by Kevin Cordi, Creative Writing
and Storytelling Teacher

We know that students find it problematic to begin and end a story. For some reason they can’t find the right words to start a story and once they start they have trouble ending it. We can learn so much from fantasy writers who take great time to find a workable beginning and ending.
 

The Importance of Introductions and Conclusions:

Choose three or four stories from the Writers of the Future book and write down either the ending or beginning of the story. Discuss what they reveal about:
a. The writer’s sense of purpose
b. The direction of the story
c. How the story might follow the beginning
d. How the ending does or does not complete the story

In Writers of the Future Volume XXII the story “Evolution’s End,” by Lee Beavington, begins:

Every cell is formed by the division of another cell. Except the first. — Revised Cell Theory

“Fifteen billion years. Barry found it hard to fathom. Trailblazers were usually exact in their work. They couldn’t afford to be otherwise. If that timestamp proved accurate, the planet before them dated further back than any age estimate of the universe itself. Its ancient sun would burn out in another 20,000 years.”

This leaves your students asking many questions: where is the story taking place? What is the “Revised Cell Theory?” Who are the trailblazers? What is the emotion that drives the sentence?

Students can play with this beginning by:

1. Rewriting it for better emphasis
2. Have the beginning reveal one more thing about the story
3. Change the beginning to pose a question or invite more questions
4. Change the sequence of the beginning and discuss the results

The story ends as follows:

“Altering the ship’s course, he locked on the autonav. Even at this distance, the glare from the sun forced him to shield his eyes. It reminded him of that day on the beach with Jeff. His brother and him together, staring at the sunset.”

Students often believe they have to write a long detailed ending. This shows the closure one might be looking for in a story. It also creates a sense of understanding, like many stories, the action is continuing but the story is completed.

Students can:

1. Experiment with adding to the ending
2. Have the story end in an entirely new way
3. Write the story using the ending as the starting point
4. Illustrate the ending

Teacher tip: sometimes starting with the ending can invite your students to discover the story.

Illustrations—Every Picture Tells a Story:

Unlike many science fiction and fantasy books in paperback, this book includes award-winning llustrations to complement every story in the volume. What I have done is to start with the illustration and from that brainstorm as many ideas as it reveals about the story they will soon read. From this collective brainstorming we establish five things that the picture suggests will be in the story. I then have the students write a short story using these five ideas. After the students write the story, they read it and compare their ideas.

Rationale: this exercise really helped students to become emotionally involved in their work. The illustration gives them a reason to read the story, and their interest markedly increases when they tackle creating their own tale using the story that was picked out of Writers of the Future.

One of the best reasons for introducing Writers of the Future books in your class is that they invite a panorama of questions. Since fantasy and science fiction constantly contrast and compare reality, it allows students to challenge the believability of characters, the way imaginary settings are described and how effectively the words used in the text convey this reality. It also gives them ideas on how they too can effectively mirror a writing technique or use a story idea to create their own fictional world.

Realize, each story changes the reader as it invites them to explore new worlds, meet bold and daring characters and engage in enchanting and sometimes challenging dialogue. But after all, isn’t this what drives the spirit of creative writing? I think so, and I am sure you will agree with me.

Who knows, perhaps your student will be in the next Writers of the Future volume.

Rationale: as creative writing teachers we are continually looking for stories that reach or test beyond a simple story formula, stories that test a reader’s sense of plot structure, time sequence, character description, predictability, action and introductions and conclusions. The essence of good quality science fiction and fantasy does just that. As a creative writing teacher here are some of the ways I have used the book Writers of the Future in the classroom.