Writing Exercise: Short Story

This week's writing exercise is a short story idea which I believe will be fun and challenging. I hope you enjoy it!

Read and do each step before going on to the next one:



Step One:


Decide if your main character will be male or female.

 

Step two:


Write down four numbers between one and five.  

(You can repeat numbers – for instance, I had my daughter choose the numbers for me, and she chose 4, 1, 2, 4.)


(Don't scroll down until you have your four numbers.)






Step Three:


The numbers you wrote will correspond to the four lists, below. (Your first number corresponds to list one, your second number to list two, and so on.)



The first list tells who your main character is.

1. a new parent
2. a fire-fighter
3. an alien from outer space
4. a homeless child
5. a 94-year-old

The second list tells where the story takes place:

1. a National Forest
2. an expensive restaurant
3. a shopping mall
4. the porch of an old farmhouse
5. on a bus

The third list tells when the story takes place.


1. during a fire
2. a hundred years ago
3. late at night
4. during a big thunderstorm
5. in early Summer

The fourth list tells what is on the main character's mind:

1. has lost something important
2. has an important decision to make
3. has just heard a secret
4. has been accused of something
5. something embarrassing has just happened

My choices were female and 4, 1, 2, 4, so my story is going to be about a homeless girl in a National Forest a hundred years ago, and she has been accused of something.


Submit your story in the comment box. (If it’s too long, you may have to submit it in two or more parts.)

I will post the submissions, along with my own, on Wednesday. I’m extending an extra day because it people sometimes need more time and I don’t want you to feel rushed.


I look forward to reading the entries... have fun!