MWfWW2: Make sure you can resolve your story.
February 7, 2013 | Posted in: Homework Assignments, Learning Resources
Tip 2: Make sure you can resolve the story in the time and space you have been given.
Think about some of the best stories you’ve read. Think about some of your favorite authors. Many of the best stories out there have the right amount of detail to fill 50, 100, 200, or even 800 pages. But if you think about Harry Potter (or do I mean Perry Hotter?), J. K. Rowling never could have written the same kind of story if she tried to squeeze it into only a few pages. With that many events happening, the story would have been confusing and awkward.
Effective writers consider their purpose.
That means that, as an author, you need to think about WHY you are writing. If you’re planning on writing a novel, you will probably want lots of different details and events that will fill a book in an entertaining way. If you’re writing an informational brochure that advertises a product, you will want to think about what will make people want to buy your product. If you’re writing a short story, you want to be direct and focus on key details and events.
As an author, you might have a time limit to work in. You will often need to track this time yourself. (You may not have this lady here nagging you.)
Most of the creative writing you do in school is short story writing. When you plan the events of a story, make sure you are developing a story that you can tell from beginning to end in the time and space you are given – often in 45 minutes and on no more than three sheets of paper.
Your assignment this evening is to PLAN (not write) a story that you would be able to fully write (beginning to end) in 45 minutes. Think about what details you want to include and what events will best fit, since you may not be able to include each and every idea that pops into your mind. Here is your topic (as chosen by a class vote):
Imagine you had the opportunity to go back to any time or place in history. Describe what happened. How did you get there? Who did you see? What did you do? How did you get home?
Leave a comment describing what key EVENTS and DETAILS will be in your story. We should have an idea of what your story will be. (Imagine that you’re writing a SUMMARY of your story before you actually write the whole story. Odd, huh?)
Have fun! Remember, if we have a snow day tomorrow, stop back for a follow-up activity.
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1213-21
February 7, 2013
I go to the past in my great-granparents old basement and found a golden steel box.When I got to the past I realized that I was in the 1800’s.I saw Abraham Lincoln and saved him in the theatre to tell him that something important was going on so he didin’t get killed in the theatre.I got home by finding the golden box again but it popped up in my aunt’s backyard.
1213-11
February 7, 2013
Cool 21
jonmoss
February 10, 2013
I love your ideas here, 21!
1213-11
February 7, 2013
First I would say when I woke up all of a sudden I was small and I got called down by my dad and he said I had to come down and get ready for PRESCHOOL i could not believe it I traveled back in time to preschool I went to school and saw my preschool teacher it was so creepy and I had everyone in my class that I had like 8 years ago. I was playing in the toy bin and found a box pressed a button and all of a sudden I was in my bed woke up and I was back to normal I looked under my pillow and found the same box that I found in preschool u found out it was a time traveling box! I looked again and then heard yelling ok let’s leave I was day dream in the preschool class I was supposed to listen to them read but I fell asleep
1213-11
February 7, 2013
I mean I was daydreaming
jonmoss
February 10, 2013
I like your ideas and think that this can definitely be resolved in 45 minutes. Your last few sentences are confusing to me. So was it all a daydream?
1213-18
February 7, 2013
First of all I would say what am I doing in the jungle?i must of time traveled when I fell asleep.Wondered I saw Jane Goodall.I wondered what year it was it was it was 1967. I found a bunch of chimpanzees running around every were.i saw a boy stuck in a cage and it was her son.then suddenly Jane Goodall saw me and said hi and waved.30minutes later she told me everything about chimpanzees even though I new everything .After a few days there i found a hollow tree .Inside there was a time travel machine . I stepped into it and came back home.
jonmoss
February 10, 2013
I love that you were able to connect your own interests (your SCHEMA!) to your story. Great way to write about what you know! How did you travel back in time?
1213-2
February 7, 2013
I got to the past by finding a treasure box in a old shed.When I got closer saw a box with a key in it.Just then, I touched it and as I was walking out of the shed, I saw people cheering.Then I saw a stage.A moment later I heard people chanting ”Michael Jackson.In a flash, I ran to a door.I tried to open the door but it was locked.But I remembered that I had the key.So, I opened the door with the key walked out of the door and I ended in my backyard and ran into my house and hoped that I will never do that again.
jonmoss
February 10, 2013
So when did you get sent back in time to? A Michael Jackson concert? What other events are there in your story?
1213-6
February 7, 2013
I would have my story be like….
~I would fall asleep in class for 30 seconds
~I would wake up with my head on a wooden table
~I look around and see that I am in the 1940’s
~Every one is sad because the Great Depression
~I have to find my way out of my sticky situation
jonmoss
February 10, 2013
Good start. You need to develop the body more – what events would happen while in the 1920’s? Be specific, rather than just saying “I have to find my way out of my sticky situation”.
1213-10
February 7, 2013
-look into my refridgerator
-it goes black
-I wake up in a cave
-I go out of the cave and see that I am in prehistoric time and is a dinosaur
-I walked out and got chased by a t-rex
-hid and noticed I am right next to a volcano
-I ran and went through a boulder
-came back right in front of my fridge and noticed that I am still a dinosaur.:o
jonmoss
February 10, 2013
10, I really like the scope of this story. It definitely seems like something that you could write in 45 minutes. Why did you decide to remain a dinosaur? Will you be able to solve this?
1213-9
February 7, 2013
1 I would have a RV that coud go back in time.
2 It would go back to the 1930’s.
3 Then I would try to stop the Great Depression.
4 Then I would have a problem time travel mechanism.
5 After I fixed it I got back to my own time.
jonmoss
February 10, 2013
Really good ideas here, 9. The benefit of planning is that you can decide what will happen in your story. What else can you tell me about trying to stop the Great Depression? What, specifically, will happen in your story?
1213-14
February 7, 2013
1 watching ‘My Neighbor Totoro’
2 fall in to the the DVD
3 (In the DVD in 1988)I would meet every character in there
4 You could only spend 30min. in DVD
5 i try to do get out of DVD
6 Totoro’s cat try it for me
7 back to home.
jonmoss
February 10, 2013
I had to research “My Neighbor Totoro” a bit before I understood your ideas. Very creative. How do you get home?
1213-1
February 7, 2013
1.driving in car
2.all of a sudden we are in warp speed!
3.we time traveled to year 2134
4.explore the world
5.I start glowing
6.there is a burglar in someone’s house
7.it copy’s itself
8.I stopped them getting copied
9.go to 2013
1213-7
February 7, 2013
We were supposed to go BACK in time!!!
1213-1
February 8, 2013
Sorry,I didn’t know that.
🙁
jonmoss
February 10, 2013
There seems to be a lot happening here, 1. I appreciate the creative thought, but I’m concerned about whether the events move the story along toward the conclusion. Remember, a successful story doesn’t have lots of events strung together. Rather, each event is chosen because it moves the story forward, eventually leading to the conclusion.
1213-1
February 7, 2013
(fyi for number 5 they are super powers)
1213-7
February 7, 2013
1. Go to when the dinosaurs are there
2. Get chased by a t-Rex
3. Steppes on time machine
4. Find things to fix time machine
5. Fix it
6. Go home
jonmoss
February 10, 2013
I like the ideas here, 7! I appreciate the twist at the end of you breaking the time machine. This seems like it could be fully developed in 45 minutes!
1213-12
February 7, 2013
I would go to a museum with a time machine in one of the rooms. I would hop on it and go to the time of knights and dragons. I would see a castle nearby. A dragon would appear swooping out of the sky, picking up the castle, and flying away. I would find the castle in the dragon`s lair and pull the castle back to the correct foundation with 999,999,999,999 knight horses. The castle`s wizard would reward me with a new time machine that was way better than the other one to go home in. Then I would go home.
jonmoss
February 10, 2013
Very cool, 12! I like how well you thought out the story!
1213-1
February 8, 2013
1.I am walking to my house
2.All of a sudden I am on a bridge going to a castle in the year 1245
3.I go in the castle and see a guard and they said that I could not go through
4.I pass them and they chase me
5.I meet with the king and queen(Mr.Bowser and Mrs.Bowser)
6.I turn the other way to the exit but they locked all the exits
7.I start growing as big as Mr. and Mrs.Bowser
8.I fight my way out and go back to 2013
jonmoss
February 10, 2013
Isn’t Bowser from Mario? The bad guy you have to jump on?
1, take a look at my feedback that I just left for your earlier post. The same ideas apply here.
1213-3
February 9, 2013
bring $100 to get dinner
find wizard i give him $1 he sends me back in time to the 50’s
I go to candy store get ton of candy ask cashier how much it is
he says 10 dollars for 300 hundred pieces but you won’t have enough
i give him $40 and take 1,200 pieces and i find a wizard and give him a dollar
i travel to the preasent time and hide the candy under my bed
1213-3
February 9, 2013
1. find wizard
2. he sends me back in time
3. he sends me to middle earth in the time of the hobbit
4. find under ground lake with evil creature
5. warn Billbo Baggins about the creature
6. get captured by centaurs
7. steal centaur’s time machine and get home
jonmoss
February 10, 2013
This is more clear, 3. You are using a lot of different characters that are unfamiliar to the reader, such as Hobbits (I know, I know), an “evil creature”, Billbo Baggins, and Centaurs. Could these be too many characters? What do you think?
1213-3
February 9, 2013
the second one is the real one
jonmoss
February 10, 2013
There’s a lot going on in your first post, 3. You want to make sure that the events are clearly organized so that they are clear for the reader.
1213-19
February 9, 2013
1. A screw falls off the chair.
2. Hits the ground and zaps me.
3. I go back in time to the Cretaceaus period.
4. I land next to a T-Rex’s litter of eggs.
5. The T-Rex starts to chase me.
6. I hide in a dome made of rocks. Inside it is
dark and I see a different dinosaur staring at me.
I become friends with the dinosaur.
7. I have to find the same metal that I dropped
that morning, in order to get home.
jonmoss
February 10, 2013
Really neat ideas, 19! I like your series of events and how they lead to your resolution! Well done! 🙂
1213-10
February 11, 2013
” Hey mom I’m making breakfast!” I helled as I opened the fridge. Whooshhh! It all went black and I woke up in a dark cave. I walked out of the cave and felt a big t-rex drooling on me. I paniced and sprinnted right between his giant legs and hid behind a tree. As I rested my head I noticed that my legs are green, my hands are green, my whole body is green! I’m a DINOSAUR!!! I paniced so much that I sprinted, tripped on a stick, and went straight through a rock. I was finally back in front of my fridge. But one thing was wrong, I was still a dinosaur!
1213-16
February 11, 2013
1.It is the morning on my birthday and I have the same one as John F. Kennedy.
2.I lay in my bed and feel a bump under the bed sheets, I push it down…ZAP!!!!!!
3.I went back in time!
4.I find out I am John F. Kennedy and about to get in the motorcade(a bunch of cars in a group, president inside one in the middle).
5.I stop and tell the others that we’re not going today, send a giant teddy bear(one hour later),boom! poof!
6.Before the gun shot I send police men to go in the room and arrest who ever shot.
7.I go back in the regular time and my family has the party ready but I ask if I can get another cake for our NEW president.( I’m back to my old self now).
1213-8
February 12, 2013
~ I get cirtified as a National Secrat Scientist Spy. Have to go on a mission need to get gadges in the gadget room , I found a teleporter in the room I accidently tap a button on the teleporter an it teleportes me back into the Jurassic period.
~ Meet a talking dinosaur that lives in the water he shows me his other friends that live in the water also.
~ He (my friend the dino) teaches me how to teleport back to my time
~ I go back home and save Silver City from the giant robot destroing the city (that was the mission) (00)
__/
1213-8
February 12, 2013
my smiley face got messed up