Preparation for the writing included reading flash fiction stories from the Every Day Fiction site, stories written by me, and also some examples from Edgar Wiseman's book of flash fiction called Briefs. Prior to this flash fiction unit, as a class we had also studied short stories that fit into the "schools" of realism, naturalism, and regionalism--writers such as Mark Twain, Bret Harte, and Kate Chopin.
The student has agreed to work on the story with me and then submit the story to Every Day Fiction.
The story has an excellent title, "Leap of Faith," which has both literal and thematic significance.
The beginning works well:
The cliff was huge, dark, and intimidating. Every rock was sharp. The cliff collided with the water, and the dark waves crashed against the stone with loud beats.
The conflicts include both inner and outer challenges. Dialogue, two different settings, and characterization are significant to the story.
I'm a strong believer of creating literature as a powerful procedure for learning to analyze literature. "Doing" teaches in ways that "talking about" never gets to. In terms of higher order thinking skills, "synthesis" is a different thinking skill than "analysis."
And, who knows, maybe somebody will get published.
Copyright 2010 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved
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