Break a piece of paper into four pieces. On each piece, briefly describe a memory from these four time periods in your life (they do not have to be school-related).
- 1st Memory
- Elementary School
- Junior High
- Last Summer
Grammar Girl Lesson 1 (pgs. 5-8)
Lesson: Weaving truth to create fiction:
Author Will Hobbs is very gifted with this. He has written several books and each one is highly based on reality. Every character is based on someone he knew or read about, every location is somewhere he's been. Check out his website at www.willhobbsauthor.com. If you click on the cover of any book, there is an interview and photos about the inspiration for his stories.
Take your four memories and trade them with different people. Be sure to trade within a time period, for example, trade a first memory for a first memory. You should end up with the memories of four different people for four different time periods.
Look at the memories and use them to create a character. What kind of person would do those things? How would they affect him/her? Your character can be male or female and should be at least your age, but can be older. Get an idea of that character in your mind and then put them in a situation. Here are a few that we brainstormed in class, but feel free to use your own:
- accident/clumsiness
- bad luck/emergency
- confusion
- date
- in class
Write a short fiction piece starring your character.
