Creative Writing Made Easy
5 Steps that Anyone Can Master
by Sandra Byrd
Homeschooling Today Magazine - Volume 9 - Issue 6 - All Rights Reserved
Plot. Voice. Theme. These and other fifty-cent words scare even hopeful novelists, so what confusion do they unleash in our kids? Many children are bursting with stories, stories they eagerly chatter aloud or hold tight in their imaginations. Many, however, are unable to put them to paper. The simple rules here can help you unfold the world of creative writing for your children in terms and methods they not only understand, but get excited about. If you want to, you can certainly study the terms and add more elements. First, though, let your children run with the story using these elements that I call: 3 P's, two W's and an S.
The first P: Place
Where do you want your story to take place? If you're working on a unit study, or studying a particular geographic region, perhaps your child will use this school work as the inspiration for a place.
Where do your children long to visit? Where would a perfect day take place for them -- or perhaps the worst day imaginable? Is a relative travelling? Does someone you know live in another state? It can be terrific fun to research some of these places as your children choose where to set their stories. Offer some suggestions, not forgetting that oftentimes the most exciting stories happen in ordinary places (the supermarket, for example) where something extraordinary and unplanned happens.
The second P: People
People, of course, are what make the story go. "People" not only refers to humans, but also to animals, fish, a machine, or something out of your child's imagination. Because we started with place, kids need to be reminded that the people they choose will be set in the place they've already planned. However, Eskimos in Jamaica or a dog pushing a grocery cart will probably be more interesting than Eskimos in Alaska or a dog in the backyard. Ask questions like: Who wouldn't you expect to be in the place you've chosen? Who would you usually see there, and who would be a surprise?
The fewer characters the better, because your goal is to help your children develop just a few characters well, not confuse the storyline with too many. I'd limit the number of characters to two or three, tops.
Next, write lists describing the story people: Who do these characters love? What do they dislike? What makes them sad? What do they look like? Are they afraid of anything? What do they want more than anything in the world? All of these answers will find their way into the story, although not all will appear in the story. Some will act as hidden traits that motivate a character's actions.
The third P: Problem
Imagine a story in which 12-year-old Jack gets up, gets dressed, and picks at his breakfast. Anyone yawning yet? Now imagine a story in which 12-year-old Jack gets up and finds a completely empty house. No one home. The cupboards are cleared out. He calls out, but no one answers.
What differentiates these two story lines? A problem. Without a problem, there is no story. The problem, of course, will have to fit in with the people and the place. If the problem is more important to your child, let him pick it first, then mold the people and the place to fit.
Sometimes kids get stuck figuring out the problem. Ask them what problems they have, and help them tailor their own problems to the people in the story. Or, what kind of problems would they expect to find in a private diary? What kind of problem would make the biggest mess? What kind of problem would be very hard to solve? Oftentimes a "theme" naturally emerges from the ways in which the people choose to solve the problem.
Double W's
This is the element that kids often have the most fun with. I call it, "Worse and Worse." Once there is a problem, we have to make the problem grow. Each time the character thinks the problem is solved, something else has to crop up that he must overcome. Your kids will brainstorm all kinds of zany complications, but after you have a good laugh, help them to narrow down the complications to something that is really believable. For example, 12-year-old Jack decides to call his grandmother, but picks up the phone and there is no dial tone. The problem must get worse until just before the story is solved. But the complications must be believable too, or you'll lose credibility.
And, finally, an S
That's right, a solution. This is, to both writer and reader, at once the most satisfying and most potentially boring part of the story. So, keep it short! The people in the story must solve their own problems -- no swooping Supermans coming to save the day. They must solve them in a reasonable manner. They must solve them with tools already available in the story. And the tale must end just as the problem is solved, because your reader will already be both relieved and ready to move on to the next adventure.
Writing is really the other side of reading. In many ways, they are intertwined activities. We want our kids to be both good readers and good writers. Giving them guidance and tips and guidelines to help them become good readers seems so natural. Let's do the same for writing, and help them to be good writers as well!
Sandra Byrd is the author of the bestselling Secret Sisters series for girls aged 8-12, and the forthcoming Hidden Day Series.
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