Writing Realistic Fiction
Seventh-Grade
Imagining Stories from Everyday Moments
Writers get their ideas for fiction by
paying close attention to the small
moments in their own lives.
Imagining Stories from Everyday Moments
Ever heard of The Outsiders? The author
got the idea to write this story when she
was fifteen years old; one of her friends
got called a ‘greaser’ and was beaten up
while walking home from school. She
was so angry that she wrote about it
later that day.
Imagining Stories from Everyday Moments
Ever heard of The Fault in Our Stars?
John Green got the idea for his story
from a friend of his who was sick.
Imagining Stories from Everyday Moments
Fiction writers pay close attention to
their lives. You can find significant
stories in the most ordinary
moments of everyday life—these
are called Small Moment stories.
Imagining Stories from Everyday Moments
- concussion
- Great Dane bite
- “Go break a leg” and it happens!
- Horse with colic
- Slipping off a cliff
Small Moment Stories
Think about the strategies you
learned in sixth-grade about writing
small—use those strategies, plus
include times in your life when you
were feeling strong emotions.
Small Moment Stories
Emotions:
Anxiety Fear sadness/sorrow disgust
Anger
hate love excitement guilt
Joy happiness pain/betrayal
annoyed
Small Moment Stories
Practice:
1. Start with action
2. Show background
3. Return to the action
Small Moment Stories
Seventh-grade memories: moving to
another city 500 miles away; leaving
all my friends; had to wait one
month before our house was ready,
so we weren’t near my school.
Small Moment Stories
Think of your own memories of sixthgrade, or even this year. Jot down
several ideas.
Essential Question
How can we create impressive fictional
stories from small moments in our
lives?
Goal: We can all write stories based on
the “small” moments that occur in our
lives.
Strategies for Topics
Think of a person who matters to you, list small
moment stories, choose one, and write the whole story.
Think of first times or last times you did something, list
small moment stories, choose one, write the whole story.
Think of moments that really mattered because you
realized or learned something, list those moments,
choose one, and write the whole story.
Share your Topics
Share your small moment stories with a partner.
Share any fiction story ideas that you have.
Remember, fiction writers find
story ideas in the small moments
of their lives!
Homework
Record as many ideas for fiction
stories as possible, writing them in
your reading/writing notebook.
Imagining Stories You Wish Existed in the World
Fiction writers also create
stories they wish existed in
the world.
Imagining Stories You Wish Existed in the World
As you know, we don’t live in a perfect
world. Being a problem-solver is very
important. For example, if you don’t
have friends, you should work to
make them. If you aren’t happy with
your grades, work to improve them.
Imagining Stories You Wish Existed in the World
So, then, if you want to read about a
person like yourself, write that story!
For example, do you play a sport? Or
are you terrible at sports? You could
write a story about that!
Imagining Stories You Wish Existed in the World
Consider the things that matter most
to you that should be written into a
story that others your age would
want to read.
Consider places where stories could
take place.
Imagining Stories You Wish Existed in the World
Pay attention to small moments in your life that
could become stories.
Consider places where stories could take place.
Read about current events in magazines.
Think about an issue that is important to you,
and create a character who struggles with it.
Imagining Stories You Wish Existed in the World
Add ideas to the page where you began
recording ideas for stories.
If you have an idea that you want to begin
writing about, go for it!
Share together
Share a short synopsis of just one of
your story ideas with the class.
Homework
Choose the story idea that you would
like to write, perhaps the one that is
most meaningful to you, or the story
idea you like best. Choose the one
that you can write about best.
Developing Believable Characters
Just like your parents test-drive a car
before buying it, you are going to take
your character from a possible story out
for a test scene. Place your character in an
everyday scene to see how s/he moves,
thinks, and acts.
Scenes
 Are small moments or mini-stories.
 Include a clear setting that is woven
throughout the moment.
 Have characters who are thinking, talking,
acting, or perhaps doing all of these.
 Contain a character motivation and obstacle
of some sort.
Demonstrate choosing Traits
 Parents are old-fashioned.
 Name: Elizabeth
 Strange
 Wants friends and is friendly
 Tries too hard and comes off weird.
Now you try it!
Choose traits for your character.
Then we’ll try our characters in
an everyday scene.
An Everyday Scene
Elizabeth having lunch at school.
Elizabeth walked into the lunch room,
holding her lunch bag in her hands. Even
though everyone else in the school, it felt like,
bought school lunch, Elizabeth brought her
own, as she was a picky eater.
An Everyday Scene
Third person; what about trying first person?
I stood in the doorway of the lunchroom, half hiding
behind the vending machines, clutching my lunchbag.
There were a few kids who also brought their lunch
from home, but almost everybody else bought from
the cafeteria. I waited for Catherine to come through
the kitchen doors. Then I waved to her as she headed
to our table, the one closest to the janitor’s closet.
Now you try it!
Write your character into an
everyday scene.
Include dialogue, if you like.
Describe what the character is
feeling, but don’t tell, show us!
More Tips to Develop a Character
 Show the setting.
 Describe what the character is thinking
right now.
 Make sure someone says something.
 Show character’s actions, big or small.
 Have your character make a decision.
How To Write Compelling Fiction
 Brainstorm a great story idea (small moments, places, events, issues, struggles, stories you wish
existed).
 Make your characters come alive.
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Generate traits.
Reveal wants and challenges.
Consider character’s attitudes toward self.
Explore character’s relationships with others.
Describe character’s movements, facial expressions, style, quirks.
Test-drive your characters in scenes.
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Make sure character does things, big or small.
Show feelings.
Include dialogue.
Develop the setting.
Try different points of view (first and third person).
Giving Characters Struggles and
Motivations that Mirror Real Life
Often, we don’t want our main character to have any
flaws; however, real life is different.
Think of struggles that your character could experience
and how s/he will react to those situations.
Think about what motivates your main character; jot
down some ideas to help you guide your character
through situations that will cause them to grow.
Giving Character Struggles and
Motivations that Mirror Real Life
Use a T-chart to show how your character reacts:
Internal
External
Nervous
Clutches lunch bag
Happy
Waves to Catherine
Anxious
Half-hides behind vending
machines
“Thirteen and a Half”
Read “Thirteen and a Half” together as a class.
Narrator: Mrs. Booth
Ashley:
Main character:
Ashley’s mother:
Main character’s mother:
Plotting With Tools
• Once fiction writers have brought their character to life,
they use an understanding of the characters’ wants and
struggles to develop a possible plotline.
• Author, Kurt Vonnegut, once shared five common story
arcs that stories follow. One is called “Man in Hole” that
is used over and over again.
• Try to figure out the next one.
Story Arcs
• Story Arcs can help you figure out the rises and falls of
your own plot because they remind you that it’s not just
one event after another.
• Rather, it’s like each scene in the arc is a whole new
movement for your character; that’s what makes readers
want to keep reading, to find out how the character will
get to the other side of the arc.
Story Arcs
Now, work with your task group to create a plotline for
the class story about Elizabeth. She is now walking to
catch the bus at the end of the school day and hears
everyone talking about a big party that she would like to
attend. She would like to be invited, but doesn’t know
how to go about doing that.
Continue with three or four segments of an arc to create
a story for Elizabeth.
Story Arcs
Remember that conflicts need to get worse before
they get better.
Think of your own story, now. Explore ideas and
build multiple story arcs before choosing one that
you will keep as your most compelling story.
Push yourself to create two or three different arcs,
each one an improvement over the one before it.
Narrative Writing Checklist
Now, you will receive the seventh-grade writing
checklist for narrative writing.
The seventh-grade checklist asks you to do some
things a bit differently than you did last year.
Set goals for yourselves based on the checklist.
Good writers can describe a story in one sentence;
create a one-sentence summary of your story.
From 2-D to 3-D
Congratulations! You have summarized your story into
one sentence and will now bring those stories to life!
Bring your story to life by showing
rather than telling and including
evidence in your story’s events.
For example, there is a big difference between a
summary and a scene.
From 2-D to 3-D
Summary:
On Friday afternoon, Miss Rowland’s snake
escaped from the tank in the science lab.
From 2-D to 3-D
Scene:
The breeze rattled the shades as it blew
into our classroom windows. There was soft music
playing in the background. The classroom was still
except for the occasional turning of a page.
Everyone was engrossed in reading. Suddenly, the
door to the classroom swung open with a bang.
Miss Rowland stood in the doorway, her forehead
beaded in sweat, “The snake has escaped!”
From 2-D to 3-D
The first, a summary, simply tells a lot of
information really quickly, in a few words; it sums
up the action.
The second version is storytelling; it’s written in
scene. It shows what is happening, bit by bit.
Storytelling is what you want to make sure you do.
From 2-D to 3-D
Additionally, as an author, you need to leave
evidence everywhere of the story you are
writing.
Going back to our story about Elizabeth,
she is listening to Susie and Becca saying
mean things about Cheryl.
From 2-D to 3-D
As the two girls talked, I felt uncomfortable. I didn’t
know what to do.
This is a fine start; we are allowing the reader to see into
Elizabeth’s thoughts. But to make her state of mind
bounce off the page—to make it 3-D—I must ask
myself, “Where’s the evidence?” I need to write in clues,
leaving evidence that what I am telling the reader is
true. So this is what I will add, I want to show how
Elizabeth is uncomfortable.
From 2-D to 3-D
When I or others feel uncomfortable, we may fidget or our
clothes suddenly don’t feel right.
The room felt really hot all of a sudden. I was
beginning to wish I had worn a lighter shirt. This one
was making me sweat.
That works for the uncomfortable part; let’s add
something that shows her not knowing what to do.
From 2-D to 3-D
As the two girls talked, I felt uncomfortable. I didn’t
know what to do. The room felt really hot all of a
sudden. I was beginning to wish I had worn a lighter
shirt. This one was making me sweat. I looked down
at my phone, checking for text messages that weren’t
there. Then I noticed how dirty it was and made
myself concentrate on slowly cleaning the screen with
the bottom of my shirt.
From 2-D to 3-D
This scene doesn’t just summarize; rather, by
asking “Where’s the evidence?” and adding in
that evidence, story-telling is created!
Make your scenes come alive by including
evidence and showing, not telling.
Look for a scene in your story; summarize it into
one sentence and share it with the person beside
you.
From 2-D to 3-D
Share several summaries in class.
Now, choosing a summary, let’s
discuss adding evidence and creating
a scene that shows rather than tells
us what happened.
From 2-D to 3-D
Remember, place your characters into
action to show a scene rather than tell it.
Begin going through the scenes that you’ve
already created. You don’t have to go back to
the beginning of your story; rather, choose a
scene and rewrite it, continuing in this way
for your entire story.
From 2-D to 3-D
Build tension in your story:
• Increase the obstacles (or the difficulty of the
obstacles).
• Make it challenging for the character to act.
• Create a time crunch.
• Raise the character’s motivation.
• Add danger.
From 2-D to 3-D
Know when to use summary in your stories
and when to create drawn-out scenes.
Sometimes you need short one-sentence
summaries in your stories, to move a
character across space or time quickly.
From 2-D to 3-D
Build tension in your story:
• Increase the obstacles (or the difficulty of the
obstacles).
• Make it challenging for the character to act.
• Create a time crunch.
• Raise the character’s motivation.
• Add danger.
Stepping into the Drama
 The way an author brings a character to
life is to lose him or herself in the story.
 Become the character, experience the
drama occurring, as if it is happening to you.
Look in the story we read last week,
“Thirteen and a Half” for specific places
where you felt the character’s feelings.
Paragraphing to Structure Fiction
Notice how you divide your scenes.
Make sure that dialogue from another
character begins on a new line. See “Thirteen
and a Half.”
Use your paragraphs for organization,
letting them help you separate some things
and connect others.
Studying Published Texts to Write Leads
First, your lead, the beginning of your story,
needs two main ideas: do you remember what
those are?
A good hook (action)
Setting
It is much easier to
revise the lead rather than the rest of your
story, especially if you have several pages.