Want to write a story but don't know where to begin? This introductory workshop aims to help new writers to find the story they have always wanted to tell. Suitable for children or adults this workshop explains what we mean by a story and how this is different to a plot. Stories can be found anywhere as this simple workshop shows us. Writing exercises included. Jeni Mawter shares her wealth of experience as an experienced writer and teacher of creative writing.

2. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY STORY?
Story = what characters do/experience (action)
+
in some place (setting)
+
at some time (event)

3. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY PLOT?
This happened
then this happened
and then this happened

4. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY STORY?
Characters (who want something)
in a particular place
and time
doing stuff (to get what they want)

5. ERNEST HEMMINGWAY’S 6 WORD STORY
For sale: baby shoes, never worn.
https://brianocarroll.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/drama-faces-again-03.jpg

6. The writer
chooses
the best way
to tell their story

7. THE WRITER DECIDES …
- Form (poem, play, narrative, verse narrative)
- Genre (horror, fantasy, historical, sci fi, romance,
thriller, realistic, mystery, gothic),
- Characters (narrator, point of view)
- Time frame (past, present, future)
- Setting (historical place, contemporary, futuristic)
- Events or complications (what goes wrong)

8. YOU FIND YOUR STORY FROM:
- Memories
- Experiences
- Friends & Family
- Conversations
- Research – Facts / History
- Newspapers / Magazines / TV / Internet
- Other Books / Stories
- Everyday Life – school, home, shops, travel
- Imagination

9. GO TRAWLING TO ‘TRIGGER’ IDEAS
Read newspapers, magazines, internet sites, travel
brochures, dictionaries, ancient myths, comic books
Listen to music and songs
Look at artworks, plays, films, emoticons, emails,
shorthand, SMS texts, advertisements, billboards

10. KEEP A WRITER’S NOTEBOOK
Be observant. Keep the notebook with you at all times. Jot down
anything of interest. These may inspire you to write a story.
Think of yourself as bowerbird ‘collecting’ gems. Gems
will involve names, events, places, smells, sounds, taste,
thoughts, gossip, feelings, dialogue (external and
internal), imaginings, quotes, sayings, myths, meanings.

11. GO ON A CHARACTER HUNT
- Go for a walk, catch a bus, sit in a coffee shop
- Watch people leaving a train station
- Find ‘interesting’ characters who spark a story idea
- Another great place to ‘find’ a character is to look at
clothes in an op shop, St Vincent’s de Paul etc.

12. - Walking stick
- Sunscreen
- Gumboots
- White leather shoes
- Cigar
- Wig
- False eyelashes
- Scooter
- Football jersey
- Balloon
USE PROPS TO CREATE YOUR CHARACTER

13. USE PROPS TO CREATE CHARACTERS
Give them:
name, age, gender, profession, relationships, friends,
pets, hobbies, sports, favourite food, likes/dislikes,
political beliefs, personality traits, quirky habits, fears,
secrets, goals, past experiences, beliefs, appearance,
abnormalities, position in family, shameful past etc.

14. - phrases
- names
- euphemisms
eg vertically challenged
- oxymorons
eg original copy
- accents
- exaggerations
- jargon
- slang
- swear words
- excuses
- lies
- ‘child’ language
- malapropisms
eg prostate/prostrate
EAVESDROP – COLLECT “SNIPPETS” TO USE AS DIALOGUE

15. MEMORIES …
- return as fragments
- are not linear
- rely on the sense (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch)
- are associated with details such as emotions, fears,
thoughts, gossip, dialogue, sensations, inside and
outside events, status (power) etc.
- are ‘constructed’ and not necessarily reliable

16. MEMORY EXERCISE: WRITE ABOUT THE FOLLOWING
- Your first temptation
- A memorable fight/worst fight with a friend.
- A time in your life when you lied.
- A time when you heard something that changed your life.
- A memorable photograph you took, or have in your possession.
- When you cried.
- A time when you took a risk.
- The time when you got into the most trouble.
- Your earliest memory.
- Your favourite age.
- Describe memories of the birth of a sibling.
- When you conquered a fear.

17. AVOID THE CLICHÉ
- Clichés are overused phrases, sentences or plot lines
- They bore your readers
- Use fresh images in similes and metaphors
Examples: Her skin is pale like eggshells.
The sun is like a branding iron on my neck.
Dark clouds bruised the sky.
- Write unexpected plot lines

18. EXERCISE: WRITE A SIMILE OR METAPHOR FOR
- clouds
- fog
- cheese
- the ocean
- anger
- tears

19. TO AVOID CLICHÉ PLOTS ASK ‘WHAT IF?’
What if my character doesn’t like going to work?
What if a storm comes?
What if an evil wizard wants what the character has?
What if I put my character in a funny situation?
What if my character is in danger?

20. WHAT IF? EXAMPLE
A parcel arrives in the post.
The obvious conclusion is that it is a present.
In the ‘what if’ game we avoid the obvious.
- What if the parcel contains 1,000 pairs of undies?
- What if the parcel has been delivered to the wrong address?
- What if the parcel is empty?

21. REPEAT YOUR ‘WHAT IF?’
- What if the parcel is empty?
- What if the parcel is not really empty but contains
poisonous gases that are invisible and without odour?
- What if it’s a secret message that is decoded in the
sender’s details?
- What if someone receives the parcel, then immediately
takes their own life?

22. CHOOSE AN EVERYDAY SCENARIO AND ASK
WHAT IF?
- A man walks into a bank
- A baby is crying in its pram
- An plane lands on the tarmac
- A woman dives into a river
- A person in black leather rides past on a Harley
- A ship docks at a wharf
- A car overtakes another

23. Congratulations!
You now have some ideas
for a plot.

24. SUMMARY
- Ideas are everywhere
- Write your ideas in a notebook
- They can come from written, visual or verbal sources
- It’s up to you what you decide to do with your ideas
- All stories start from ideas – some small, some big
- Avoid clichés
- Always ask ‘What if?’

25. www.jenimawter.com
jeni@jenimawter.com
+61 2 407247032
JENI MAWTER