SHORT STORY

B E I N G C R E AT I V E
CREATING AN IMPACT
The murders took the gloss off it. Crossing over the Hawkesbury,
David began thinking of them, anticipating the bridge over Monty
Creek they would soon cross, the picnic area below where, he had
read in the papers, the lovers had apparently been from their car two
nights before, ordered to strip and then struck and run over repeatedly
by the murderer’s car. When David finally drove over the bridge and
the station wagon rounded the bend past the murder site, he nudged
Lydia and pointed it out but said nothing because of the younger kids.
He thought he could see deep savage skid marks in the gravel.
 (The Bodysurfers by Robert Drewe)
EXERCISES
1. Analyse the merits this paragraph has.
2. How is this paragraph creating an impact to the upcoming story?
3. Underline or colour code the figurative language being used.
What is the impact of this?
CREATING AN IMPACT
The murders took the gloss off it. Crossing over the Hawkesbury,
David began thinking of them, anticipating the bridge over Monty
Creek they would soon cross, the picnic area below where, he had
read in the papers, the lovers had apparently been from their car two
nights before, ordered to strip and then struck and run over repeatedly
by the murderer’s car. When David finally drove over the bridge and
the station wagon rounded the bend past the murder site, he nudged
Lydia and pointed it out but said nothing because of the younger kids.
He thought he could see deep savage skid marks in the gravel.
 (The Bodysurfers by Robert Drewe)
WHAT IMPACT DOES THE FOLLOWING OPENING
PARAGRAPH HAS?

• Thornhill’s wife was sleeping sweet and peaceful against him, her
hand still entwined in his. The child and the baby were asleep too,
curled up together. Only Thornhill could not bring himself to close
his eyes on this foreign darkness. Through the doorway of the hut he
could feel the night, huge and damp, flowing in and bringing with it
the sounds of its own life: tickings and creakings, small private
rustlings, and beyond that the sloughing of the forest, mile after
mile.
(The Secret River by Kate Grenville)
WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF THIS PARAGRAPH?

• The Jacarandas made me cry. They were the first thing I saw as the
train slowly wound its way into Fresno, their purple haze dwarfing
the green bushes and shrubs surrounding them. The city looked just
as I had expected, the landscape exactly as Jack had described it: a
graceful city, with beautiful white buildings and gardens that were a
riot of colours. I took the Jacarandas to be a good omen, a link
between my new home and the old.
(Jacarandas by Stella Thomson)
YOUR TURN
Choose one of the above extracts
and write a short story. You must
utilize all of the features you have
learnt to create a creative short
story.