F

Fun
unstory
storywriting
writingactivities:
activities:
dice
diceroll
roll;;show,
show,not
nottell
tell;;
what
whatam
amII?
?
These three creative writing quickies have stimulated some of the most fun times
I have ever had with my students! Each of them takes about 20- 25 minutes to
write; the sharing time afterwards will vary according to class size. Each of the
activities will provoke both the imagination AND critical thinking. The “show,
not tell” activity reinforces that all important characteristic of successful narra-
tive that eludes so many writers.

The first activity is in the form of a printable for students, whereas the other two
must be related to them orally to maintain their intriguing secrets.

©Brilliantly Lit 2019

 FUN SHORT STORY
Roll a dice once for each category.
category
Protagonist Antagonist Setting Object that Word or
has to be phrase that
included in has to be
the story included

A waiter A traffic jam A A ring Revenge

supermarket
after hours

A A witch/ A haunted A cracked Monster

mermaid wizard forest mirror

The The A boat A broken Squeal

person Internet clock
sitting next
to you

Clown A thief A bridge A book of Thunder

spells

A bus A 10 year old A cave A coffee mug Shark

driver child

A A teacher A beach A deck of Desperate

celebrity playing cards

Each of the 5 elements must be included in your story!

©Brilliantly Lit 2019
After the students have finished the story, place them in 6 groups according to
which protagonist they have. They read aloud their stories to each other to see
how differently a story with the same central character could work out.

Narrative "Show, Not Tell" fun exercise

Step one: stress the importance of showing, not describing, when writing stories.
Tell them that they are going to write a scene (it does not have to be a whole story)
in which they SHOW the emotion or character trait they will be randomly given –
such as love - through the actions and dialogue of a few characters. They may NOT
use the word, or any synonyms for that word.

Step two: give each student a slip of paper with a one word emotion or personality
characteristic descriptor on it. They must not divulge what is on the slip of paper;
it is to be kept a secret from even the person next to them.

Step three: the students write for 20-25 minutes.

Step four: students read out their narratives, and the class guess the emotion or
personality trait being conveyed. They can only have three guesses.
A correct guess means the writer was successful.

©Brilliantly Lit 2019

 Narrative "Show, Not Tell"
KINDNESS
GREED
Descriptor List
FEAR
JEALOUSY
ANGER
IRRITATION
ADMIRATION
PRIDE
INTELLIGENCE
BRAVERY
THRIFTINESS
IMPATIENCE
HONESTY
DISHONESTY
ADVENTUROUSNESS
OPTIMISM
PERSISTENCE
CONFIDENCE
HELPFULNESS
LAZINESS
ARROGANCE
IMPULSIVENESS
COWARDICE
DECISIVENESS
INDEPENDENCE
IMAGINATIVENESS
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
PESSIMISM
©Brilliantly Lit 2019
 Narrative "Show, Not Tell"
If your students need an example, you could read them this one
by Nicole, (Year 11) and ask them to guess the character trait
being depicted.
“Can you keep a secret?” Chloe asked.
“Obviously I can!” Ava reassured her.
Chloe whispered into Ava’s ear, “Ryan is such a cutie. I’m in love!”
Ava said with a grin in her face, “Let me go talk to him about you! I'm your best
friend and your best wing man,” she said with a wink, and then ran off to the
hall-way where Ryan and his friends hung out at break.
Chloe sat waiting nervously by her locker, saying to herself, “Yeah, she's my best
friend, she’s gonna talk me up so much to him!”
Ava ran over to Ryan. “Ava is being so weird about you. I heard she follows you
around and wears a shirt saying “I'm in love with Ryan” on it, but she's my best
friend so don’t hurt her, okay?” she asked Ryan.
Ryan rolled his eyes. “Psycho,” he muttered.
Ava left with a smirk on her face, blowing a kiss to Ryan as she walked.
Ava reported back to Chloe. “It’s, like, so funny, but he seemed really into me, I
don't know why. He did say that once he's over me, he could be, like, totally into
you!” she said with a great big smile.

Characteristic being depicted = dishonesty

Another Year 11 example, by Jaclyn

She dragged her bag through the door, barely making it through the entrance before she
kicked her shoes off and slumped her books against the counter. It was only a few more steps to
the couch but she seemed to barely make it before she collapsed sideways, slouching deep into
the soft brown leather. She took her time moving, leisurely pulling a blanket across her lap and
slowly drawing her phone out of her pocket. From the kitchen she heard a shriek “Please get off
the couch. Do something, anything!” her mother called. “Take the dog for a walk - just please
don’t lie there, all evening!”
The girl yawned, turned on some old TV reruns and slipped further between the worn cush-
ions.

Characteristic being depicted: laziness

©Brilliantly Lit 2019

What am I?
This exercise practices use of suspense and the power of gradually revealing detail,
and provides a class with many minutes of fun too.

Pupils write a paragraph in the first person in which they describe what object
they are, without ever saying so. Classmates will have to guess when the piece is
read out. Students can write as anything they like; they can pretend to be
something impressive like the sun, or something small and insignificant like a
beetle. Students should start off by giving vague hints about their identity, then
become more specific towards the end. The idea is to make the description
difficult enough so that it is a little bit tough for the class to guess, but not
impossible.

Example:
A lot of people don’t pay me much attention, but some really like
me: in fact, some people are obsessed by me. Some say I hurt, but
they can’t do without me anyway.
I come in many colors and shapes. I can cost a lot of money, or
only a little, and can be bought in numerous places. I can be black
leather or glossy plastic red. I come in a number of different sizes,
but I always come in a pair. Nearly everyone on the planet owns
me but I am a simple, five letter word.

What am I?

©Brilliantly Lit 2019