Purpose: The objective of this assignment (short story #3) is for you to focus more on elements of the plot such as scene, flashback, and backfill. This will help you develop a story with more complexity as a character’s past ofter holds clues that play out in the story.
Prompts: Choose ONE of the following to guide you. The stories referenced in the prompts are in Week 6 folder.
A character loses his/her job in the first scene. Don’t explain why; just have your story start by packing up and leaving the premises. Next: Using backfill or flashback, tell us something that happened in the distant or recent past that could be somehow related to the character’s job. Next, continue the original scene that takes place the day the character got his/her pink slip. Perhaps end the story by flashing forward in time and write a scene that takes place several years after the character loses his job. (Tell us how much time has passed).
Write a scene at a family picnic or other family event/party. Work up to a moment where an uninvited “guest” shows up. Where is the picnic/party? What are the characters doing (show action—are they cooking? Playing ball? Dancing? etc) What are they saying to each other? What happens when the “guest” shows up? Once you get your scene off the ground, add some “backfill” or a flashback to your scene: basically, explaining or showing why this guest is a “problem.” [Think about the way Raymond Carver used backfill in the first few pages of “Cathedral” to give background information about his wife and her relationship with the blind man, Robert. Think about the way “Fiesta 1980” uses flashbacks to fill out details of Papi’s afair] How will your story end? Has anything changed?
Write a story about a plot and characters of your choice; the only requirement is that the story covers/spans 10 or more years. You should jump around in time a bit as Diaz does in “Fiesta 1980.” Be sure the reader can follow along with your time shifts. You may use *** section breaks to indicate a leap in time or a transition.
Based on “Herd Immunity”: imagine a character is dealing with a pandemic or natural disaster of some sort and must embark on a journey. Where to? What does he/she/they do? The journey can be a physical one, like in the model story, or perhaps take place virtually on the Internet or through technology (while he/she is at home). Is there a twist at the end?
Tips for Story Development
Your story should develop a character swiftly. Think about revealing “tension” (which is what drives any story) within the first few lines. What is not going as planned?
Your story should fall between 900-1800 words in length. You will be encouraged to exceed the page count in your revision later in the semester, but for this draft, please stick within the minimum and maximum range.
Point-of-view is something that should remain consistent throughout this story. Meaning, if a story starts in first person, it should not switch to 3rd person halfway through.
You story must be fictional, but you can use what you have observed in your life to help you create a convincing character. We will, however, be responding under the assumption that the story is fiction.
Create details that either reveal or hint at your character’s age, gender, strengths, weaknesses, likes, and personality.
Pay attention to setting details: where and when is your story, and what is the culture of the place.
Pay attention to developing your characters’ past(s). Weave in flashback and/or backfill to give vital information that hint at and further explain the character’s circumstances.
Formatting and Word docs
Use large enough font; if your font looks tiny, go back and make it bigger.
No need to put your name in heading in what we see on BB—name is only necessary on the Word doc.
Always either skip down a line or indent to indicate a new paragraph
Copy and paste the story into Blackboard’s window. This is so we can read at a glance.
Also upload a Word doc for grading purposes. The Word doc should have you last name in the file name and your name in the header/heading.
Last Completed Projects
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