The next 2 weeks we are focussing on story building following a similar plan to the building of our Egyptian story. We remember how it took a long time to craft our story. A good story is like a curry. You can’t make it in a hurry! You have to have all the correct ingredients. You have to taste it as you go, adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that. You have to let it simmer and bubble until you’ve made something that lots of people will enjoy. Anyone hungry now? You know Mrs O always like to use food as similes and metaphors!
THEME AND SETTING
First of all decide on the theme of your story. Is it an adventure story? A mystery? A funny story? A spooky tale? A sporting story?
Decide next on the setting of your story. A castle? Space? Spooky house? Have a look at Pobble to inspire an idea for a theme and setting.
And check out BBC Bitesize for some more info on setting
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zpccwmn/articles/zytbrdm
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zfxtyrd/articles/zbgmmfr
CHARACTER
Think about who the stars of your story are going to be. Remember not to have too many characters as you can lose track of them. Draw your characters in detail and add adjectives to remind you of the type of character they are – kind, scary, cunning, magical….
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zfxtyrd/articles/z49hhbk
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zpccwmn/articles/zqf32nb
PLANNING PICTURE
Remember we planned our stories out in a few different ways? We drew a big picture with all our ideas of what could happen. Some of them we used and some of them we didn’t. It helped us be creative.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zpccwmn/articles/zqmkh39
STORY MOUNTAIN
We also built a story mountain so we could structure our stories clearly. Click the link for more information and climb your mountain!
Now you have some clear ideas, you can give your story a title. You could always change it if your plan changes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zfxtyrd/articles/zhh992p
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zpccwmn/articles/zwmt4qt
COMIC STYLE
Another method we used was creating the beginning, middle and end of our story in comic book style. It helped us focus on the main events, the plot twists and how any dangers or problems were fixed. Why not give that a go?
VCOP THINK BOARD
Remember the importance of drawing the reader in with a fantastic opener. Describe the setting. Introduce a character. Don’t just jump into the action. Build up the suspense. Remember the importance of vocabulary, connectives, openers and punctuation. Create an image with a simile, weave a magic spell with your wonderful words! Add excitement with an adverb! In class we created a think board of all our VCOP ideas so we didn’t forget them.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zwwp8mn
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zfkk7ty/articles/z9tkxfr
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zfkk7ty/articles/zq4c7p3
FIRST DRAFT
Now you have gone through all the planning stages it’s time to get writing that first draft. Remember there should be a beginning, a build up, a problem or a challenge, a fix to the problem and an ending.
We used a lot of BBC 500 word resources. Here is a link. If you download the teacher/parent resource pack you will find lots of help and printables to create your story.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/J5GH9skxCc1ngyT5GWqYlj/learning-resources
EDIT AND FINAL COPY
Once you have written your story, read it over carefully to see if you can improve it. All authors have to proof read and edit!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zpccwmn/articles/zpyhtyc
Finally, why not add a front cover to your story and add illustrations?
Good luck with your story challenge. You can email me a copy if you like or get someone to take a photo of the author at work!
Remember you have 2 weeks to write your story so take your time.
