Decade Short Story; Martian Chronicles: Day 4

Continue to research your decade. When you have an idea for a short story (about 500 words to 1,000 words in length) begin writing a short, short story that either:

• A. takes place in that setting (historical fiction) or
• B. takes place in the future, but is related (perhaps metaphorically) to your time period. 

Use Bradbury as a model. Note what he does with his shorter stories: how he introduces a setting, a character, and a situation. Then note how he complicates or develops that situation. Finally, the characters undergo some sort of change or through their conflict, they learn something valuable about WHO they are, or HOW the past has made them who they are or kept them from being who they could be. Of course, there is more to his style than just this, but it might be a good jumping off point for your own story.

When writing: consider:

• Who is my main character(s)?
• Who is this protagonist NOW?
• Who will this protagonist be in the future or after the events in the story? (How will the protagonist change?)
• What parts of the past (use your decade research for ideas) provide conflict or problems for my main character?
• If my story is historical fiction: feel free to make up details. (use pictures from the internet, for example, to help create a setting...but people and events can also be completely fictional). 
• If my story is set in the future: use the decade research to create a central metaphor for the story: example: many of the Martian Chronicles stories use the Homestead Act and the opening of the west (real events in the 1860's) as a metaphor for the pioneering astronauts settling Mars (fiction).

These are short stories so give it a go. Write. Use your time in the lab to write. Try to finish at least 1 story today in the lab. It's only 500-1,000 words. Go. Write.

HOMEWORK: Please continue reading The Martian Chronicles: "The Shore", "Interim", "The Musicians", "Way in the Middle of the Air".