How to write a short story- choosing a point-of-view

Yesterday I gave the steps for writing a short story. Today I am going to do step one, choosing a point-of-view.

I gave a lot of thought during the day whether I wanted first person, third-person limited or third-person omniscient. I am going to do first person, because that is the hardest point-of-view for me to do. I want to write a story in which the character truly comes to life for the reader.

Tomorrow I will be working on creating the characters. I hope that all of you enjoy working on the short story with me. Please tell me any ideas or concerns that you have. I welcome all comments.

How to write a short story.

For the next couple of weeks I am going to show you how to write a short story. Today I will give you some basic instructions.

1. Choose a point-of-view:
first person
third-person limited (narrator who focuses on one person)
third-person omniscient (narrator who gives thoughts and observations from more than one
person)

2. Create your characters: have a protagonist, antagonist and possibly other characters;
develop the character's characteristics and physical traits

3. Create the problem or conflict in one of these forms:
main character vs. himself/herself
person vs. nature
person vs. society
person vs. God/fate
person vs. person

4. Create believable characters and setting with vivid descriptions and dialogue

5. Build tension by letting the main character have several failed attempts at solving the
problem. This section may need to be skipped in a short story

6. Develop a crisis which will make it the last chance for the main character to solve the problem

7. Have the main character solve the problem through some positive attribute such as courage,
creativity, or intelligence

8. Extending the ending is a possibility by reflecting upon the story and its significance to the
characters.

Dogs

As I grew up we always had dogs. I think the most we had, when I lived on the ranch was four. These dogs were not here for the purpose of herding cows. Most of them were strays, which were found wandering on the county road. Most of the dogs were mixed, but one of them was a blue merle collie. She looked just like a wolf when she showed up one dark night. She was rightfully given the name Wolf, when she had puppies later on, one of them was named Lobo (wolf in Spanish).

All of the dogs on the ranch were/are lots of fun to be with. Now I live in another state and have my own dogs.

When I got married, my husband and I decided we would get a couple of dogs. We saw an ad in the paper and went to the farm to choose our puppies. We got two girls, Sue and Lady. They are part beagle and part spaniel. Lady looks like a typical beagle and Sue is black and white. That was almost ten years ago.

When we were going to have our first child, I saw an ad for two beagle/border collie puppies. My husband took a look at them and then we had our third dog, Kody. He is all white with black spots.

None of the dogs at that time had been fixed. When my son was almost one we had 15 puppies. Lady had seven puppies and Sue had eight puppies. Let me just say, once puppies get old enough it is not fun to clean up after 15 puppies. They were lots of fun with their own personalities. They were all different colors of black, white and brown. There were several puppies which were shaggy, which was the only proof that Kody is part border collie. He has short hair. Sue, Lady and Kody were good parents.

When the puppies got old enough we sold all of them but seven of them. Two we had decided to keep and three of them were going to be for my sisters and dad. The other two we had not been able to sell and we brought them out to give to people. The two family friends that chose them have enjoyed their dogs for the last four years.

I am not sure how many of the puppies that we sold are still living. I know of one that was lost, when she did not come back after she went with the snow machine. As for the five dogs that we have, they have all gotten out of the yard at least once. They have all either come back or we found them. We are lucky, because we have beaten the odds.

I am glad that I grew up and I am glad that my children will have that chance with some of the nicest dogs I have ever known.

Write a poem about snow.

Tonight I have a special guest writer. Her name is Jessica and she wrote this poem on December 9th. If any of you would like to be a guest writer leave a comment and we can give you a voice.

Nebulae of Silence

Dots in a
galaxy
of neverending
stars
Pinpricks
of light
dropping
from the
heavens
Plummeting
toward Earth
Nebulas of
snow

Illuminated
milky ways
shaping a path
alone
Mounded
onto flowing
slopes of
silence

What are your favorite 15 things?

Write down 15 of your favorite things and then save them for your writing prompts.

1. No wind
2. my children
3. my husband
4. God
5. rasberries
6. 4-wheelers
7. spring time
8. elk
9. my family
10. west of the Mississippi
11. Montana
12. England
13. food
14. a good book
15. dogs

The Day after Christmas

My day after Christmas was a lot of fun. We went to feed some horses that belong to a friend of my sister. They had gotten out their pasture, so we had to get them back in. I have never had that much experience with horses, even though I have lived on a ranch. I am used to cows, so it was tricky to figure out how to get the horses where I wanted. I finally just opened the fence where they were and let them back in to the pasture. It was cold and windy, but it was a fun challenge working with the horses.

The rest of the day was cold, snowy and windy so we stayed inside and played the games we received. I had never played Apples to Apples before. It is a game where everybody has five cards in their hands and they have to pick which one matches the card that is drawn. One person is the judge and decides which one matches best. It was a lot of fun. I did pretty well until I got cocky and then I didn't get anymore cards.

I hope everybody is having a wonderful time for your holidays.

Here is a recipe you can use for your New Year's Celebrations.

Guacamole
1 Cup mashed ripe avocado (2 avocados)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon grated onion
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon chili powder
Combine the above in a small bowl
1/3 Cup mayonnaise
Spread the mayonnaise over the mixture sealing to the edges of the bowl. Chill. At serving time, stir in mayonnaise.

How was my Christmas Day?

Merry Christmas to all. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Where I am it is soooo windy. It has been that way since we got here. It is so windy it is hard to stand up. We did have fun opening our presents and eating our turkey dinner. If any of you read yesterday's entry, we opened presents at 2:00, like when I was younger. People didn't get into the house from feeding the cows and calves until almost lunch time, so we just waited. It was fun opening the stockings. My sister got a book written by a 13-year-old local girl. I got some fun jewelry. Not all the bracelets fit on my wrist, but I like the green colored gems and cats. The temperatures were warmer today, so even the dogs were able to enjoy being outside.

Enjoy your holidays and look forward to a writing prompt tomorrow about an aspect of the weather.

When does my familly open their presents?

I grew up on a ranch and so in the winter time, as also in the summer time. Ranch work comes first. It can be a disapointing to a kid when it comes to opening presents Christmas time.

My grandma lived in the house next to us, so sometimes on Christmas Eve we would go to her house so she could open her presents. It was always fun watching her open her presents. We would then go back to our house to hang our stockings and put out the milk and cookies for Santa.

My brother and I would always awake before dawn, even before our parents who are very early risers. We would go look at the presents and the stockings. We would then go back to my room and wait for everybody else to get up.

When our parents woke up we would be able to open our stockings and one present. The rest of the presents would have to wait until after the cows and calves were fed. I remember when my parents fed with horses. That meant it would be close to lunch time before we were able to open presents. Even with the use of 4-wheelers and tractors and other vehicles it still took a long time to feed. Sometimes we didn't have to wait very long at all. The time can be anywhere between 9:00 and 2:00 when we could open our presents.

We always had our turkey meal for the lunch hour. We had turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, shrimp dip, cranberry sauce and some type of vegetable. It was a good meal. We could always have different family friends here too for the meal. Of course it depended on the weather.

The afternoon was always about playing with what we received. It was always lots of fun taking the gifts to our rooms to examine them and decide which one to play with first. As we got older any books we received, were usually looked at first.

At night my brother and I would give our presents. I thought it was better, because then people would remember what we gave. It was a lot of fun putting the presents at the table before supper. Our supper would turkey sandwiches and the other leftovers. Yummy.

Christmas was always a fun time and it made it even better when we needed to feed the cows first.

How was my traveling this year?

We have finally made it to our destination. We had a wonderful trip. We even pulled a car. I was so lucky that we didn't notice there was a car. The only time we could really notice was when we hit a bump or accelerating. The gas mileage was horrible, but that was o.k. It was all under $2.00 a gallon. We were in Nebraska though and we had gotten gas for $1.95, we then went drove through the town and saw it for $1.49. We did have to spend the night in town again, but this year I was able to drive my truck up the mountain. It is snowing now and we shall get to see how much snow there is in the morning.

I hope all of you are enjoying the holidays. I look forward to hearing what your holiday trips were like.

What is your most interesting Christmas memory?

What is your most interesting Christmas memory?

My most interesting Christmas was last year. The trip started out well enough. It took us (my sister, my two children and two dogs) about 16 hours of driving including our stops for supper and gas. We made it to our hometown by 7:30 p.m. My brother and his wife were planning on driving down the mountain for the Christmas Eve service in our local town. They started out, but it just got too foggy and snowy for them to see. They turned around and went back home.

We knew we would have to stay in town of 2,000 people. We were to stay at a family friend’s house. She was visiting her daughter for Christmas. We drove to the house and got the heat turned on. My sister took care of the kids while I got the dog kennel and puppies into the house. We then unloaded the most important things, so they wouldn’t freeze. My sister decided to go to the Christmas Eve service at church while I got everybody to sleep. We had a good night’s sleep. And said, “Merry Christmas” to each other. My sister gave the presents she had. After getting something from our food storage for breakfast we thought we go see what we could find for lunch. I had already talked to our mom and we knew we would be spending the day in town. We drove around and nothing was open. We found there was a gas station open and we were able to buy some burritos. When we went out, we had a flat tire. I called one of our family friends and they came and put the spare tire on. We went back to the house and spent the rest of the time watching some videos on the computer.

The next day we had to wait for my family to finish feeding the cows and calves, then they came and got us. It was windy, but the graders had gone up. We left my pickup in town and we went up into the mountains. My youngest sister and sister-in-law were there making dinner. We had our Christmas meal a day late and opened presents two days late, but it was worth it. It was lots of fun.

I got four new tires, because they had bulges in them, so this year we should have no trouble at all.

We are leaving tomorrow. I pray that our trip will end much better this year. This year we are towing a car. Please pray for warm temperatures, no wind and no snow for us. As soon as I am able to I will tell you of this year’s journey.

List of Writing Prompts for a Memoir

I have not left for vacation yet, so tonight and tomorrow will have blogs. Tonight I am going to give you more writing prompts for writing a memoir or telling stories to your kids.

1. My friends and I liked to...best.
2. I should not have....with my friend.
3. My favorite teacher was...
4. My favorite subject was...
5. My best friend was...
6. My favorite family vacation was...
7. My penmanship is...
8. My favorite memory of college is...
9. I joined a fraternity because...
10. My favorite flower is...

Sick Children

Today I am going to write about sick children. Have any of you ever had a child who vomits every time she is about to get new teeth. My daughter who is only three has gotten sick for a couple of days when she gets new teeth.

I really wish that it would not happen that way. She feels miserable, but at least it goes away. The last time she got her bottom molars she vomited for a couple of days and then she developed a cough for a couple of weeks. It would only happen at 4:00 in the morning. She would then sleep with me for the rest of the night. It was not fun.

I hope this time will not be so bad. She has been good for the past three hours though. She has had something to drink and now she is eating crackers. She has gotten sick enough times that I usually let her judge when she is able to eat and drink. I do follows a nurses suggestion for giving just a little bit of water at a time right after she gets sick.

I hope tomorrow is better. There may not be a posting for the next couple of days, because we will be travelling. Keep checking though, because I might have time to write something. I can always list some writing prompts.

Write a poem about food choices in the United States of America

Children in the United States can eat many different kinds of food. The children in this poem want the food they are currently crazy about.

A will only eat Apples,
B, bananas.
C loves vitamins from Carrots,
D makes bread from Dates.
E dives into Eggplant,
F swims like the Fish he eats.
G stuffs her face with Grapes and
H for every meal eats Ham.
I loves a dish of Ice cream, not a cone.
J puts Jalapenos on his tacos.
K peels her Kiwi,
L has Italian dressing on her Lettuce.
M warms his Milk to drink it.
N boils his noodles,
O goes to Florida to get Oranges.
P pours cream on her Peaches,
Q hunts for Quail,
R takes a handful of Raisins.
S makes Squash pies,
T fishes for Trout in streams.
U bakes an Upside-down cake.
V eats Veal,
W spits seeds from Watermelon.
X needs an X-ray from the food he ate,
Y has Yogurt for breakfast every day.
Z fries Zucchini.

Link to more interesting blogs

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Digital photography vs. film photography

When I was younger and started taking pictures I used a black and white 110 camera. I had a lot of fun taking pictures of people, buildings and animals. When I was older I had color film for my 110 camera and it was even better to see my pictures in color.

It wasn’t until I was in college that I had a 35m camera. The Minolta camera was even more fun than the other cameras I had used. I was able to get clearer pictures of things far away. That was important to me, because I was always trying to take pictures of wildlife and the mountains.

When I was married for about a year my husband got a digital camera. At first, I was not too sure about it. The more I used it though, the more I liked it. It was really nice being able to take a picture and then see if it was good or not. I was hooked.

A couple of years ago I was given a Canon Rebel Xti for a present. I have the two lenses that came with it and now I am in love with digital photography. I can do so much more with my dslr than I could do with my 110 camera. It is lots of fun to take pictures of the elk and mountains. I have been learning that all the different lenses are great to have. It is fun to take the pictures I have always wanted to.

I even have my young children taking pictures with their digital cameras. I enjoy seeing what they see. I am glad that I don’t have to pay for the film, because they take thousands of pictures. I just have to worry about running out of space on my hard drive.

Cold Weather

I don’t know about the rest of you in world, but this cold weather is really starting to get to me. I think I am physically and mentally becoming older. I am no longer fond of temperatures below the freezing temperature. As each year goes by I just want to bury my head in the covers and wait for spring to arrive. That is hard to do though with two young kids.

My children love to get out in the snow. They like to get outside in any kind of weather. I just wish it were warmer for them to be able to play outside. I am looking forward to having some sunny and warmer temperatures. I will be putting them in their snowsuits and all the rest of the winter apparel and then send them outside.

I will have fun watching them rolling snowballs, getting jumped on by the puppies and pushing the snow off their slides. I will give them ice-cream buckets to scoop up the snow so they can make snow castles.

I will look at them having fun and it will make me want to go outside and have fun with them. I will then get on all of my winter apparel and send myself outside. I will roll snowballs, get jumped on by the puppies and use the ice-cream buckets to make the biggest snow castle.

I just hope there is enough snow to build a snow castle at least 4 feet high and also sticky enough. I have changed my mind about winter. It is fun.

Write an acrostic poem.

When you write your acrostic poem, make sure the first letters of each line are vertically aligned to form a word. Here is an example.

My Husband

Jonathan, light
Of my life.
Nothing stands in our way.
And I will love you,
Today and forevermore.
How can I support you
And give you what you need?
Now as always God Bless you.

Write a poem about two opposing views of winter.

Two Opposing Views

Bleak, dreary winter,
That I don’t like. Snow and cold.
Wish it was summer.

Beautiful snowdrifts
Provide fun for kids,
Who all love sledding.

Freestyle day!!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have been reading this blog. Thank you very much for reading this. I appreciate you taking time out of your day to read what I write. I hope you are having a nice holiday season.

I had Christmas number one today. I received money for my gift today and I thought I would buy some used books from the internet. Does anybody have any suggestions? I am always looking to expand what I read.

Thank you and having a good weekend.

Ideas for helping to begin and write a short story

Sometimes it can be difficult to think of different ideas when writing stories. Here is a list of ten ideas that may help you write your short story.

How many characters will there be?
What will happen in the story?
What are the names of the characters?
Who is the main character?
Where does the story take place?
What is the time period?
Why are the characters doing what they are doing?
Are there any moral lessons to be learned?
How many words do you need?
What is the point-of-view?

List of different writing prompts.

Here is a list of different writing prompts that you can use to help you in writing a memoir.

My parents felt strongly about teaching me…
What habits, characteristics, or values did I acquire when I was a child?
We did not have these modern conveniences when I was younger…
The first job I got paid for was…
My father’s job was…and he did…
My mother’s job was…and she did…
What major event in the world helped to change it?
My favorite colors were…
My favorite foods were…
My favorite movie was…

What is your favorite birthday memory?

My birthday is in early August. My best friend was usually able to come and spend the night. My favorite memory is when a fun sleep-out in the yard turned into a major rainstorm.

After watching the original version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, having dinner, cake and opening presents, it was time to get ready to go sleep in the tents. My friend, Alice, and I would be sleeping in the larger blue domed tent and my brother, Billy, would be sleeping in a red pup tent. The tents were already set up, because in the summer time we always enjoyed playing in them during the day.

The three of us had fun talking, telling stories and thinking about what we would do the next day. We heard some lightning in the distance and did not think much about it. The news had not said anything about storms. Billy fell asleep as Alice and I continued to talk about our plans for the next day and what school was going to be like with our new teacher.

All of a sudden the wind started to blow and rain started pouring down. Billy had the pup tent fall down on him. We could hear him hollering for help. I thought it was so funny and I still do. He remembers nothing about it. Alice and I got out of our tent to help him. My dad came out of the house and told us to come in. I didn’t want to, but we always listened to my dad. It was a great idea, because then the lightning started.

We got our sleeping bags and put them in the house as well as Billy’s wet, limp tent. Alice and I left ours out, because we thought it would be safe since it was staked down very well.

Billy decided to sleep in his bed and we took the sleeping bags to my bedroom floor. We talked a little bit longer and then fell asleep listening to the rain.

When we woke up the next day and looked out my window there was no tent. We had breakfast and then thought we would out with the 4-wheeler and look for the tent. We drove ¾ of a mile to the nearest barbed wire fence. I saw all the cows looking in the same direction. We drove in the direction they were looking and there we found the tent. It was torn a little bit, but it was still in good condition.

I always enjoyed celebrating my birthday with Alice and Billy, but that was by far the best one.

What is your favorite genre?

I am not sure about many of you, but I find that my favorite genres change on average every couple of years. Currently my favorite genre is Christian fiction. I enjoy reading the young adult books best, because they have themes that teach better than adult Christian fiction. I have not been able to find many good Christian adult fiction, they seem to be mostly romance. It is important when I read to be able to learn. I like learning more about God and I know it is important for young adults. Sometimes churches do not teach the young adults or do not know how to teach them. It is good that there are writers who will take the time to write quality books for people at an impressionable age.

My favorite author currently in Christian fiction is Wayne Thomas Batson. Mr. Batson writes fantasy, which is really exciting to me, because I have always liked fantasy. He is a middle school reading teacher and he writes for the kids he knows so well. He has written The Door Within Trilogy and he has written Isle of Swords and then continued the story in Isle of Fire.

This genre invite us to learn more about God in a very subtle way. I find that I am always looking up the different verses that are talked about in the books that I have been reading. I usually read the entire chapter of the book and sometimes surrounding chapters.

I am glad I have discovered young adult Christian fiction. It will help me learn more about God.

What is your favorite hobby and why?

My favorite hobby is photography. I like being able to take pictures of everything to see what little things I can see in the bigger picture.

My favorite thing to take pictures of is elk. I have yet to have the best lenses for taking individual pictures of elk. I have taken pictures of herds of elk. In central Wyoming it is not very hard to find large herds of elk on their summer range. I have even taken pictures of elk and antelope with cattle.

I also enjoy taking pictures of nature and people. It is unbelievable what types of nature you can find in the park or even in your backyard. I have enjoyed taking photos of leaves, flowers and grass in our yard and the squirrels in the park. My kids are wonderful subjects. They are young enough to have been born when we already had a digital camera. They have had thousands of pictures taken of them. They enjoy posing and can be disappointed when they are not included in the picture.

I am glad that digital cameras have been invented so I can take as many pictures as I like and bad pictures can just be deleted. I know I will always be able to improve my skills and enjoy the pictures for years to come thanks to digital cameras and my favorite hobby photography.

And the answer to “Write a Riddle” from December 6, is cafeteria dishroom!

What do you remember from Spring Break?

Spring break is fun for many people. Some go where it is warm and some go see there families. This is what I remember from spring break.

Free Time!!

It’s time for spring break!!!!
Yeah!!!!
No more English, calculus, and cafeteria food.
The track team goes to Florida,
Show choir to Disney World,
Others go home, to San Padre Islands, Texas, Florida,
Chicago, New York, and Atlanta.
I’m going to Wisconsin
To see my grandma.

No worries, sleeping late,
Home-cooked meals; chicken, stuffing, spinach, BLT’s,
Spaghetti, meatloaf, and beef-macaroni-bake.
After that I’ll be able to come back with a smile.
It is time for spring break!!!!!

Has anybody guess the answer to yesterday’s riddle? One more day and I will give you the answer.

Write a riddle

Riddle

Time and space very small
Needing much more

Items coming one after another
Not enough time to get it all done
Burning hands and dirty clothes
Clinking and humming
Grey, silver, and white flashing by
Needing much more time and space

What could it be? I will tell you on another day. Please post what your ideas are.

http://www.missyfrye.net/Blog/?p=1048 Please check this website out to see what other sites have been added to this blog carnival.

Freestyle Day.

Do you sometimes have no idea what to write? I know I do. Here is a poem that I wrote when I had no idea what I was going to write about.

No Idea

Poetry is hard to write without ideas
Or in standard form.
Thoughts float by on the breeze.
I wish one would stop for me.
I ponder writing poetry and all the great poets;
Emily Dickenson, Walt Whitman, Ben Johnson, John Donne.
I wonder about the trouble they had
Think of ideas, putting them on paper.

It made a thought stop floating and come rest by me
So I could write this poem.

What is your favorite Season?

I would have to say that my true favorite season would be spring. This poem shows the changes between winter and spring where I grew up.

Change of Season

When snow begins to melt
Off the mountainside
And Deer Creek fills with water.
Iris, May flowers, and salt and pepper
Grow to their full beauty.
The grass turns
From brown to green.
Blue birds, meadowlarks, and robins,
Returning from winter homes
Make nests in cottonwoods.
Baby animals are in the barnyard,
Calves, chicks, and lambs.
We know its spring

Does your past bother you?

Does your past bother you?

I have written about many things since I have begun writing. This poem should be important to all of us, because it shows how easily we can lose what is important to us if we are not careful.

My Past

I journeyed to the other side of the fence
And realized I didn’t like it,
I’m unable to go back where I belong.
I miss everything I took for granted;
Friends, family, and husband.
Don’t come to this side.
If life is not good now,
Don’t give up hope.
Stay with those who love you,
Stay happy and content.
Don’t leave your side of the fence.

Bad Hair Day

BAD HAIR DAY

Bad hair days are something else, but I will never let them get me down. I love those days, because then I can look like the rest of the people who are always looking like just got out of bed. I am sure it took them many hours and lots of time to get the hairstyle that just comes naturally to me. I have short hair, and that means that it is about 4 inches long. This is the perfect length to have a bad hair day every day. I wake up, get out of bed and I always look like a monster that crawled out of a cave. I love it. Some of my hair looks normal and flat, some is all tangled up and the rest is sticking straight up in the air. The only way to fix the problem is to get my hair wet or wash it. I guess I would be better off if my hair was curly or wavy, because then it might look like a coordinated mess. It wouldn’t be fun though. How can you have fun if your hair looks perfect all the time? I like the mess. I wonder if the way your hair looks reflects on the way the rest of you life? I might want to think about that. I stay home all the time and my hair is a mess, so is the house. I think I should start doing my hair every single day. I AM tired of a messy house so I think I will try this little experiment to see if I can get a cleaner house.

The kids always like to pretend a monster is chasing them, so here I come. I will start my experiment tomorrow.

Energetic Kids

I would have to say that the best part of my day is spending it with my energetic kids. From the moment they crawl in bed with me in the morning until I kiss them goodnight at the end of the day they are what keeps me going. I have two kids, a boy who is almost five and a girl who is three. My son, Joe, is pure boy and my girl, Sally, is girl all the way. Joe likes hunting and trucks. He will creep around the house stalking elk and polar bears. He spends the afternoons playing with his cars and trucks. Sally likes wearing dresses and playing with dolls. She never wears shirts and pants. Her dolls are always wearing the latest fashions.

They love playing with each other and running races around the house. That is their favorite thing. They have an aunt that runs cross-country in high school, so they like to run races in the house when she is running. Cooking is the second thing Joe and Sally like to do the most. They have pretend food and dishes and they like making people birthday cakes and dinner. They wear their aprons and are always busy doing dishes or laying out them out for the meal Joe and Sally have prepared for me.

I enjoy cooking for them and caring for them every day, with their help of course. We often have our bumps along the road, but the energy Joe and Sally have gives me the energy to get things done. I am doing what I need to do for my energetic kids, so they can grow into energetic adults.