writing short stories ppt

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Story Elements and Writing a Short Story

Subject: English

Age range: 11-14

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

1 February 2019

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This Power point presentation includes information and practice on all of the basic short story elements and how they contribute to the overall meaning of the story. The scaffolded activities also include links to Pixar short films for the students to analyze. Finally, students write their own story by using the information they have learned and with the help of the graphic organizers provided for them. There are also extension links that will help you to differentiate learning.

There is also a HyperDoc version of the Powerpoint. You can find the link for it in the instructions document in the attachment. You can use this resource with your ESL students as well.

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The short story is a fiction writer’s laboratory: here is where you can experiment with characters, plots, and ideas without the heavy lifting of writing a novel. Learning how to write a short story is essential to mastering the art of storytelling . With far fewer words to worry about, storytellers can make many more mistakes—and strokes of genius!—through experimentation and the fun of fiction writing.

Nonetheless, the art of writing short stories is not easy to master. How do you tell a complete story in so few words? What does a story need to have in order to be successful? Whether you’re struggling with how to write a short story outline, or how to fully develop a character in so few words, this guide is your starting point.

Famous authors like Virginia Woolf, Haruki Murakami, and Agatha Christie have used the short story form to play with ideas before turning those stories into novels. Whether you want to master the elements of fiction, experiment with novel ideas, or simply have fun with storytelling, here’s everything you need on how to write a short story step by step.

The Core Elements of a Short Story

There’s no secret formula to writing a short story. However, a good short story will have most or all of the following elements:

• A protagonist with a certain desire or need. It is essential for the protagonist to want something they don’t have, otherwise they will not drive the story forward.
• A clear dilemma. We don’t need much backstory to see how the dilemma started; we’re primarily concerned with how the protagonist resolves it.
• A decision. What does the protagonist do to resolve their dilemma?
• A climax. In Freytag’s Pyramid , the climax of a story is when the tension reaches its peak, and the reader discovers the outcome of the protagonist’s decision(s).
• An outcome. How does the climax change the protagonist? Are they a different person? Do they have a different philosophy or outlook on life?

Of course, short stories also utilize the elements of fiction , such as a setting , plot , and point of view . It helps to study these elements and to understand their intricacies. But, when it comes to laying down the skeleton of a short story, the above elements are what you need to get started.

Note: a short story rarely, if ever, has subplots. The focus should be entirely on a single, central storyline. Subplots will either pull focus away from the main story, or else push the story into the territory of novellas and novels.

The shorter the story is, the fewer of these elements are essentials. If you’re interested in writing short-short stories, check out our guide on how to write flash fiction .

How to Write a Short Story Outline

Some writers are “pantsers”—they “write by the seat of their pants,” making things up on the go with little more than an idea for a story. Other writers are “plotters,” meaning they decide the story’s structure in advance of writing it.

You don’t need a short story outline to write a good short story. But, if you’d like to give yourself some scaffolding before putting words on the page, this article answers the question of how to write a short story outline:

https://writers.com/how-to-write-a-story-outline

How to Write a Short Story Step by Step

There are many ways to approach the short story craft, but this method is tried-and-tested for writers of all levels. Here’s how to write a short story step by step.

1. Start With an Idea

Often, generating an idea is the hardest part. You want to write, but what will you write about?

What’s more, it’s easy to start coming up with ideas and then dismissing them. You want to tell an authentic, original story, but everything you come up with has already been written, it seems.

Here are a few tips:

• Originality presents itself in your storytelling, not in your ideas. For example, the premise of both Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Ostrovsky’s The Snow Maiden are very similar: two men and two women, in intertwining love triangles, sort out their feelings for each other amidst mischievous forest spirits, love potions, and friendship drama. The way each story is written makes them very distinct from one another, to the point where, unless it’s pointed out to you, you might not even notice the similarities.
• An idea is not a final draft. You will find that exploring the possibilities of your story will generate something far different than the idea you started out with. This is a good thing—it means you made the story your own!
• Experiment with genres and tropes. Even if you want to write literary fiction , pay attention to the narrative structures that drive genre stories, and practice your storytelling using those structures. Again, you will naturally make the story your own simply by playing with ideas.

If you’re struggling simply to find ideas, try out this prompt generator , or pull prompts from this Twitter .

2. Outline, OR Conceive Your Characters

If you plan to outline, do so once you’ve generated an idea. You can learn about how to write a short story outline earlier in this article.

If you don’t plan to outline, you should at least start with a character or characters. Certainly, you need a protagonist, but you should also think about any characters that aid or inhibit your protagonist’s journey.

When thinking about character development, ask the following questions:

• What is my character’s background? Where do they come from, how did they get here, where do they want to be?
• What does your character desire the most? This can be both material or conceptual, like “fitting in” or “being loved.”
• What is your character’s fatal flaw? In other words, what limitation prevents the protagonist from achieving their desire? Often, this flaw is a blind spot that directly counters their desire. For example, self hatred stands in the way of a protagonist searching for love.
• How does your character think and speak? Think of examples, both fictional and in the real world, who might resemble your character.

In short stories, there are rarely more characters than a protagonist, an antagonist (if relevant), and a small group of supporting characters. The more characters you include, the longer your story will be. Focus on making only one or two characters complex: it is absolutely okay to have the rest of the cast be flat characters that move the story along.

Learn more about character development here:

https://writers.com/character-development-definition

3. Write Scenes Around Conflict

Once you have an outline or some characters, start building scenes around conflict. Every part of your story, including the opening sentence, should in some way relate to the protagonist’s conflict.

Conflict is the lifeblood of storytelling: without it, the reader doesn’t have a clear reason to keep reading. Loveable characters are not enough, as the story has to give the reader something to root for.

Take, for example, Edgar Allan Poe’s classic short story The Cask of Amontillado . We start at the conflict: the narrator has been slighted by Fortunato, and plans to exact revenge. Every scene in the story builds tension and follows the protagonist as he exacts this revenge.

In your story, start writing scenes around conflict, and make sure each paragraph and piece of dialogue relates, in some way, to your protagonist’s unmet desires.

4. Write Your First Draft

The scenes you build around conflict will eventually be stitched into a complete story. Make sure as the story progresses that each scene heightens the story’s tension, and that this tension remains unbroken until the climax resolves whether or not your protagonist meets their desires.

Don’t stress too hard on writing a perfect story. Rather, take Anne Lamott’s advice, and “write a shitty first draft.” The goal is not to pen a complete story at first draft; rather, it’s to set ideas down on paper. You are simply, as Shannon Hale suggests, “shoveling sand into a box so that later [you] can build castles.”

5. Step Away, Breathe, Revise

Whenever Stephen King finishes a novel, he puts it in a drawer and doesn’t think about it for 6 weeks. With short stories, you probably don’t need to take as long of a break. But, the idea itself is true: when you’ve finished your first draft, set it aside for a while. Let yourself come back to the story with fresh eyes, so that you can confidently revise, revise, revise .

In revision, you want to make sure each word has an essential place in the story, that each scene ramps up tension, and that each character is clearly defined. The culmination of these elements allows a story to explore complex themes and ideas, giving the reader something to think about after the story has ended.

6. Compare Against Our Short Story Checklist

Does your story have everything it needs to succeed? Compare it against this short story checklist, as written by our instructor Rosemary Tantra Bensko.

Below is a collection of practical short story writing tips by Writers.com instructor Rosemary Tantra Bensko . Each paragraph is its own checklist item: a core element of short story writing advice to follow unless you have clear reasons to the contrary. We hope it’s a helpful resource in your own writing.

Update 9/1/2020: We’ve now made a summary of Rosemary’s short story checklist available as a PDF download . Enjoy!

Click to download

How to Write a Short Story: Length and Setting

Your short story is 1000 to 7500 words in length.

The story takes place in one time period, not spread out or with gaps other than to drive someplace, sleep, etc. If there are those gaps, there is a space between the paragraphs, the new paragraph beginning flush left, to indicate a new scene.

Each scene takes place in one location, or in continual transit, such as driving a truck or flying in a plane.

How to Write a Short Story: Point of View

Unless it’s a very lengthy Romance story, in which there may be two Point of View (POV) characters, there is one POV character. If we are told what any character secretly thinks, it will only be the POV character. The degree to which we are privy to the unexpressed thoughts, memories and hopes of the POV character remains consistent throughout the story.

You avoid head-hopping by only having one POV character per scene, even in a Romance. You avoid straying into even brief moments of telling us what other characters think other than the POV character. You use words like “apparently,” “obviously,” or “supposedly” to suggest how non-POV-characters think rather than stating it.

How to Write a Short Story: Protagonist, Antagonist, Motivation

Your short story has one clear protagonist who is usually the character changing most.

Your story has a clear antagonist, who generally makes the protagonist change by thwarting his goals.

(Possible exception to the two short story writing tips above: In some types of Mystery and Action stories, particularly in a series, etc., the protagonist doesn’t necessarily grow personally, but instead his change relates to understanding the antagonist enough to arrest or kill him.)

The protagonist changes with an Arc arising out of how he is stuck in his Flaw at the beginning of the story, which makes the reader bond with him as a human, and feel the pain of his problems he causes himself. (Or if it’s the non-personal growth type plot: he’s presented at the beginning of the story with a high-stakes problem that requires him to prevent or punish a crime.)

The protagonist usually is shown to Want something, because that’s what people normally do, defining their personalities and behavior patterns, pushing them onward from day to day. This may be obvious from the beginning of the story, though it may not become heightened until the Inciting Incident , which happens near the beginning of Act 1. The Want is usually something the reader sort of wants the character to succeed in, while at the same time, knows the Want is not in his authentic best interests. This mixed feeling in the reader creates tension.

The protagonist is usually shown to Need something valid and beneficial, but at first, he doesn’t recognize it, admit it, honor it, integrate it with his Want, or let the Want go so he can achieve the Need instead. Ideally, the Want and Need can be combined in a satisfying way toward the end for the sake of continuity of forward momentum of victoriously achieving the goals set out from the beginning. It’s the encounters with the antagonist that forcibly teach the protagonist to prioritize his Needs correctly and overcome his Flaw so he can defeat the obstacles put in his path.

The protagonist in a personal growth plot needs to change his Flaw/Want but like most people, doesn’t automatically do that when faced with the problem. He tries the easy way, which doesn’t work. Only when the Crisis takes him to a low point does he boldly change enough to become victorious over himself and the external situation. What he learns becomes the Theme.

Each scene shows its main character’s goal at its beginning, which aligns in a significant way with the protagonist’s overall goal for the story. The scene has a “charge,” showing either progress toward the goal or regression away from the goal by the ending. Most scenes end with a negative charge, because a story is about not obtaining one’s goals easily, until the end, in which the scene/s end with a positive charge.

The protagonist’s goal of the story becomes triggered until the Inciting Incident near the beginning, when something happens to shake up his life. This is the only major thing in the story that is allowed to be a random event that occurs to him.

How to Write a Short Story: Characters

Your characters speak differently from one another, and their dialogue suggests subtext, what they are really thinking but not saying: subtle passive-aggressive jibes, their underlying emotions, etc.

Your characters are not illustrative of ideas and beliefs you are pushing for, but come across as real people.

How to Write a Short Story: Prose

Your language is succinct, fresh and exciting, specific, colorful, avoiding clichés and platitudes. Sentence structures vary. In Genre stories, the language is simple, the symbolism is direct, and words are well-known, and sentences are relatively short. In Literary stories, you are freer to use more sophisticated ideas, words, sentence structures and underlying metaphors and implied motifs.

How to Write a Short Story: Story Structure

Your plot elements occur in the proper places according to classical Act Structure so the reader feels he has vicariously gone through a harrowing trial with the protagonist and won, raising his sense of hope and possibility. Literary short stories may be more subtle, with lower stakes, experimenting beyond classical structures like the Hero’s Journey. They can be more like vignettes sometimes, or even slice-of-life, though these types are hard to place in publications.

In Genre stories, all the questions are answered, threads are tied up, problems are solved, though the results of carnage may be spread over the landscape. In Literary short stories, you are free to explore uncertainty, ambiguity, and inchoate, realistic endings that suggest multiple interpretations, and unresolved issues.

Some Literary stories may be nonrealistic, such as with Surrealism, Absurdism, New Wave Fabulism, Weird and Magical Realism . If this is what you write, they still need their own internal logic and they should not be bewildering as to the what the reader is meant to experience, whether it’s a nuanced, unnameable mood or a trip into the subconscious.

Literary stories may also go beyond any label other than Experimental. For example, a story could be a list of To Do items on a paper held by a magnet to a refrigerator for the housemate to read. The person writing the list may grow more passive-aggressive and manipulative as the list grows, and we learn about the relationship between the housemates through the implied threats and cajoling.

How to Write a Short Story: Capturing Reader Interest

Your short story is suspenseful, meaning readers hope the protagonist will achieve his best goal, his Need, by the Climax battle against the antagonist.

Your story entertains. This is especially necessary for Genre short stories.

The story captivates readers at the very beginning with a Hook, which can be a puzzling mystery to solve, an amazing character’s or narrator’s Voice, an astounding location, humor, a startling image, or a world the reader wants to become immersed in.

Expository prose (telling, like an essay) takes up very, very little space in your short story, and it does not appear near the beginning. The story is in Narrative format instead, in which one action follows the next. You’ve removed every unnecessary instance of Expository prose and replaced it with showing Narrative. Distancing words like “used to,” “he would often,” “over the years, he,” “each morning, he” indicate that you are reporting on a lengthy time period, summing it up, rather than sticking to Narrative format, in which immediacy makes the story engaging.

You’ve earned the right to include Expository Backstory by making the reader yearn for knowing what happened in the past to solve a mystery. This can’t possibly happen at the beginning, obviously. Expository Backstory does not take place in the first pages of your story.

Your reader cares what happens and there are high stakes (especially important in Genre stories). Your reader worries until the end, when the protagonist survives, succeeds in his quest to help the community, gets the girl, solves or prevents the crime, achieves new scientific developments, takes over rule of his realm, etc.

Every sentence is compelling enough to urge the reader to read the next one—because he really, really wants to—instead of doing something else he could be doing. Your story is not going to be assigned to people to analyze in school like the ones you studied, so you have found a way from the beginning to intrigue strangers to want to spend their time with your words.

Where to Read and Submit Short Stories

Whether you’re looking for inspiration or want to publish your own stories, you’ll find great literary journals for writers of all backgrounds at this article:

https://writers.com/short-story-submissions

Learn How to Write a Short Story at Writers.com

The short story takes an hour to learn and a lifetime to master. Learn how to write a short story with Writers.com. Our upcoming fiction courses will give you the ropes to tell authentic, original short stories that captivate and entrance your readers.

Rosemary – Is there any chance you could add a little something to your checklist? I’d love to know the best places to submit our short stories for publication. Thanks so much.

Hi, Kim Hanson,

Some good places to find publications specific to your story are NewPages, Poets and Writers, Duotrope, and The Submission Grinder.

“ In Genre stories, all the questions are answered, threads are tied up, problems are solved, though the results of carnage may be spread over the landscape.”

Not just no but NO.

See for example the work of MacArthur Fellow Kelly Link.

[…] How to Write a Short Story: The Short Story Checklist […]

Thank you for these directions and tips. It’s very encouraging to someone like me, just NOW taking up writing.

[…] Writers.com. A great intro to writing. https://writers.com/how-to-write-a-short-story […]

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How to Write a Short Story - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

How to Write a Short Story

Starts close to conclusion and ... seton hill. prewriting exercises ... seton hill. http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative/shortstory/index.html#resolution ... – powerpoint ppt presentation.

• By Shawn Ross
• Gets off to a fast start
• Has a limited number of characters and scenes
• Starts close to conclusion and covers a brief period in time
• Usually deals with only one problem
• Uses limited detail, only what is necessary for understanding the situation
• Make lists- sketch out characters, plot, emotional tone without slowing down to organize your ideas into sentences or paragraphs (brainstorm).
• Develop a list of events- Think about your own personal experiences. Good literature is universal.
• The first paragraph of a written work is without question the most important because it draws the reader into the story. Use emotional or descriptive language to capture the readers attention and draw them into the story.
• List characters, and characteristics of each (for example name, ethnicity, appearance, residence, etc.)
• Also, make sure the dialogue between characters is meaningful. That will save time and cut out the fluff.
• Incorporate the setting of the story with characterization and plot.
• Be descriptive use two or more senses to describe the setting.
• Kennedy, Kathy. Short Story 10 Tips for Novice Creative Writers. Seton Hill. http//jerz.setonhil l.edu/writing/creative/shortstory/index.htmlresol ution
• Short Story Group. lthttp//www.shortstorygroup.com /storytips.htmgt
• The plot is the action or storyline. Its the meat and potatoes of the story.
• Story Elements
• Explosion or Hook
• A gripping even that grabs reader attention
• Conflict and tension are correlated in that tension is a result of conflict.
• Tension- created by opposition between the character or characters and internal or external forces or conditions.
• Just as in a movie, the most important event of the story should feature a dramatic turning point that climaxes in an event that engages the reader.
• The resolution is basically the solution to the aforementioned conflict. In the resolution, you should document the changes in the character or characters as your story winds to a conclusion.
• Dont waste time with characters or events that arent pertinent to your theme. A short story is just that-short. Be sure to stay on focus and stick with your theme. A short story is meant to cover a very brief time span.

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Teaching Plot Structure through Short Stories

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
• Related Resources

There's more to plot than identifying the series of events in a story. After viewing a PowerPoint presentation on plot structure, students identify the significant events that shape the structure of a familiar fairy tale, "Jack and the Beanstalk," using an online graphic organizer. Students then read short stories as a whole class, in small groups, and, finally, individually, analyzing the plot of three different short stories using an online graphic organizer to diagram the structures.

Featured Resources

Elements of Plot PowerPoint Presentation : This PowerPoint presentation introduces the basic elements of plot structure.

Plot Diagram Interactive : Students can use this open-ended online tool to graph the plot of any story.

From Theory to Practice

As Carol Jago explains, "It's easy to ‘teach' literary terminology and devise quizzes on the terms, but to make the language of literature useful to readers, students need to practice using academic vocabulary in ways that deepen their understanding of how stories work" (51). Emphasizing the connection between reading and writing, this lesson combines collaborative, small-group, and individual learning activities using literature circles and group investigations, as suggested by Harvey Daniels and Marilyn Bizar, to give students the opportunity to apply the literary terminology related to plot structures to short stories that they read together and individually.

Further Reading

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
• 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
• 11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
• 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials and Technology

• Copies of short stories either on paper or online
• Computers for students with Internet access
• Projector for PowerPoint, and first uses of Plot Diagram interactive
• Reflective Journal Instructions
• Reader's Guide to Understanding Plot Development
• Writing Rubric

Preparation

• Arrange for computers and projector.
• Preview the PowerPoint presentation and download a copy to your machine if desired to share with your class.
• Make copies or overhead transparencies of the Reader's Guide to Understanding Plot Development , the Reflective Journal Instructions , and the Writing Rubric .
• Choose short stories for your students. This lesson plan uses "The Flowers" by Alice Walker and "Marigolds" by Eugenia Collier as examples; however, any stories that you're reading will work for this lesson plan. If desired, groups in Session Two can all read different short stories, or they can all read the same story.
• Test the Plot Diagram interactive and "Jack and the Beanstalk" Plot Diagram on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tools and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page.

Student Objectives

Students will

• review the characteristics of plot.
• work in whole class, cooperative groups, and individually to read short stories.
• demonstrate an understanding of plot structure by analyzing a several short stories.
• use Plot Diagram interactive as prewriting activity for essay tracing plot structure in a short story.

Session One

• Introduce students to plot structure, using the Elements of Plot PowerPoint Presentation (see notes on the slides).
• View together the "Jack and the Beanstalk" Plot Diagram . Record each of the elements using the Plot Diaram Interactive Tool . While this may seem elementary, fairy tales are frequently used at the secondary level to help students more easily see plot structure. Students can also work in small groups in the computer lab. If Internet access is limited, the teacher can read aloud the tale, students can brainstorm events, and the class can diagram the plot on the board or on paper.
• As a class, read "The Flowers" by Alice Walker (or short story of choice).
• Ask students to brainstorm the significant events in the story. As students make suggestions, write the events on the board.
• When students finish making suggestions, review the list. Ask students to look for any items which have been omitted or items which should be combined.
• Discuss the difference between significant events and the other events in the story. Remind students of the information from the Elements of Plot PowerPoint Presentation , particularly the connections between the plot and the conflict in the story.
• Display the Reader's Guide to Understanding Plot Development and work as a group to structure the events into the specific plot structures.
• As a class, arrange the events of the plot, using the Plot Diagram student interactive, and discussing the literary terms of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

Session Two

• Review the literary terms from the previous session, including plot, exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
• Answer any questions that students have regarding the elements.
• Divide students into groups of three each. In small groups ask students to read "Marigolds" by Eugenia Collier.
• When groups have finished exploring the story, ask them to work through the story, identifying the significant events using the Reader's Guide to Understanding Plot Development .
• Next, have groups arrange the significant events as they relate to the plot structures of exposition and so forth by completing the Plot Diagram student interactive.
• Ask groups to print the plot diagram and share with class.
• Compare the diagrams completed by the groups, looking for similarities and differences. Ask students to explain the decisions that they made as they completed the diagram.
• If there are significant differences among groups' diagrams, ask students to account for the differences-are the differences supportable? Can the story have more than one climax, depending upon the reader's perspective?
• For homework or in the time remaining, ask students to assess and reflect upon their group work by completing a reflective journal entry in response to the Reflective Journal Instructions .

Session Three

• Ask students to refer to their Reflective Journal responses and share any observations or questions that they recorded as they reflected on their group exploration.
• Individually, ask students to each choose and read a short story.
• After they finish reading, ask students to work through the story, identifying the significant events using the Reader's Guide to Understanding Plot Development .
• Next, have students arrange the significant events of the plot structures by completing the Plot Diagram student interactive.
• Students print plot diagram, share with class, and post on bulletin boards.
• Again, compare the diagrams completed by the groups, looking for similarities and differences.
• Look for plots that show significant differences. For instance, some stories have a long rising action and then a very short, fast falling action after the climax. Other plots may follow Aristotle's unified structure with rising and falling actions of similar length.
• Discuss the differences among the structures, asking students to consider how the differences in the structure relate to the kind of story and its theme.

Session Four

• Using the printouts from the Plot Diagram student interactive created in the previous session, ask students to write a paper that analyzes the plot of the story that they chose and read.
• Share the Writing Rubric with students and discuss the requirements for the paper.
• Discuss the difference between a paper that analyzes plot and one that summarizes the story. The plot is composed of the cause-and-effect events that explain why the story happens. Summary includes all the events without any attention to how the story events lead to the story's conclusion or support the story's theme.
• If students need reinforcement of the difference, remind students that plot focuses on the significant events in the story.
• During the remainder of the session, students can begin work on their essays, sharing with peers as desired. Circulate among students providing support as they work.
• Collect assignments at the end of the session, or if desired, allow students additional time to work on the papers and collect them during a later session.

Student Assessment / Reflections

Review the reflective journal entries that students write in response to the Reflective Journal Instructions to gauge their understanding of plot structures during Session Two. Ideally, review these entries before Session Three so that you can identify any concepts that need more exploration. Read both for specific details that indicate that students understand and can define the literary terms covered in the first session and for students’ tone as an indication of their confidence in their knowledge. Assess the final essay students compose using the Writing Rubric . Focus your attention on evidence that students understand the difference between summarizing the story and its analyzing plot. Additionally ensure that students understand the key literary terms introduced during the lesson (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution).

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The Plot Diagram is an organizational tool focusing on a pyramid or triangular shape, which is used to map the events in a story. This mapping of plot structure allows readers and writers to visualize the key features of stories.

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Author Interviews

Police raided george pelecanos' home. 15 years later, he's ready to write about it.

Andrew Limbong

Writer George Pelecanos reads The Washington Post every morning in his home. Keren Carrión/NPR hide caption

Writer George Pelecanos reads The Washington Post every morning in his home.

It was August 2009 when the police raided writer George Pelecanos' home in Silver Spring, Md., just outside of Washington, D.C., with a no-knock warrant.

He was performing his daily ritual of sitting on the couch reading The Washington Post when he saw cars enter the driveway. "I saw these guys wearing black and holding automatic rifles and battering rams," he said in an interview at his home. The police broke down the door overlooking the driveway, and the basement door, too. Pelecanos said they put him on the floor and zip tied his hands.

The police were looking for his then 18-year-old son, Nick. The younger Pelecanos was a part of the robbery of a weed dealer, with a gun involved. So, the cops executed the no-knock warrant looking for evidence of guns or drugs.

After not finding anything, George Pelecanos said the officers started needling him about his liquor cabinet, his watch, his home. "One of the SWAT guys was looking at my books, and he goes 'maybe you'll write about this someday.' And he laughed," Pelecanos said. "And right then I knew that I would write about it. He challenged me."

No knock warrants have been banned in multiple states

Pelecanos is known for his gritty, realistic crime stories. For television, he co-created The Deuce , about the burgeoning porn industry in 1970s New York City, and We Own This City , the mini-series detailing a real-life corrupt police ring in Baltimore. As an author, he's known for his deep catalog of stories set in the streets of Washington, D.C.

His new short story collection is titled Owning Up . And it features characters grappling with events from the past that, with time, fester into something else entirely. There's a story about two guys who knew each other in jail, crossing paths years later. Another has a woman digging into her own family history and learning about the 1919 Washington, D.C. race riots.

Many of Pelecanos' crime fiction book are set in Washington, D.C. Keren Carrión/NPR hide caption

Many of Pelecanos' crime fiction book are set in Washington, D.C.

But Pelecanos said he wanted to write about the August 2009 incident because he wanted to further show the effects of no-knock raids. The Montgomery County police department confirmed they executed the warrant but they didn't immediately provide any additional details. Pelecanos did share a copy of the warrant, which states: "You may serve this warrant as an exception to the knock and announce requirement."

The practice of issuing no-knock warrants has been under increased scrutiny since the police killings of Breonna Taylor in Louisville in 2020, and Amir Locke in Minneapolis in 2022. They're banned in Oregon, Virginia, Florida and Tennessee.

"They don't accomplish anything except mayhem and violence," Pelecanos said.

The story "The No-Knock" starts with a journalist named Joe Caruso drinking his coffee and reading the morning paper when the vehicles pull up. The same beats follow — the guns, the zip ties, the pinning down on the floor. Pelecanos writes like he remembers every sensation from that night, because, he said, he does.

It deviates further into fiction from there. Caruso wants to write about it, but he can't. He's too close. He starts drinking heavily, instead. Pelecanos, on the other hand, knew he could write about it, easily. But he waited for over a decade on purpose. He wanted his son's permission, first.

"I wanted my son to grow up," he said. "And so that I could say to you today – he's fine."

Owning Up to the past

"He allowed time for me to grow as a man, and develop myself as a responsible person," said Nick Pelecanos in an interview. He now works in the film industry as a director and assistant director. He got his start working on jobs his dad helped him get. So he's attuned to his father's storytelling style — how he favors details and facts over sepia-toned nostalgia.

"When he writes something, you know that it's technically correct," he said. "And has come to his objective, as non-biased as possible opinion."

In Owning Up , Pelecanos writes about a non-knock incident inspired by real events. Keren Carrión/NPR hide caption

In Owning Up , Pelecanos writes about a non-knock incident inspired by real events.

As personal as "The No-Knock" is, Pelecanos calls the title story in the collection his most autobiographical. It's about a kid in the 70s named Nikos who works a job where he gets in with a bad crowd, and eventually gets talked into breaking into a guy's house.

"It's just the way my life was in that era and on this side of Montgomery County," Pelecanos said. "It was about muscle cars, playing pickup basketball, drinking beer, getting high."

Listening to Pelecanos talk about this story, it sounds familiar. You get the sense that history does repeat itself. That the same lessons get taught again and again. But that's O.K., because some lessons bear repeating.

"I got in trouble occasionally," he said. "But I always came home to the warmth of my family, you know? That's all you need."

Meghan Collins Sullivan edited this story for radio and the web.

Writing a Short Story

Jul 27, 2014

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Writing a Short Story. Essential Question: How can a strategic writer engage the reader through plot and character development. Define. Plot Idea: a sentence or two, which includes the situation, character ( s ), and a complication for a short story.

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Writing a Short Story Essential Question: How can a strategic writer engage the reader through plot and character development.

Define • Plot Idea: • a sentence or two, which includes the situation, character (s), and a complication for a short story. • A plot idea does not solve the problem or complication; it just articulates it for the writer to develop.

Examples of plot ideas • Two families from Verona are bitter enemies. The daughter of one family falls in love with the son of the other family. • A poor girl dreams of escaping her life as a maid for her stepmother and stepsisters. Her stepmother does not allow her to attend the prince’s ball where he will choose his bride.

Recall plots to the following that we have read this year. • The Drummer Boy of Shiloh • The drummer boy will lead the troops into battle tomorrow. He can’t sleep because he is afraid. • Charles • Charles misbehaves at school in hopes to get thrown out. He lies to his parents by acting like another boy is the trouble maker. • Thank You M’am • A lady is robbed, by a teenager on the street. She defends herself and decides to take matters in her own hands.

Break into 3 groups.Apply by writing a plot idea for each of the following tales on a sheet of paper: • Goldilocks and the Three Bears • Little Red Riding Hood • The Three Little Pigs

Analyze the plot ideas by answering these questions to choose the most accurate one. • Does each plot idea for this story include only the situation, character, and complication? • How are the plot ideas different? • Do any of the plot ideas tell too much? • Do any of the plot ideas tell too little? • Groups will report their finding to the entire class.

Developing your own Plot IdeasIn 2 minutes write down your own plot idea for each picture

Plot Pattern #1 • The main character wants something. He sets out to get it, encountering obstacles along the way. He overcomes the obstacles and gets what he wants. • Questions to answer: What does he want and why? What are the obstacles and how does he overcome them? How does he feel when finally gets what he wants?

Plot Pattern #2 • The main character wants something. She overcomes all obstacles and gets what she wants. Then, she loses it. • Questions to answer: • What does she want and why? • What are the obstacles and how does she overcome them? • How does she feel when she finally gets what she wants? • How does she lose what she gained? • How does she feel when she loses it?

Plot Pattern #3 • The main character wants something. He overcomes all of the obstacles and gets what he wants. Then he realizes that what he wanted was not so wonderful after all. • Questions to answer: • What does he want and why? • What are the obstacles and how does he overcome them? • How does he feel when he finally gets what he wants? • How does he discover that it is not so wonderful? • How does he feel in the end?

Plot Pattern #4 • The main character wants something. She tries to overcome all the obstacles, but she can’t get what she wants. In the end, she does not care because she has gained something better. • Questions to answer: • What does she want and why? • What are the obstacles and why does she not overcome them? • How does she feel when she does not get what she wants and what does she gain? • How does she realize that what was gained was better than what she wanted?

Plot Pattern #5 • The main character has something. He is motivated to give it up for the sake of someone else. • Questions to Answer: • What does he have and how does he get it? • For whom will he make a sacrifice and why? • How does he make the sacrifice? • How does the story end for the other character?

Plot Pattern #6 • The main character is wronged by someone. The he gets even. • Questions to Answer: • How is the main character wronged, by whom, and why? • How does he get even? • How does the story end for both characters?

Plot Pattern #7 • The main character is faced with a mystery or puzzle. The character solves the mystery or puzzle. • Questions to Answers: • What is the mystery? • How does the character find out about the mystery? • What does the character do to solve the mystery? • How does the story end for the character?

Previous Short StoriesWhat are their plot patterns? • The Drummer Boy of Shiloh • Charles • Cub Pilot on the Mississippi • Up the Slide • Thank You M’am

Evaluate Short Stories in Groups of 3-4 • “Drummer Boy of Shiloh,” “Charles,” “Cub Pilot on the Mississippi,” “Up the Slide,” and “Thank You Ma’m” • List all scenes. • List Character names and decide if they have any significance to the story. • Analyze how they develop the characters. Does the author use dialogue, actions, thoughts, or does the author directly state traits.

What the character’s physical traits? • approximate age • eye color • hair color and style • type of body or build • skin tone • shape of face • clothing

What the character’s personality traits? • outgoing or shy? • deep thinker or impulsive? • quiet or talkative • Honest or not trust-worthy? • sanguine or serious? • disciplined or lazy?

Developing Character Traits • Direct Characterization • The writer directly states or describes the character’s traits or characteristics. • Indirect Characterization • The writer reveals a character’s personality through the character’s dialog, or through his or her thoughts or actions.

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