Everything
on Scrivener's Quill is ©
Dianna Dalley, and is not
to be used in any
way by anyone else. All rights reserved.
Short Story Creative Non-fiction Writing 101
1. Must have a
story…but then, everyone has some kind of story to tell.
Childhood adventures, stories pulled from everyday events, or even
stories about
your little ones. The first
rule to creative writing is to learn the art of
embellishment.
Some details don’t necessarily need to stay consistent with memory if
writing for entertainment purposes. (For journaling, it might be
wise to stick to the truth
and nothing but the truth)
(~.^)
a. If the
greatest
high school experience you had was to pour dishwashing soap into the
city fountain, then what kind of story could you weave around it?
i. The first thing to do is gather details true and non
1. best friend Maggie helped in the crime
2. it was mom’s best brand of no residue soap
a. irony would be the residue the town had to clean up after the
fountain
finished bubbling.
3. maybe there was a dare from the popular girls or an initiation into
the sought-after crowd. (whether this is true or not, just doing
it out of
curiosity does not tend to build a plot unless there is something
driving
the
curiosity towards the end of the story)
4. Then there would have to be some sort of climax where there is
something of value laid on the line. i.e.…maybe not being able to
go to the
prom after John Smithers finally asked the main character out, or
grounding her to her
room during some critical teenage experience would be the big
problem.
5. So the main character has this life and death decision to make, to
tell the truth or not and the consequences
2. So, now you have the real tale mixed with
the embellishments. Time to write the story. Since it is a
short story, we must begin as close to the
end as possible and still have a story to tell. This means
backstory, or the events that
led up to the event happening needs to be pulled in by tags, dialogue
hints, and maybe a
short narrative section (but it is hard to pull off with a short
story). (An
illustrated example will follow).
a. Start with a
good hook (the first line of the story)
i. Pulling the reader into the story in the first few lines is
critical. A great hook will grab the reader and make them want to
read the rest of the story.
ii. Within the first paragraph, the problem that starts the story needs
to be introduced and defined.
iii.
Creating another problem by trying to solve the first adds a new layer
to the already building tension.
iv.
Depending on the length of the story, the problems need to be spread
out.
b. Typically if a
“three-act-system” is used, then the first problem is
what plunges the reader into the story. The second problem
introduces the
reader to the second act, then there is a rest period in the middle of
the story. The
third and final act is the final act that leads up to the climax.
(note:
The problems and turning points are the BIG issues that make the story
change direction and
build tension. They aren't the only problems the MC must face in
the story.)
Act
I-------25-33%----------------------
Catalyst (first 10%) and introduction to
main characters
The
catalyst is the first problem that sets up the main story question and
begins the movement of the plot. The character can be pulled into
the story or make the choice. The rest of Act I is setting up the
story, introducing the characters, tell us what motivates the main
characters, and gets the reader prepared for the next jump in tension.
Problem
2 (or Turning Point 1) changes the tide of the story. The main
character must make a choice that propels them closer to the climax and
inceases the tension in the story.
___________________________________________________________________________
ActII-----50%------------------------------
This
is the middle of your story. Here is the meat of your
story. This is where the tension must build and the character
must continue to change and progress along the plot line, keeping the
story moving. This is where
the MC tries to solve the main story
question but keeps running into problems, which increase the conflict
in the story. Also, the blocks are going to be either the MC
getting into his/her own way or the antagonist checking the MC's
movements, creating a stalemate.
Problem 3 (Turning Point 2) takes us
into Act III.
___________________________________________________________________________
ActIII-----15-25%-------------------------
This
is the resolution of the story. This is where the loose ends need
to be tied up and in doing so, propels the character right into the
climax, the last confrontation with the antagonist. Here you must
answer your main story
question. Does the MC solve his problem?
Climax (Should be in the last 5-10% of
the story)
3. The
idea is to create
a story that sounds so real it could be true, and only you know where
the line of truth is. Through writing, editing, and more
editing, the lines between the actual experience and the story blur
until it becomes a
living tale of its own.
4. Now comes the practical application.
Take an experience in you life, a nugget lifted gently from the pages
of your journals, or a cherished memory.
Now squash it, yep that’s right, into a bunch of little pieces.
Become an
investigative reporter, looking for the “big scoop”. Remember to
ask yourself, who, what, when,
where, why, and how. Gather the information, remembering to keep
the main storyline as your nugget… add the
embellishment. Garnish it with a sprinkling of courage, a little
spice of daring, put a little Zena or Laura Ingalls Wilder into your
story (^.^) But
most of all have fun.
The example of
the story details came from an experience my mother had when she was a
young woman. She and her best friend thought it would be a great
prank to see how bubbly the town fountain would get if they put in
laundry detergent (I think). So if I was writing a short story
about this….
“Hurry up, Sica. I don’t care if
Abby will let us in the group, if we get caught, we won’t be allowed to
do anything anyway.”
Maggie’s voice came from far away, as
Jessica watched the soap fall in slow arcs, sparkling in the light as
it fell into the water. As she set the empty box on the ground,
the sun touched the bubbles starting to form and encased them in
rainbows. Dazzled by the sight, she stared at the building mound
of multicolored foamed. Maggie hissed again. Excitement and
dread ran their cold fingers down her spine as a car drove
by.
“Come on Sica, that was Mrs.
Peterson. She’s always looking for something to tell
someone. If she sees us…” Maggie shivered. “Well, I
don’t want to know what my mom would do to me.”
Jessica nodded and crushed the box
flat. She slid the flattened board into the waistband of her
jeans under her coat. “Let’s go before anyone else comes along."
Writing
Children's Stories
Writing children’s stories is similar
to
writing creative non-fiction, but
harder. Looking for the right mix of words that draw, then keep
the interest of a child takes great patience. A 500-word story
has been known to take over two months to write, planning the story as
before…
A catalyst,
problem 1, problem 2,
problem 3, climax. This method works well for short stories and
long. Short stories, in contrast to novel length stories, must be
concise, start as close to the end as possible, and reveal the
backstory it needs through details sprinkled throughout the story.
OK, so now we
know how to set up a
children’s book. The important thing to remember is… in order to
write for children, understanding them is key. It’s great to have
children, they are a great test group for your ideas, but also watch
their playmates, catalogue the differences in each child, the
similarities.
I have been
watching more diligently
for the past month. It’s interesting to see, that no matter the
language, three year olds tend to ask the same questions, over and over
again, until mom has to stop the insanity, they also tend to get a
little upset if what they want to have happen doesn’t go the right
way. :>)
The information
you gather, while not
always going into a book in the form of words, fits in through the
actions of the character or in the description of the setting.
Everything is formed to meet the standards of the child’s mind.
They say that
writing for children
is one of the hardest but most rewarding areas of writing. The
author must carefully choose words, and topics that parents would
approve, then craft the story in such a way that a child will want to
hear it again and again. The reward comes in the smiles and
clamors for the story to be repeated, not the awards or monetary
rewards (though those are nice too).