Science Fiction Project Creating Your Story

Science Fiction Project Lesson Objective To consider some of the factors that need to be taken into account when creating your Story To write some responses to the factors you are asked to consider. To start to write the opening for your story.

Science Fiction Project Creating Your Story 1: PLOT First you need to consider what is going to happen in your story? If you don’t know what is going to happen in your story yet, write down your first ideas for your story?

Science Fiction Project Creating Your Story 2: Point of View What is the narrative Point of View for your story, 1st or 3rd person. If you tell the story in the 1st person everything has to be told from the character’s point of view. If you write as a 3rd person narrator then you can tell your story from several characters viewpoints. Note: In English we only very rarely write 2nd person narratives: The second person narrative is a style of fiction writing which addresses the main character in the form of a personal pronoun (usually “you”). Unlike the first person narrative where the main character describes the story; the second person narrative describes the story as if speaking to the main character. Ex: “As you and I looked up the hill we knew it would be a tough climb. You looked at me and said, ‘Come on kid, let’s go.’ http://www.ehow.com/about_6293115_second-person-narration_.html

Science Fiction Project Creating Your Story 3: Characters Who are your central Characters? You should try to limit your story to no more than three or four characters, one of which will probably be an alien. On the worksheet write a brief description of your first ideas for your characters .  

Science Fiction Project Creating Your Story 4: Describe your Alien Now try to describe your Alien. What do they look like? How do they travel across space? Are they friendly or threatening? Why have they come to Earth or from Earth to another planet?

Science Fiction Project Creating Your Story 5: Setting Setting. Where and when your story is set, at least to start with; ex. on Earth, in which country/city; in space...where?...another planet on a spaceship. When...now, the past, the future?  

Science Fiction Project Creating Your Story 6: Structure  How are you going to structure your story? · Linear: Beginning —> Middle —> End · Flashback: End —>Beginning —> Middle —> End · Flashback +: Near End —> Beginning —> Middle —> Near End —> End · Reverse: End —>Middle—>Beginning Random: Jumping backwards and forwards along the linear timeline.  

Science Fiction Project Creating Your Story 6: Structure Beginning The beginning of a story is really important. It is where you introduce your readers to your setting, characters and plot. Often a writer will give his characters a problem to solve. This keeps the reader interested, as they'll want to find out what happens. Middle In the middle you develop your characters and story. The reader begins to ask more questions and starts to learn what will happen to the characters. End In the end you tell readers exactly what happens to the characters and how they solved the problems you gave them at the start. Don't leave any questions unanswered at the end of the story and make sure your reader knows what happens to all your characters.

Science Fiction Project Creating Your Story 6: Structure You can see an approach to a linear structure for a 1000 word story in the diagram below   Beginning - Establish Characters Plot & setting. 300 words. Middle- Development of Characters & Plot to climax. 500 words. End - Resolution of plot climax/ win or lose. 200 words.

Science Fiction Project Creating Your Story 7: Hooks Hooks are dramatic or exciting sentences or passages put into stories to grab the readers attention and get them ’hooked’ into the story enough to read on. You need to try to get a ‘hook’ into your story early on, in the opening sentence if possible. Ex: It was past midnight.  My friend had driven me to an isolated building . “That’s where I saw the spacecraft land he whispered.” Just then a huge muscular form, not human, emerged from the shadows by the side of the building. It turned a looked straight at us…. Now try to write the opening lines of your story trying to include a ‘hook’ in what you write.