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English Course Work - Descriptive Narrative & Short Strory

Hello!

First of all; I am rubbish with short stories. The array of stories I have tried to captivate and write have just crumbled and gone to a folder in my computer, never to be seen again. So, I was wanting some advice (not to grab ideas or anything, just how to make it like concrete). I like writing horror and mystery. I am in love with the mystery of something and love all things Sherlock/Torchwood ect. and love a good horror, so I find that easier to write about, but school bloody cliches the story title (dont know if it will be this, but there is high possibilities) Write about a time when someone was in danger.

Furthermore, what should I do to prepare for my descriptive narrative, basically swallow a thesaurus? Another little stress is I am having to remember a Spanish Essay which will get in the way of my becoming a thesaurus! How should I prepare?!


Thank you so much! X
Reply 1
Hi, probably the biggest advice I would give is read a lot of short stories in the genre you chose. I know it doesn't sound like a lot of help but trust me you'll find yourself coming up with a lot of ideas as you read :smile:
Reply 2
Hello :smile:

If you want to do horror, pile on the suspense. Vary the lengths of your sentences and paragraphs depending on how fast you want the story to flow; describe for a bit if you want to slow it down. Use lots of different punctuation, use interesting vocab, vary sentence starters, make it interesting!

I know the titles but I don't think I can tell you so I won't say. There will probably be one for your genre though, they're pretty vague imo.

After that make sure you've planned out your story with a beginning middle and end, maybe write out the start and tweak it to draw readers in. Oh and no cliches!

In terms of descriptive, AVOID PEOPLE! No first or second person AT ALL. No plot either, just describe. You can describe what people are doing but make sure you don't include their viewpoint. Don't sound like you've swallowed a thesaurus because it will get boring - use fancy words occasionally to spice things up.

My teacher recommended being like a camera - describe the whole scene then zoom in until you're describing one minute detail. I didn't do it like this (instead I moved from thing to thing) but either would work well as long as it's not entirely random, just make sure you work out an ending before you walk in because it's hard to end something with no plot.

There's also this thing called synaesthesia where you describe a sense with another sense eg. 'The smell of fear...' Hard to do well but quite interesting for the reader, helps them feel like they're there.

Sorry that was so long, hope it helps and good luck :smile:

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