Writing effective stories

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” – Unknown

WELCOME TO another lesson, students. Story-writing will be the focus. When you think about the stories that you have been asked to write, do you feel satisfied with what you have produced? Do you think there is room for improvement? These are important questions you should ask yourselves as you seek to measure your performance in narrative writing. Writing stories is a skill that has to be deliberately nurtured by reading novels or short stories, exploring different ways to compose better stories, and practising to write your own stories. Some of you students may complain about how difficult it is to write an effective story, but the truth is, you can only be as good in story- writing as the efforts you engage in to hone your narrative skills. I am certain your teachers have stressed this on a number of occasions, right? In this lesson, I am going to take you through the elements that must be in a story, the areas of concern that have been highlighted by the CXC, and the different strategies you can use to improve your own stories.

WHAT DOES STORY-WRITING INVOLVE?

A story entails relating a series of events in such a way that it reveals characters. A short story usually has these elements: ■ Characters – These are the people, animals or even objects involved in a story. ■ Setting – This refers to where the events in the story take place. It refers to the time and place. ■ Plot – This is the sequence of events. It has an exposition, rising action/complication, climax, falling action, and resolution. ■ Point of view – This is the perspective from which the story is told. Common points of view are first person and third person. ■ Conflict – This is the problem in the story. It can be internal (within characters) or external (between characters). ■ Theme – This is the central message a story seeks to highlight. For example, the consequences of stealing, or the joys of persevering. Dialogue – This is the conversation that happens between characters. For the examination, you are expected to produce a short story, so you must be strategic with what you include. Everything you incorporate in your story must serve a purpose and must not be used as word fillers.

PROBLEM AREAS

Let me share some common problems that have been observed in students’ writing:

■ Too many characters: It is a short story. Limit your characters to no more than four. ■ Dialogue overload: This occurs when conversation is used as a filler and not as a key part of character development, the establishment of setting, or plot advancement. ■ Setting unclear: Some students write a story and there is no indication where the story is taking place. ■ Lack of conflict: There is no attempt to include a problem in the story, whether between characters or within characters. As a result, no tension or suspense is achieved and the story reads like a report or is uninteresting.

■ Failure to maintain point of view: This happens when the story starts off using one point of view and switches to another as the story progresses. ■ Incorrect use of prompt: If a picture is given, some students spend too much time describing the picture, while others do not incorporate the scene being depicted at all. For the sentence prompt, some students either do not use it at all, change words, or place parts of the prompt at different places in the story. Another observation is that some students do not insert the prompt at the beginning or end as instructed.

TIPS TO WRITE BETTER STORIES

■ Plan your stories – Once you have selected the prompt you will be doing, put together an outline. This should briefly capture how the story will start, what will lead to the problem or conflict, what will happen as a result of the problem and, finally, how the story will end.

■ Start with a strong opening: Unless you are given a specific way to start your story, open your story in a catchy way. Do not start will flat openings like: ‘One day I was in my room watching television’, or ‘There was a boy who lived with his mother and his brothers and sisters’.

■ Suggestions: 1. Christine felt anger rush through her body when she saw what her sister had done. 2. She wiped the sweat from her face and prayed a miracle would happen. 3. This could not be happening! What was she going to do?

■ Create interesting characters – Use the actions and words to reveal qualities about your characters. Their presentation should have an impact on the readers.

■ Select an appropriate setting – Ensure that you establish a setting for the events in the story. Clear references must be made to the setting in the story. Another suggestion is to restrict your story to one location. This allows you to have greater control over the events in the story and it is the most realistic option, considering the limit for the story is 400-450 words.

■ Conflict – The stories you write must have a problem. Incorporate internal conflict. For example: ‘Jessica wondered if this was the right thing to do. She felt as if this would be a life-changing decision. She looked at Jeff and saw how expectant he was. Should she give in? Should she really sneak out?’ In the preceding example, you will notice that Jessica is having an internal conflict, as she has to make a decision. Additionally, you also have external conflicts, where characters find it difficult to get along with another character. For example: ‘Layla rolled her eyes when she saw her rival in the competition. Betty felt she was Miss Perfect. She believed she was God’s gift to the cheerleading world. Layla wished more than anything that Betty would change because her conceit was unbearable. She groaned as if she were in pain and prayed that Betty would learn a much-needed lesson in humility.’ In this example, Layla clearly has a problem with Betty’s arrogant ways.

■ Use of language – Ensure that you relate your story using appropriate vocabulary, sentence construction, grammar and spelling. Your ability to manipulate language will play a huge role in how effective your stories are.

In the next lesson, we will conclude our focus on story-writing. See you then.

Melissa McKenzie teaches at Old Harbour High School.