English Unit 2: Writing a Science Fiction Story

This was a continuation of the free writing unit. For the last week my son had an assignment to write 30 lines of a science fiction story and another 30 lines of a story with dialogue. On his own, he decided to combine those assignments (yippee for initiative!!!) into a story that then took on a life of its own. In fact, he was so proud of his story, he asked to keep working on it and, eventually, get it published.

It took him two weeks (8 days) to complete his first draft. After that, he filled out a chart answering the following questions about the main and secondary characters:

• Name – including nicknames
• Appearance – how did he image they looked, how did he show that in the book
• Character Traits and abilities – what was included as the book currently stood and how where those shown
• Consider to Add – more details or supporting evidence for that character
• Background Information – even if those details are not included, the characters’ back stories influence who they are in the book

Next, we will study classic science fiction short stories before returning to the final version of the book. And, if he still wants it published, we look at using something like lulu.com or just creating a photo book on Shutterfly.

We are all in shock at his sudden enthusiasm for writing. He simply replied that we never bothered to ask him to write science fiction.