This series of 12 downloadable activities teach students some basics of story writing, using books or videos from the PBS "Arthur" series as a springboard. Activities include creating story maps, asking questions about characters and...

In this resource, students will practice identifying and describing the actions of a character. Teachers will model these skills through the use of text and pictures from the story No, David! by David Shannon. Students will then draw a...

This is the sixth in a series of articles designed to help the new writer with their novel. This article focuses on conflict and how it effects the characters and the plot of the story. W.11-12.3a Narratives

This is the fifteenth article in a series designed to help the new novel author. This article focuses on the genre of historical fiction and the role of the author. Is the author a researcher or a story-teller?

In this lesson, writing partners work together to develop a plot and characters. The lesson emphasizes the use of dialogue to develop the characters and plot of the story.

A.J. Raffles is a character developed by E.W. Hornung who appears in most of his short stories. Raffles is the very definition of a smooth criminal and a master cricket player. Read several of the short stories containing Raffles in the...

In this instructional activity, the writer first writes a personal decalogue (a list of ten personal beliefs) about something important to him/her. The writer then creates a decalogue for a fictional character they will invent and...

This is the seventh installment of a series giving advice to the author who is new to writing novels. This article focuses on how to take your characters and use them and their conflicts to develop the plot of your story. W.9-10.3b...

After reading Grandpa's Teeth by Rod Clement, the writer will plan a scene from a story where a character confronts another character about something that has been stolen. Descriptive details need to take precedence in this scene, as...

In this lesson, students will engage in writing activities as extensions to Lois Ehlert's book, Mole's Hill. Students will generate soluntions to conflicts in the story, generate ideas for writing letters, write an interactive letter to...

Information and examples of different ways the setting of a text can affect the characters and character development. (Published: Sept. 29, 2016)

This is the eighth article in a series that focuses on helping the new novel author. This article looks at how the author can avoid creating stumbling blocks that disrupt the flow of the novel.

This is the eleventh article in a series that is designed to help the new novel author. This article focuses on how to eliminate needless information in your novel. The key is to not explain too much about the action.