Prewriting: Planning your fable
1) Choose a moral
All fables have a moral. What is the lesson that you want to teach? You can use a well known saying or come up with your own.
2) Invent characters
Who will be in your fable? Many fables have animal characters. Your characters can be animals, people, objects, or anything you like. If you choose animals or objects, you should use good personification to make your characters more believable. What will your characters be like and how will they act?
3) Find a setting
A fable can take place anywhere or anytime. It can be a in a real place or an imaginary one. Morals teach lessons that are true all of the time, no matter where you are!
4) Create a plot
All stories need a plot. What will happen to your characters? What will be the conflict? How will they learn their lesson?
Writing the First Draft: Getting it down on paper
1) Introduce the characters and setting
Describe your characters so that the reader can imagine them. Describe appearance, actions, and thoughts. Describe the setting so that the reader can see it and know where the fable will be taking place.
2) Explain the plot
This is the part where you write the actual story. What happens to the characters? How do they respond?
3) End the fable
This is when your characters learn their lesson. You should end your fable with the moral.
Revising: Improving your writing
1) Let it sit
After you've written your fable, let it sit for awhile. Then, when you read it again, try pretending someone else wrote it, and see what you think. You'll never be able to fool yourself totally, but you'll be able to see it more clearly.
2) Share your first draft
Listen carefully to the questions you partner asks after reading your story. This can be hard to do, but when you write for other people, you want them to understand it.
Editing and Proofreading: Polishing your writing
1) Edit
Take a look at the specific words and sentences in your story once you have made all of the major changes. Have you picked the best words to describe the setting, characters, and plot? Are your sentences interesting and clear? Have you used dialogue appropriately?
2) Proofread
Check your final draft to make sure that it is free of grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling errors. Have your partner proofread your final draft, too.
Modified from: Kemper, Dave, et al. “Writing Fantasies.” Writer's Express . Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1995. (pp. 158-159). Back to activity 3 |