STORY WRITING

THE ELEMENTS SETTING CHARACTERS CHARACTERIZATIO

N PLOT POINT OF VIEW

SETTING

The setting relates to The weather the time (emancipation, summer, world war one); the atmosphere (sad, festive, gloomy, scary); and the place where the action is taking place.

Example of a setting The dusty trees bowed

their heads to the thirsty ground and swayed to and fro as the wind picked up momentum. Above, dark, ominous clouds rushed across the sky and the first streaks of lightning could be seen darting across the now wide expanse of gray. Women and children of the village hurriedly gathered the laundry from the lines.

CHARACTERS These are the people

in the story. Try not to have more

than three to four characters

Among the characters try to have only one or two major characters.

PLOT This is the series of

events in the story. The plot is developed

in this way EXPOSITION CONFLICT CLIMAX RESOLUTION

DIALOGUE IN THE STORY The spoken word of a

person must be enclosed in quotation marks.

There are three ways of doing this:

“Come here,” he said He said, “Come here.” “Come here,” he said,

“and give me a kiss”

PURPOSE OF DIALOGUE Dialogue is used to: Reveal character Reveal setting Reveal plot Make the story more

interesting.

AN EXAMPLE OF DIALOGUE “Boy, in here hot eh,” remarked Tom. “Yes,” replied John, “Do you think they will

find us?” “I dunno,” replied Tom, “but it must be

hours now since we have been in here.” “I hope no bats show up or we are

doomed,” said John.

Another example As the boys approached the hole in the wall, John

asked, “Are you sure you want us to go through there?”

“Den which paat wi a guh walk?” asked Tom a bit annoyed. “Nuh tell mi she yuh fraid.”

“Yuh can tan deh,” said John as he made his way around a freshly dug grave, “my granny always she de duppy dem siddung pan dem grave every twelve a clack and a almose twelve now.”

“Come on man, yuh too fraidie-fraidie,” answered Tom, “ yuh mus be a girl.”

YOUR TURN Put in quotation marks and commas and

make into a dialogue. (Read through first.) Are we there yet Pops? asked Michael.

How many times are you going to ask that question Michael asked his mother. When we get there you will know added his father. But we have been traveling so long whined Alicia. Just be quiet, both of you! snapped their mother. Not another word.

Still your turn Write a dialogue that reveals that two boys

are in a haunted house and both of them are afraid.

Or Write a dialogue between an angry parent

and a rude child to show that the child had done something rude before.