Creative Writing
Today, Múinteoir Ray gave us some great tips on creative writing and how to build a story.
Starting with a blast!
Múinteoir Ray showed us how important it is, when writing a story, to get the reader's attention from the very first sentence!
Some of the best ways of doing that include using dialogue, action or sound. Let's practice that now.
Below are 3 openings or beginnings of stories.
Your challenge is to rewrite each of them, to make a more attention-grabbing intro that will suck your reader in! Remember to make the first sentence very gripping. You may need an adult or someone older to help you with this. You can either write down your own version, or say it aloud!
Here is an example to get you started:
The original story: "The man was walking down the empty alleyway. It was dark and the street lights were casting shadows everywhere. He felt uneasy. Suddenly, he heard a loud crash behind him. He turned around and was frightened about what he might see"
The more exciting re-write: "CRASSSH! The man's heart began to race as he heard the loud noise behind him in the dark and shadowy alleyway. He turned around, hands shaking with fear at what he was about to see…"
You can download all the activities here!
Creative Writing
Why don't you give it a try!
Story 1
Cian went to his friend Megan’s house. Megan’s house has a basement and her parents do not allow her or any of her friends to go down to the basement - Megan doesn’t know why.
She usually obeys the rules but today, curiosity gets the better of her and she and Cian decide to go and see what’s down there.
They approach the door leading to the stairs down to the basement. They are nervous.
Your re-write… (or you can just say it aloud)
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Story 2
Olivia bought a lottery ticket. She has been excited all week about the draw.
It is now Saturday and she is sitting down in her living room watching the draw live on TV. She can't believe it - her numbers come up.
She’s just won a million euro!
Your re-write…
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Story 3
Julie is in the shopping centre. She walks by a clothes shop. Something in the window catches her eye and gives her a shock - one of the mannequins is moving.
Now the mannequin is gesturing for her to come closer. She can't believe her eyes.
She’s never seen anything like this before...
Your re-write…
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Onomatopoeia
If you're feeling very inspired, pick your favourite story above and finish it!
Múinteoir Ray also read us a story called 'Ahtishooooo' by Pat Ingoldsy.
In this story, the author uses lots of sounds to tell the story. For instance, the title of the story ‘Ahtishooooo’ sounds just like a sneeze, when you say it aloud!
This is a very good example of onomatopoeia, which is when a word describes a sound and actually mimics the sound of that object or action. This is a great storytelling device as it bring life to a story!
Another examples of these are :
Cock-a-doodle-do! / Hoot! /Burp! / Hiccup! / Growl! / Hiss! / Yawn! / Whoosh!
Look at the following pictures.
Write a word underneath each one that sounds like the noise the object makes! The best way to do this is to say the noise aloud, then try to find the letters to form the word!
There's more to see in the activity sheet to download HERE!
