DIY Homeschooler

We’ve covered various aspects of storytelling. A story is a “moving picture of life.” With that in mind, we will now look at making a story move.

In using this information to develop writing skills, the first step is to choose a title. Next, we need to write an opening sentence. With that opening sentence we seek to capture the attention of an audience. But we can’t stop there. We want to keep up the pace. The story should hold the audience’s attention.

Table of Contents

• Making a Story Interesting
• Write Your Own Story that Moves
• What if You are Not Feeling Terribly Creative?
• An Example: Winged Watermelons

Making a Story Interesting

Think of a favorite story.

• What makes it interesting?
• Does it keep your attention?
• Does it have a lot of action?
• Does it stick to the main point? Or veer off in all directions?
• Are there slow, laboring parts? Or does the story keep moving?

Let’s try an example:

Roger, aged seven, and no longer the youngest of the family, ran in wide zigzags, to and fro, across the steep field that sloped up from the lake to Holly Howe, the farm where they were staying for part of the summer holidays. He ran until he nearly reached the hedge by the footpath, then turned and ran until he nearly reached the hedge on the other side of the field. Then he turned and crossed the field again. Each crossing of the field brought him nearer to the farm. The wind was against him, and he was tacking up against it to the farm, where at the gate his patient mother was awaiting him. He could not run straight against the wind because he was a sailing vessel, a tea-clipper, the Cutty Sark. His elder brother John had said only that morning that steamships were just engines in tin boxes. Sail was the thing, and so, though it took rather longer, Roger made his way up the field in broad tacks.

When he came near his mother, he saw that she had in her hand a red envelope and a small piece of white paper, a telegram. He knew at once what it was. For a moment he was tempted to run straight to her. He knew that telegrams came only from his father….

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

Describe the moving picture you see as you read this selection.

What does each sentence bring to the reader? For example:

He knew at once what it was.

What does the author convey with this sentence? Are you curious to know what it is? If so, why?

This is how a story moves. The author uses each sentence to move the audience along to the next.

What if the paragraph read this way:

When he came near his mother, he saw that she had in her hand a red envelope. He had forgotten that she was going to the post office. He had wanted to go, but needed to finish his chores. And what chores they were….

Still interested? Probably not as much! Get to the point, right?

Write Your Own Story that Moves

What has been a lively and/or exciting time in your life? Write two paragraphs describing your experience. Be sure to keep the story moving. Think of it as presenting a moving picture to the reader. Every sentence should move the story forward.

If you can’t think of a personal experience, try using a story starter or a random word generator to get you started. Or combine these storytelling prompts.

What if You are Not Feeling Terribly Creative?

It happens to every writer.

• The easiest solution is to copy something. Then you can rearrange the subject, words, setting, etc. to create a new story.
• Choose one of these old classic stories to retell with a new twist.
• Copy a portion of one of these short stories to rewrite.
• Copy a few paragraphs from noted authors.

Write Something Every Day: 366 Pencil Sharpeners for Students of Writing
Our book will get you started. This huge 554-pg. resource provides carefully crafted writing prompts and challenges for each day. We use nearly 20 different forms of writing to keep the student engaged. Also included are writing instruction, tips for modifying assignments for “younger writers,” and other resources. Learn more.

An Example: Winged Watermelons

At one time in our home education adventures, we were reading a book (which we decided not to finish) that had an interesting title. But for some unexplainable reason, the title came out “Winged Watermelons.” After having a good laugh, we decided it made an excellent writing prompt. (We included this prompt in our book Write Something Every Day.)

Everyone wrote a short story about “winged watermelons.” Here are the first two paragraphs from one example:

Yes, it happened at night. That much we knew. The professor was out in the garden just before he had gone to bed, and everything was all right then. He always took a walk outside before breakfast, and that was how he found out what had happened. Therefore, it couldn’t have happened in the morning, either. It had definitely happened at night, and as soon as I had arrived, he asked me, Jason McGregor, his assistant, to explain it.

But I couldn’t explain it. Never had I seen the kind of damage that had been inflected on the professor’s experimental garden during the night, especially the damage that had been inflected on the watermelon patch. Every last watermelon was gone. No, not gone, but rather, deflated. The melons were all still attached to the vines, and they were all still sitting exactly where they had grown, but they were now empty rinds. Apparently, something had bitten a hole in every last watermelon and eaten the contents.

So what do you think?

• Does the opening sentence of the story catch and hold the reader’s attention?
• Does the story move in an interesting way such that the reader wants to know more?
• Is the story full of action?
• Can this be considered a “moving picture”?
• Does the story stick to the point?
• Does each sentence bring something useful to the reader?
• Does each sentence carry the story forward?
• Do you find yourself ready to read more?

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Additional Resources

7 Lessons for Teaching Writing
We learn to write by reading and writing. This natural method of learning to write is actually the MOST effective way to learn.

Writing Ages and Stages
Understanding where your student is in the writing process and meeting him/her there.