Story Writing Real-deal

STORY WRITING (Short Story) Definition: The short story is a literary genre. It is usually fictional narrative prose and tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction, such as novellas (in the modern sense of this term) and novels.

Short stories tend to be less complex than novels. Usually, a short story will focus on only one incident, has a single plot, a single setting, a limited number of characters, and covers a short period of time.

CONTENTS OF A SHORT STORY • • • • •

Exposition Complication Crisis Climax Resolution

CONTENTS: •

Exposition: exposition is the introduction of setting, situation and main characters.

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Complication: complication is the event of the story that introduces the conflict.

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Crisis: crisis is the decisive moment for the protagonist and their commitment to a course of action.

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Climax: the point of highest interest in terms of the conflict and the point of the story with the most action.

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Resolution: resolution is the point of the story when the conflict is resolved.

DRAMA Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. It is derived from a Greek word meaning "action" derived from "to do".

HERO • Tragic Hero

• Modern Hero

Tragic Hero (Aristotelian tragic hero) Aristotle once said that "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." An Aristotelian tragic hero must have four characteristics:

1. Nobility (of a noble birth) or wisdom (by virtue of birth). 2. Hamartia (translated as flaw or error of judgment). 3. A reversal of fortune(peripeteia) brought about because of the

hero's Hamartia. 4. The discovery or recognition that the reversal was brought about by the hero's own actions (anagnorisis).

Modern Hero A modern hero is often simply an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances, who, despite the odds being stacked against him or her, typically prevails in the end. The hero may exhibit characteristics such as superhuman strength and endurance that sometimes makes him nearly invincible.

NAME: Muhammad Umar Registration number: BE-307-044 SECTION: A SUBJECT: Communication Skills SUBMITTED TO: Miss Fareeha

“SHORT STORY” With the Eid holidays over and our lives returning to their usual boring routines, I would like to discuss the unusual happenings of that important day. I went to offer the Eid prayers and after finishing them I went to the graveyard to offer fateha for my loved ones. That was all as planned. What happened next was probably one of the most frightening and horrific incidents I have or will ever witness in my entire life. I went out to spend some time with my friends, till noon we were laughing and sharing jokes, talking about how much Eidi we had collected and what we were going to do from that money. Then suddenly I had an idea. I told my friends that instead of sitting idly and chatting we should have a bicycle race on the roads. We were all experts at cycling. All of us could perform 360s if given a ramp and could wheelie our way from one end of the road to the other; in short we were the coolest bicyclers in our area. Anyway we got ready with our bicycles and met outside my house. I, with my friends Uzair, Bilal and Zohaib, started our marathon from my house and had to take specific streets with bumpy roads, go around the Eidgah

ground beating the traffic of the main road and return to my house using a very narrow street. This may sound very dangerous but to us it was a piece of cake or so we thought. That was not our first marathon. We had done stuff like that many times so we started off very cool indeed with every one of us pedalling our energy and trying to outrun the other. We made it to the Eidgah at 12.30 and reached the main road some five minutes later. At this moment every one of us was panting like dogs and sweating profusely. The road was almost empty with only a few cars and four bicycles on it. Uzair was leading, with me right on his tail. I took my eyes off the road for merely a second to see where my other two friends were and found them right behind me jamming their brakes and moving to the left while simultaneously pointing to me to get out of the way. As I looked back on the road, I saw a taxi speeding towards me at a very high speed indeed. My reflexes were not fast enough to get me out of the way and as my front tire hit the taxis bumper I was thrown off my bike and my head crashed into the windscreen of the taxi and all went dark. The next thing I knew was waking up in the hospital with a big swollen head and a bandage wrapped on the wound. My mother heard me stirring and shouted out with joy that I had woken up and my father emerged through the door and his face was filled with joy to see me conscious. When I asked my mother, who was sitting beside me, what time it was she told me that it was 7.30pm of the second day of Eid. I felt so distressed after hearing these words from my mom. Not only had I

missed the first day of Eid which was the biggest gathering of my family at my house but I had also destroyed my family’s Eid. I not only thought about how reckless I had been in causing that accident but also about how my parents’ had sacrificed their Eid for me.

JAWAD’S STORY

She looked simply gorgeous. Her emerald green jora was really mesmerising. Her soft green eyes twinkled with happiness and the blush on her rosy cheeks was the evidence of the fact that it was Nimal’s engagement day. It was indeed a big day — a day which Mr and Mrs Sheikh had been waiting for since Nimal’s first cry. Nimal was their only daughter and was the most precious thing in the world to them. They wanted to make her engagement a memorable experience. Mr Sheikh’s heart swelled with pride while preparing for a delightful event. Mrs Sheikh was busy decorating the great hall with the wreath of flowers which looked beautiful. Soon the sun set; the great hall looked glamorous. There were hundreds of bulbs which shone brightly making the hall heaven on earth.

As the twilight faded and the grandfather clock in the hall struck eight, the special guests arrived. Nimal’s going to be fiancé looked really handsome in his black sherwani. His hazel eyes were even more charismatic. Mr and Mrs Sheikh gave them a hearty welcome and showered tons of rose petals on them. Mr Sheikh kissed Taj’s forehead and led him and his fellows to the great hall. They were overwhelmed by such heavy lights. The glow of the heavy bulbs and the decoration was beyond Taj’s expectation. Taj wondered why Karachi suffers from the problem of load-shedding. Well, they all sat and admired the beautiful hall, when at last the life of the event made her entrance. Nimal looked even lovelier, her jora shimmered and her sandals twinkled. Taj gazed at his going-to-be fiancé with an open mouth while everyone in the hall was stunned too. Taj’s best friend Nomy who was also awe-struck nudged him saying, “Yeh sab lighton ka kamal hai” Taj chuckled and stood to welcome Nimal, who blushed even more and her friends helped her to be seated. Taj’s mother hugged her tightly saying Bismillah she handed Taj the engagement ring. The diamonds and sapphires on the ring twinkled. Taj took Nimal’s hand in his hand. Taj was going to put the ring on Nimal’s finger when suddenly

something happened… something which you and I or any one living in Karachi would know: as often and as usual by the law of KESC, the lights went off… Yes — once again KESC reported a power failure. The hall that once shimmered and glimmered in lights, drowned at once in complete darkness. The ring dropped with a cling on the floor and Mr Sheikh fainted. “Aap ki khushion mein aap ka sathi sirf KESC”