Story Crafting

Arlene Marks began both writing and teaching at an early age: she loved playing school with younger neighborhood children on weekday afternoons, passing on what she had learned in school that day. Still passionate about education, she is now a multi-published author, editor, and teacher of English, literacy and writing with more than twenty years of experience in the high school classroom. Check out her website: www.thewritersnest.ca.

• IntroductionImplementing Literacy: Made to OrderAims and Objectives of Literacy: Made to OrderHow to implement Story CraftingPART I: GETTING STARTEDIntroduction/Aims and ObjectivesSkill 1: Establishing an Ideas FileStudents learn how to develop and use an Ideas File as a source of writing inspiration. Skill 2: What Happened Before and What Happens NextStudents explore the causes and effects of a variety of story-triggering incidents or situations and practice turning them into story ideas.Skill 3: Establishing the Theme of Your StoryStudents practice growing underlying themes that can help their fictional tales deliver important and powerful messages to readers.Skill 4: Creating the Illusion of RealityStudents learn how to make characters, settings and plot events behave or transpire in realistic ways. Skill 5: Understanding Dramatic ConflictStudent authors practice putting multiple conflicts into a story to make it interesting and exciting for the reader.Skill 6: Understanding Story/Scene StructureYoung authors learn how to construct a fictional scene and practice putting scenes in the best order to create an interesting story.Skill 7: Writing Descriptively: Wake Up Your SensesYoung authors reawaken their senses and establish a vocabulary of sensory words and phrases to enhance their descriptive writing.Skill 8: Writing Descriptively: Use Figurative LanguageStudent authors practice using similes and metaphors to make their descriptive writing more evocative. Skill 9: Writing Descriptively: Use Descriptive languageStudents learn to recognize and use words with specific connotations in order to make their writing more effective.Skill 10: Putting Everything Together (Writing Assignment)Students take a story through the entire process from outlining to Final Draft.PART II: WRITING THE SHORT STORYIntroduction/Aims and ObjectivesSkill 1: Building a Strong Main CharacterStudents practice the techniques that authors use to bring fictional personalities to life on the page. Skill 2: Constructing a Solid Dramatic ConflictDramatic conflict is the backbone of any story. Student authors practice building and developing the strongest possible level of dramatic conflict in their stories.Skill 3: Creating an Interesting SettingStudents practice developing and using realistic, well-written settings to strengthen and deepen every element of their stories.Skill 4: Structuring a Story Effectively in ScenesStudents learn how to make their stories flow interestingly from beginning to end.Skill 5: Setting Up the StoryStudent authors practice writing opening scenes that will lay a strong foundation for the rest of their story.Skill 6: Hooking the ReaderStudents practice creating story openings that will 'hook' the reader's attention from the very beginning of a tale.Skill 7: Major Writing AssignmentStudents are now ready to put together all the writing skills they have learned in a story-writing assignment which will be revised, edited and polished and handed in for evaluation.PART III: WRITING LONGER FICTIONIntroduction/Story LengthsSkill 1: Adding Minor Characters to the CastYoung authors learn and practice how to put minor characters to work in their stories, ensuring that every character pulls his/her weight.Skill 2: Giving Characters More DepthStudents practice building more realistic characters that readers will identify with and care about.Skill 3: Adding a SubplotStudent authors learn how to deepen and enrich their stories by adding well-integrated subplots. Skill 4: Working with SettingsYoung authors practice putting their story settings to work in various ways, making their stories more engaging for the reader.Skill 5: Step-building Dramatic TensionIn longer fiction, dramatic tension keeps readers turning pages. Students learn and practice how to build tension using a tested story structure.Skill 6: Major Writing AssignmentStudents are now ready to put together all the longer fiction writing skills they have learned in a story-writing assignment which will be revised, edited and polished and handed in for evaluation.PART IV: THE WRITING PROCESS: A SUPPLEMENTARY LIBRARY OF FICTION WRITING TOOLSIntroduction: How to Use the Fiction Writing ToolkitTools 1-23