179 4 Love and loss Structure your short story Structure Content Opening Ways of opening: • using direct speech to introduce the characters • starting in the middle of the action (in medias res) • describing the surroundings to set the mood Building suspense One way to build suspense is to use your senses in your descriptions. What can your character see, smell, hear, touch and taste? Climax Describe the situation when the conflict is discovered or resolved. Ending Round off your short story. Your ending can be open – not telling the reader what happens; or it can be closed – giving the reader a resolution. Plan your ending before you start to write. Useful adjectives to describe a character: adventurous, ambitious, arrogant, clever, compassionate, considerate, courageous, eccentric, frank, generous, inventive, lazy, modest, nasty, nosey, passionate, reliable, sensible, sincere, witty Checklist: • I have written a short fictional text. • I have given my short story a suitable title. • My short story has an opening, a build-up of suspense, a climax and an ending. • I have used descriptive language and adjectives to make the story come alive. • I have varied my language, using both direct speech and descriptions. • I have made sure I don’t use the same words too often. Hæfniviðmið • Samið texta og leikið sér með málið þar sem sköpunargáfan og ímyndunaraflið fá að njóta sín.
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