1. The
Going up
Book
Kreattiv Project

2. Our Team? Donkey Abi Emma Fed YOU - The students Teachers
Ms Francelle, Ms Marilyn, Mr George
LSA
Ms Alison, Ms Joyce, Ms Loretta, Ms Alison Marie, Ms Gina
PSCD Teachers
Ms Elaine ( Head of Literacy)
Ms Christabel ( Translations)
Mr Spiteri (?)
Donkey

3. What is the project about?
In the next 6 weeks, we will be writing and illustrating a BOOK.
Ops, please allow us to correct ourselves, YOU will be writing a book.
Each class will be creating a 500 word short story
portraying your thoughts and feelings about leaving primary school and moving
to the next stage of education.
Who is funding the project?
Some very nice people at the Malta Art Council gave us a grant called Kreattiv
to pay for this project.

4. Brainstorming! Can you see a story forming from these ideas?
As you leave primary school:
What’s going to change? (thoughts)
How do you feel about these changes? (feelings)
What are the Positives?
What are the Negatives?
What are your concerns?
What are you looking forward to?
Can you see a story forming
from these ideas?

5. Story Development THERE iS nO LIMIT tO IMAGINATION! What is a story?
What are the ELEMENTS of a story?
Every story has a BEGINNING, a MIDDLE and an END.
(sounds easy, doesn’t it? IT’S NOT!!! actually it is! … sometimes!)
Every story has at least one main character (it could be more than one).
Can you think of any examples? Does a character need to be a person?

6. Story Development II “When asked, ‘How do you write?’
I invariably answer, ‘one word at a time.'”
What is my character's setting? What’s does his world look like? What is his conflict? Is it internal or external?
What is the plot? From which point of view shall we narrate the story? Who’s telling the story? We have a Theme. What is it?
Writer’s tools: Thesaurus (the right word is not always the best word) Dictionary (know the meaning of words) Pictorial Dictionary (what's the name of that part of …) Language Dictionary (sometimes the right word comes in the wrong language).

7. IT’S WRITING time! English -> Maltese WE ALL HAVE
DIFFERENT STRENGTHS
Now that we have thought up the concept, it’s time to capture our story onto paper and get our hands dirty with ink.
Once the story is written down, it’s time to polish it, making each word and sentence count.
English -> Maltese
We will be writing our story in ENGLISH and once we are happy with our structure, sentences and choice of words, we will be translating our work into MALTESE with the help of
Ms. Christabel.
Remember: your book will be published in both languages.

8. What do you want your illustrations to look like?
Glue, colours, paper, scissors, paint, clippings, photographs, creativity, chalk, oil, pastels, markers, pencils, tape, craft paper, THERE IS NO LIMIT TO WHAT WE CAN ACHIEVE! Illustrator MARVIC SPITERI will talk to us about the life of an illustrator.
What do you want your illustrations to look like?
REMEMBER your painting shirts!

9. Shaping our Characters
Our characters are about to come to life.
What are their main features?
Do we want them to look realistic?

10. Fonts and Typography What is a font? What is typography?
We are in control of how to layout the fonts in our story, to make them fun, quirky, vIsUaLLy exciting. IT’S OUR STORY!

11. Printing the book What is book binding? How do you bind a book?
PETE LALLY will be explaining to us the traditional method of binding and printing books.
We will visit the Gozo Printing Press (Ghajnsielem) where we will be able to see OUR book being printed.
A copy of the book will be sent to every school in the Maltese Islands and of course you will get one copy for yourselves.

12. Let’s unleash our imagination!

13. Elements of a Short Story
“When asked, ‘How do you write?’
I invariably answer, ‘one word at a time.'”
SETTING
The time and location in which a story takes place is called the setting. For some stories the setting is very important, while for others it is not. There are several aspects of a story's setting to consider when examining how setting contributes to a story (some, or all, may be present in a story):
1. place - geographical location. Where is the action of the story taking place?
2. time - When is the story taking place? (historical period, time, year, etc)
3. weather conditions - Is it rainy, sunny, stormy, etc?
4. social conditions - What is the daily life of the characters like?
5. mood or atmosphere - What feeling is created at the beginning of the story? Is it bright and cheerful or dark and frightening?

14. Elements of a Short Story
“When asked, ‘How do you write?’
I invariably answer, ‘one word at a time.'”
CHARACTER
Who’s story is it?
A character is a person, or sometimes even an animal, who takes part in the action of a short story or other literary work. Short stories use few characters. One character is clearly central to the story with all major events having some importance to this character - he/she is the PROTAGONIST. The opposer of the main character is called the ANTAGONIST.
1. his/her physical appearance?
2. what he/she says, thinks, feels and dreams?
3. what he/she does or does not do?
4. what others say about him/her and how others react to him/her?

15. Elements of a Short Story
“When asked, ‘How do you write?’
I invariably answer, ‘one word at a time.'”
PLOT
What is happening? A plot is a series of events and character actions that relate to the central conflict. The plot is a planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle, and end. The short story usually has one plot so it can be read in one sitting.
A plot's structure consists of the introduction, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution.

16. Elements of a Short Story
“When asked, ‘How do you write?’
I invariably answer, ‘one word at a time.'”
CONFLICT
Who is our protagonist fighting against? What is his struggle? Without conflict there is no plot. It is the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and makes the plot move.
There are two types of conflict:
1. External - A struggle with a force outside one's self.
2. Internal - A struggle within one's self; a person must make some decision, overcome pain, quiet their temper, resist an urge, etc.
There are four kinds of conflict:
1. Man vs. Man (physical) - The leading character struggles with his physical strength against other men, forces of nature, or animals.
2. Man vs. Circumstances (classical) - The leading character struggles against fate, or the circumstances of life facing him/her.
3. Man vs. Society (social) - The leading character struggles against ideas, practices, or customs of other people.
4. Man vs. Himself/Herself (psychological) - The leading character struggles with himself/herself; with his/her own soul, ideas of right or wrong, physical limitations, choices, etc.

17. Elements of a Short Story
“When asked, ‘How do you write?’
I invariably answer, ‘one word at a time.'”
POINT OF VIEW
Who is the narrator? The point of view is the angle from which the story is told. Is the story told by a first-person narrator, a third-person narrator who is a major participant, or a third-person narrator who is just an observer? Is the point of view first- person, limited omniscient, omniscient, or objective?

18. Elements of a Short Story
“When asked, ‘How do you write?’
I invariably answer, ‘one word at a time.'”
THEME
What it the (underlaying) subject of the story? The theme is the central idea or belief in a short story.
some examples: - things are not always as they appear to be
- Love is blind
- Believe in yourself
- People are afraid of change
- Don't judge a book by its cover

19. “Adventure is out there!” – Up
Let’s think of a story
“Adventure is out there!” – Up
SIMPLE SHORT STORY STRUCTURE
Once upon a time there was ___.
Every day, ___.
One day ___.
Because of that, ___.
Until finally ___.

20. canvas to our imagination.
Some practical tips I
This world is but a
canvas to our imagination.
#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.
#2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.
#3: Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about until you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.
#4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.
#5: Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.
#6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

21. Some practical tips II A writer writes!
#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.
#8: Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.
#9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.
#10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognise it before you can use it.
#11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.
#12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

22. Some practical tips III
Imagination is the highest
kite one can fly.
#13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.
#14: Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.
#15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations. LIVE YOUR STORY!
#16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.
#17: No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on - it’ll come back around to be useful later.

23. Some practical tips IV A Blank page is just a beginning.
#18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.
#19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.
#20: Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?
#21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?
#22: What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.