Storybird #7: An example of a Storybird novelette challenge

Storybird is my favourite, free, story writing application on the web www.storybird.com. I use it with my classes all the time, and I love all its tips. Storybird posts wonderful challenges and ideas all the time! It had a wonderful holiday writing challenge a couple of years ago https://goo.gl/ZAQ38Q.  I am going to paste the ideas here so that I can encourage one or two of my classes to do this in their spare time.  It was called the 'Summer Writing club: Write a novelette'.

This is what Storybird says about the July challenge:

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July Summer Writing Club Challenge
"This year Summer Writing Club will consist of two Challenges: One in July and one in August. Each Challenge will help you write a 5,000 word novel (we’re calling it a “novelette”) made up of multiple chapters. There’s no assigned theme—you can write about anything you want.

"We will coach you through the novel writing process week by week, releasing tips and tutorials as we go. To pace yourself, set a goal to complete at least one chapter per week. By the end of the month, you will have a finished novelette! Here are the writing skills you’ll master in July:

"Week 1 - The Protagonist: Before you can begin, you need a clear idea of who your main character(s) will be.

Week 2 - The Antagonist: Every villain has a backstory. This week, we’ll look at how to build a better bad guy.

Week 3 - Plot: You might think that figuring out the plot should come first when you’re writing a novel. But with longer works, you often have to write the story to find out what the characters will do! This week we’ll show you how to keep everything on track and moving forward towards a spectacular finish.

"Note: Unlike last year, the weekly tutorials are not writing prompts. They will be exercises to help you better understand the novel-writing process as you go. One way to approach SWC this year is to think about July as your rough draft. Once you get the basics down, you’ll be ready for the advanced tutorials that will follow in August.

"Week 1 - The Protagonist
Great characters are the foundation for great stories. The protagonist is the hero of your story. The supporting characters are the friends, family, and/or love interests who help the hero achieve her goals. Supporting characters can be very important, even central to the story, but there is generally always a single protagonist driving the action.

"Let’s take some examples from popular books:
Katniss Everdeen: Protagonist
Peeta Mellark: Supporting character
Hazel Grace Lancaster: Protagonist
Augustus Waters: Supporting character
Harry Potter: Protagonist
Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger: Supporting characters

"When you are beginning a new story, your characters come first. You have to know who you’re writing about before you know what they’re going to do. Your characters are at the center of the action in your story, so you need to know them really well. What do they want? What choices would they make? How would they react in different situations? What motivates them?

"The better you understand your characters, the better your readers will be able to relate to them. So, before you begin your novelette this month, take a minute to sit down and think first about your main character. Have a heart-to-heart with your protagonist and find out everything you can about them. You can use the questions below to get started, or better yet, print out the worksheet we link to in the post and write down the answers so that you can keep them handy as you’re writing.

"One of the goals of the Summer Writing Club—and Storybird—is to help you become a better writer. (The other goals are to have fun and make friends.) Some weeks we’ll use video from past workshops to help illustrate the topics we’re writing about. Don’t worry if it looks familiar; we’re also adding new material to coach you along so that you can write the best novelette you can this summer.

"Let’s do this! Watch this video for a quick tutorial, or jump right in to the character worksheet below.

"1. The Basics

Name: (first, middle, last, and nickname)
How old is he/she?
What does he/she look like?
Where does he/she live?

2. Background
Where did your character grow up?
Are her parents married or divorced?
Does she have siblings? If so, is she the oldest, youngest, middle?
Which family member is she closest to?
Which one does she keep secrets from?

3. Self Image
What is her strongest personality trait?
What is she most proud of?
What does she wish she could change about herself?
How do other people see her, and is it different from how she sees herself?
What is she most afraid of?

4. Desires
What does this character want?
How far would she go to get what she wants?
Where would she draw the line?
Do you think she’d be happy if she got her heart’s desire?

5. Summary
Read back over everything you’ve written about your character and summarize in one sentence what he or she wants, and what obstacles stand in the way. Use this to guide you as you keep writing your story.

"Now repeat this exercise with other characters in your story, such as the love interest, the sidekick, or the long-lost father who abandoned the family many years ago. The deeper you explore each of your characters, the more your story will come to life.

Click here to download worksheet"

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Isn't it amazing that Storybird would give such wonderful writing opportunities and ideas for free? You have to join this site!

Here is an example of a novelette from Storybird:
https://storybird.com/chapters/rules-of-school/

The 2nd part to this challenge, the August challenge, can be read on the Storybird blog here": https://storybird.com/blog/2016/8/summer-writing-club-august-novelist/

If you haven't yet signed up any of your classes to Storybird, head over to www.storybird.com today and join. Your students will love this application.