Today was a mysterious and productive day! We have hurtled into the world of mysteries.
If you were away today, you have quite a bit of work to do. Yesterday, I said aloud, wrote on the board, and put on the blog that if you were going to be away Friday, you needed to let me know so that I could give you the Mystery story writing package and explain what you needed to do, so everyone must come prepared on Tuesday.
For Tuesday you must bring a completed "Write Your own Mystery Short Story" package and a rough draft of a mystery story. The requirements are on the first page of the package. You do not need to write a crime mystery (unless you want to). It just needs to have an a question or unknown element that the reader will start to put together throughout the story. For example, you could write about a strange creature, a black hole, a curse, an unknown disease, etc. You can also put a humorous or ironic spin on it.
I will copy the Mystery package here below and if you would like an attachment that you can print off, email me at meglan@uvic.ca:
Write
Your Own Mystery Short Story
We
will be writing our own short story mysteries and will be learning
about the elements that go into a good story. Your story must
include:
- clear plot movement
- descriptive writing
- characters with depth
- an unknown or puzzle
- some elements of mystery such as twists, surprise endings, or red herrings
- a resolution (but not a give it all away explanation)
- A minimum of 2 pages typed and double-spaced.
Look
on page 31 of Curious... A red herring is . . .
Story
Brainstorm
The
crime or mystery question:
The
setting:
The
main character trying to answer the mystery question:
Clues,
foreshadowing, or steps leading up to the reveal of the question:
Twists,
surprises, and red herrings:
The
resolution (but not explanation!):
Draw
a Plot Map for your Story
Remember,
a short story has a much smaller window than a novel and often jumps
right into the action or just before.
You
can also play with different plot structures for effect, like we
discussed in class on Wednesday.
Characters
Write
character descriptions of at least 2 characters.
Remember
to think about:
- Their “spine” or driving force
- Their “itch” or flaws
- The way they look
- The way they move
- The way they talk
- Specific details; Use your powerful descriptive writing techniques to “show and not tell”
Character
1:
Character 2:
Setting
Where
is the story going to take place?
Use
your descriptive skills to really bring it to life!! Notice unusual
details, appeal to all the senses, show it with your words.
Write
a descriptive paragraph of the setting (or one part of it):
