Narrative writing: Spooky Story Contest

You will individually earn 20 Essay points on: Thursday, 10/31/19

LEARNING TARGET: I CAN work with peers, so I KNOW how to create a story that follow clear goals.

DIRECTIONS: You will work in groups of 4 to write a 4 – 8 pages MAXIMUM on paper provided (front and back).

Person 1: Idea Expert / Exposition & Inciting incident expert Name: ________________________________

Person 2: Builds on other ideas / Rising Action / Conflict expert Name: ________________________________

Person 3: Foreshadowing expert / Climax & Falling Action expert Name: __________________________

Person 4: Task Manager / Falling Action & Resolution expert Name: ________________________________

You will each read your portion on Halloween. After voting, each member in winning group will receive:

1st place: Red Ticket, Candy plus 5 point extra credit ticket!

2nd place: Red Ticket, Candy plus 4-point extra credit ticket!

3rd place: Red Ticket, Candy plus 3 point extra credit ticket!

How to Write a Spooky Story in three days:

Day 1 Planning the Premise
1. Make a list of your greatest fears.
2. Add a “what if” element to your greatest fear.
3. The main character is forced to confront his fears and then find a way out.
4. Try taking an ordinary situation and then add a terrifying or bizarre element.
5. Look for a story in the news to springboard ideas (neighborhood burglaries, haunted hotels).
Day 1 Developing Characters
1. Develop your central characters (create a relatable protagonist and villain).
2. Make a list of unique character traits (name, age, physical description, personality traits, likes and dislikes…)
3. Make the stakes for the character clear and extreme (what happens if the protagonist doesn’t achieve her goals).
4. Make your villain not quite right (for example, fangs like Dracula, clenching fists, twitching nose, or a deep voice).
5. Make life difficult for your protagonist (bad things happen to good people).
6. Allow your characters to make mistakes or bad decisions (since horror is often comes from suffering with no reason).
Day 2: Writing Your Rough Draft
1. Each person fill-in their portion on Plot Diagram on back of this paper.
2. Show, don’t tell, your story: Describe how you behave when scared? (Trembling, sweaty palms, closed eyes).
3. Build tension as the story progresses (to feel empathy and concern for the characters have them make mistakes).
4. Include foreshadowing (an unexpected object in beginning that can have significance at the end of story).
5. Avoid certain words that are too obvious (force yourself to describe what’s happening with words that evoke emotions).
6. Use gore and violence with purpose (punch ‘em in the gut, rather than numb them or bore them).
Day 2: Writing a Good Ending
1. Build up to a climax (pile on the problems with minor battles or losses; give your characters more than they can handle).
2. Give your character a moment of realization (the “aha” moment on how to solve the conflict).
3. Write the climax (the turning point of when the danger or threat occurs).
4. Add a twist ending (an action that the reader doesn’t expect… the hero is actually the villain).
5. Decide how you want to end your story (Did the killer get caught? Does the ghost really exist?) .
Day 3: Finalizing your Story
1. Revise the story; each will read there portion aloud (focus on a smooth progression, cut down on long scenes).
2. Proofread your story; switch with partner go have your paper checked (catch spelling and grammatical errors).
3. Get feedback; Let everyone in your group read story (Are the characters believable? Is the action realistic).
4. Edit: Make changes that you think are appropriate.
5. Rewrite final copy on paper provided by Mrs. McBride. Be prepared to read on Thursday, 10/31/19.