When we write stories there are some questions that an author should answer before sitting down to write. Apart from using various techniques to brainstorm or come up with an idea to write about, we must decide:
Choosing a POV for your character: It helps to know basic ideas for your character before choosing a POV:
We want to answer this Major Question: Who is the story about?
2nd Person POV: Main character is the “reader”, used through an objective and omniscient “I” narrator (difficult to maintain for a long time, reader must be willing to play the part, difficult to reach into reader’s mind). This is the best choice for experimentation.
3rd Person POV: Omniscient or Limited
Omniscient narrators can tell the story of many characters, but this can be confusing. The reader may not know who the story is about or whose conflict is important.
A limited POV allows the writer to focus on one particular character. The story told is the story of that character. Consistent POV gives a story coherence. Inconsistent POV confuses the reader.
This afternoon, we will read the short stories: "The Hit Man" and "A Questionnaire for Rudolph Gordon" and discuss the non-traditional style of these stories. After reading, choose one of the following prompts and write a story draft:
A. Write a story in micro chapters like "The Hit Man"--make a list of events in a character's life. Each event should be a heading (as if in a newspaper article). Write a story in any POV that uses at least 5-10 chapters of a protagonists' life. Treat each chapter as a micro, sudden, or hint fiction story.
B. Write a story as a questionnaire or a quiz or in some sort of non-traditional (non-prose) style. Examples might include: a text book chapter (with bolded words or sub chapters or review questions at the end) or a dictionary/encyclopedia entry, or medical form, or as a newspaper article, or as a series of tweets or emails, etc.
Classwork: Write your story draft.
- Which POV am I going to use?
- Which genre am I going to use to write my story?
- Who is my protagonist? What does my protagonist want?
Choosing a POV for your character: It helps to know basic ideas for your character before choosing a POV:
We want to answer this Major Question: Who is the story about?
--Someone who is most interesting1st Person POV: Main character is the narrator (good subjectivity, but lacks objectivity, limited to one character’s mind). This is the best choice when you have a single protagonist who is involved in telling the story from his/her own POV.
--Someone who is involved in the action of the story
--Someone who has the most to gain or lose from the event
2nd Person POV: Main character is the “reader”, used through an objective and omniscient “I” narrator (difficult to maintain for a long time, reader must be willing to play the part, difficult to reach into reader’s mind). This is the best choice for experimentation.
3rd Person POV: Omniscient or Limited
Omniscient narrators can tell the story of many characters, but this can be confusing. The reader may not know who the story is about or whose conflict is important.
A limited POV allows the writer to focus on one particular character. The story told is the story of that character. Consistent POV gives a story coherence. Inconsistent POV confuses the reader.
This afternoon, we will read the short stories: "The Hit Man" and "A Questionnaire for Rudolph Gordon" and discuss the non-traditional style of these stories. After reading, choose one of the following prompts and write a story draft:
A. Write a story in micro chapters like "The Hit Man"--make a list of events in a character's life. Each event should be a heading (as if in a newspaper article). Write a story in any POV that uses at least 5-10 chapters of a protagonists' life. Treat each chapter as a micro, sudden, or hint fiction story.
B. Write a story as a questionnaire or a quiz or in some sort of non-traditional (non-prose) style. Examples might include: a text book chapter (with bolded words or sub chapters or review questions at the end) or a dictionary/encyclopedia entry, or medical form, or as a newspaper article, or as a series of tweets or emails, etc.
Classwork: Write your story draft.
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