Category: Writing Tips

Have you ever wondered what skills young writers need to write short stories well?It’s one of those areas that can be overwhelming. Many of us think specifically about grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation when it comes to writing, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Here’s a list of 21 Things Young Writers Should Know to Respond Well to SEA Prompts:

1. How to interpret prompts effectively.
2. How to recognize/choose the type of story and fiction subgenre they’re writing.
3. How to select and name characters, keeping the number to a minimum.
4. How to plot stories within 10 minutes.
5. How to engage readers with an effective hook.
6. How to introduce the main character in the introduction.
7. How to express what the main character wants.
8. How to give background information in the introduction to establish context.
9. How to describe setting in the introduction.
10. How to introduce the conflict and show the main character’s reaction to it.
11. How to escalate the conflict over two or three incidents while showing how the character responds to the escalating drama.
12. How to make the conflict significant and relevant to the story and the character’s situation.
13. How to describe setting as part of the story, gradually through the perspective and experience of the main character.
14. How to describe the main character throughout the story, gradually as the readers learn more about who the person is, what they want, their reactions, and emotions.
15. How to explain the climax as the main character gives the final push to achieve their goals.
16. How to resolve the story through the falling action and the lessons the main character has learned from the experience.
17. How to use imagery to show readers what’s happening.
18. How to focus on the story and the relevant details.
19. How to move the action of the story forward, transitioning between ideas.
20. How to include dialogue in appropriate ways.
21. How to review and edit their own writing.

What would you add to the list?

(NOTE: This list does not highlight grammar and other skills for general writing proficiency. It focuses specifically on the abilities required for creating great stories. The assumption is that writers have a good grasp of the English language, even if not a perfect one. Grammar, punctuation, sentence construction, and spelling should be taught in separate lessons.)

Young writers often struggle with generating ideas for writing stories. Even when they have a prompt, sometimes they get stuck trying to put their thoughts together. This is one of the reasons planning takes a long time or doesn’t get done at all. When a young writer is faced with a narrative prompt, one of two things generally happens. Either the prompt is taken literally and the young writer tries to fit all their ideas within reality, or the prompt is seen as an opportunity to let imagination run wild. Neither one of these situations gets the young writer to what they need – a manageable story that’s creative and interesting, yet makes sense to readers.

So how do we allow for innovation while keeping logic and wisdom in the equation? By teaching young writers about genre, types of stories, and types of conflict.

When these three groups intersect, there’s a sweet-spot that allows for great ideas to come forward. That’s because each of these three groups creates a point of focus while simultaneously boosting memory and imagination. So, young writers have the benefit of a process which jogs their memory, stimulates their imagination, and focuses their thinking to reign in the wild ideas.

That is a great place to start if your young writer is having challenges coming up with ideas. Think about it this way, if a young writer knew a handful of genres, a few types of stories, and the six basic types of conflict, they could easily make a selection to apply to any narrative writing task.

Try this activity with your young writer. Go through the different types of stories, genre, and conflict, then attempt the prompts below.

1. You went to buy bread and milk at the shop. On your way back, you accidentally dropped the milk. Write a story about the experience.

2. You are doing chores at home. Write a story about your experience.

These prompts were purposely selected because they don’t immediately scream “exciting story”. Encourage your young writer to select a genre, a type of story, and a type of conflict as a starting point. Then get them to plot the story, including exposition, details of the conflict, setting, characters, climax, and resolution.

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When many writers sit to put their thoughts on paper, they write whatever story comes to mind. Young writers, especially, don’t often think about the type of story they’re writing. But not all stories are the same, and understanding the different types, genre, and types of conflict will help young writers focus, generate ideas and plan better. Over the next few posts, we will be defining and discussing selected types of stories, genre, and conflict. Then we will discuss how knowing these will help young writers improve their writing.

Today, we are starting with definitions. It’s always a good place to start.

What are the types of stories?

When we say “types” of stories, we’re referring to the variety of plots that stories can have. This is different from genre and conflict as it relates to what the action of the story is about and not style or obstacle characters face. There are several types of stories, but the ones young writers should be familiar with are: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, The Quest, Voyage and Return, and Rebirth.

What is genre?

It’s easy to get technical with descriptions and definitions of genre, but we’ll keep it simple. Genre in literature refers to the category or style of writing. There are four basic genres, each with its own subcategory. The four genres are: drama, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Genre is complex and young writers don’t need to know a whole lot about it, but basic information will help them organize their thoughts.

What are the types of conflict?

Conflict refers specifically to whatever is blocking the main character from achieving his or her goal. Regardless of the type of story or the subgenre (fantasy, science fiction, etc.), characters must have challenges and obstacles to overcome in the pursuit of their desires. That’s what makes stories exciting. There are a few different types of conflict, but these six are the ones young writers should be familiar with: character vs self, character vs character, character vs society, character vs nature, character vs supernatural, and character vs technology.

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Writing is a skill, and like most skills, it involves lots of practice and patience. Unfortunately, writing is not one of those subjects known for excitement and activities. There are many reasons for that, but the most prevalent is that most instructors don’t know how to incorporate hands-on, interactive experiences into writing instruction. And that’s the result of viewing writing as a separate subject removed from the content it’s meant to share.

Writing is a form of communication, a skill used to share ideas. Do we often stop to think about where these ideas come from? That’s an aspect of writing that often goes neglected, and teachers try to impart the skill of writing in fabricated contexts when the world is at their fingertips! Writing instruction can and should be dynamic, incorporating an exploration of the senses, ideas, critical thinking, and creativity. This is the best way to get young writers interested in writing for the longterm. Not sure how to go about doing that? I’m here to help.

Today, we’re going to cover writing mechanics. When writers talk about ‘mechanics’ they’re referring to all the rules and guidelines that form the system for expressing ideas. This includes spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and the format for numbers and names. Some people include grammar as well, but that is better grouped with the ‘structure’ of a language. In this post, when I refer to mechanics, I will not be including grammar.

Ok, let’s start at the beginning. All writing starts with ideas and thoughts about these ideas, but one of the important aspects of communicating through writing is the understanding that you’re writing for others. This concept of ‘audience’ is critical for expressing ideas effectively and is the main reason mechanics are so important.

PUNCTUATION – helps us regulate writing with pauses of various types and emotion so that readers know how the sentence should be read. This assists with clarifying meaning.

CAPITALIZATION – in English, this helps us identify the beginning of sentences, proper nouns, and titles.

SPELLING – keeps the meaning clear by ensuring the right words are used. Sometimes students have such trouble with these that meaning is hindered and it’s difficult to understand what they’re really trying to say.

Each of these categories has its own skills and strategies for getting young writers to comply with the necessary conventions, but one thing helps overall. And that’s understanding why these things are needed. We often take it for granted that young writers know the impact errors in these areas have on their writing. Some of them don’t. So take the time to enlighten them.

Revisit the notion of audience and that writing is for someone else to consume. Explain that the exchange of meaning is interrupted when punctuation, spelling, and capitalization aren’t up to standard. Encourage correct usage by making learning fun and creating checklists for reviewing written work.

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