The 14-Day
Story-building Intensive

Day Eight

Welcome to Day 8
of the 14-Day Story-Building Intensive.

Topic 4:
7 Steps to Storytelling

‘The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better.’ - Stephen King

Well done! You have reached the second week of the 14-Day Story-Building Intensive.

Now it’s time to put your newfound knowledge and skills to the test by writing a short story.

As a starting point for your story, you can use any of the characters or plots that you created during the previous week. If you don’t feel comfortable with Story idea 1 or 2, you can also start with a fresh idea today. It is entirely up to you.

Lesson for the Day

Step 1: Coming Up with a Title

Titles are vital. They are the first entry point for the reader into your story. They may be the main reason a reader decides to read your story, or not.

Consider the following short story titles: ‘Pigeon Fancier’, ‘The Dress That Fed the Suit’, ‘The Bath’, ‘Troll Bridge’ and ‘A Beautiful Partnership’. Titles have an important and somewhat paradoxical function when it comes to storytelling. While they tell us something about the story, they hold back more than they give away. Enigmatic and intriguing, they excite our curiosity just enough to keep us reading so that we can find out what the title is about.

You may find that you are only able to come up with a good title while you’re writing your story, or even after you’ve finished it. But, for now, to start exercising your writing muscles and focusing your creativity, experiment with writing a title first.

Here are some tips to get you started:

  1. Look to the theme of your story for inspiration. Common themes include love, survival, good and evil, the circle of life, coming of age, deception, redemption, heroism and suffering.
  2. You could also base your title on a climactic point in your story. E.g. ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’
  3. Did your setting play a major role in your story? Your title could use a place name. Examples of famous literary titles that use place names are Jurassic Park, Cold Mountain and Peyton Place. Or combine the place with an event, like ‘Beer Trip to Llandudno’
  4. Another option is to use the name of your main character in the title. E.g. ‘Eve’s Diary’
  5. Is there a memorable, catchy line in your story? E.g. Sleepless in Seattle or To Kill a Mockingbird

Task for the Day

Enticing Titles

Come up with at least 5 titles for a short story. These can all centre around the short story that you would like to write this week (recommended), or they can be 5 titles for stories that you would like to write at some point.

The aim is to get creative! Intrigue the reader. Play with words.

The second part of your task is to start reading through your lessons and tasks over the past week. Start to jot down some rough ideas in your private notebook for your short story. Use the flow and skills of the last week and let the thoughts come. Don’t limit yourself. Don’t reject any ideas. This is meant to be fun.

Story for the Day

Your short story reading for the day is...

‘Fortyish Professional Woman Would Like to Meet’ – by Ginny Swart

Fortyish professional woman WLTM

(This is a PDF file for downloading)

 

Points to ponder as you read the story:

Do you like light fiction or literary fiction, or both? What do you notice about the plot and characters of light fiction?

Look out for the next challenge in your Inbox.
We'll see you tomorrow!

Any questions? Let Koos or Nichola know at info@thewriterscollege.com.