December 12

As one can see from the very creative efforts of last week, we need a little more work on organization and editing. So that will be our main project for this week. As time permits, we will write more stories from scratch.

December 5

How does a fiction writer create a story? He or she thinks of the characters in the story, decides what they are like, puts them into a background, and manipulates them as the story progresses. Using the Storybook Weaver children’s writing software, students can jump start the imaginative process by selecting from a wide variety of clip art characters, move their characters into a background they select, and then write about what is happening. Our club members are really getting into the process.

Mariana began with a story starter we had created about a superhero character. Then, on her own, she put that character into a three page story.  In her story, the superhero takes Mariana to Alaska and back to Atlanta again.

DeQuanta also used the superhero character in his story, but had the idea of cloning the character to create a sidekick. (This literary device was probably suggested by the visual part of the Storybook Weaver software, which allows a student to cut and paste a character, and to make it grow or shrink.)

Trayoung had sports on the mind and decided to write a short story about a football player and a baseball player who could not get along.

Jhavun picked an urban setting—one that looks suspiciously like Atlanta—and decided to put a Viking into the scene, just to see what would happen in his story. That gave Jhavun an opportunity to think and write about who sent the Viking to our century, and what he was up to. The story needs some development, but it’s a good start.

Jhavun’s younger brother, Jhordann, wanted to write a story too. He chose a story starter about the old West.

All our writers need to work on story development and on editing their work. And we will! But we are proud of their imaginative efforts.