ON LINE CREATIVE WRITING COURSE: SAMPLE LESSON

So, you want to write a story. And not just any story, but a knock-your-socks-off amazing story.

Great! You’ve come to the right place. Just follow the steps below. We’ll do our part by sharing super tips, and you do your part by cranking your imagination into high gear. Go for it!

Step 1:
The most important thing that every story needs is a GREAT CHARACTER. Sometimes people create a character by thinking of a name, an age, and a physical description (like, “Anne Roslin was 8 years old and had blonde hair, blue eyes, and thin legs.”) BUT… that’s only a small part of what a character is.

The most interesting parts of a character are on the inside. Let’s use Anne as an example. What really goes on inside her mind? What makes her different from everybody else? These are the things people want to know.

So let’s try Anne again.
“Anne Roslin was miserable even though she was having fun. Tonight Anne and her best friend Michael were having a blast jumping on the trampoline. But tomorrow, Michael was moving halfway around the world, and she’d never see him again.”

Ask these types of questions about your character. Then use the answers when writing your story.

• Name:
• Age:
• What makes this character mad?
• What makes them sad?
• What is their favourite thing to do?
• What gives them the giggles?
• What makes them different from everybody else?

Step 2:
The other thing that really makes a story tick is the PROBLEM. Your main character, fabulous as he is, cannot sit around drinking tea throughout the story. No one would read it!

No, he needs a problem to solve. There are two main types of problems he could have:

• 1. An INSIDE problem
• 2. An OUTSIDE problem

Inside problems are things going on in his mind or heart that he needs to deal with. Here’s an example:
“Darren loved to skate. But ever since he fell on the ice and broke his arm, he was scared to do the triple jump again. The province-wide competition was only a week away, though. Darren knew he had the spirit and skills to win, if only he could get over his terrible fear of the triple jump.”

The readers want to know … will Darren get over his fear in time to win the competition?

Outside problems are things going on in the world that he needs to deal with. An example:

“Justina rushed toward the school, pedalling like the wind on her bicycle. She had been late for school twice this week already, and the teacher had said she’d get detention if it happened again. Then all of a sudden, there was a hissing sound and a feeling of biking through mud. She looked down and almost cried—her tire was flat.”

Will Justina find a solution to her flat tire to get to school on time?

So you see, a problem in the story is important for getting the reader interested in what is going on. As the character works toward solving their problem, the reader cheers them on, hoping they’ll make it.

A problem can be tiny, like not knowing who to invite to your party. Or a problem can be huge, like saving the world from total destruction. There is no limit to what the problem can be, other than the limits of your imagination!

There, that’s it. With those two ingredients—character and a problem—you can write a story. Want to make it even better? Then think about some of these things as well:

Setting
Every story takes place somewhere, even if you don’t talk about where that is. But a story seems more real (and more interesting) if you DO describe the setting. It can be a normal place like your bedroom, or a cool place like Saturn. It can be a backyard, or the city of Ottawa. It could be the desert, a rainforest, or under the sea. The choice is yours.

One important thing to remember about setting—it can be boring if you describe it all in one shot. It is better to spread it throughout the story. Add bits of setting when they naturally come into the story. Here’s an example:

“Junatta squinted at the two suns that radiated heat into the lonely planet of Mrashi. Let’s see, she thought, they’re nearly straight above me, so it must be time to eat again. Junatta picked up the three spindly sticks she had found to feed the fire. Over dry yellow earth, she trudged back to the others.”

Do you see how that example combines three things at once?

• 1. the character of Junatta—how she thinks and feels
• 2. what’s going on in the story—she’s looking for firewood with little success
• 3. setting—what the planet Mrashi is like

It takes a lot of work to combine character, plot, and setting, but it’s worth it. It makes for interesting reading.

Show, Don’t Tell
This is advice that writers hear all the time, but that’s because it’s important. If you want to make your story come alive, show what is happening as if it was a movie, instead of just telling.

Here’s an example of telling :
“When his mom yelled at him, Thomas felt really sad. Then she told him he was grounded for a week. He was mad then.”

Here’s it is again, but showing what happened instead of telling it:

Her voice echoed through the messy room. “Thomas! I’m sick of this mess! You promised me you’d clean it, but you broke your promise again!”
Thomas looked at the floor, scared to meet his mom’s eyes.
She yelled again. “Thomas, are you listening to a word I’m saying?”
“Yes, Mom,” he said, his eyes stinging with tears he was holding back. “I’m sorry.”
She put her hands on her hips. “It’s too late for sorry. You’re grounded for a week.”
“A week!” Thomas yelled, anger churning through his stomach.

Which of these two examples brings you right into Thomas’s world? Which makes you want to find out more? Which seems more real? Do you see now why it’s important to show, not tell?

Word Choice
Use words that really paint a picture in the reader’s mind. Why use a boring word when there are so many interesting ones?

This is a super-boring word that’s used all the time: NICE.

Yuck! Never say, “Sheila was nice.” Your readers will fall asleep!

Instead, find a word or phrase that truly describes Sheila in a way we’ll remember. Is she breathtaking? Generous? Helpful? Kind to animals? Plain, but always polite? Be specific!

Here’s another example: “The dog was hot.” Aww, come on. You can be more specific (and more interesting) than that! What kind of dog? A poodle? A St. Bernard? A black-haired mutt with a purple ribbon around his neck?

And how do we know he was hot? Was he panting? Sweating? Laying limply in the coolest corner of the room?

Give your readers the details that will make your story come alive!

Final thoughts
Writing is a big deal. It can be hard work to work on a story until it really shines. But it is worth it when somebody reads it and says, “Wow, your story was so cool! It almost felt like it was really happening when I read it.” And that is the best feeling in the world.

It is also hard work to revise your story, but it’s necessary. You can’t make it perfect the first time you write it. Always go back through your stories and add things to make it better, and take away things that are doing no good. Take out boring words and replace them with interesting ones. Add details. Add setting. Make your character shine.

Remember —the only way to become a great writer is to WRITE… and write and write. In other words, keep practising. You’ll get there!