Short Story Writing Project:

A Two Character Story

Introduction:

         Just what motivates a storyteller? Some storytellers say that they write stories to earn a living, others because they want to capture moments, relationships, truths. You probably think of your purpose in writing a short story as carrying out a school assignment, but perhaps it can become more than that.

         Regardless of the difference in their outward purposes, all storytellers share the same purpose--a lively interest in people and in why people do the things they do. For whatever else a story is about, it is about people. Even fantasy and science fiction stories concern themselves with human issues. If you share this interest in people, you can write a short story.

         In the kind of story you will write, most of the story will happen in conversation or interaction between two characters who are caught in some type of conflict. They may be in conflict with each other (having an argument, or trying to agree on a decision), or they may be deciding what to do about a situation. You may write the story from the point of view of one of the characters (I walked up to him and said . . .), or from both points of view (Cathy carefully chose her words and Fred . . .). Regardless, their predicament creates a conflict and makes what they say, think, and do especially interesting--worth writing a story about.

        

Prewriting:

The first step in writing your short story is to invent a story situation. For the type of story you will be writing, you need a situation that puts two people in a predicament where they need to agree to a solution or a compromise. Make sure the situation is realistic for dialogue, interaction between the two, and will show the two different personalities. Here are several basic story situations to give you ideas for your own story:

 

1.      Two siblings have just had an accident with the family car, which they used without permission, are trying to decide whether or not to lie to their parents.

2.      A girl finds out that her best friend has started going out with her ex-boyfriend. She confronts her and they discuss the situation. (This can be reversed for two male friends)

3.      Two friends have gone on a hike, bike ride, hunting trip, fishing trip, etc. and they realize they're lost. The two struggle over who will make the decisions to get home.

4.      A girl or boy discovers that his/her good friend has told the entire school a very important secret about her/him. S/he confronts the friend and . . .

5.      A kid or teen is tired of being picked on and develops a clever  plan to get revenge on the school’s bully.

6.      Or any other more creative idea that you have.

 

 

Story Situation: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Remember to keep your characters down to two. The reason for this is to make your story less plot-centered. If you try to do too much, you won't have enough detail or you will have to write 20 pages.

 

 

Due Dates:      Prewriting: Tues., May 22                 

                        First Draft: Fri., May 25        


Pre-writing Questions

       Write out answers to the following questions. Try to get your characters and situation as firmly in mind as possible by answering these questions. Don't think of them as unchangeable, however. You will continue to develop both your characters and your situation at each stage of the writing process.

 

1.    What is the relationship between your two characters?

 

2.    Why are your characters caught in this particular situation at this particular time?

 

 

 

3.    What is the point of view of each character? How does each one view the situation?

 

 

 

 

4.    What is the personality of each character? (list adjectives and phrases)

 

 

 

5.    Are the characters male, female, young, old, human, animal, fantasy? What are their names?

 

 

 

6.    What do the two characters look like?

 

 

 

7.    Where does the story take place? Briefly describe the setting.

 

 

 

8.    What kind of statements does each one make? How does each one speak differently? (Give dialogue examples)

 

 

9.    What thoughts would be going through each character's mind during the story?

 

 

 

10.  How does each character act? (Give an example)

 

 

11.  What compromise or decision would it seem likely the two would make? How will you resolve the story?

 

 

 

12.   What point of view (1st person, 3rd person) would make the best story?

 

13.   Think of two or three main scenes that will tell the entire story (and write them down here).