Practise opening and shaping a story that controls its ending. Try each before revealing; all model writing is our own original material.
1Write the opening of a story that begins with a decision the narrator already regrets.
Show plan, model opening & checklist
Plan: Start in the middle of the feeling, not the backstory. Hint at the decision without explaining everything at once.
Model opening: I held the ticket for four minutes before I tore it, and I have counted those minutes every day since.
Checklist:
- Opens with a hook, not backstory
- Establishes voice quickly
- Withholds enough to raise questions
- Controlled, deliberate pacing
2Write the opening of a story in which an ordinary object turns out to matter. Do not reveal why yet.
Show plan, model opening & checklist
Plan: Introduce the object naturally within a scene. Give it quiet significance through the narrator's attention.
A trial lesson can start from your child's attempt at Narrative composition practice tasks, with feedback from an experienced teacher.
Model opening: Most people would have thrown the key away. My grandmother kept it in the sugar tin, and never once used it to open anything.
Checklist:
- Object introduced without heavy signposting
- Significance implied, not stated
- Clear narrative voice
- Sets up a later payoff
3Write the final paragraph of a story so that it lands a deliberate ending. Invent whatever came before.
Show plan, model opening & checklist
Plan: Aim for closure or a resonant image; avoid the 'and then I woke up' cliche. Echo something earlier if you can.
Model opening: The bus pulled away and I did not run after it. For the first time that summer, staying still felt like a choice I had made, not one made for me.
Checklist:
- Recognisably an ending
- Controlled, not rushed
- Avoids cliched resolutions
- Resonant final image or line
See the worked annotated model response for narrative composition, or the method in our narrative composition skills guide.