Creative Writing Project Instructions

“The Monkey’s Paw"

Copy and paste the directions below, or access as PDF

Rubric

Student Directions:

Choose one of the following prompts for your assignment. You may not write less than one page or more than three pages.

• Plan your story first by brainstorming your ideas.
• Your story should have an exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Use the plot structure diagram to map out your story.
• Remember to describe your characters and use dialogue to carry your story through. Use the character map handout to plan each of your major characters.

1. Offshoot: Write your own humorous or scary story using the “three wishes” topic.  Your character may or may not “wish for something sensible” and could end up “spend[ing] the last wish undoing the work of the other two.” You must decide your character’s fate!  Be sure to include strong instances of foreshadowing and irony. Be sure that the theme is clear to the reader.   

2. Alternate Ending: Write an alternate, more conclusive ending to “The Monkey’s Paw.”  At the end of “The Monkey’s Paw,” Jacobs leaves the reader hanging.  What was Mr. White’s third wish?   What happens to Herbert White?  You can answer all of these questions and more!  Be sure to include strong instances of foreshadowing and irony (which may tie back to the original story). Be sure that the theme is clear to the reader.   

3. Prequel: Tell the story of what happened to Sergeant-Major Morris, or tell the story of the first owner of the paw. Be sure to include strong instances of foreshadowing and irony.  Be sure that the theme is clear to the reader.   

Students use the attached worksheet to brainstorm their ideas. 

Brainstorming Worksheet: pdf, fillable pdf

Use the worksheet below to plan your story.

Planning Your Story: PDF, Fillable PDF

Students use the character map worksheet to help clarify their characters' traits.

Character map worksheet:  pdf, fillable pdf

Students use the worksheet to map their story's plot structure.

PDF, Fillable PDF

Sometimes a visual "outline" is easier for students to create before writing, and storyboards are great for this.  Access the storyboard template below.

PDF Storyboard

For online options, try Canva and Plot.

"Short stories are meant to be consumed in a single sitting, so it makes sense to write them in one."

~ TheWritePractice.com, Sarah Gribble

The following key points are a good place to start your discussion about writing a first draft.  But in the end, there is no way to write a first draft other than to sit down and write it!

Writing their First Draft: PDF, Fillable PDF

More tips from Sarah Gribble:

Elements of a Good Short Story: 

1. Start with action: Get the story moving.
2. Show, don’t tell: Describe the action and let the characters speak for themselves.
3. Good pacing: Good short stories flow well from one scene to the next and none of those scenes are unnecessary.
4. Build up to your climax: Every single word in a short story needs to drive the reader to the climax. Move toward that climax efficiently. If there’s something that doesn’t serve this purpose, chop it. And make sure your climax is in there!
5. Satisfying resolution: Your ending must wrap up your story. It needs to be clear, there can be a twist or surprise (but make sure that surprise isn’t coming out of nowhere), and there needs to be a change from the way things were in the beginning.

Common Short Story Mistakes: 

1. Overcomplicated plot: Keep it simple. 
2. Too much backstory: Only tell us what we need to know when we need to know it. 
3. Bad dialogue: When your characters "talk," make it meaningful. 
4. Head-hopping: Stay in one point of view. 
5. Abrupt ending: The climax is not the ending! Take us all the way through.

Students edit their first draft for mechanics, grammar, and style.

There are several online checkers students can copy and paste their drafts to check for mechanics and grammar (not always style). LanguageTool.org and Scribens.com are two of them. 

Grammarly is a powerful checker and offers a Chrome extension.

Teachers Pay Teachers offers several checklists free to download.

After editing their first draft, students pair off and switch stories to peer edit.

Alternatively, students can ask a family member or friend to read and respond.

PDF, Fillable PDF

Peer editing questions:

1. Does the first paragraph inspire you to read the story?
2. Are the characters believable?
3. Is there information that didn’t add to the story or was just “extra”?
4. Does the story have an interesting climax?
5. Did the writer build toward the climax or does it “just happen”?
6. Is the ending interesting/unexpected?
7. Was there anything confusing about the story? What needs to be added or cleared up?

According to Writing-World.com, a story's title:

• Should not be dull,
• Should be easy to remember,
• Should be appropriate.

Students can read the full article for help with writing their titles.

While name generators probably won't write the title for them, they can be a fun way to spur the imagination.  Students can try out WritingExercises.co and GeneratorLand.com for two title generators made specifically for horror writing.

Benchmark Writer's Workshop has a short mini-lesson on title writing.

Students write their final drafts to turn in.

PDF, Fillable PDF

Students answer questions to check each other's final draft of the story against the rubric:

Student check: PDF, Fillable PDF

When students know that their audience will judge them not on being able to complete an assignment, but on being able to affect the reader, suddenly, the stakes are higher. 

When teachers publish their students' stories, they're giving those stories a world audience. There are several ways teachers can provide that experience to their students.

Note: When you decide on a format and want to include a wider audience, please consider sending us a link and we will share stories here as examples of student work.

Teacher website or blog: You already have an audience.  Create a space for your students.

Student website or blog: If your school allows this, creating a space for themselves empowers students to publish their best.

Flipgrid allows students to tell their stories in a video format.

Sites like Canva and Adobe Spark allow students to illustrate and share their writing.

BookCreator free account allows students to create, post, and share their stories in book form. The free account is limited to one book and is available online or as an app. 

Commaful is a favorite of many writers, where they can get their stories read and sometimes reviewed with constructive feedback.  Policies are strict about bullying, and reviews of the site call it "a friendly, encouraging writing community." Best of all, students can publish their stories (in multimedia format) without having to log on or create an account.

Storybird is a beautiful website where students can publish their stories with art chosen from the site.  It is not free, but teachers can sign up for a 7-day free trial and are able to create a single class of 40 students.  More information below:

• Free trial users enjoy unlimited access to write stories in multiple formats. Write picture books, comics, long-form stories, flash fiction, and poetry. You will still have access to your existing stories and be able to edit them even after your free trial ends. 
• Free trial users will have 1 free PDF download that you may use to save your story as a digital PDF book or as a printable craft book.  
• Free trial teachers will be able to create and manage a single class of 40 students. Invited students will also receive a seven day free trial on the website when signing up for a new account.