Hello Students,
As promised, I am uploading the reading list. Feel free to browse the books on the list and choose one to read as a companion to your fiction-writing.
Happy Reading!
Reading ListReading List (click on it to open the file)
~~~~~
Hello Again,
Below is a list of genres & examples of each genre. Remember, your stories will need to fit into one of these genres. If you have questions, feel free to leave me a comment or see me after class!
History
Historical fiction is full of details that paint portraits of life in a specific historical time period. When you brainstorm your character and setting, pick the information which accurately and consistently communicates the most about your chosen time period.
Mystery
By definition, anything that is unknown is a mystery. We tend to think that mysteries always involve a crime, but all stories that contain unanswered questions have an element of mystery. A girl whose adoptive parents refuse to tell her about her birth parents, two friends who are baffled by footprints outside their tent, cousins who pry open an old, locked trunk in their grandmother’s attic—all these characters face non-criminal mysteries.
Science-Fiction & Fantasy
Science Fiction stories are those that could not happen without some element of science, or some imagined change (futuristic or otherwise) from the world as we know it today. Science fiction is based on worlds that seem possible or plausible, based on what we know or can guess about science. All science fiction tends to predict the future. It is important to get the science of your created world right, or at least possible. Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park, Arthur Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and H.G. Well’s War of the Worlds fall into this category.
Fantasy can take place in a “normal” setting like the mid-west in the 19th century as the setting for The Wizard of Oz or in an entirely imaginative world populated by mythical creatures such as Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss. Even though readers know the story could never really happen this fantasy world is consistent within itself. The writer makes up the rules of the world, but they make sense and are believable. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith, The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley, and The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman fit into this category.
Sports
Think about the difference between walked, ran, jogged, sprinted, sauntered, charged, sped, flew, dashed, or darted. Create characters who act. Unless the main character watches a sporting event and becomes inspired to try out, you don’t want stories where the main character sits on the sidelines and watches the action. Stories, like sports, are more fun on the playing field than in the stands.
You’ll need to know a lot about the sport that you’re writing about in order to supply the details needed to paint an accurate picture of the characters who are drawn together by the sport.
