Task 5: Your first FICTION task

A student trying out their skills in a writing workshop at this summer's wordvoodoo 'residential'

For the next few tasks, we are going to take a break from poetry, and see what you can do instead with PROSE FICTION.

PROSE = any writing which is not a poem
FICTION = writing where the content is 'made up' or imagined (as opposed to Non Fiction, which is 'real life' or factual)

As usual, I will give you some guidelines - and some targets to aim for (see below). BUT the main purpose of Task 5 will be for us to see what you can do already.

So Task 5 is, if you like, a chance for you to show off what a GREAT story writer you are. Once we have seen what you are all good at - and what you all need to improve - I will use the next tasks to focus on some specific techniques.

In the meantime, here are some things you should bear in mind when writing your story for Task 5:

• You do not HAVE to start a story by 'setting the scene' (e.g. Once upon a time... OR There once lived... etc.). Some of the BEST stories throw us IMMEDIATELY into the action - perhaps in the middle of an event or a conversation.
• The best stories make us WANT to keep reading. They build up some TENSION and SUSPENSE so we are desperate to find out what happens next, and, above all, what is going to happen in the end. So keep us guessing a bit?
  
• Although stories are NOT poetry, that doesn't mean they shouldn't be 'poetic'. We all use techniques like metaphors, similes, alliteration etc. in our poems - but the best stories use these techniques too.
• People have been writing stories for centuries - for millennia even. So the challenge for all modern storywriters like you and me is still to manage to be different. Whether it is in WHAT happens or HOW you describe it, how will you make sure you are ORIGINAL?
• Finally, just like poems, the best stories are the end result of lots of drafts. They are the final, finished product: the BEST you can do, with no errors (careless or otherwise) and showing yourself off to the max!

Now this is a lot to remember:

• An amazing OPENING
• TENSION and SUSPENSE
• POETIC language (see above)
  
• ORIGINALITY
• a 'POLISHED' final draft

Let's just see what you can do. :)

Your story should be between 200 and 300 words (this is just a guide; PLEASE don't count each word as you go!)

Please choose from ONE of the following titles:

1. A Wrong Turn
2. An Unusual Visitor
3. A Waiting Game
4. A Strange Adventure

Good luck!

Your deadline is 6pm on Sunday 20th September. However, especially because some of you will be celebrating EID on Sunday, do NOT leave this task until the last minute!