Writing Stories - PRAK 1 Winter 2023
Introduction and tips (Writing stories)
· ANSWER THE QUESTION
· PLAN your story.
· REVISE your story to correct mistakes.
· Give your story a title.
· Make sure you have at least 4 paragraphs.
· Paragraph 1 – background information.
· Paragraphs 2 and 3 the main part of the story.
· Paragraph 4 – EITHER the climax or key moment of the story OR what
happened after the climax.
· Don't change the words you are given at all.
· Read the words you are given carefully. Sometimes you can choose
whether to start or finish with the words. At other times you have no choice.
· Use past continuous for background information.
For example – It was raining heavily as we left the house….

·

 Use past perfect before the main events of the story.
 but Anne had kindly lent me her umbrella.

· Use simple past for the main events. There wasn't a single person on the street.
· Try to include some direct speech.

·

 You can use contraction (haven't, couldn't etc).
 But a story should not be as informal as an email to a friend, for example.

Useful phrases (Writing stories)
Time phrases:
· It all began
· Shortly afterwards
· Meanwhile
· Not long afterwards
· Some time later
· Later that day
· A little later
· Finally
· In the end
· Eventually
Phrases for dramatic effect:
· Suddenly
· All of a sudden
· Without warning
· Out of the blue
· Just at that moment
· Quite unexpectedly
· As if from nowhere
Direct speech:
· “…..”, said Fred
· “…..”, shouted Fred
· “…..”, screamed Fred
· “…..”, whispered Fred
· “…..”, announced Fred.
· ”…..”, thought Fred
· “…..”, cried Fred
· “…..”, promised Fred
Concluding stories:
· When it was all over
· Looking back now
· In retrospect
· In the end
· After all that had happened

Writing stories – This is an example, your sentence will be given to you on the 15^th/16^th
November 2023.

1. Your teacher has asked you to write a story for a student magazine.
The story must begin with the following words.

Simon opened the door and knew immediately he had made a mistake.

Write your story in approximately 300 words for in an appropriate style.