Activities on How to Write a Short Story
Students and other beginning writers trying to write short stories may feel anxious when faced with a blank page or screen. That's where writing-related activities can help. Such activities, done either as individual exercises or group projects, can jump-start the writing process, stimulate creativity and teach valuable lessons along the way.
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Generating Plot Ideas
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This enjoyable exercise uses photos randomly selected from a photo website such as Flickr or Google Images. Start by opening a book, closing your eyes, and pointing to a word at random. Then do a search on that word on the photo website. Look at the first five photos in the top row. Imagine that they tell a story, then write that story down. A variation of this activity for a group would be to have one person start the story, writing about the first photo, then passing the paper on to the next person who will continue the story using the second photo, and so on.
Using Language Effectively
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This learning activity, inspired by the famed Bulwer-Lytton contest for terrible opening lines, teaches writers how to write well by encouraging them to write badly. Prime the pump by reading some of the previous Bulwer-Lytton winners, then try writing your own. If done as a group activity, have the participants read their sentences aloud -- that should generate a lot of laughter. Then encourage a discussion of specific bad sentences, focusing on what makes them so bad. When participants examine bad writing analytically, they will learn what to avoid in their own writing in the future.
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Creating Three-Dimensional Characters
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In this activity, participants create a biography for a character. Start with a short prompt, such as "middle-aged firefighter" or "art student," and generate as much detail as possible about the character's background, likes and dislikes. Where was this person born? What were his parents like? What was the worst thing that happened to her during childhood? Does he like chocolate pudding? Does she hate to dance? If done as a group activity, designate one person to write all the suggestions down on a board or flip chart.
Pulling It All Together
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Participants start with four index cards or slips of paper. On the first they write a one-sentence story problem, such as "Boy loves girl, but her parents won't let him see her." On the second they write a short description of two characters. On the third they name a story setting, and on the fourth they indicate a genre, such as funny story, romance or mystery. Everyone puts his slips of paper into four boxes, one for each category. The slips are mixed, then everyone draws one slip from each box and uses those to construct a story.
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References
- Nik's Daily English Activities: Five Card Stories
- The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest: Home Page
- The English Teacher: Lesson Plans for a Creative Writing Course
- Teachers.net: Write a Short Story in One Class
- Jerz's Literacy Weblog: Short Stories: 10 Tips for Creative Writers
- Web English Teacher: Creative Writing: It's in the Cards
