Short Story Writing

Characters
 The Big Picture
You are going to create a character who could appear
in any short story which you may decide to write in
the Standard Grade Writing Exam.
Your character will be realistic and believable.
You do not know which short story question will
appear in the Exam so you will have to think in
advance about how your character would react in a
variety of different situations.
Your character will have a name, age, occupation,
personality type, appearance, family and so on
 Getting Started
You will need to decide on a few basics for your
character in order to get started.

Remember that you will be getting to know your

character very well in the coming weeks so choose
him or her carefully.

Task: Spend ten minutes deciding on the following

details:
Gender, name, age, occupation, family.
Sample Character
Cathy McKenna

36 years old

Works in a bank

Husband, no kids.
 Homework Task
For homework you should create a picture of your
character either one which you have drawn (if you
have a particular talent here!), one like a photo-fit,
made up with clippings from various magazines and
newspapers or one downloaded from Google images or
such like .
 Section A

Personality Type
 Personality

Your characters personality Task: Write a few sentences

is likely to fall into one (or about the type of personality
more) of the following broad your character has.
categories:
Think about why your
1. Outgoing character is like this. Has
he/she had a particular
experience in life which has
2. Shy, nervous made him/her like this?

How does this personality

3. Withdrawn type affect him/her in daily
life e.g. at work, dealing with
friends, being part of a
4. Argumentative, family?
confrontational
Sample Character
Cathy has to be outgoing in her job but she has become
increasingly withdrawn from friends and family.

She lost her mother a few years ago and is terrified

that something will happen to other people she loves.

The result is that she puts up a barrier between

herself and others to avoid being hurt.

The only person who really knows how she feels goes by
the name of Tammy839. Cathy speaks to her in an
internet chat room.
 Secrets
To make your character more interesting, it can be a good
idea to hint at something in the characters past which
he/she does not reveal on a daily basis.
This can be something positive or something more negative
e.g. a particular talent, a criminal background, a physical
problem, an addiction.
Example: If you saw him in his garden or in his car, you
would think he was just another suburban dad. Yet in a
drawer of the living room of the pebble-dashed semi where
I grew up there was a Distinguished Service Medal that he
had won during the war. (Tony Parsons)
Task: Discuss in pairs/groups what your character could be
hiding and why. Add your most believable secret to your
character profile.
Sample Character
Cathy has become addicted to internet chat rooms.
She spends all night at home on the computer, talking
to her cyber friends.

Cathy now spends a good deal of time at work on the

internet when she is supposed to be serving
customers.

The bank has given her a formal written warning

about her internet usage.
Section B

Appearance
 Appearance
Think very carefully about which aspects of the characters
appearance you choose to describe. Shining blonde hair and
baby blue eyes do not make for a particularly interesting
character! Aim to describe more subtle aspects of your
characters appearance.

Example: She was a slim redhead with that kind of fine Irish
skin that is so pale it looks as though it has never seen the sun.
She was in her early twenties she looked as though she had
been out of university for about forty-five minutes but she
still had a few freckles. (Tony Parsons)

Task: In pairs, write a sentence about the girls freckles! Aim to

use a simile or metaphor in your description.
 1.
Youve probably heard the
clich the eyes are the
window to the soul
It is always useful to think
about which aspects of
your characters eyes you
will describe and what you
hope this will reveal about
him/her.
Example: At first she
thought the girl was about
fifteen, but that was
before she looked into her
eyes. (Stieg Larsson)
Eyes
You may find it useful
to think about the
following things in
relation to eyes:
1. Colour
2. Lines, wrinkles
3. Clarity, bloodshot etc
4. Welcoming, worried
etc.
Task: Write 5 sentences
describing your
characters eyes.
Example: Although he must have been fifty-fiveish,
he had incredibly bright eyes, like a baby. (Laura
Marney)

Example: Pink rims round the eyes like a rabbit,

broken veins starting on the cheeks and other things
better not examined. (Janice Galloway)

Example: There were no saucer-like erosions under

their eyes, no pouchy sacs of unshed tears. (Shena
Mackay)
 You can focus on one aspect of your characters eyes and by
using either a positive or a negative simile/metaphor, hint at
the type of person he/she is.

Think about the different personalities suggested by the

following examples:
1. Her wrinkles were like warm, soft corduroy caressing the sides
of her eyes.
2. Her wrinkles were like the cold, ridged sand left behind after
the tide had long gone.

Task: Now add a simile or metaphor to your description of the

characters eyes which reveals more about the type of person
he/she is.
Sample Character
Cathy had developed the habit of narrowing her eyes
like a cat having been rudely awoken from its slumber.
One almost expected her to accompany this with a
cat-like hiss and arching of the back. The red veins
in her eyes were very much like the varied
connections you would expect to see were you to peer
inside a piece of technology.
 2. Movement

The way in which your character moves can reveal a

great deal about the type of person he/she is.

Task: Look at the following features of someone

walking along the street and decide what sort of
person he/she may be:
1. Slouched shoulders with hands in their pockets.
2. Shoulders back, arms swinging, hair being flicked
out.
3. Eyes looking towards the ground, pulling hat further
down on head.
4. Walking slowly, gazing into shop windows.
 How you describe the movements of your character
will depend on which type of story he/she is in.

Task: Choose one of the following scenes and write

3 sentences to describe how your character would
move in such a scene:
1. Half an hour before the shops close on Christmas
Eve.
2. Getting onto a crowded train.
3. Arriving for a hospital appointment.
Example: Sheila led me down the lawn, stopping occasionally to
deadhead plants or pull a reckless weed from a border. Perhaps
it was too chilly to sit outside or maybe she found it easier to
talk of her sister without looking into someone elses eyes.
(Louise Welsh)

Example: Montgomery strolled across the road, all hint of

menace gone, looking like the kind of man you might turn to for
advice, a respectable middle-aged man with a sleep problem who
like to take the air in the early hours. (Louise Welsh)

Example: Marianne stood in the kitchen fiddling with her drink,

looking around at the shiny happy people spilling into Pippas cosy
farmhouse. (Julia Williams)
Example: Hands hidden beneath the desk, he started to tap out
Bachs Italian Concerto on his thighs, fingers making little
slapping sounds against his trousersRobin winced as a twinge in
his wrist momentarily paralysed his fingers. When the stabbing
pain passed, he locked his hands together and squeezed the
between his knees. He took a deep breath. (Allan Guthrie)

Example: A woman with wild, dilated bright eyes glided back and
forward across the room, as if on castors, with a strange
stateliness, passing and repassing the television screen, and
from time to time stopping to ask someone for a cigarette, from
which she took one elegant puff before stubbing it out in the
ashtray and continuing her somnambulistic progress. (Shena
Mackay)
Example: He poured the last drop down his throat and
threw the little bottle into the snow, taking a deep
drag on the untipped cigarette, which was the only
sort which gave him any satisfaction now. He
coughed, a heavy painful cough, like squashed
mistletoe berries in his lungs. (Shena Mackay)
Sample Character
Getting onto a crowded train.

She hated this part of the day the most. The

squeeze as the train shunted her away from work and
back to her home. And to her husband. She glanced
round at the happy couples on their own journeys
back to their homes. Back to normality. Was this
what she craved? She tried to avoid her reflection
staring back from the trains window. Acknowledging
her altered appearance would be more than she could
bear at the minute.
 3. Clothes

Clothes are a very good reflection of what someone is

like.
You can comment on not just the colour and shape of
the garments but on things like how well they have
been taken care of and on whether or not they are
fashionable clothes.
Task: Add a description of your characters typical
outfit to your Character Profile. Think about top,
trousers/skirt, shoes, outerwear, accessories.
Example: She was dressed in deepest black, in the style of full
mourning that had rather gone out of fashion...Indeed, it had
clearly been dug out of some old trunk or wardrobe, for its
blackness was a little rusty looking. A bonnet-type hat covered
her head and shaded her face...( Susan Hill)

Example: I probably wasnt one to judge, but Johnny didnt seem

to be following fashion any more. The old greatcoat was gone,
replaced by a navy parka with a small rip in the sleeve that
appeared to have been mended using a bicycle repair kit. Beneath
the parka he wore a t-shirt with a diametric pattern that meant
nothing to me. His jeans were scuffed, splattered with the same
paint that decorated his worn-out trainers. Johnnys mouth bent
in a wide grin and I noticed a gap where his left incisor used to be.
(Louise Welsh)
Sample Character
Fashion was the furthest thing from Cathys mind
these days. For work, she relied on three different
suits: the navy one, the grey one, the black one. She
worked in a bank; she wasnt expected to be cutting
edge. At the weekend, it was all about comfort. She
had very quickly discovered that jeans dug in when
sitting at the computer. Far better were her grey
jogging bottoms; leti the logo proclaimed where they
had once read Athletic.
 4. Hair

Another important facet of a characters

appearance is their hair.

Some of the things you could comment on are:

1. Length, colour
2. Care taken, condition
3. Does character hide behind it?

Task: Now add 3 sentences to your Character Profile,

describing the characters hair.
Example: He was a particularly small man...with an
extraordinary, domed head, fringed around at the very
back with gingerish hair, like some sort of rough braiding
around the base of a lampshade. (Susan Hill)

Example: He had grey-white hair, loads of it, pulled into a

tight ponytail on top of his head with curls reaching down
to his shoulderNot exactly a handsome man, but very
striking. (Laura Marney)

Example: Her tangle of hair had been blown glass-

straight. (Jodi Picoult)
Sample Character
Her hair had once been her crowning glory. The air-
head models in the shampoo adverts had nothing on
her gleaming tresses. Now it was different. Now she
had an indentation where the hair passed the base of
her neck from the elastic bobble she used to scrape
it back from her face. She was forever brushing hair
from her shoulders from where the bobble had
caused it to weaken and snap off. Now the only thing
which made her hair gleam was the fact that it hadnt
been washed for close to a week.
 5. Other Facial Features

It is unlikely that you will describe everything about

your characters appearance in the one short story
but you should still include a description of other
facial features in your Character Profile.

For example: nose, mouth, facial hair, complexion,

glasses, piercings...

Task: Choose 2 or 3 other facial features which you

could describe and add to the character profile of
your own character.
Example: She wears black lipstick and dark, angry eyeliner,
there is a metal hoop through her nostril and a ball stud nested
like a pearl in a shell in her plump bottom lip. But her eyes are
wide and green, her cheekbones high, her complexion flawless.
She is fooling no one, her beauty shines through like a fog light
(Jonathan Tropper)

Example: His face was as pale as mine, but instead of the

graveyard grey of my complexion, his was the milk white of
youth before acne sets in. (Louise Welsh)

Example: She smiled and tiny brilliant sequins flashed and

sparkled all over her face and hair. (Margaret Atwood)
Sample Character
Her skin had taken on the waxy grey pallor of a
teenage boy who spends too much time in front of a
screen. She rarely wore make up these days. She
saw very little point since if she wasnt at work, she
was in her study at home (really a walk-in cupboard
under the hall stairs.)
 Section C

Variety of Settings
 1. At a Party
How would your character act if he/she were at a party?
Would he/she be nervous or would they be the life and
soul of the party?

Example: She had breezed through her thirtieth

birthday surrounded by friends and family, dancing with
her son to Whams greatest hits, a glass of champagne in
her hand. She looked great that night, she really did.
(Tony Parsons)

Task: Write a few sentences where you describe your

character 2 hours into a house party.
Sample Character
Cathy had tons of friends. Night after night she
would log on to her favourite chat rooms and tell her
friends all about her day, her relationship, her
worries. In fact she could tell them pretty much
anything. But here she was in a real room full of real
strangers and she was at a loss. She began to wish
that she hadnt gulped at her drink quite so quickly
because she felt ridiculous standing there clutching
an empty tumbler. Her eyes darted around the room
in the quest to find an empty chair. No such luck.
 2. Confrontation
The way in which your character deals with confrontation
can give a real insight into what type of person he/she is.

Is he/she good at arguing or does he/she steer clear of

all sorts of trouble?

Example: I saw myself delivering some perfect put-down

and then pulling away in a squeal of rubber, an infuriating
little smile on my face. But what actually happened was
that I just sat there trembling and dreaming until all the
cars behind me started sounding their horns and shouting
stuff about the lights having changed. (Tony Parsons)
 Task: Choose one of the following situations and
describe how your character would react:
1. A pickpocket attempting to steal your characters
wallet/purse.
2. Returning faulty goods to a shop which is reluctant to
refund your characters money.
3. A careless driver who nearly knocks down your
character.
Sample Character
A careless driver who nearly knocks down your
character.

Cathy stood there, dazed. What had just happened?

She vaguely registered the driver staring at her and
shouting but she wasnt entirely sure why. It took a
few seconds for reality to catch up. When she
realised that she couldnt just blend into the
background like another drop of rain into a puddle, she
frantically looked around for somewhere to run to.
 3. At the Bus Stop
Task: You are now going to attempt the following task
in pairs.

Imagine that your character and your partners

character have met at a bus stop. How would they
react to each other? What sort of things would they
talk about? Would one character be more friendly
than the other?

Write the conversation which the characters have,

ensuring that it is properly punctuated.
Sample Character Class
Example
Cathy meets Kay Kay the drug-dealing rapper
Kay Kay glared at the mess of a woman who stood next to him.
If these were the type who travelled by bus, then this would be
his one and only foray into the world of public transport.
His day went from bad to worse when the bus arrived and
the frumpy woman squashed her large behind onto the seat
beside him. He edged closer to the window, all the while trying
to further conceal the package secreted inside his oversized
jumper.
Cathy, for her part, kept stealing glances at the strange
man she had found herself sitting beside. She couldnt
understand why he had inched away from her. She began to run
through her morning routine in her head; things had been hectic
lately, but had she actually remembered to put on deodorant?
Quick Questions
 Background Information

Task: Make notes on the following pieces of

information in relation to your character. This should
help you to create a well-rounded character:

1. Favourite holiday destination. Why?

2. Favourite food.
3. Spare time interests/hobbies.
4. Hopes/dreams/ambitions for the future.
Sample Character
1. Favourite holiday destination. Why ?
Last holiday she went on was her honeymoon to Belgium five years
ago. She prefers short breaks in the UK because she can take her
laptop with her.
2. Favourite food.
Microwave meals. Spends little time cooking for either herself or
her husband.
3. Spare time interests/hobbies.
Computer!
4. Hopes/dreams/ambitions for the future .
Keep hold of her job. Sort out her relationship with her husband.
 Character Profile Checklist

Your character profile should contain the following:

Personality; secrets

Appearance: eyes, movement, clothes, hair, other

facial features.

Behaviour in various settings: party, confrontation, at

a bus stop.
Past Paper Questions

How does your character fit

in?
There is no guarantee that your character will fit in to
every short story question in the Exam.
In fact, you should not force your character into a story
because this will make your answer irrelevant to the
question.
Instead, you should spend a good deal of time in advance
of the Exam practising writing a range of short stories
which include your character.
It is common for short story questions to either give you
the title or give you the opening of the story.
Task: Look at the following short story questions and
write a paragraph plan/make a mind map for those which
suit your character.
 Past Paper Questions - 2007

1. Write a short story using ONE of the

following titles:

Futureshock She Saw the Future

You should develop setting and character as

well as plot.
2. Write a short story using the following
opening:

The reluctance was written all over Johns

face. He tugged at his mothers hand. He
winced. He grimaced. He complained. Still
his mother led him on

You should develop setting and character as

well as plot.
3. Write a short story using ONE of the
following titles:

The Underdog Free at Last

You should develop setting and character as

well as plot.
4. Write a short story using ONE of the following
titles:

Stranger in a Strange Land

No Return

You should develop setting and character as well as

plot.
5. Write a short story using the following
title:

The Traveller

You should develop setting and character as

well as plot.
 Plot Structure
A simple plot for a short story can be broken down
into 5 main parts:

1. Set the scene

2. Introduce the theme and characters
3. Describe a problem e.g. a conflict or argument,
losing something important, getting into a situation
that is difficult to escape...
4. Solve the problem creating a turning point in the
action
5. Ending - resolve the theme and characters
 Sample Plot
Below is a sample plot for a short story with the
title Never Forgotten.
1. Set the scene
Weather deteriorating skies darkening wind
cold on a beach sand rippling waves increasing
in strength
2. Introduce the theme and characters
Introduce yourself the I of the story. You are
packing up and thinking about how much better the
day on the beach would have been if the weather
had held up.
Introduce one other character a child you have
seen going into the water with a rubber dinghy.
3. Describe a problem
Child with rubber dinghy gets into difficulties.
4. Solve the problem creating a turning point in
the action
You rush into the water to save the child. Describe
the difficulties as the waves crash around you
what happens next?
5. Ending - resolve the theme and characters
Happy ending child reunited with parents you are
congratulated/thanked.
 Short Story
Writing in First Person
Narrative
 The Big Picture
A successful technique to use in short story writing
can be to create a believable narrator by writing in
the first person.
This narrative style allows you to show your
characters inner thoughts as they explain in detail
what they are thinking about.
As the storyteller, you will be able to give the reader
an insight into what the main character is thinking and
feeling through describing their reactions to events.
You will be able to use punctuation and sentence
structure to convey emotion.
You will be able to use rhetorical questions to reveal
thoughts and concerns.
 The Last Bus Home
At the end of this section, you will write a short
story in first person narrative with the title The Last
Bus Home.

Think about the following:

Have you ever waited in the cold, wondering if you

have missed the bus?
Have you ever looked at other people waiting and
become anxious or curious about them, why they are
there?
Perhaps someone has sat next to you, tried to start
up a conversation, made you nervous, or amused?
 Example
Look at the following colour-coded extract which shows
what the narrator is thinking.

The characters inner thoughts are revealed as they

explain in detail what they are thinking about.

Emotions are revealed by showing reactions to events.

Punctuation and sentence structure can be used to

convey emotion.

Thoughts and concerns are also revealed through the

use of rhetorical questions.
As I sat and waited I tried to take my mind off the
driving rain and the blocks of ice inside my shoes, that
used to be my feet, by imagining myself at home. I could
see the welcoming orange light in the porch, smell the
furniture polish my cleaning obsessed mother sprayed
at any invading dust, I could even feel the heat from
the mug of hot chocolate on my hands Suddenly I
heard a racking cough behind me, I froze. Terrified.
Images from TV crime dramas flashed through my mind,
warnings about being out on my own in the dark echoed in
my head. Who was it? I wondered, shrinking further
inside my coat trying to make myself invisible.
 Task
Try to explain the narrators emotions/thoughts . The first one
has been done for you.

I could see the welcoming orange light in the porch, smell the
furniture polish my cleaning obsessed mother sprayed at any
invading dust, I could even feel the heat from the mug of hot
chocolate on my hands

Character is thinking happy thoughts looking forward to going

home a comforting, warm welcome awaits them anticipation.
 Now try this:
Suddenly I heard a racking cough behind me, I
froze.

Shows fear. Character unsure how to behave.

Terrified.

One word in sentence of its own. Clarifies how the

character is feeling. Reader cannot doubt how scared
narrator is.
Who was it?

Rhetorical question allows us to see what the narrator

is thinking and wondering about. The reader often
thinks about something at the same time as the
narrator does.
 Your Turn
When you write your short story you are going to
write in the first person - as if you are the main
character, the person telling the story, the narrator.

This does not mean the person is you, or even like you,
it simply allows you as the storyteller to give the
reader an insight into what the main character is
thinking and feeling.

e.g. I gazed longingly down the empty road, wondering

if the elusive bus would ever appear.
 Task
Write a paragraph describing your character waiting
at a bus stop.

Remember to make your reader experience the

characters inner thoughts.

Do not get carried away by getting involved in

describing any action.

You will have the opportunity to assess each others

paragraphs.
 Remember:
You could consider creating a hostile environment for
the narrator, perhaps with personification to suggest
that the surroundings are attacking him/her.

Appropriate similes and word choice should also be

used to suggest that this is an unpleasant setting.
 Peer Assessment
Use the table below to check your partners
description of their characters thoughts and
feelings:

Element Evidence
Characters inner
thoughts are revealed
Emotions are revealed
through reactions to
events
The characters thoughts
are revealed through
rhetorical questions
Punctuation and sentence
structure are used to
highlight emotions in the
 Essay Task
You are now ready to plan and write your short story
entitles The Last Bus Home.
Copy and complete the following table to help you
formulate a plan:
Introduction Set the Scene
Description of bus stop. Atmosphere
Introduce the narrator make sure their
feelings about their situation are clear
Describe the problem facing the narrator
make sure you describe their reactions
to the issue
Explain how the narrator deals with/
resolves the problem
Resolve the theme and characters
making sure all loose ends are tied up and
the narrators feelings towards the
problem are made clear