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Topic 7

Writing a fictional story

Certificate I in EaSD

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TOPIC 7: WRITING A FICTIONAL STORY .......................................................... 1
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1 What is a fictional story? ................................................................................................................... 2 What is the structure of a fictional story? ......................................................................................... 4 Paragraphing: an introduction .......................................................................................................... 8 Paragraphing: supporting sentences .............................................................................................. 10

Paragraphing: linking .......................................................................................................... 12 Planning a fictional story ..................................................................................................16

EDITING YOUR WRITING .............................................................................. 18

Improve your spelling: word families .............................................................................................. 18 Improving your punctuation: apostrophes of omission .................................................................. 20 Improving your grammar ................................................................................................................. 22 Final draft and proof read ................................................................................................................ 26

ASSESSMENT ............................................................................................... 27

Unit info:
This unit is part of the Certificate I in Education and Skills Development. The Certificate focuses on the development of language and numeracy skill for adult students, so that they can participate more effectively in employment and community life.

TOPIC 7: WRITING A FICTIONAL STORY

Welcome to the topic Writing a Fictional Story. This topic will take you through the structure of a fictional story and how to plan, write and edit one of your own. It should take about 6 hours but dont rush. If you have any difficulties, contact your Lecturer.

Learning outcomes
At the end of this topic you will be able to: write a cohesive, entertaining short story develop more ways to improve your writing.

Assessment
At the end of this topic you will be assessed by: writing a short fictional story.

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There is fact and there is fiction. Factual writing is based on what is true. Fictional writing is the product of someones imagination. There is also writing that sits somewhere in the middle, where historical facts or a real person provide a starting point for a story but the writer then allows their imagination to take over or plays with the truth. In this topic you will study and write the last two kinds imaginary stories or stories that are so removed from the facts by your imagination that they have become more fiction than fact. Heres an example for you to enjoy:
MIND OVER MATTER

Aggie woke grumpy and tense. She wasnt sure why. Then it came back to her. Damn, the science test. She was going to fail for sure. She couldnt bear it. Her parents would kill her. What could she do?

Pretend to be sick! Of course, but how to fool a mum who had been a ward sister and could tell a fake illness from 20kms. Well, there was no alternative. And no time to wait for one. So, grimly, Aggie climbed out of bed, clutching her stomach and moaning a little, shuffled down to the kitchen.

I feel sick Mum she said as pitifully as she could. Her mother stopped cutting the sandwiches to inspect her. Aggie felt a wave of nausea her mum would never buy this! You look a little pale, said mum to Aggies surprise. Let me take your temperature.

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Activities to complete
Aggie slumped at the table half relieved, half something else. She had a pain, a real one now, gnawing in her belly. She realised, amazed, that she was about to throw up. Her mum said, I dont like the look of you, Agatha. Go back to bed and Ill call Dr. McGarn.

Another wave of nausea helped Aggie swallow a small smile. What was

happening? Maybe failing a science test would be better than this? But
it was too late. Feeling ghastly and bent over with pain, she hung on for the doctor.

Two hours later Aggie was wheeled onto the operating table for an emergency appendectomy. Got her just in time! the surgeon told her mother later. These things come out of the blue for no reason at all

poor little kid.

Activity 1: Putting stories in context

Think about why we have stories. What is their purpose? What kind of stories have you enjoyed? as a child? Now? Do you like to tell stories or listen to them or read them?

[Type text]

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Fictional stories can be anything from half a page to hundreds of pages long. However, they share a common structure. Fictional stories all: open with an orientation develop the story by introducing complication resolve the story

Lets look at each of these stages in more detail.

STRUCTURE: MIND OVER MATTERS

The orientation: This is where the writer tries to create the world in which the
story is set. The reader meets the main character and maybe a few lesser ones, learns a little of when and where the story will take place. Some hint about what is to come is usually given to what the readers appetite.

Aggie woke grumpy and tense. She wasnt sure why. Then it came back to her. Damn, the science test. She was going to fail for sure. She couldnt bear it. Her parents would kill her. What could she do?

The complication: This is the main body of the story. It leads the reader logically,
usually through time, from the orientation to the end of the story. There is often a pattern of things going smoothly followed by a climax of things going badly or unexpectedly. There may be one or more of these build ups and climaxes. (In a book there could be 100s). In a good story, the reader will often find a twist at the end that is completely unexpected.

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Activities to complete

Pretend to be sick! Of course, but how to fool a mum who had been a ward sister and could tell a fake illness from 20kms? Well, there was no alternative. And no time to wait for one. So, grimly, Aggie climbed out of bed, clutching her stomach and moaning a little, shuffled down to the kitchen. I feel sick Mum she said as pitifully as she could. Her mother stopped cutting the sandwiches to inspect her. Aggie felt a wave of nausea; her mum would never buy this! You look a little pale, said mum to Aggies surprise. Let me take your temperature. Aggie slumped at the table half relieved, half something else. She had a pain, a real one now, gnawing in her belly. She realised, amazed, that she was about to throw up. Her mum said, I dont like the look of you, Agatha. Go back to bed and Ill call Dr. McGarn. Another wave of nausea helped Aggie swallow a small smile. What was

happening? Maybe failing a science test would be better than this? But
it was too late. Feeling ghastly and bent over with pain, she hung on for the doctor.

The resolution: Here the writer resolves the complication or final twist. The ending
may be joyful or tragic, though provoking or hilarious. A good story will however create a strong emotional impact on the reader.

Two hours later Aggie was wheeled onto the operating table for an emergency appendectomy. Got her just in time! the surgeon told her mother later. These things come out of the blue for no reason at all poor little kid.

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Activities to complete
Activity 2: Structure
Heres another short story. Decide what is the orientation, the complication and the resolution are. Use the paragraph numbers. THE LIFE SENTENCE Paragraph 1

An angry resentful Pierre G. had been sentenced for life for the
brutal murder of Author John Bent, Brisbane clerk. After ten years of the sentence, however, having had so long to think on and repent his actions, he had become a model prisoner and pleaded with his jailers for release and a chance of a new life.

Paragraph 2

They relented. On his 40th birthday, Pierre was released. To

everyones surprise, he found work, a flat, and undertook night classes in desk top publishing.

Paragraph 3

One day, about 5 years after his release, he met a woman named

Emerald. She was a small, feisty woman, owner of a small

business, mother of a 10 year old boy, yet her eyes held pain and anyone could tell life had not been easy for her. Emerald asked no questions and Pierre told no lies. They married within the year. Shortly after, to their mutual joy, Emerald fell pregnant. Pierres new life was almost complete.

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Activities to complete
Paragraph 4 Nine months later, a boy was born. Pierre and Emerald gazed at him tenderly. What shall we call him? asked Pierre, a little belatedly you might think but the baby hadnt seemed real to him until now. Emerald smiled happily and, stroking the infant, said Well, Ive always thought if we had a boy Arthur John. It was my fathers name. What do you think?

Complete the following table

Story structure The orientation The complication The resolution Paragraph: Paragraph: Paragraph: Your answer

The next section looks more closely at how paragraphs work in fictional stories.

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An Introduction
Good writers organises their ideas into chunks which help the reader pause to absorb that one idea before moving on to the next. These chunks are paragraphs. In a short fictional story, each paragraph: contains a topic sentence which sums up the main idea of the paragraph. may have one or more supporting sentences which develop the idea in the topic sentence so that the reader gets a clearer picture. is usually linked to the paragraph before and the paragraph after. is deliberately placed so that the overall order of the paragraphs is logical and rhythmic. Lets look more closely at these points.

The topic sentence:

The topic sentence is the sentence in the paragraph which states the main idea of the paragraph. It is the central point. Everything else should be connected to it. Heres an example:

Aggie woke grumpy and tense. She wasnt sure why. Then it came back to her. Damn, the science test. She was going to fail for sure. She couldnt bear it. Her parents would kill her. What could she do?

The topic sentence in this example is the first sentence. The topic sentence is usually the first sentence but not always. On the following page is an example of where it comes at the end of the paragraph

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Activities to complete
One day, about 5 years after his release, he met a woman named Emerald. She was a small, feisty woman, owner of a small business, mother of a 10 year old boy, yet her eyes held pain and anyone could tell life had not been easy for her. Emerald asked no questions and Pierre told no lies. They married within the year. Shortly after, to their mutual joy, Emerald fell pregnant. Pierres new life was almost complete.

Activity 3: Topic sentences

Highlight the topic sentence in the following paragraphs. Paragraph 1 The winter had come early. Chilly winds howled day and night and the temperature dropped to 2 C at night. Leaves had long since abandoned their trees. The sky was a leader slate grey. Thick snow lay silent text answer on the ground.

Paragraph 2 The men huddled together self-consciously; the mean cold of this night gave them little choice. At 59, Graham was soon to retire, Andrew had already done so. They had hardly been friends at the corporation. Yet here they were, alone, together and afraid.

Paragraph 3 They relented. On his 40th birthday, Pierre was released. To everyones surprise, he found work, a flat, and undertook night classes in desk top publishing.

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Activities to complete
Paragraphing: supporting sentences
The supporting sentences are the ones which give the reader extra details about the main idea. Read this short story through once. Then look more closely at the first paragraph. The supporting sentences are in bold type. See how they work to expand upon the topic sentence.

The winter had come early. A chilly wind howled and the temperature had dropped to minus 20 degrees. The trees stood bare. Thick snow lay silent on the ground. The men huddled self-consciously together; but the mean cold of the night gave them little choice. At 59, Graham was soon to retire; Andrew had already done so. They had hardly been friends at the corporation. Yet here they were, alone, together and afraid. Their ears straining. The sound, when it came, was deceptive. Graham caught it first. Over there! Over there! He scrambled to his feet, pointing up to the left but the snow was playing tricks. Now they could both swear it was behind them. It grew louder. Now distinctly the whirring whine of a helicopter was almost overhead. Both men, arms flailing, stumbling, shouted to the chopper to see them, to save them from this hell. The cold

was forgotten.
Then to their disbelief and horror, the helicopter banked and began searching further up the gully. The cold bit at their bodies once more and the two men, unable to speak or even to look at each other, sat down once more in a huddle.

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Activities to complete

Activity 4: Supporting sentences

Highlight the supporting sentences in the paragraphs below.

One day, about 5 years his release, he met a woman named Emerald. She was a small, feisty woman, owner of a small business, mother of a 10 year

old boy, yet her eyes held pain and anyone could tell life had not been
easy for her. Emerald asked no questions and Pierre told no lies. They married within the year. Shortly after, to their mutual joy, Emerald fell pregnant. Pierres new life was almost complete.

Aggie slumped at the table half relieved, half something else. She had a pain, a real one now, gnawing in her belly. She realised, amazed, that she was about to throw up. Her mum said, I dont like the look of you, Agatha. Go back to bed and Ill call Dr. McGarn.

The sound, when it came, was deceptive. Graham caught it first. Over there! Over there! He scrambled to his feet, pointing up to the left but the snow was playing tricks. Now they could both swear it was behind them.

Sometimes there is room for debate about which the actual topic sentence is and which the supporting ones are. Generally however, one sentence should be the key to all the others in the paragraph .

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Activities to complete
Quick summary
So far you have looked at how fictional stories need an orientation a complication a resolution, and how paragraphs are used to break these sections up.

Paragraphing: linking
Paragraphs are usually linked to each other by: certain linking words, or repeating an idea.

These give a rhythm or flow to the writing. Heres an example of link between paragraphs.

Another wave of nausea helped Aggie swallow a small smile. What was happening? Maybe failing a science test would be better than this? But it was too late. Feeling ghastly and bent over with pain, she hung on for the doctor.
Two hours later Aggie was wheeled onto the operating table for an emergency appendectomy. Got her just in time! the surgeon told her mother later. These things come out of the blue for no reason at all poor little kid.

See how the words in bold Two hours later link the paragraph to the previous one. There are so many linking words in English. Some of the most common include: link of time
after this, before that, next thing, on Friday, last time, in the future, during that time, while, at last, firstly etc. however, nevertheless, although, despite, unfortunately, but, happily etc.

links of reason or consequence

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Activities to complete
Activity 5: Linking words
Reread paragraphs 3, 4 & 5 below. Question 1: Can you identify how paragraph 4 is linked to paragraph 3? Your answer: Question 2: Can you identify how paragraph 4 is linked to paragraph 5? Your answer:

Highlight the word (s) you think do the linking. Paragraph 3 The sound, when it came, was deceptive. Graham caught it first. Over there! Over there! He scrambled to his feet, pointing up to the left but the snow was playing tricks. Now they could both swear it was behind them.

Paragraph 4 It grew louder. Now distinctly the whirring whine of a helicopter was almost overhead. Both men, arms flailing, stumbling, shouted to the chopper to see them, to save them from this hell. The cold was forgotten.

Paragraph 5 Then to their disbelief and horror, the helicopter banked and began searching further up the gully. The cold bit at their bodies once more and the two men, unable to speak or even to look at each other, sat down once more in a huddle.

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Activities to complete
Activity 6: More linking
Can you identify how the following paragraphs are linked? By a linking word or by the repeating of an idea? Part one: Aggie woke grumpy and tense. She wasnt sure why. Then it came back to her. Damn, the science test. She was going to fail for sure. She couldnt bear it. Her parents would kill her. What could she do?

Your answer:

Part two: Pretend to be sick! Of course, but how to fool a mum who had been a ward sister and could tell a fake illness from 20kms. Well, there was

no alternative. And no time to wait for one. So, grimly, Aggie climbed
out of bed, clutching her stomach and moaning a little, shuffled down to the kitchen.

Your answer:

Part three:

I feel sick Mum she said as pitifully as she could. Her mother
stopped cutting the sandwiches to inspect her. Aggie felt a wave of nausea her mum would never buy this! You look a little pale, said mum to Aggies surprise. Let me take your temperature.

Your answer:

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Activities to complete
Part four: Aggie slumped at the table half relieved, half something else. She had a pain, a real one now, gnawing in her belly. She realised, amazed, that she was about to throw up. Her mum said, I dont like the look of you, Agatha. Go back to bed and Ill call Dr. McGarn.

Your answer:

Part five: Another wave of nausea helped Aggie swallow a small smile. What was happening? Maybe failing a science test would be better than this? But it was too late. Feeling ghastly and bent over with pain, she hung on for the doctor.

Your answer:

Part six: Two hours later Aggie was wheeled onto the operating table for an emergency appendectomy. Got her just in time! the surgeon told her mother later. These things come out of the blue for no reason at all poor little kid.

Your answer: From these activities you can see that every paragraph is connected. In the next section you will begin to write your own fictional story. You will be able to help the story flow smoothly by using the same kind of linking.
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Just how do you go about making up a story? Its an almost impossible question to answer. It often helps to start with an idea and then let your mind play with it. Perhaps invent character straight away. He or she will help determine the course of your story. It also helps to know from the beginning if you want a sad or a happy ending, if you want to be mysterious or exciting. In other words what kind of style would suit your topic? This section asks you to write a first draft of a fictional story of your own. Select one of these topics: Topic One: Topic Two: Topic Three: a murder a gift a lesson in life.

Your finished story will need to be your own creation and about 200 words long. Type or write your draft on a separate piece of paper.

Activity 7: Planning
To help you get started, follow the instructions below. Step one: Choose the topic Step two: Decide on a tone do you want it to be serious? funny? mysterious? romantic? exciting? Step three: Invent a main character, a time and a place for the action.

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Activities to complete
Step four: Allow your brain to relax and play with plots. It can help to jot down ideas as they come like this: Mathilde 17th century Gothic village promised in marriage to mean lord by parents wedding plans M. miserable etc. This strategy lets you change the plot without much effort. Just cross out what you dont like and change it. You havent begun writing yet and so you havent wasted any time. Step five: Write your draft. Underline possible spelling problems as you go, but dont interrupt your writing flow at this time by fixing them. Step six: Check you have an orientation, a complication (of one or more paragraphs) and a resolution.

Show your lecturer and discuss if your story is working well. Keep any feedback you are given.

In the section that follows you will be looking at spelling, punctuation, grammar and vocabulary both generally and in relation to your story. The first section is about spelling.

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Improve your spelling: word families

This is a word family:
actress react reaction acting act acts action actor reacting

How can a word family help with spelling? Imagine you want to write this sentence The doctor has me on a new medi. called Nutil. But youre stuck on how to spell that word. You cant remember if the next letter is s or c? You could go to a dictionary but first you could look to the words family and see if that is of help. It might be that you do know how to spell some of its family members. E.g. medical, medicare, medication This gives you the clue that your word needs a c because thats the family pattern. Youd then be quite confident in spelling the word with a c (i.e. medicine) Heres another example. You want to write Could you please si...n on the dotted line return to me as soon as possible. You can hear the n but know theres more than n missing. (You know you dont want sin!)

Activity 8: Spelling families

Use the family pattern to work out whats the missing letter. Signature Signal Si..n

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Activities to complete
Activity 9: Edit
In your draft story, you have underline words you suspected were wrong. Your lecturer may have identified some others too.

Try using word families to help you fix up the problems before you resort to a dictionary or spell check.

I may need to use a dictionary now!

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Apostrophes of omission
In English we often shorten expression so we can speak or write quickly. We say: Whats the weather like? instead of What is the weather like?

We shorten like this almost as frequently when we write informally. The apostrophe of omission indicates some letters have been left out. It also shows exactly where they would have been.
Here are some examples: I cannot find my wallet. Let us decide next week. Selwyn is not dead yet. What is the matter? Is she not married yet? I cant find my wallet. Lets decide next week. Selwyn isnt dead yet. Whats the matter? Isnt she married yet?

Activity 10: Apostrophes of omission

Complete this table by shorting these expressions. (Remember when you get to the third column, the apostrophe needs to go exactly above where the missing letters would have been.) long form was not is not can not cant shortened wasnt with apostrophe wasnt

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Activities to complete
must not I will she will they were he would he had heed heed shell

Activity 11: Edit

Take a close look at your draft story. It is likely you are using quite an informal tone to tell it. So you probably want to use the short forms.

Circle any you can find, and then check you have an apostrophe and that it is in the right place.

Dont forget Practice makes better!

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Can you see the problems in these three sentences? Both men was instantly on their feet. The old woman washed the babys face which were covered with mud. The cats licked its paws. The problem in each of these is that there is a plural subject and singular verb or pronoun (or vice versa). The sentences do not agree in number. What does this mean exactly? Look again at the first sentence: Both men was instantly on their feet. This sentence is about 2 men. However the verb was is the singular form; it is only used for 1 person. The sentence needs the plural form of the verb. The sentence should have been: Both men were instantly on their feet.

In the second sentence (The old woman washed the babys face which were covered with mud.) there is only one babys face being washed. The verb should be was which is the singular form, not were which is the plural form. It should have been: The old woman washed the babys face which was covered with mud.

In the third, there is more than one cat (The cats licked its paws.) So, you need the plural pronoun their before paws. The sentence should be: The cats licked their paws.

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Activities to complete
Activity 12: Agreement
Think about each of these sentences. Ask yourself is it about more than one person or thing? If it is, youll need a matching plural form. If its about only one person or thing, youll need the singular form. Write your answers in the space provided.

1. Wrong sentence: Over the past 3 months we has paid $500 to your agency. Your answer:

2. Wrong sentence: There is a couple of places Id like to visit. Your answer:

3. Wrong sentence: Kieu met Minh often but they wasnt close. Your answer:

4. Wrong sentence: No one want to come. Your answer:

5. Wrong sentence: The group are deciding whether to come. Your answer:

6. Wrong sentence: Which teams was selected? Your answer:

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Activities to complete
Tricky points about agreement
1. The following words should take singular forms: everyone, anyone, no-one, everybody, anybody, and nobody. For example: Everyone was late. Nobody is exempt.

2. Take special care with collective nouns. Whats a collective noun?

It is one like: the group, the class, the team, the battalion.

Singular collective nouns are still singular and take singular verbs and pronouns. For example: The class starts at 9am sharp. The team lost its first match. NOT NOT The class start at 9am sharp. The team lost their first match.

Collective nouns however can have plural forms too. For example: the groups, the classes, the teams, the battalions.
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Activities to complete
In their plural form, they take plural verbs and pronouns. Like this: the classes start next Monday. The teams are well-matched. Groups can collect their passes at the front desk.

Activity 13: Collective nouns

Highlight on the correct form so that your sentences are in agreement. 1. Everyone has / have to register by Tuesday.

2. Nobody is / are allowed to leave the building.

3. Anybody who want / wants to see me, must make an appointment.

4. That class is / are going on an excursion.

5. These classes is / are staying back at college.

6. I saw a school of fish which was / were about to be attacked by a white pointer.

Activity 14: Edit

Its often easiest to pick up mistakes in agreement by ear.

Try reading your story aloud and listen for any place where you need to change a plural or singular form.

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Activities to complete
Final draft and proof read
Having planned and drafted a story, you have now also done quite a bit of editing. Check if there were other points your lecturer raised when discussed your draft earlier. Make any further changes that she or he suggested. Rewrite or type the story as a final, good copy. Check it once more for any new spelling errors! Read it aloud to yourself.

When you are happy with the story, show it to your lecturer. Discuss how well it works and keep any feedback in mind for your next efforts.

WOW! What a spooky story!!

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Its now time for your assessment in what you have been studying Choose one of the topics below. Write about 200 words.

Topics:
The Dentists Tale Settlement on the moon A Modern Fairy-tale

Use the checklist to help you and tick them off as you go. Choose a tone funny, romantic, spooky etc. Invent a character and setting. Jot down possible events in point form to get a story line going. Think up an unexpected conclusion. Do your first draft, underline doubtful spelling. Check your paragraphing: separate orientation, complication and resolution. Check each paragraph is linked by either a linking word or an idea. Check spelling Check your punctuation, especially shortened forms. Check for agreement within sentences by reading aloud. Read your story if possible to someone else to see if it flows and you have not left out anything essential to the meaning. Do your final copy and proof read. Hand up all completed work including any attachments for this unit and congratulations on completing this unit - writing a fictional story.
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