny arms.

 


7. Set Up the Plot
Plot is what happens, the storyline, the action. Jerome Stern says it is how you set up the situation, where
the turning points of the story are, and what the characters do at the end of the story.

A plot is a series of events deliberately arranged so as to reveal their dramatic, thematic, and emotional
significance. -Jane Burroway

Understanding these story elements for developing actions and their end results will help you plot your
next short story.

    Explosion or "Hook." A thrilling, gripping, stirring event or problem that grabs the reader's
     attention right away.
    Conflict. A character versus the internal self or an external something or someone.
    Exposition. Background information required for seeing the characters in context.
    Complication. One or more problems that keep a character from their intended goal.
    Transition. Image, symbol, dialogue, that joins paragraphs and scenes together.
    Flashback. Remembering something that happened before the short story takes place.
    Climax. When the rising action of the story reaches the peak.
    Falling Action. Releasing the action of the story after the climax.
  Resolution. When the internal or external conflict is resolve.
Brainstorming. If you are having trouble deciding on a plot, try brainstorming. Suppose you have a
protagonist whose husband comes home one day and says he doesn't love her any more and he is
leaving. What are actions that can result from this situation?

     1. She becomes a workaholic.
     2. Their children are unhappy.
     3. Their children want to live with their dad.
     4. She moves to another city.
     5. She gets a new job.
     6. They sell the house.
     7. She meets a psychiatrist and falls in love.
     8. He comes back and she accepts him.
     9. He comes back and she doesn't accept him.
     10. She commits suicide.
     11. He commits suicide.
     12. She moves in with her parents.
The next step is to select one action from the list and brainstorm another list from that particular action.


8. Create Conflict and Tension
Conflict is the fundamental element of fiction, fundamental because in literature only trouble is interesting. It takes
trouble to turn the great themes of life into a story: birth, love, sex, work, and death. -Janet Burroway


Conflict produces tension that makes the story begin. Tension is created by oppositionbetween the
character or characters and internal or external forces or conditions. Bybalancing the opposing
forces of the conflict, you keep readers glued to the pages wondering how the story will end.

Possible Conflicts Include:

    The   protagonist   against   another individual
    The   protagonist   against   nature (or technology)
    The   protagonist   against   society
    The   protagonist   against   God
    The   protagonist   against   himself or herself.

    Mystery. Explain just enough to tease readers. Never give everything away.
    Empowerment. Give both sides options.
    Progression. Keep intensifying the number and type of obstacles the protagonist faces.
    Causality. Hold fictional characters more accountable than real people. Characters who make
     mistakes frequently pay, and, at least in fiction, commendable folks often reap rewards.
    Surprise. Provide sufficient complexity to prevent readers predicting events too far in advance.
    Empathy. Encourage reader identification with characters and scenarios that pleasantly or
     (unpleasantly) resonate with their own sweet dreams (or night sweats).
    Insight. Reveal something about human nature.
    Universality. Present a struggle that most readers find meaningful, even if the details of that
     struggle reflect a unique place and time.
    High Stakes. Convince readers that the outcome matters because someone they care about could
     lose something precious. Trivial clashes often produce trivial fiction.
9. Build to a Crisis or Climax
This is the turning point of the story--the most exciting or dramatic moment.

The crisis may be a recognition, a decision, or a resolution. The character understands what hasn't been seen before,
or realizes what must be done, or finally decides to do it. It's when the worm turns. Timing is crucial. If the crisis
occurs too early, readers will expect still another turning point. If it occurs too late, readers will get impatient--the
character will seem rather thick. -Jerome Stern

Jane Burroway says that the crisis "must always be presented as a scene. It is "the moment" the reader
has been waiting for. In Cinderella's case, "the payoff is when the slipper fits."

While a good story needs a crisis, a random event such as a car crash or a sudden illness is simply an
emergency --unless it somehow involves a conflict that makes the reader care about the characters (see:
"Crisis vs. Conflict").


10. Find a Resolution
The solution to the conflict. In short fiction, it is difficult to provide a complete resolution and you often
need to just show that characters are beginning to change in some way or starting to see things
differently.

       Open. Readers determine the meaning.

         Brendan's eyes looked away from the priest and up to the mountains.

       Resolved. Clear-cut outcome.

         While John watched in despair, Helen loaded up the car with her belongings and drove away.

       Parallel to Beginning. Similar to beginning situation or image.

         They were driving their 1964 Chevrolet Impala down the highway while the wind blew through their
hair.

          Her father drove up in a new 1964 Chevrolet Impala, a replacement for the one that burned up.

       Monologue. Character comments.

       I wish Tom could have known Sister Dalbec's prickly guidance before the dust devils of Sin City
battered his soul.

       Dialogue. Characters converse.

       Literal Image. Setting or aspect of setting resolves the plot.

           The aqueducts were empty now and the sun was shining once more.

       Symbolic Image. Details represent a meaning beyond the literal one.

      Looking up at the sky, I saw a cloud cross the shimmering blue sky above us as we stood in the
morning heat of Sin City.
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative/shortstory/#paragraph

Into English - Saddler

                                       10 Ways to Better Writing

    1. Write about what you know with conviction from the heart. These are the words of Frank
       McCourt the author of Angela’s Ashes. He uses his own advice in his writing and draws from his
       own experiences of being hungry as a lad when he writes these lines on hunger in his novel:

    He says there’s no food in the house, not a scrap of bread, and when he falls asleep I take the greasy
    newspaper from the floor. I lick the front page, which is all advertisements for films and dances in
    the city. I lick the headlines. I lick the great attacks of Patton and Montgomery in France and
    Germany. I lick the war in the Pacific. I lick the obituaries and the sad memorial poems, the sports
    pages, the market prices of eggs, butter and bacon. I suck the paper till there isn’t a smidgen of
    grease.

    2. Become a good observer of detail

    This is one of the most common pieces of advice that good writers offer fledgling writers. In his
    attempt to have his students become aware of the importance of details. If for example you are
    writing about a dining experience you might like to question: ‘where did you eat,’ ‘what did you eat,’
    ‘who did you eat with,’ and ‘who cleaned up afterwards.’ Detail is necessary whether fact or fiction
    to bring a world to life. You do need to guard against overwriting though. The only way to really
    know the difference is to read good prose and learn to balance. Here is an example of good prose
    that gets the balance right:

    The monster, at the first motion, lunged forward with a terrible scream. It covered one hundred
    yards in four seconds. The rifles jerked up and blazed fire. A windstorm from the beast’s mouth
    engulfed them in the stench of slime and old blood. The monster roared, teeth glittering with sun.

    The rifles cracked again. Their sound was lost in shriek and lizard thunder. The great lever of the
    reptile’s tail swung up,, lashed sideways. Trees exploded in clouds of leaf and branch. The monster
    twitched its jeweller’s hands down to fondle at the men, to twist them in half, to crush them like
    berries, to cram them into its teeth and its screaming throat. Its boulder-stone eyes leveled with the
    men. They saw themselves mirrored. They fired at the metallic eyelids and the blazing black iris.

    Like a stone idol, like a mountain avalanche, Tyrannosaurus fell. Thundering, it clutched trees, pulled
    them with it. It wrenched and tore the metal Path… The guns fired. The Monster lashed its
    armoured tail, twitched its snake jaws, and lay still. A fount of blood spurted from its throat.
    Somewhere inside, a sac of fluids burst. Sickening gushes drenched the hunters. They stood, red and
    glistening.

    The thunder faded.
    A Sound of Thunder – Ray Bradbury

    3 Use details when describing characters

    When you are writing a story, the characters are one of the most important elements. You need to
    breathe life into your charactes by describing their appearance and the way they dress. You should
    describe their most interesting features. They may hava a car or a shaved head, perhaps they have
    false teeth or a physical deformity. Do they wear elevated shoes or ski-pants, a beret or an evening
    gown. The behavior, personality, thoughts and attitudes of your characters is also fo crucial
    importance. All of these characteristics make the character true to life and create interest for the
    reader.

    Here is an example from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

    In an arm-chair, with an elbow resting in the table and her head leaning on that hand, sat the
    strangest lady I have ever seen, or shall ever see.

    She was dressed in rich materials- satins and lace, and silks – all of white. Her shoes were white. And
    she had a long white veil dependent from her hair, and she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her
    hair was white. Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels
    lay sparkling on the table. Dresses less splendid than the dress she wore, and half-packed trunks,
    were scattered about. She had not quite finished dressing, for she had but one shoe on – the other
    was on the table near her hand – her veil was but half arranged, her watch and chain were not put
    on, and some lace for her bosom lay with those trinkets, and with her handkerchief, and gloves , and
    some flowers, and a Prayer-book, all confusedly heaped about the looking-glass.

             4. Use Detail to create the Perfect Setting

Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green meadows; fog down the river, where it
rolls defiled among the tiers of shipping, and the waterside pollutions of a great and Dirty) city. Fog on
the Essex marshes, fog on the Kentish heights. Fog creeping into the cabooses of collier brigs; fog lying
out on the yards, and hovering in the rigging of great ships; fog drooping on the gunwhales of barges
and small boats. Fog in the eyes and throats of ancient Greenwich pensioners, wheezing by the firesides
of their wards; fog in the stem and bowl of the afternoon pipe of the wrathful skipper, down in his close
cabin; fog cruelly pinching the toes and fingers of his shivering little ‘prentice boy on the deck. Chance
people on the bridges peeping over parapets into the nether sky of fog, with fog all around them, as if
they were up in a balloon, and hanging in the misty clouds.
              5. Make your beginning as interesting as possible

In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an
oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-
hole, and that means comfort.

From The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled
into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory
Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.

From Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell



              6. Use Conversation to give life to your characters and realism to your story

George said coldly: ‘You gonna give me that mouse or do I have to sock you?’

‘Give you what, George?’

‘You know God damn well what. I want that mouse.’

Lennie reluctantly reached into his pocket. His voice broke a little. ‘I Don’t know why I can’t keep it. It
ain’t nobody’s mouse. I didn’t steal it. I found it lyin’ right beside the road.’

George’s hand remained outstretched imperiously. Slowly, like a terrier who approached again. George
snapped his fingers sharply, and at the sound Lennie laid the mouse in his hand.

‘I wasn’t doin’ nothing bad with it, George. Jus’ stroking it.’

George stood up and threw the mouse as far as he could into the darkening brush, and then he stepped
to the pool and washed his hands. ‘You crazy fool. Don’t you think I could see your feet was wet where
you wnt across the river to get it?’

From Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
             7. Make Conflict One of the ingredients in your story

Some time toward midnight Tom Buchanan and Mrs. Wilson stood face to face discussing , in
impassioned voices, whether Mrs Wilson had any right to mention Daisy’s name.

‘Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!’ shouted Mrs Wilson. ‘I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai-

Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.

From The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald


             8. Give your characters names that fit them (especially when they are to be
                stereotypes)

A heroic character should have a heroic name and vice versa. Dickens made this work particularly well
for himself with masterful names such as Mr. Murdstone, Fagin, and Uriah Heep. All of his heroes had
memorable names like David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby and Oliver Twist. More recently there is
Napoleon (Animal Farm); Winston Smith (1984) Piggy (Lord of the Flies);

             9. Keep writing, reading, recording and playing with words as much as you can

The key to becoming a good writer is to practice writing. Write at least 300 words a day. Write about a
subject that you really know about. Keep in a diary may help you to do this. Read as much and as often
as you can. Read books that interest you, they don’t have to be classics. Mix it up! Read magazines,
newspapers and comics.

The best and most famous of writers often take note of ideas and expressions from other writers for
inspiration.

             10. Brush it up… There’s no such thing as writing. Just rewriting, rewriting and rewriting.

These are the words of John Steinbeck:

Another secret is to think of writing as sculpting a stone. You don’t make Michelangelo’s David with
three chiseled words. You keep chipping away until the story comes out of all that debris you’ve created
and then go back and rewirte it again and again. There’s no such thing as writing, Just rewriting ,
rewriting and rewriting.