Writing Style Guide

Write Your Own Short Story (150 words)

● This short story is to be FICTIONAL (made up).
● See my example for help with inspiration for your short stories.

Writing Tips:
● Much fiction starts with a memory— a person, a problem, tension, fear, conflict that
resonates with you and grows in your mind, and this idea can become your story.
● You can create characters based off people you know— Brainstorming interesting,
quirky, inspiring, influential people and mix and match their looks, ages, genders, traits,
voices, tics, habits, characteristics. The resulting character will be a mixture of those.
● Set the scene— Again using places you know and altering/editing them is a good way
to go.
● Get the action going— Plunge your main character into terrible trouble as soon as
possible. (That trouble will mean something different depending on your genre. For a
thriller it might be life-threatening. For a romance it might mean choosing between two
suitors.)
 My Original Short Story
It was Tuesday when the man in the hat arrived at the apartment, and the sun was just beginning

to set on the horizon. His hat was tilted to hide his face from the camera that the man knew was at the

entrance of the apartment, hidden behind a gutter. The man entered the apartment, the smell of death

meeting his nose immediately, a smell that he had grown used to over the past 12 years. Suddenly,

shriek pierced the man’s ears, and he quickly walked over to the kitchen and opened the lower middle

cabinet door. There, before his eyes, was a woman tied tightly with iron chains to ensure she would

not escape. The man proceeded to pull a roll of duct tape from his left pocket and put it over the

woman’s mouth to keep her from screaming again. He then firmly shut the cabinet door, stood up, and

paced over to the table where he sat down to enjoy a nice cup of medium roast Colombian coffee.

What a lovely afternoon.

Write Your Short Story Here
 About The Various Writing Styles

● We are going to be re-formatting our short stories into 4 different

writing styles.
● Not only will this activity allow you to explore different styles of
writing, but this will also give you experience in editing papers and
revising/changing your own work.
● Copy and paste your short story then make edits to the original
piece to fit the requirements of each specific style.
 About Dream Style
● The goal of this writing style is to make the reader feel as though
they are in/witnessing a dream.
● Sometimes it is stated that it is a dream sometimes it is implied and
sometimes nothing is said. Many times the the story will end with
“Then, I woke up” or something similar.
● A lot of descriptive details/imagery
● Some parts very specific some very vague and blurry
● Writing as an onlooker to a setting sometimes in first person
sometimes in third person omniscient
● Fictional elements imbedded in (ie things disappearing or
reappearing)
● Things don’t really make sense.
 Dream Example
I could just make out the blurry figure walking towards me. No, not towards me, towards the door to the decrepit apartment building

next to me. I watched the man move through the apartment building, and in the eerie hallway I could see the door frames moving

menacingly. I noticed blood smeared on the walls and terror gripped me. I could see the paintings moving, eyes following me.

Screaming- I could hear a deafening shriek. The man walked over to the kitchen and bent down to open a cabinet. There was- was- a girl

in the cabinet. She was tied up! I couldn’t make out her face. Who was she? Everything was blurry. The man pulled what looked like a

sock out of his pocket, then I couldn’t see again. Coffee. The next thing I saw was the man drinking coffee. He gulped down an

especially long sip before his gleaming evil eyes stared right at me. I had to run! Had to get out! Why wouldn't my feet move? The last

thing I saw was the man rushing towards my face with a roll of duct tape. NO NO NO! “What a lovely afternoon” a horrible voice

sneered at me before my world went black.

Then, I woke up.

Your Turn
 About Precision Style

● Uses precise numbers, amounts, and measurements to describe

nouns and actions in your sentences.
● Make everything as precise and detailed as possible. Be very
specific.
● Think: A very detailed scientific report
 Precision Example
It was Tuesday at 5:05 pm on the dot when the man in the hat arrived at the apartment, and the sun was just beginning to

set 90 degrees to the horizon. His hat was tilted at a 40 degree angle to hide his face from the camera that the man knew was 10

inches from the entrance of the apartment, hidden behind a gutter that was on the right side of the house approximately 6 feet left

of the man. The man walked up three steps, turned the key once in the door, and entered the apartment, the smell of death meeting

his nose immediately, a smell that he had grown used to over the past 12 years and 3 months. Suddenly, a shriek that had to be

approximately 95 decibels loud pierced the man’s ears, and he quickly walked 6 steps over to the kitchen and opened the lower

middle cabinet door. There, before his eyes, was a woman tied tightly 3 times with iron chains to ensure she would not escape. The

man proceeded to pull one roll of black duct tape from his left pocket and taped over the woman’s mouth to keep her from

screaming again. The whole ordeal only took 30.74 seconds, the man noted, glancing at his apple watch placed perfectly on the

center of his wrist. He then firmly shut the cabinet door, stood up, and paced 6 steps back to the dark oak table where he sat down

to enjoy a nice cup of medium roast Colombian coffee which he made sure to place exactly in the center of the table. Everything

was in order. What a lovely afternoon.

Your Turn
 About Hesitation Style

● Includes many questions

● Words like “maybe, I think, perhaps”
● The story should seem like it has an unreliable narrator. The
readers don’t know if what the narrator is saying is true or not.
● Pretend you can’t trust your reality and question everything you
write.
 Hesitation Example
The man in the hat honestly wasn’t sure what day it was when he arrived at the apartment… possibly Tuesday? The sun might have

been just beginning to set, or was it actually rising? His hat was tilted to hide his face from the camera that the man thought might be at the

entrance of the apartment, hidden behind a gutter or maybe a window frame. The man entered the apartment… he didn’t remember why, but a

horrible smell that had smelled similar to death met his nose immediately… or at least he thought he smelled it. He didn’t know why but the

smell seemed familiar to the man like he had smelled it over the past 12 years. Then, if he could remember correctly, what sounded like a

shriek pierced the man’s ears, and he didn’t know why but he felt the need to walk over to the kitchen and open the lower middle cabinet door.

He thought he saw… no he couldn’t have. Before his eyes, there might have been a woman tied tightly with iron chains… possibly to ensure

she would not escape. Why was she there? Was she there? Maybe the cabinet was empty? He didn’t know why but he might have

remembered pulling a roll of duct tape from his left pocket. Or was it his right pocket? Did he bring the tape at all? He might have put it over the

woman’s mouth to keep her from screaming again, but he wasn't sure if he did. He wasn't sure if she was there. He then firmly shut the cabinet

door, stood up, and paced over to the table or maybe it was the desk? He felt a sharp pain in his head before his vision went white. When the

man came to, he was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee… wait no… tea. The man shook his head, trying to remember where he was, but

he could no longer remember anything from the past 24 hours. He looked out the window and saw the sun shining. What a lovely afternoon.
Your Turn
 About Retrograde Style

● Rewrite the story from the end to the beginning.

● Use of words like after, before, and the past tense.

 Example Retrograde
“What a lovely afternoon” one of the other investigators noted as they rewinded the camera footage for a third

time. They watched as the man on tape enjoyed a nice cup of medium roast Colombian coffee after pacing over to the

table from the kitchen where he firmly shut the cabinet door. They knew he had been at the cabinet because they had

watched him pull duct tape from his left pocket and put it over the woman’s mouth to keep her from screaming again.

They rewinded the tape again, and there before the man, was a woman tied tightly with iron chains to ensure she would

not escape. The man in the hat had quickly walked over to the kitchen and opened the lower middle cabinet door after

hearing a sudden shriek from the girl when he had entered the apartment. It was interesting because the man entered

the building with his hat tilted to hide his face like he had known that there was a camera at the entrance of the

apartment, hidden behind a gutter. They could see on the tape that the sun had been setting when the man arrived at

the apartment. It had been Tuesday when the investigators found the camera footage, and they had yet to find the man

in the hat.
Your Turn