How does your story end?

[Richard Stone]

Richard Stone cleared the whiteboard from his last class and picking up the marker, in large letters he wrote CREATIVE WRITING, in two lines across the top of board, and he could already imagine the reaction he'd get from just those two words. While some of the kids loved the idea of free writing, others hated the fact that what they had to do wasn't clearly written out in black and white for them; that they would have to use their own intuition was often a little overwhelming. Under the header he wrote, in slightly smaller letters: 'Begin a Children's Book' and left it at that as he capped the pen and walked to sit on the corner of his desk as he waited for the students to enter the room.

Once the tardy bell had sounded, Richard walked over and closed the classroom door, which was his way od signalling that class had begun and all eyes were to be on him. "Good morning." He greeted the small class with a smile as he walked back to his desk and picked up a well-loved book. "This was one of my favourite books as a child." He said as he turned the book around so that the students could see that it was The Velveteen Rabbit. "It describes the quest of a tattered old rabbit to become “real” and be loved. And this is how it starts:" His smile deepened as he opened the book to the first page and began to read. “There was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really splendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be; his coat was spotted brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and his ears were lined with pink sateen.” He stopped there and closed the book again, his eyebrows lifting before he placed the book back on his desk.

"Your job today, is to create an outline for a children's book." He looked around the class to gauge reactions. "Before we start that though, let's talk a little about books that are written for children. What are your opinions on books that start with the words Once upon a time?" He dropped his voice for the four words for dramatic effect. "Which genre of book did you prefer when you were much younger?" He walked to the whiteboard to jot down the genres called out.

"When you're writing your outline The outline should contain the names of the main characters and several details about each character, at least three or four main plot events, details about the setting of the story, and a sentence or two describing the theme of the book." He paused in case there were any questions. "This doesn't have to be done in silence, though I do ask that you respect your other classmates and keep your discussion to a minimum level and please don't shout across the classroom. The only rule I have for the book is that it must be something you would want to read to your three year old cousin." Forget PG13, it had to be cleaner than that. "If you have any questions, that's what I'm here for."

Tag:
Adonya van Rutherford
Athena Achilles
Caitriona Maldonado
Danielle Green
Gretchen Holmes
Isaiah Beringer
Stefano Rice

[Athena Achilles]

Athena walked out of her social science class and made her way down the hall to the English department. She adjusted the way her bag was sitting on her shoulder as she wondered what Mr Stone had in store for them that day.

"Good morning Mr Stone." She greeted easily as she walked into the room and sat down. After pulling her folder from her bag, she turned her attention to the board and arched her eyebrows at how little there was written there, though the idea of writing a story for little kids did appeal to her, something full of magic and light, though she guessed she'd have no choice but to wait for class to start.

She sat up a little taller as the man started the class, a smile playing on her lips as he read from a book he had enjoyed as a child. Her smile vanished though as she couldn't think of one book from her own childhood that she could remember being read.

She lifted her hand at the question and began to speak when she received a nod. "I think that those words lead children to believe that the story actually happened, which can be taken as both good and bad I guess. Though it also adds to the magic of the story." She laughed at herself and pressed her lips together, now almost wishing she hadn't spoken at all.

She remained silent for the rest of the discussion. She liked books that were closer to the paranormal, science fiction side of things now, but she had no idea of books when she was elementary school or younger.

She opened her folder and titled the page: 'Creative Writing, books for children'. She then drummed the end of her pen against her page as she thought of a theme, a smile played on her lips as she began to jot down ideas.

[Stefano Rice]

Seth walked from one class to the next, a slight bounce in his step as he walked into the English classroom. "O captain, my captain." He said with a bow as he grinned to Mr Stone and then walked to his seat.

Pulling his notebook from his bag, he look at the board and gave a groan, before giving the teacher another grin. He liked creative writing, though it depended on what they were writing, and with so little information on the board, he was worried that it might consist of re-writing a current children's book.

He smiled at the teacher's choice of favourite book, as he had a copy of the same book in his room at home, it had been given to him the day he was born by a great-aunt who had passed away before his first birthday.

His eyebrows shot up at the idea of getting to create his own book and already thoughts were running through his head, he was thinking something along the lines of The Prince and the Pauper meets The Sword in the Stone, though he could completely cut out the prince part.

There were so many things running through his head that it took him a moment to realise they were still discussing things. "Fantasy and adventure." He said, as that had always been his kind of book.

After all the instructions were given, he began to jot down notes on what he could do, continuing with the idea he had come up with when the topic had first been mentioned, now he just needed to design the main character.

[Adonya van Rutherford]

Blythe left her last class with a sigh of 'Finally', although she wasn't free yet. No, it was time to head to English class and see what nonsense Mr. Stone had decided to have them do this time. And nonsense it was, she could see, as she walked into the classroom and checked out what was on the board. She dropped into her seat in the middle of the room and let her pink backpack fall to the ground with a thud before she pulled her phone out of her pocket and started fiddling with it, checking on her social media while she waited for the teacher to start his class.

When he did, she put the phone away, knowing well enough that it wouldn't be tolerated here, and there was no way she was getting kicked out of this place over something so stupid. However, as Mr. Stone started reading to them, she sighed, not bothering to hide her reaction. Who cared that it was his favorite children's book? As he started telling them their assignment, however, she noted down what he said, belying the impression that she didn't care at all about her classes. She just hated seeming to care. “Mystery stories.” Even when she was a kid, those were the ones she remembered being read... Although that could possibly be because that was what her mother had picked out. She'd always gotten stuck with what her parents wanted, as a child.

She wrote down some more information on the project at hand, then set to work, trying to think about what she wanted to write about. Perhaps something about a cheerleader turned rider? She could throw a facet of mystery into there too.

[Gretchen Holmes]

Gretchen enjoyed English, and walked into class eager to write. She said good morning to their teacher before finding a desk by the front of the room and taking out her notebook and a pencil. She saw the words 'creative writing' on the board and felt herself get a little excited. She loved creative writing! She wrote fanfiction all the time! Underneath it said to write a children's story, and that made her a little less excited. While she didn't mind children's stories, in fact one of her favorite books was considered a children's novel, she did like to be allowed more creative freedom with her writing.

Once the bell rang she listened on the edge of her seat as Mr. Stone told them what they would be doing. Throughout his spiel she thought deeply about what she wanted to write. Her classmates calling out genres helped her somewhat, mystery helping her in particular. Of course! Sherlock Holmes was one of her most favorite characters of all time, and he could end up in a children's book. After all, Disney made a Sherlock Holmes movie! Immediately the ideas began flowing, what if she did a twist on Sherlock like Disney had, only instead of being a mouse what if he was a horse? Yes! A police horse named Sherlock, with a sturdy little pony named Watson as his companion. And they would help the police force find the bad guys and bring them to justice! The rest of the class around her became drowned out as pulled her full focus into writing all her ideas down, filling the page in her notebook quickly.

[Caitriona Maldonado]

Yeah, I run this show

I'm the boss right now
Not gonna fake it
Not when you go down
'Cause this is my game
And you better come to play

WORDS:227	OUTFIT:	TAG:
NOTES:

Caitriona headed to her English class. Oh great; her roommate was here as well. She took a seat away from everyone else, not in the mood to chat. Her mood got worse as class began and her teacher told them they'd be writing a book. And to make it worse, it was a child's book! Caitriona couldn't remember reading a lot of children's books but one of her favorites had been Las Tres Naranjas de Oro or The Three Golden Oranges. Caitriona sighed, but wrote down the instructions. She had thought that this was an advanced English class, not a class where they wrote children's books. Finally, the teacher stopped talking and let them get to work.

Caitriona wondered if music was allowed as long as her earbuds were in, because she worked better when she was listening to music than if she had to work without it. Hmm....maybe she could put a Spanish twist on the story? Like a matador and his horse? Or maybe about the Spanish conquistadors looking for gold and accidentally finding an ancient temple where they then had to get out alive, with the gold to save their country? Yes, either one of those ideas sounded good. Caitriona quickly wrote them down, before thinking of others, just in case she got somewhere with both of them and then couldn't finish the story.

Temp by Melz @Caution 2.0, cyberlink, adoxography and RPGD

[Richard Stone]

Richard nodded as he listened to the few students who answered his question.

While the kids began to think about and jot down ideas for their story, he uncapped a pen and began to write on the whiteboard:

Genres: Definitions for Children's Literature

Contemporary realistic fiction includes stories that could happen to people or animals. The characters are made up, but their actions and feelings are similar to those of people we could know. These stories often take place in the present time and portray attitudes and problems of contemporary people. Realistic fiction includes family stories; realistic animal stories; sports stories; adventures; and mysteries.

Historical fiction is set in an historical time period which blends authentic historical settings and facts with imaginary characters and plot. It may include real historical figures as secondary characters. It is generally considered to be a story written about a time in which the author has not lived or set in a time no later than one generation before the composition.

Nonfiction or Information books emphasize documented facts. They inform and entertain young readers by the excellence of presentation, illustration, and research. They can be written about any aspect of the physical, biological, or social world.

Biography tells the story of an actual persons life, or portion of his or her life. Often the person's life is notable for his or her accomplishments or a significant triumph. An autobiography is simply a biography written by a person about him- or herself.

Traditional literature, the ancient stories or poems of many cultures, originate in the oral, or storytelling, tradition. These books are often attributed to different groups and cultures, but have no known original authors. Traditional literature has been used as a way of passing down traditional wisdom and knowledge necessary for the survival of the group as well as a way of explaining myths, epics, legends, tall tales, fables, and religious stories.

Poetry is the artistic expression of ideas and feelings though a rhythmical composition of imaginative and beautiful words carefully selected to achieve the desired effect in the listener or reader. Types of poetry include Mother Goose and nursery rhyme books; anthologies of many kinds of poetry in one volume; poetry books in which all the poems are on one theme or topic; and single, illustrated poems.

Modern fantasy refers to works of literature in which the events, settings, or the characters are outside the realm of possibility. The author must convince the reader to suspend disbelief by creating an internally logical and consistent world. There are many types of modern fantasy, including the modern fairytale (by a known author); animal fantasy, personified toys and objects; quest stories and high fantasy; time travel; and stories about miniature worlds and people.

Science fiction is a type of imaginative literature in which the author convinces us that something unusual could happen because the story is grounded in scientific principles or technical possibility. It is sometimes called futuristic fiction.

Picture books (which are a format, not a genre) are profusely illustrated books in which the pictures are essential to complete understanding and enjoyment of the story. The illustrations may provide clues to setting, plot, characterization and mood. Types of picture books include baby and toddler books; alphabet, counting and other concept books; wordless books; picture storybooks; pattern books; and beginning readers.

Capping the pen again, he walked over to sit at his desk.

As the end of the class approached, he walked to the front of the room once more. "Good work one and all." He said with a smile. "Does anyone have any questions while you're packing your things up?" Once any questions asked had been answered he dismissed the class so that he could clear the board as he waited for his next class to arrive.