The Born Storytellers Prendiville Catholic College 2015

The Born Storytellers

Key concepts of story Something... fundamental changes A worthy... human character A narrative of... consequential episodes Designed to... entertain

Four important parts of a story idea... 1.A colourful character 2.An unusual item, object or moment 3.Intrigue 4.A unique twist

A story’s premise An expression of Character through Conflict leads to Conclusion

A quick summary We will take a colourful (if not unusual) character we will place in unusual circumstances caused by an item, object or moment that develops into an intriguing situation of conflict that produces a fundamental change we will reveal in a unique twist at the conclusion of a narrative of consequential episodes.

Finding and Developing Ideas for stories

Three techniques News stories Family anecdotes Observations

News stories

Family anecdotes My father-in-law’s war stories

My father-in-law was born in Sabah, North Borneo. His family lived about a mile east of a town called Beaufort, on the southern side of the Padas River.

Beaufort When the Japanese invaded in 1943, they came up the Padas River and stationed a force at Beaufort, which was situated on the river’s northern banks.

At the time there was no bridge and the Japanese soldiers were fearful of crocodiles so they did not cross the river. Food was scarce and it was a dangerous time for the locals, the Japanese soldiers frequently used machine gun fire to keep locals in line.

Around the end of 1943, my father-in-law’s father decided that it was no longer safe for the family to stay. So they buried their valuables, along with a cache of firearms and ammunition, in the jungle and set off to walk to Tenom. At the time, my father-in-law was just 10 years old. Beaufort Padas River

The distance is about 40 kilometres through dense jungle and rugged, and very mountainous, terrain. Beaufort is at sea level, but Tenom is almost 2,000 metres above sea level (Australia’s highest mountain is just 2,600 metres). The trek took the family more than a week. Beaufort Padas River

My father-in-law was the second eldest of a family of five children and for much of the journey he had to carry his younger sister. Along the way, one of the children died.

Meanwhile, the Japanese were marching Australian and British prisoners of war from Sandakan on the east coast to Ranau in the centre, a distance of 260 kilometres through thick jungle, mosquito infested swamps and across one of the highest mountain ranges in SE Asia. Of 2,600 prisoners, only six survived. The three marches came to be known as the Sandakan Death Marches.

Family anecdotes There’s a story of great personal courage and survival in there somewhere, and one that connects to a much larger story. Potential genres might include a (war) adventure, a spy thriller, a family tragedy.

Observation See the observation writing on page 19

Key questions Are the circumstances being described usual, or unusual? Are the people involved normal people, or unusual? Is the situation being addressed in a usual or unusual way?

Developing Ideas

What if... and... ?

Tau Yin, the hero of Sabah What if the ten year old boy, Tau Yin, didn’t bury all of the weapons his father instructed him to and kept a knife, a pistol and ammunition secretly hidden on his person, and they came across a Japanese patrol with some Australian and British soldiers in captivity, and he secured their freedom and dispatched the Japanese soldiers before they could reach Tenom? What if he worked in the jungle with the Australian and British soldiers to prevent the Japanese from discovering the location of Tenom, and building a guerrilla force that thwarted Japanese efforts until the end of the war.

Key questions Are the circumstances being described usual, or unusual? Unusual – it’s war time, the family has been forced to flee their home, the boy did not do as his father had instructed. Are the people involved normal people, or unusual? Normal people, but an unusual hero. Is the situation being addressed in a usual or unusual way? Unusual – the boy takes control.

Do we have... 1.A colourful character? Imagine a ten year old finding the courage to protect his family, rescue captured soldiers and lead raids. 2.An unusual item, object or moment? The weapon he uses could be a family heirloom, a kris perhaps that has magical qualities. 3.Intrigue? Tau Yin could use other children to spy on Japanese soldiers and feed him intelligence of their movements, which he in turn feeds to Australian forces. 4.A unique twist? Need to think about this...

The virtual assassin What if our gamer was a 15 year old girl in Australia who played online games instead of doing her schoolwork and what if she outsmarted the virtual assassin every time he tried to shut her down. And what if Dad increased the stakes, putting the prize up for bounty and attracting would be virtual assassins from the world over. The competition becomes more intense as virtual assassins vie to take her down, but our gamer is proving both smart and elusive, until the mission becomes a real assassination. With stakes raised, our gamer is on a mission not only to unmask the identities of the would-be assassin, but also to stay one step ahead.

Key questions Are the circumstances being described usual, or unusual? Unusual – this is not a normal family in normal family circumstances Are the people involved normal people, or unusual? Unusual people. A desperate dad, a gifted child and some very dangerous villains Is the situation being addressed in a usual or unusual way? Unusual – the activity cross from a virtual world to the real world.

Do we have... 1.A colourful character? Indeed. A 15 year old girl who is a gaming master. 2.An unusual item, object or moment? The game environment itself 3.Intrigue? Who is the assassin? Who’s behind it? Is she going to uncover the identity? What is she going to do about it? 4.A unique twist? I can think of a couple: The assassin turns out to be someone close, or another girl from another place who has been put in a similar situation, but though different circumstances

A snapshot statement

This story is about a boy whose family flees their home and then takes the fight against the Japanese invasion of Sabah to the invaders and establishes a deadly guerrilla resistance force that thwarts Japanese attempts to colonise the interior of the state. This story is about a girl whose father hires a virtual assassin to break her addiction to gaming and she outplays all attempts, remaining on top of her game, including real attempts on her life when she is being considered for the virtual world scholarship.

A premise

Love of family leads to heroism Resisting school work leads to outstanding scholarship