There's a mixture of ages in this writing group but everyone is imaginative and enthusiastic about writing short adventure stories. In fact, they were so keen that we managed to use every story-starter I had - cards, objects, and the Lolly Mixture (adjectives & nouns). That was great because it meant they brainstormed a few ideas and ended up with choices about which story they wanted to pursue. Everyone was happy and confident they had an idea that they could turn into a story. Liam was inspired enough to turn my humble TV remote into an Alex-Rider-style super-gadget and he did a lot of thinking overnight about the character that would use it.
William said he likes books that hook him within the first paragraph, so we looked at some great examples: Bill's New Frock; Stormbreaker; Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone; Matilda. We looked at the bomb (also known as the inciting incident) that gets the whole story moving. It's like 'that was then and this is now.' From the moment of the bomb, everything changes. We decided that it often works to start where the trouble starts, where something new happens or when a stranger arrives. You can start during a quarrel, posing a question, or finding out something unusual about the main character.
The kids really got into making their own beginnings. Some people found it easy. Some found it difficult. I often find that I don't come up with the perfect beginning first time, so I suggested that they just start writing and not worry about getting it right.
We talked about the sorts of conflicts and complications that normally happen through the middle, and looked at a traditional story structure like The Three Little Pigs to see all the essential features of a story. Olivia mentioned a new Scholastic book about 20 stories that had been written by children - one of them was a twisted Little Pigs story - so we found it and read it. It was fabulous - and written by a ten year old - so that's a HUGE incentive for this group.
The stories are starting to look good already. Olivia's writing a suspenseful halloween story which is based on a misunderstanding between friends and Kyra is working on a funny story about an alien grandma who has a ferocious lion for a pet and doesn't realise that there's anything wrong. It didn't start off that way, but that was just a reminder to me how everything is a WORK IN PROGRESS.
There are also great stories unfolding at Manunui School. Eden has the most incredible beginning (involving blood on her character's hands) and Ashleigh's main character starts his story in the room where his kidnapper has hidden him. Spooky stuff!! You can tell these kids are into horror stories. Tyler was frustrated for a while because he didn't know where his story was going, but he's happier with it now that he's past that hurdle. I can see the makings of a great story there now - one that confuses reality and the virtual reality of a PlayStation game. Cool stuff.
Kathy White
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