Objectives

• To familiarise students with the basics of story writing,

• To familiarise students with the structure of a story,

• To enable students to write different types of stories.

Introduction The question ‘How to start writing a story’ is bound to elicit various responses from students. Students would respond with characters, what happens to them, how it happens, where it happens and why it happens. There is no one ‘correct’ way to start a story. Each writer may think of a different aspect first, whether it is the ‘what’, the ‘where’, or the ‘why’ of the story.

Basics of Story Writing Let us look at the basics of story writing. The writer has to decide on certain basic issues of a story. These can be put under the headings, ‘who, what, how, why, where, when’ and the three ds, i.e., dialogue, description, detail. The writer also has to decide on the structure of a story, which consists of a beginning, middle and end. A story must contain a tide too.

Who The writer has to choose who the characters are in the story. For a short story, about four or five characters should do. Otherwise, it becomes difficult to keep track of them and control their actions. The writer should remember the following:

• Give names to characters.

• Decide on the appearances of the characters.

• Settle on their age.

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