An Online "Notebook"

As Keith Gray says, "Good writers are good observers." This week, pay attention to your surroundings (see the handout for more ideas) and put your short observations here for all of us to share. You don't need to write anything long or complicated. Just tell us what you saw or read or overheard. Have fun!

Here's a link to Keith Gray's short video on Ideas and Inspiration. You can also find the information sheet here in word format if you missed Thursday's class.

Short Stories at Writeboard.com (for editing)

Here's a place where you can continue to work on the story (and soon, where everyone can make suggestions and changes to it). 

NEW: I've made changes to all the stories (first three to four paragraphs) and inserted comments inside your text (in italics) and a comment at the end as well. We'll look at how to use Writeboard.com in class this week. 

Struggling to Survive by Esther

Perfect Man by Makassia

Making Notes by Snow

A Good Beginning by Hongxin Guo

The Anniversary by Beatrice

Fish Tank Story by Sonya

Unsung Heroes by Marc

NEW: A Woman's Story by Catherine

A Short Story (1000 to 1500 words)

Now's the time to begin work on something BIG! Don't worry if it is not perfect. Follow Snow's advice and get the story started; perhaps start with an interesting character in some difficult situation. Like Catherine said, look to life for ideas.

Try to have something here before next class. I will too!

14 Tips for Writing the Short Short Story (some pretty good advice; scroll down to read)

Anton Chekhov's Short Stories (often very short so are good models to follow)

Short Stories: 10 Tips for Novice Creative Writers

Revised Work in Progress

We've come a long way (and have a long way to go!), but I am sure that you all know more about what makes good writing already. Use this post to give us samples of work you've revised. Take it from anything we've done so far.

After your revision, provide us with some idea of what you changed, and why. Perhaps get rid of those "cursed" topic sentences or add descriptive details or remove the "telling" parts and replace them with showing?

See you on October 30!

Your Backyard Adventures

Write about 200 to 400 words about your backyard or outdoor adventures as a child. Write in the 3rd person (he or she, not I).

Use what you know about good storytelling in your work. Make sure your settings are interesting and, perhaps, try using parts of the 8 point "arc" to tell a better story.

Writing about Lunch in a Public Setting

Write about 200 words about having lunch in a public setting. Begin by establishing the setting (and avoid the dreaded "curse" of the topic sentence). Include some dialogue and try to be humourous if you can. Remember to "name names" by identifying real world objects: think of Connie's "Lock Lock" cup. Mentioning a specific cup is better than just an ordinary cup.

Have fun!