for the main character. • Building the climax – the turning point of the story – the most dramatic moment • Conclusion – Give a suitable end. Here are a few hints that can help you produce a well-written short story. • Begin the story in an impressive manner with any of the following: a remarkable scene a description of the main character a powerful line of dialogue a conflict or a mystery.
• Grab the attention of the readers with an opening sentence that arrests attention and raises questions in the reader’s mind. • Describe the setting – time, location, context and atmosphere. • Develop the story line and introduce the characters. • Incorporate an element of suspense and sustain the same till the climax unfolds.
12th - - In Celebration of Being Alive Page • Build up the climax gradually. • Introduce dialogues that are interesting, lively, relevant and natural to the context, wherever possible. • Handle the conclusion of the story well. The story should have a striking end or a dramatic twist.
It may also end with a moral or a message. • Provide an appropriate and a catchy title. The title may be based on the incident of the story or the chief character (protagonist). The story may also be titled after a proverb or a familiar quotation illustrated by the story or a popular catch phrase.
• Revise and edit your writing as many times as possible till you feel it’s perfect. • Show, don’t tell. (Instead of saying “The boy was happy” say “The boy whistled as he walked down the corridor.” When you write a story, remember to use… • the simple past tense, the past continuous tense and the past perfect tense • suitable adjectives and adverbs • direct speech with reporting verbs and proper punctuation marks • linkers and discourse markers To begin with, one can train oneself to write stories by following two steps: (i) expanding the given outlines into a story (ii) completing a partly narrated story. Task