1.

Choosing a topic

Pick a topic that interests you. You are going to live with this topic for weeks while you write. Choose
something that will hold your interest and that you might even be excited about. Your attitude towards
your topic will come across in your writing or presentation!

2. Formulating a thesis statement

A thesis statement focuses your ideas into one or two sentences. It should present the topic of your
story and also make a comment about your position in relation to the topic. Your thesis statement
should tell your reader what the story is about and also help guide your writing and keep it focused.

3. Organizing and developing ideas

When you created the outline, you wrote a thesis statement, and you also wrote all the claims you will
be using to support it. Next is you organize your story and find the evidence to support each claim. You'll
be very grateful to have done that sorting now that you're ready to write paragraphs. Each of these
claims will become a topic sentence, and that sentence, along with the evidence supporting it, will
become a paragraph in the body of the paper. How do writers develop ideas for writing? Writers use
many techniques, and it's a bet that most of the techniques involve writing itself.

4. Using any literary conventions of genre

Each genre has its own literary conventions. In this lesson, since we focus fiction, the following are:

a. Chronological

The story is told in the order that the events actually happened

b. Non-Chronological

The order of events of a story not told in time order

c. Denouement

The resolution to the plot of a piece of work

d. Flashback

A scene that takes place prior to the time of the current story

e. Flash Forward

A scene that takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story

f. Pastiche

A literary piece that imitates another literary work from another writer
g. Foreshadowing

Hints in a story of what is going to happen to the plot or a character

h. Allegory

A symbolic narrative in which the surface details (the story) imply a second meaning

i. Frame Narrative

A literary technique in which a story or set of stories are included within the framework of a larger story

5. Ensuring that theme and technique are effectively developed

As a novice writer, you should know what a theme is. A theme in story is its underlying message, or "big
idea." How does a writer develop the theme? It really comes down to what the writer believes about
life. If a writer has a belief system or feels strongly about certain things and most people do then, those
strong life views will be reflected in his/her writing.

How are you going to develop the theme?

a. Understand that a theme topic is NOT a theme statement.

Examples of theme topics: Love, justice/injustice, family, struggle

Examples of themes: People risk their own identity to find love;

Power corrupts humanity; Without empathy, there can be no justice.

b. Create a list of theme topics that can be supported with evidence from the text and choose ONE topic
that is best demonstrated by the text.

c. Write a sentence about what the author believes about that topic.

Example: In Finding Nemo, the author believes that a person should learn how to trust themselves and
others.

d. Cross out "the author believes that" and revise the sentence.

Example: In Finding Nemo, the author believes that a person should learn how to trust themselves and
others.

Theme Statement: A person should learn how to trust themselves and others.

On the other hand, a writing technique is a style an author or writer uses to convey their message in a
manner that is effective and meaningful to their audience. So, as a writer, you need to exert your own
way of conveying your message to the reader. A few suggestions by Henry Herz are:
Invoke multiple senses - immerse your readers in the story by describing sounds, scents, tastes and
sensations.

 Create intriguing, complex characters - readers like it when they can sympathize with the
characters; they would like to learn more about the characters - their inner thoughts, what ticks
them, what makes them happy and many other details about the characters that will tell the
readers about the former's experience in the story.
 Evoke strong emotions - sometimes along the course of the story, new revelations about
characters or situations will keep the readers on the edge of their seats. Keep them engrossed
by making them curious about what's going to happen in the future.
 Use rich character voice the narrator's voice that sets the tone will have an intense impact on
how the readers will interpret the story and view the character. However, as you write in the
point-of-view of your character, make sure that it also has its distinct voice. Voice is a tool that
shall make the readers appreciate more the characters.
 Pull the reader into action - this pertains to "writing gripping action scenes". "A well-written
action scene thrusts the reader smack into the middle of the story." Every reader would like to
be able to "experience" what their favourite characters experience; every reader wants to be
taken into the action, into every scene, into every place. This will make their reading experience
worthwhile.

After applying all these steps, you may also evaluate your work.

These are the bases on how to evaluate your draft.

1. Clarity of idea

Clarity means making your content easy to understand. Going back to the story, was the idea clear?

2. Appropriate choice of literary element

Literary devices are various elements and techniques used in writing that construct the whole of your
literature to create an intended perception of the writing for the reader. Did the writer have the
appropriate choice in writing the story?

3. Appropriate use of the element

A story has five basic but important elements. These five components are: the characters, the setting,
the plot, the conflict, and the resolution. These essential elements keep the story running smoothly and
allow the action to develop in a logical way that the reader can follow. Did the writer have the
appropriate use in writing story?