Creative Writing Unit 2-3 2-4

Creative Writing

Unit 2 Fiction part 2

2-3 Story Arc Plot part 2

2-4 Time is on Your Side

2-1 Due Dates 2/21

2-2 Due Dates 2/23

2-3 Due Dates 2/27

2-4 Due Dates 3/02

2.5.2 CST & 2.5.3 TST Due Date 3/03

​Objectives 2-3

• Explore the literary concept of the story arc or plot mountain as it applies to prose writing, including rising action, falling action, and dénouement.

• Consider how the buildup of tension that leads toward conflict and its resolution affects our experience of the story arc or plot mountain.

• Observe and explore the use of plot elements and a story arc in prose writing through guided close reading.

• Reflect and inquire further into ways to approach the story arc from a craft perspective.

​2.3 Overview

​As writers, how do we get our moons in the right parts of the sky? How do we know which details should go where or how to put events in order? This next lesson helps us think about these questions by introducing the traditional pattern of a story arc.

Drag and Drop

Click the boxes below and drag them to their appropriate spot on the mountain.

Far left ​ ​ 2nd from left ​

Placeholder

3rd from left ​

Placeholder

4th from left ​

Placeholder

far right ​

Placeholder

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

rising action

climax

falling action

denouement

exposition

​2.3.1 page 3

​As you might remember, the first part of any plot is exposition. Check out the following passage:

Once upon a time, there was a rich but unhappy king. He lived alone in a castle high on a hill, and he wanted nothing more than a son or daughter to inherit his kingdom.

These sentences provide exposition, which helps the reader understand who the characters are and what their basic situation is. Most plots start with at least a little bit of exposition — it orients the reader and sets the stage for the action to start.

Exposition can also introduce the story's conflict. In this example, we learn about the king's problem and wonder whether he'll be able to solve it.

​2.3.1 page 5

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Once the reader knows the basic situation of the story, it's time to start the rising action.

Rising action is where things start to happen. Characters struggle to get what they want, but obstacles stand in their way. The more they struggle toward their goals, the more tension builds in the story.

As you write rising action, you may find that you want to pause to give the reader more exposition. Maybe you need to introduce a new character, a place, or some other element.

​2.3.1 page 6

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Where's the Turning Point?

The rising action of the story gets more and more intense until the plot reaches its climax — the peak of the plot mountain.

The climax is the turning point in the story, where the major conflict reaches its point of greatest tension. Some possible climax moments could be:

• A confrontation between characters

• A crucial decision

• The unveiling of an important secret

Whatever the specific action of your climax is, it should be the place where the conflict reaches its height — the most exciting part of the plot!

​2.3.1 page 9

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If the climax of a story is the place where the conflict reaches its height, what's supposed to happen next? How can you keep your reader interested, now that the tension isn't building anymore?

The milk's already been spilled — now what?

One way to keep readers interested is to answer their questions.

The conflict and tension in your plot probably raised a lot of questions for the reader, besides just "what happens next?"

Readers will want to know the consequences of the main action — how it affected different characters and what they might do as a result.

The falling action part of the plot mountain is where readers start to see the consequences of the main action.

​2.3.1 page 11

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Back on the Ground: Dénouement

Just like the steps taken to untie a knot, a plot also needs to be "untied."

The French word dénouement literally means "untying."

We use it to describe the last part of the plot mountain, where the "knot" of the conflict is finally untied.

You can think of the dénouement as the final state of affairs at the end of the story.

Some movies provide the dénouement by using text that appears on the screen at the end

​2.3.3 pages 2 and 3

​An opening should grab our attention and pull us into the story.

An opening is the writer's first big chance to "shine" and to pique the reader's interest.

Openings are first impressions — and just as with a job interview or a first date, first impressions are really important!

What Makes a Good Opening?

• "A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down into the swift waters twenty feet below. The man's hands were behind his back, his wrists bound with cord. A rope loosely encircled his neck."

​2.3.3 page 4

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• Conflict, either shown or implied. Readers become curious when they sense some kind of conflict. They immediately wonder if and how the conflict will be resolved — and they'll stick around to find out!

• Vivid description of an unusual place or object. Nuanced and detailed description helps readers conjure up mental images of settings and objects, thereby actively engaging them in the story. This is especially effective when the place or object is unusual.

• In media res, or "in the middle of things." Instead of starting at the absolute beginning of a story, start somewhere in the middle. This technique plunges the reader right into the thick of things and makes the reader wonder both what happened before and what will happen next.

​2.3.3 page 8 - 10

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Writing a successful ending is probably one of the most challenging aspects of fiction writing. When the page is blank, anything is still possible. But a story's ending needs to match what has already been written.

A good ending should fit the story — but not in a way that's too obvious. You want to satisfy your readers by answering the questions you've raised, but you also want to surprise them and make them keep thinking about the story after it's over. Like Goldilocks, writers search for endings that seem "just right."

​2.3.3 page 10

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• End a little sooner than the reader expects. Sometimes the events of your story lead so clearly to a certain conclusion that you don't have to actually show the conclusion happening. Try ending a little early, leaving the reader to guess what happens based on earlier clues.

• Surprise the reader with a twist. Let something unexpected happen — something that makes sense, but that the reader didn't see coming.

• Make it bittersweet. What if the character gets what he wants, but it's not so great after all? Or the character gets what she wants but regrets what she had to do to get it? Complex emotions can spice up a seemingly inevitable ending.

​2.3.5 Read

​Read Susan Glaspell's short story "A Jury of Her Peers."

This one is a different type of story. I read it years ago... and it has always been a favorite, even though it's a bit disturbing.

Pay particular attention to Glaspell's opening, her ending and how she builds the plot in between (the story arc.)

Such an austere setting.... but the story is very powerful, and it just keeps us reading!!!!

​2.3.7

​There are three multi-part questions based on the story.

Choose one and write a thorough response.

You don't need to comment on each other, but you may if you'd like to. Be nice!

​2.4 Objectives

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• Explore different methods of pacing with prose, examining when to slow down to write a detailed scene versus when to increase the pace of the plot.

• Explore craft approaches to the use of time in narrative, using techniques such as flashbacks, flash-forwards, and unusual time structures.

• Create a scene with a beginning, middle, and end in some order, with a specific focus on building tension and conflict, pacing, and active language.

​2.4.1 page 1

​Whether a story you write covers an hour, a day, or many years, the span of time a story fills is called a time frame. So how do you skillfully work with narrative time in a story?

You might jump years in time, offer a detail about a character's background, and then pause to develop a scene between two characters at a turning point or crisis in a story.

​2.4.1 page 2

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If your prose mirrored the quality of a high-powered walk, sentences might be shorter and punchier. Your reader might get quick, impressionistic glimpses of various neighborhood scenes: a boy riding a bicycle, the aroma of someone grilling hamburgers, the whoosh of a bus speeding by.

Now imagine a more leisurely walk. Perhaps this stroll is interrupted with stops to admire a tree reddened by autumn, or to follow a trail of conversation between a parent and child. A sentence that reflects the quality of a stroll might be longer and more descriptive. You might pause to zoom in on the veins of a leaf, or document the careful motion of a man crossing a street on one leg.

​2.4.1 pages 3-5

​The rate at which a story moves forward is called pacing. If you move your narrative at a tempo that makes sense for the story you want to tell, the reader will feel invited to become emotionally engaged.

Dialogue is an effective pacing tool.

Characters can have a rapid-fire conversation that increases the pace of a story, or they can have a thoughtful, meandering chat that slows down a story's action.

​2.4.1 pages 6-7 Scene and Summary

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Telling or summarizing important background information can help advance a plot or move a story along. However, as a general rule, major turning points or confrontations in a story should not be summarized.

A scene, on the other hand, slows down the action to a single moment or series of moments. It explores at length a brief period of time and includes action, setting, and dialogue.

​Choosing between scene versus summary is a delicate dance that a writer must balance throughout a story. While a summary has the benefit of covering a relatively significant period of time in a short space, a scene expands on one aspect of the story and deals at length with a brief period of time. In general, confrontations, revelatory moments, and crucial turning points should take place in scenes.

​2.4.1 page 8 Scene or Summary?

​ * Information about a young girl's motivation for leaving home.

* A moment of revelation a young mother has in the middle of a storm.

* An important conversation between a father and son.

* Where the main characters' parents and grandparents grew up.

​2.4.3 page 2 Flashback

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Quite often, information about the past is crucial to an understanding of the present. One way writers relay vital information about the past is through the use of a flashback, a point in a story that shows an event or experience that happened earlier.

By directing time flow from present to past to future, an author can broaden the time span from a single day to an entire lifetime.

It takes some practice to master transitions when shifting the story to the past and catching up to the present again. It's important to start your story in story time, giving your readers a chance to become engaged with your fiction.

​2.4.3 pages 3 - 8

​What makes a memory come back to you all of a sudden?

Sometimes it's a hint of scent, a place, an object, or a song refrain.

Sometimes you're not even sure why, but all of a sudden you are stopped in your tracks by a vivid memory.

In the same way, flashbacks can be ignited by emotions and the senses, triggering an episode from the past that can illuminate a character's background or motivation.

​2.4.3 pages 9-10 Flash Forward

​A flash-foward is a point in a story that reveals something that will happen in the future. While flashbacks are generally used more often than flash-forwards, sometimes taking the action of the story into the future can create a sense of anticipation that encourages the reader to keep reading.

​Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.

—Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude

​Including a flash-forward in a story can give your fiction a strong feeling of the inevitable. Used correctly, it can stimulate your reader's interest while eventually lending deeper meaning to a story.

​2.4.5 Practice

​You'll write a short scene that includes a flashback in which the information about the past is crucial to an understanding of the present. Write the scene in present tense, but make sure the flashback is in the past tense. Use clear grammatical or emotional transitions to ensure you enter and exit the flashback smoothly.

​Write a short scene with a beginning, middle, and end. Your scene should be at least two typed, double-spaced pages.

40 points

​Why is the choice of scene versus summary such a delicate balance?


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