Story Writing in the classroom
Stories have always been part of our lives. We grow up listening to bedtime stories, we watch movies and read books but writing a good one is so difficult.
Story writing carries 30 points out of 100 in the English BHSEC (Year 12) exams. Another 30 points are for argumentative essay writing and the remaining cover the language and the grammar. A student has to manage writing all of the above within 3 hours. Say if we budget the time: 1 hour for essay, 1 hour for a story and the remaining 1 hour for the rest. So, finishing it can be very stressful.
I have to teach my students to write a good story within one hour. I manage to teach but I am not confident if I can write a good one myself within 1 hour.
So, in my class, we try to work out a few plots which we may be able to fit into any plot that is demanded by the question. Slight changes to the plot and we are writing the story asked by the question. Some of the things we can have ready for a story are setting, the main character, and few conflicts. But the emphasis on using from one's experience is given a lot of importance. Our children are fascinated by everything foreign; people and places. So they set their story in New York, Korea, and their characters are foreigners, not realizing how easy it would be to use places they are familiar with and the people they have known/know.
Most of the students also feel that a story begins with the main character being born and growing up, falling in love, heartbreaking and then ends with the main character becoming successful/dying old. Doing this sometimes also makes the story monotonous, especially if the writer is not very skilled. So rather than writing a story like the one mentioned above we write a narrative descriptive essay. A narrative essay is not different from a story, it has all the elements and it is easier to write if one sticks to things that s/he experienced; certain experiences that they remember because they were interesting/funny/sad.
The most difficult aspect in story writing, I feel, is creativity. But in case of writing one's experience the writer needn't worry about it much. In doing this, the students can always be creative and make changes where ever they think, the changes might make their story more intense and exciting. Another thing is that it is easier to form them because nobody can tell their story better than themselves.
The students start by working in groups of four or five and later they write their story individually.
Four maps are the worksheets that get the foundation of the story laid.
1.The Setting Map
Where does the story take place?
When does the story take place?
Certain descriptions of sound/small/place
2. The Character Map
Name of the character
Gender of the character
Positive qualities
Weaknesses
3. The Conflict Map
What is the problem?
What causes the problem?
External conflict/Internal conflict?
4. The Resolution Map
What leads to the solution of the problem?
What are some of the changes in the main character/other characters?
As I watch and monitor my students planning, discussing and writing their own stories I take a break and wonder "Why the first Bhutanese to win a Booker prize may be right here."
Story writing carries 30 points out of 100 in the English BHSEC (Year 12) exams. Another 30 points are for argumentative essay writing and the remaining cover the language and the grammar. A student has to manage writing all of the above within 3 hours. Say if we budget the time: 1 hour for essay, 1 hour for a story and the remaining 1 hour for the rest. So, finishing it can be very stressful.
I have to teach my students to write a good story within one hour. I manage to teach but I am not confident if I can write a good one myself within 1 hour.
So, in my class, we try to work out a few plots which we may be able to fit into any plot that is demanded by the question. Slight changes to the plot and we are writing the story asked by the question. Some of the things we can have ready for a story are setting, the main character, and few conflicts. But the emphasis on using from one's experience is given a lot of importance. Our children are fascinated by everything foreign; people and places. So they set their story in New York, Korea, and their characters are foreigners, not realizing how easy it would be to use places they are familiar with and the people they have known/know.
Most of the students also feel that a story begins with the main character being born and growing up, falling in love, heartbreaking and then ends with the main character becoming successful/dying old. Doing this sometimes also makes the story monotonous, especially if the writer is not very skilled. So rather than writing a story like the one mentioned above we write a narrative descriptive essay. A narrative essay is not different from a story, it has all the elements and it is easier to write if one sticks to things that s/he experienced; certain experiences that they remember because they were interesting/funny/sad.
The most difficult aspect in story writing, I feel, is creativity. But in case of writing one's experience the writer needn't worry about it much. In doing this, the students can always be creative and make changes where ever they think, the changes might make their story more intense and exciting. Another thing is that it is easier to form them because nobody can tell their story better than themselves.
The students start by working in groups of four or five and later they write their story individually.
Four maps are the worksheets that get the foundation of the story laid.
1.The Setting Map
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| picture courtesy www.buit.com |
Where does the story take place?
When does the story take place?
Certain descriptions of sound/small/place
2. The Character Map
Name of the character
Gender of the character
Positive qualities
Weaknesses
3. The Conflict Map
What is the problem?
What causes the problem?
External conflict/Internal conflict?
4. The Resolution Map
What leads to the solution of the problem?
What are some of the changes in the main character/other characters?
As I watch and monitor my students planning, discussing and writing their own stories I take a break and wonder "Why the first Bhutanese to win a Booker prize may be right here."
I don't know too much...? no harm in dreaming I guess.
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