Week 1: Introduction to this course and to fiction writing

Weeks 2 and 3: Create story ideas

Create your ideas

Use genres for story ideas

Use this site's story prompts to activate your imagination

Activity: Create a list of fun story ideas

Write a short story using one of your ideas

Week 4: Revising Your Story

All writers revise their stories

How to study your story

Making your revisions

Activity: Choose a story to revise (or write a new story)

Revise your story

Weeks 5 and 6: Developing Characters

What makes a character interesting?

Activity: Read a short story about an interesting character

Your character must be active

Physical and emotional descriptions

Character wants and needs

Activity: Building a character profile

Write a short story about your character

Weeks 7 and 8: Crafting a Plot

What is a plot?

Read a story with an interesting plot

Conflict in a story

The Plot Diagram

The importance of stakes

Activity: Create an interesting plot

Write a story with an interesting plot

Weeks 9 and 10: Point of View

Who tells the story: First, Second, and Third Person Points of View

Perspective

Read a story with different points of view and perspectives

Why use each type of Point of View

Activity: Create a story idea and define possible points of view

Write a story with one of your Points of View

Rewrite your story with a different Point of View

Revise your stories

The Movie Frozen and the power of Point of View

Weeks 11 and 12: Dialogue

The role of dialogue in stories

Read a story with interesting dialogue

Writing realistic dialogue

Punctuation and format of dialogue

Using dialogue to reveal character's ideas and motivations

Activity: Create an idea for a story with a conflict expressed as dialogue

Write a short story with dialogue between two characters

Weeks 13 and 14: Want, Opponent, Conflicts

The basics of a story - Want, Opponent, Conflicts

Activity: Create a character with a want, an opponent, and a conflict

Write a short story using your character, want, opponent and conflict

Week 15: Revise and Show Your Final Story

The importance of revising your story

Read a story with different versions to see how revisions work

Editing a story

Activity: Write a story of your choosing

Revise and edit your story

Activity: Create an idea for a story with a conflict expressed as dialogue

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Writing Fiction for Upper Elementary Age Students - Semester 1

Activity: Create an idea for a story with a conflict expressed as dialogue