Creative Writing

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CREATIVE WRITING
Unit I – Module I:
The Creative in Creative
Writing
I. LEARNING COMPETENCIES
 Use imagery, diction, figures of speech, and specific experiences to evoke meaningful
responses from readers.
OBJECTIVES:
After going through this module, you are expected to:

 Differentiate imaginative writing from other forms of writing.
 Choose creative ideas from my personal experiences, and apply them in my own
writing.
 Write short paragraphs based on my specific experiences.
II. DISCUSSION
Read the Information very well then comprehend what you have read.
 CREATIVE WRITING is any writing that is original, artistic, and self-expressive. Its
purpose is to entertain and share human experiences by expressing feelings or
thoughts that are borne out of the imagination as can be seen in poetry, fiction,
plays, and personal essays. It is also called imaginative writing or literature.
 TECHNICAL WRITING is opposite to Creative writing which the main goal is to

present facts such as the analytic or pragmatic forms of literature like professional,
journalistic, academic, medical, scientific, business, or technical writing.
You don‟t have to torture yourself over the definition of creative writing. Ultimately, you
get to decide what art is and what creative writing is. There will probably be people who
will disagree with you and there will be debates. Argue if you must but choose your
battles wisely because, although it is important to differentiate imaginative writing from
other forms of writing, if you look at the big picture, perhaps you‟ll see that it is not that
critical to label what is and isn‟t creative writing. You will probably know creative writing
when you experience it- either as a reader or as a writer.
 Creative Writing Genre:
A. FICTION (Short Story, Novel, Novella, even a Joke) Are inherently creative because
they are mostly made-up stuff borne of the imagination.
B. POETRY (Songs, Riddles, Proverbs) Takes many liberties with language and imagery.
C. PLAYS (Screenplays, Teleplays, Stage Plays, Radio Plays) Require a significant level of
imaginative and creative thinking.
These genres of creative writing are popular because readers enjoy them and oftentimes
get so engaged and affected. It would look like “being enjoyable” and “engaging because
they express human experiences like love and loss” are also important characteristics of
creative writing. At the other end of spectrum, there are the obviously noncreative,
extremely detailed, inexhaustibly researched and often expertly written studies and
treatises of everything from the biological evolution of a single-celled organism to the
medical effects of penicillin on laboratory rats, to the environmental and humanitarian
crisis caused by the phenomenon of global warming, to the astrophysics of the death of
a star and birth of black holes. And you can add a lot, all legal documents, business
contracts, privacy policies, instructional manuals, and boring textbooks.
Creative Writer, Yes, You! Just as painters can create lifelike and familiar scenes and
pictures, or strange and unfamiliar worlds and creatures; so too can writers conjure
characters that can be as real as Juan Crisostomo Ibarra or as fantastic as Spider-man,
and settings as ordinary as the Luneta Park, or as surreal as the Middle-earth. But whether
commonplace or fabulously supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, these artistic and therefore
creative, renditions of the world or other worlds are rooted in the personal experience and
imagination of the artist- painter or writer, filmmaker or architect, and so on and so forth.
So, yes, your wildest creation is fed and fueled by your own personal sensory experience.
Now, proceed to say and believe it that your own sensory experience plays a great role in
your creative or imaginative writing. Just remember that great lesson in creative writing:
Write what you know. Writing what you know means writing about what you sense and
experience about you, what you see, hear, smell, taste, feel, and so on.
It‟s not easy to be a creative writer. All you have to remember is that feeling of dread and
anxiety when you are faced with a blank page to fill. No matter how many times you have
written before, no matter how many recognitions and awards you have received for your
writing, that fear of the blank page, or blank computer screen does not really go away. It
happens every time, but whatever your motivation for writing turns out to be and whatever
struggles and triumphs you have in writing, look forward to the act of creation, of writing
creatively because it will and it does give you a great deal of meaning and satisfaction in
life.
GENERALIZATION:
Creative writing is an art. It is an act of self-expression that allows you to process your
sensory experience and imagination so that you can communicate your thoughts and
feelings about the human experience in a manner that is enjoyable, engaging, and
enlightening.
Creative writing is also a discipline. It can be learned and with diligent practice, it can be
mastered. Just like any craft, there are helpful techniques, and tricks of the trade that you
can use to get the best out of creative writing.
Some people say that the act of writing creatively helps them understand themselves,
others, and the world around them. Others say that they find joy, meaning, and
satisfaction in life when they write. It could be a different experience for you and maybe,
just maybe, you can write about your experience some day. Who knows? It may even
inspire others to write creatively, too!
ACTIVITY
Read the story for children below, excerpted from Peter Solis Nery‟s first English novel “Love
in the Time of the Bakunawa”, and rewrite it as a news story of three paragraphs or less.
Provide a corresponding and appropriate headline.
“The Legend of Isla Pulang Pasayan”

Peter Solis Nery
(An excerpt from the novel “Love in the Time of the Bakunawa”)
Once upon a time, many, many full moons ago, there was an island without a name. It was
surrounded by the deep blue sea, which was always calm and smooth every season of the
year. Even when storms and typhoons raged in the sky, the surface of the sea was as quiet
as quiet can be.
Then, one midsummer‟s day, a school of naughty shrimps played a harmless prank on the
Bakunawa, the hideous sea monster who usually slept soundly in the depths of the deep
blue sea. Everyone knows that it is wiser to play a trick on a drunk than on someone who
is sound asleep. But shrimps have smaller brains than people. So, when the sea monster
was awakened by their silly prank, the shrimps came face to face with a raging bakunawa
who chased them furiously around the ocean.
Round and round the bakunawa chased the terrified shrimps, making them flee onto the
shore. Thousands of trembling shrimps leapt onto the beach foolishly thinking it would
save them from the wrath of the crazed sea monster. They were safe from the bakunawa, all
right, but the blazing midday sun roasted them, turning their blue shells bright red as if
they had been cooked in boiling water.
Day and night, the silly shrimps jumped onto the beach to escape the rampaging
bakunawa, eventually covering the wide sandy beach with their scorched red shells-which
is how Isla Pulang Pasayan got its name, the Red Shrimp Island.
III. ASSESSMENT
1. You are a creative writer invited to participate in a story writing contest to be judged
by the creators of a fantasy series in television. You are asked to submit a one-page
story for children ages 7-9 about a talking duck that visited your school. The story
can have actual dialogues but mind the length and keep it all in just one page. If your
story will be chosen, based on your creativity and story‟s appropriateness for the
target audience, it will be featured as one of the episodes which will be aired in the
TV series.
Rubrics:
Coherence -35%
Grammar and Writing Mechanics -25%
Originality and Creativity -40%
Total -100%
2. Imagine you are a new teaching assistant in a Creative Writing course for college
students. You are tasked to present in freshman collegiate class (with students aged
17-19), at the end of this week, at least three pieces of writing which can be
considered imaginative writing but obviously neither poetry, fiction, nor play. The aim
of the presentation is to broaden the class understanding of creative writing
examples. Bring photocopies or magazine cutouts (of the at least the first page these
articles) so you can read them in class. Then prepare to defend your choices when
questioned. Your output will be judged by the professor you are assisting based on
the appropriateness of the materials that you have chosen your creativity in
presenting them and your skill in defending your choices.
IV. ASSIGNMENT
Journal writing: In your notebook, write a short reflection about things that you have
learned from this lesson or module.
(At least one paragraph or two with 25 to 50 words only.)
Rubrics:
Coherence -35%
Grammar and Writing Mechanics -25%
Originality and Creativity -40%
Total -100%
Instructor: Ms. Jeanica Duma-ug Aguilar

Contact Number: 09065448160
Facebook Name: Yek Yek
Subject: Creative Writing (Week 2)
MODULE 2: THE LANGUAGE OF CREATIVE
WRITING
Use imagery, diction, figures of speech, and specific experiences to evoke meaningful
responses from readers.
OBJECTIVES:
Utilize language to evoke emotional and intellectual responses from my readers.
Use imagery, diction, figures of speech and specific experiences in my writing.
Read closely as a writer conscious of the craft.
Write short paragraphs based on my specific experiences.
II. DISCUSSION
REFLECT UPON: What is your favorite POEM or STORY? Who is your favorite Author? What
do you like about this author? Which literary book or story was most difficult for you to read
but you finished it anyway? How did that feel? Discuss your answers in a small group.
The Creative Writer’s Tools

More than just the use of engaging plots, unique characters, imaginative settings, strong
sentiments, or interesting points of view to attract and capture the readers, creative writing
also relies heavily on stylistic language that is picturesque, involving, innovative, intriguing,
absorbing, and basically just enjoyable and satisfying to read.
 WORDS are the tools of a creative writer. For you to succeed as a creative writer, you
must be able to use words and sentences that engage, entertain or give pleasure, and
ultimately, satisfy your readers.
Since the tools for creative writing are words, you must be able to manipulate and utilize
words and phrases effectively and efficiently so that they are as colorful, vivid, and lively as
a painter‟s paint, or as musical and harmonious as composer‟s notes and chords, or
perhaps as mellifluous and lilting as a musician‟s instrument, or maybe as graceful and
elegant and hypnotic as a dancer‟s steps.
Diction and Style

Forget speech for a moment; focus on the writing part just for now and understand that,
traditionally, a news article has a different diction—and here are the synonyms for diction:
wording, vocabulary, terminology, phraseology, language and style—from an editorial piece
or a feature story. They will probably have a slightly similar diction with professional
research paper and academic theses, but by their diction you will know that journalistic
pieces, academic tracts, or technical writing, are noncreative writing work.
Creative writing has a more inventive, imaginative, and picturesque diction. But just as
there are differences among the journalistic genre, there are also variations in literary or
creative writing genre. By their diction, you will definitely identify which writings are
comedies and tragedies; love poems or fairy tales; horror stories or psychological thrillers;
teenage juvenilia or mature works of the same author. Sometimes, by their mere diction,
you can also tell whether the writer is male or female, gay, Filipino, foreigner, or just three
years old! And if you are a voracious wide reader, you may even be able to tell which author
wrote which poem or novel without looking at the byline or book cover. Which is to say,
style is pretty much related to diction.
Figurative Language
 Figures of Speech are also called Rhetorical Devices or Stylistic Devices because these
are tools that can be used as a part of your personal style to give emphasis,
freshness, or clarity to whatever you are trying to say. You don‟t need to use them,
but they really add sophistication to your writing and show off a little bit of your skill
and art in using the language.
Commonly used Figures of Speech:
1. Accumulation- is a figure of speech in which the arguments previously stated are

presented again in a forceful manner. (ex: She has an attractive face, gorgeous smile,
lovely hair, charming eyes, exquisite nose, flawless skin, a gracefulness in her
movements; in short, she is divinely beautiful.)
2. Adjunction- is a figure of speech in which a word, phrase, or clause is placed at the
beginning or the end of a sentence. Kind of how that character Yoda in “Star Wars”
speak. (ex: Too lazy to find examples, I am. But get the picture, do you?)
3. Adnomination- is the repetition of words with a change in letter or sound. (ex: She is
somebody from somewhere, and she knows something. (The word somebody becomes
somewhere and something upon repetition.)
4. Alliteration- is the repetition of initial sounds in neighbouring words. (ex: Fresh fern
fronds from the forest.)
5. Allusion- is a figure of speech that quickly stimulates different ideas and
associations using only a couple of words; making indirect reference. (ex: Describing
someone as an “Adonis” makes an allusion to the handsome young shepherd loved
by the goddess of love and beauty herself in the Greek myths.)
6. Anaphora- is a stylistic device that consists of repeating a sequence of words at the
beginnings of neighbouring clauses to give them emphasis. (ex: You are lovely, you
are gorgeous, you are pretty, you are glorious, you are, you are, you just are!)
7. Antanaclasis- is a rhetorical device in which a word is repeated and whose meaning
changes in the second instance. (ex: The excuse is sound, nothing but sound. NOTE:
The word sound in the first mention means “reasonable” while in the second
mention, it simply refers to the sensation in the ear. Also, nothing but sound is an
expression that means “empty”.)
8. Anticlimax- refers to a figure of speech in which statements gradually descend in
order of importance. (ex: 1. He got his dignity, his job, and his company car. 2. In the
car crash, she lost her life, her car, and her cell phone.)
9. Antiphrasis- is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is used to mean the
opposite of its normal meaning to create ironic humorous effect. (ex: She is 65 years
young.)
10. Antithesis- is a figure of speech that refers to the juxtaposition of opposing or
contrasting ideas. It involves the bringing out of a contrast in the ideas by an obvious
contrast in the words, clauses, or sentences within a parallel grammatical structure.
(ex: Too many choices, too little time.)
11. Apostrophe- is an exclamatory rhetorical figure of speech in which a speaker
or writer breaks off and directs speech to an imaginary person or abstract quality or
idea. (ex: Oh moon! You have seen everything!)
12. Assonance- is a figure is a speech that refers to the repetition of vowel sounds
to create internal rhyming within phrases or sentences. (ex: A certain purple curtain,
captain. NOTE: cer in certain, pur in purple, and cur in curtain. Also: tain in certain,
curtain, and captain.)
13. Cataphora- refers to a figure of speech where an earlier expression refers to or
describes a forward expression. (ex: If you go there now, the party will start. NOTE:
The word there is a cataphora because it refers to party which hasn‟t been mentioned
before that point.)
14. Chiasmus- is a figure of speech in which words, grammatical constructions, or
concepts are repeated in reverse order, in the same or a modified form. (ex: People
must live to work, not just work to live. NOTE: The phrase live to work is repeated in
reverse as work to live.)
15. Climax- refers to a figure of speech in which words, phrases, or clauses are
arranged in order of increasing importance. (ex: Three things will remain: faith, hope,
and love. But the greatest of these is love.)
16. Dysphemism- is the use of a harsh, more offensive word instead of one
considered less harsh. (ex: Calling the television an “idiot box”; or a homosexual man
a “faggot”.)
17. Ellipsis (Elliptical Construction)- is the omission of a word or words. It refers
to constructions in which words are left out of a sentence, often to avoid redundancy,
but in a manner that a sentence can still be understood. (ex: Rizal spoke seven
languages, Bonifacio only two. NOTE: Bonifacio only (spoke) two (languages).)
18. Euphemism- is a figure of speech used to express a mild, indirect, or vague
term to substitute for a harsh, blunt, or offensive term. (ex: saying “passed away” for
“died”; or “in between jobs” to mean “unemployed”)
19. Epigram- refers to a concise, witty, memorable, and sometimes surprising or
satirical statement. (ex: Oscar Wilde‟s “I can resist everything but temptation,” or “I
am not young enough to know everything.”
20. Epiphora (Epistrophe)- is a rhetorical device that consists of repeating a
sequence of words at the end of neighbouring clauses to give the emphasis. (ex: “…a
government of the people, by the people, for the people. NOTE: The phrase the people
is repeated twice after it was first mentioned.)
21. Hyperbole- is a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to create emphasis or
effect; it is not meant to be taken literally. (ex: I told you a million times to clean your
room!)
22. Hypophora- is a figure of speech in which the speaker raises a question and
then answers it. (ex: Is it a bird? No! Is it a plane? No, it‟s Superman!)
23. Irony- is a figure of speech in which there is a contradiction of expectation
between what is said and what is really meant. It is characterized by an incongruity,
a contrast, between reality and appearance. (ex: The explanation is as clear as mud.)
Dramatic Irony- occurs when the audience or the reader knows more about the
events than the characters themselves. In other words, what the character thinks is
true is incongruous with what the audience knows. (ex: a) One of the two identical
twins tells the other, “You are so ugly!” b) The pot calling the kettle black.)
Situational Irony- refers to the contrast between the actual result of a situation and
what was intended or expected to happen. (ex: The robbers stole from the police
station.)
24. Litotes- is a figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an
affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite. (ex: a) Instead of saying that
someone is “ugly”, you can say that someone is “not very pretty”. b) Instead of saying
that the situation is “bad”, you can say that it is “not good.”
25. Merism- is a figure of speech by which something is referred to by a
conventional phrase that enumerates several of its constituents or traits. (ex: saying
“young and old” to refer to the whole population or saying “flesh and bone” to mean
the whole body.
26. Metalepsis- is a figure of speech in which reference is made to something by
means of another thing that is remotely related to it, either through a causal
relationship or through another figure of speech. (ex: You‟ve got to catch the worm
tomorrow. (Note: “The early bird catches the worm” is a common proverb advocating
getting an early start on the day to achieve success. By referring to this saying, you
are compared to the bird, so that tomorrow, you will awaken early in order to achieve
success.)
27. Metaphor- is a figure of speech that makes an implicit, implied or hidden
comparison between two things or objects that are poles apart from each other but
have some characteristics common between them (ex: a) The planet is your
playground. b) The Lord is my shepherd.)
28. Metonymy- is a figure of speech that makes an implicit, implied or hidden
comparison between two things or objects that are poles apart from each other but
have some characteristics common between them. (ex: using “Malacaῆang” to refer to
the president or the government administration or saying “a hand” to mean “help”
29. Oxymoron- is a figure of speech that combines incongruous or contradictory
terms. (ex: “open secret” ; “virtual reality” ; “sacred profanities”
30. Personification- is a figure of speech in which human characteristics are
attributed to an abstract quality, animal, or inanimate object. (ex: a) The leaves are
waving their hands. b) The trees are dancing in delight!)
31. Pun (Paronomasia)- involves a word play that suggests two or more meanings
by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an
intended humorous or rhetorical effect. Puns are constructions used in jokes and
idioms whose usage and meaning are entirely local to a particular language and its
culture. (ex: Atheism is a nonprophet institution. Note: the word prophet is put in
place of its homophone profit, changing the common phrase non-profit institution.)
32. Simile- is a figure of speech directly comparing two unlike things, often
introduced with the word like or as. (ex: A smile as big as the sun; She prays like a
mantis.)
33. Synecdoche- is a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to
represent the whole or the whole of something is used to represent part of it. (ex: a)
Sixty hands voted. Note: the part hand is used to refer to the whole person. b) The
country supported the president. Note: The word country is used to refer to part of the
country, namely, most people.)
34. Tautology- is a statement that says the same thing twice in different ways, or a
statement that is unconditionally true by the way it is phrased. (ex: Free gift ;
Advance planning)
35. Understatement- is a figure of speech used by writers or speakers to
deliberately make a situation seem less important or serious than it really is. (ex: a) A
nurse about to give an injection saying, “It will sting a bit.” b) To describe a
disappointing experience, a participant may say, “It was…different.”
III. ASSESSMENT
Directions: Answer the following concisely.
1. Why is stylistic language important in creative writing?

2. What can affect and influence a writer‟s Diction?
3. Why is Figurative Language important in Creative Writing?
Give three examples of the following Figures of Speech:
a. Simile
b. Metaphor
c. Irony
d. Hyperbole
e. Alliteration
IV. ASSIGNMENT
Other than writing, where else do you think can figurative language be useful? How often
do you use figurative language while talking to friends? Do you enjoy reading or hearing
stories that use a lot of figurative language? Do you think you will enjoy using figurative
language in your own writing?
MODULE 3: FICTION, CHARACTER, AND SETTING
Identify the various elements, techniques, and literary devices in specific forms of poetry.
II. DISCUSSION
You often hear people talk about the difference between character-driven and plot-driven
stories. Characters are to whom the events in the story happen. They are the people in the
story that guide you through the plot and setting as you explore the theme and conflicts,
among other elements, in the story. Even the most complex of literary characters is actually
simpler compared to the simplest person there is. A fictional character is created by a
writer using only a few thousand words; whereas, a real person is a product of millennia of
heredity, centuries of culture, and a lifetime of experience. As a writer, you will
use(consciously or unconsciously) certain behaviors and traits, personalities, and
peculiarities that you have seen in yourself, and in others in creating credible and exciting
characters. Although the origins of your characters are real-life observations of yourself and
of others, these observations are refracted or even rearranged by your imagination. Thus,
whatever characters you create are reflective of your view, and your understanding and
experience of human nature.
Round/Flat, Major/Minor
Characters can be major or minor. The difference is in the amount of space and attention
they receive in the story. A major character is usually given much development, more
conflicts to resolve, more background story, and usually more action. A minor character
usually serves a certain purpose to move a plot, but is not as developed and explored as a
major character. In Noli Me Tangere, the lovers Juan Crisostomo Ibarra and Maria Clara
are major characters, while Capitan Tiago, Doῆa Victorina, and the brothers Crispin and
Basilio are minor characters.
Characters can be simple or complex. English novelist E.M. Foster (1879-1970), in his book
“Aspects of the Novel”, distinguishes these characters as flat (for simple) and round (for
complex). Flat characters are easily recognized by your “emotional eye”, they are usually
constructed around a single idea or quality. Think about the simple and predictable
characters in a sitcom: the weird neighbour, the gay bestfriend etc. Round characters, on
the other hand, have the capacity to surprise you in a convincing and even inevitable way.
They are richer, deeper, more complex, more mysterious, and more unpredictable than flat
characters.
In successful stories, all characters want something or are driven by something. Flat
characters want only one simple thing: in Rizal‟s novels, Sisa wanted her children; Doῆa
Victorina wanted social acceptance. Round characters, in contrast, want something
complicated: Crisostomo Ibarra did not just want revenge after his father was denied a
Catholic burial, he also wanted a fight against social injustice in the country under Spanish
rule.
Frye’s Mode of Fiction
Herman Northrop Frye (1912-1991) a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist who
wrote the book “Anatomy of Criticism”. According to him, there are five categories of Fiction
based on hero‟s power of action.
1. Myth- is a story mode where the hero is a divine being with an ability that is superior
in “kind” to other people and to the environment of other people. (ex: Lam-ang,
Hercules, the gods and goddesses in Greek and Roman Mythology etc.)
2. Romance- is a story mode where the hero has marvellous actions, but who is
identified as a human being with an ability superior in “degree” to other people and to
his environment. (ex: Humadapnon and Laba Donggon of the “Hinilawod” epic,
Odysseus, Superman, Robin Hood etc.)
3. High Mimetic- is a story mode where the hero is a leader with an ability superior in
degree to other people “but not to his environment”. The hero has authority,
passions, and powers of expression far greater than others, but what he does is
subject to both social criticism and the order of nature. (ex: King David in the Bible,
Achilles, King Oedipus etc.)
4. Low Mimetic- is a story mode where the hero is one of us, with an ability that is
superior “neither” to other people “nor” the environment. (ex: Juan Crisostomo Ibarra
and other characters in “Noli Me Tangere”, Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman”,
etc.)
5. Ironic- is a story mode where the hero has an ability or intelligence “inferior” to ours
so we often have a sense of looking down on a scene of bondage, frustration, or
absurdity. (ex: Juan Tamad, Mang Kepweng, Charlie Chaplin, Mr. Bean etc.)
Setting as a Symbol
Every story has a setting, but how important setting is in your story? In older stories,
setting is like a painted stage backdrop against which the story plays out; you can change
the backdrop and it probably won‟t change much of the story. In contemporary storytelling,
however, setting is given a little more importance. For some writers, setting the story in a
familiar place and in the present time can be a shortcut technique. For example, if your
readers know Luneta or Rizal Park, you don‟t have to waste time describing your setting,
instead, you can just proceed and tell what happened to your characters while they hurried
by the Rizal Monument where our national hero‟s remains are enshrined. Without
describing the flagpoles lining both sides of the monument, your readers might already
imagine twelve flags unfurling. Other writers, on the other hand, prefer to spend time
describing cities or towns as they were in the past or will be way into the future. In some
stories, the setting is made more organic or essential to the story almost like another
character itself so that the story fundamentally changes when the setting is changed.
Props
An aspect of the setting that you should also consider is the placement of props, or objects
with significance. If you make an effort to put an object in the story or scene, your reader
will believe that such an object has some importance or relevance and consequence. From
the colour of the dress to the kinds of flowers arranged in the vase or from the book your
character is reading to the beverage he/she is drinking. Objects carry emotional weight and
may often appear as clues depending on how much description and attention an object
gets, your reader may assume that lily is more than just a lily.
Evocation of Time and Place
You can easily engage your readers into your story by using a familiar setting, but in the
same manner, you may also lose your readers if there are gaffes and glitches in your
evocation of time and place. For example, although the first “selfie” photo may have taken
in 1839, it was not until 2012 that the word “selfie” was really used; and while crude selfie
stick was first improvised in 1925, it was not until 2014 that it became widely used. So, if
your story is set before 2010, it cannot really speak of selfies and selfie sticks without
irritating your smart readers.
To make you story‟s setting more real and familiar, do not forget what is happening in your
story‟s environment. Consider and inject references to the cultural atmosphere, sociological
background, political climate, and religious and historical milieus. You don‟t have to dump
all the information at once in one place, but you may sprinkle them all over you story
where they may be appropriate. Details like these can enrich your story and make it
credible and relatable.
III. ASSESSMENT
A. DIRECTIONS: Identify which of Frye‟s Fiction Mode are the following characters
belong:
1. Harry Potter
2. Maria Makiling
3. Darna
4. Jane Eyre
5. Doctor Faust
6. Thor
7. Moana
8. Mowgli
9. Iron Man
10. Cardo Dalisay
B. In your Work Notebook, write a short paragraph (consisting not less than 50 words)
sketching your favourite hangout-whether it is a mall, coffee shop, cafeteria, gym,
beach etc. Include sensory details like sounds, smell, temperatures etc.
IV. ASSIGNMENT
1. Who is your favourite fictional character in stories, movies, TV shows? Write one trait
that the said character possessed that is similar to yours, and one trait that is
opposite to yours.
MODULE 4: FICTION: PLOT AND CONFLICT
 Identify the various elements, techniques, and literary devices in various modes of
fiction.
II. DISCUSSION
Story vs. Plot
Perhaps you have already noticed that reality is chaotic; it has no structure, and mostly
likely, many of the things that you experience in life seem meaningless to you. In contrast,
literature, like other arts, is the creation of order out of chaos- the creation of meaning and
structure out of the pandemonium and confusion that is called real life. And nowhere is
this creation of order more evident than in the creation of stories and plots.
If you still haven‟t noticed, all fiction can be broken down into a few fundamental elements:
a situation, at least one character, a conflict, and a resolution of that conflict. If you are
missing any one of these ingredients, your story probably won‟t bake into a cake.
In “Aspects of the Novel”, Edward Morgan Forster (E.M.) defined Story as “the chronological
telling of events”, and the Plot as “the cause and effect arrangement”.
He gave the now famous examples:
 The King died and then the Queen died.

 The King died and then the Queen died of grief.
The first is a story because it tells a series of events in their chronological order, while the
second is a plot because it tells a series of events in a casual and logical structure that
connects the events to reveal their dramatic, thematic, and emotional significance.
You may also think of stories and plots in the movies. The Story is what the movie is all
about, while the Plot is what happens in the movie.
Story: James Bond fights the bad guys and saves the world.
Plot: Well, it starts with James Bond being tortured because (flashback).... then he was able
to escape because…. then (flash-forward) because….because….because…
Dramatic Structure
Aristoteles (384-322 BCE, and yes, that‟s his real name, but you can call him “Aristotle”) in
his Poetics (c.335 BCE) said that a whole is what has a beginning, middle and end-or
technically, the protasis, epitasis, and catastrophe. Well, he was a Greek! But he simply
meant that a traditional plot structure must have a situation, conflict and resolution. He
spoke about dramatic works like plays, of course, but people have been applying his
principle to stories as well.
Now, German novelist and playwright Gustav Freytag (1816-1895) studied the ancient
Greeks and Shakespeare. Then he built a pyramid, but it was not like the ones in Egypt.
Instead, he made the so-called Freytag‟s Pyramid which says that the plot of the story must
consist of five parts: Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and
Resolution/Revelation (also known as Denouement or Catastrophe). Freytag‟s Pyramid is
sometimes referred to as Dramatic Arc, and because it is often applied to stories and
novels as well, dramatic structure has now been made a literary element too.
Types of Plots
You may have already learned about Linear Plots where events are constructed logically
and not by coincidence (Aristotelian Plot: Beginning, Middle and End!), and Episodic Plots
in short events (or Episodes) are linked to one another by common characters, places, or a
unified theme but are held apart by their individual plot, purpose, and subtext.
Well, have you read about Cumulative Plots in which events are repeated with one new
aspect added with each repetition? Remember the German fairy tale collected by the Grimm
Brothers called The Fisherman and His Wife, or Dr. Seuss‟s Green Eggs and Ham? Or, what
about Circular Plots in which characters in the story end up in the same place (or at least a
similar place) that they were at the beginning of the story, albeit somehow changed? Think
of JRR Tolkien”s “The Hobbit” that started with Bilbo in the hobbit village, and the story
ended there too; but then many things have already happened and Bilbo has changed.
And maybe you‟ve read some stories with Plotless Plots wherein narratives are written
without traditionally recognizable plots and yet still evoke in you a feeling that you are
going somewhere when you read them.
Something happens in the story because someone wants something badly, and something
or someone is in the way. (Translation: You have a story because a character has a goal
and there stands an obstacle between that character and the goal. In short, you start with
a character with a goal, put some sort of conflict or opposition to achieve that goal, and you
finish with the resolution of the conflict.
There are several possible conflicts you can inject in your story, some of which must
already be familiar to you. The big Four are:
1. Man against Man Conflict wherein the characters are fighting against each other.
(Ex: Superman versus Lex Luthor; Batman versus Joker; Darna versus Valentina)
2. Man against Society Conflict wherein the character stands up against man-made
institutions and social rules, and is forced to make moral choices. (Ex: Wilbur the Pig
fighting for survival against a society that raises pigs for food in the story entitled
“Charlotte‟s Web”)
3. Man against Nature Conflict wherein the character is fighting against animals or
the forces of nature such as a storm or even the sea. (Ex: “The Old Man and the Sea”
by Ernest Hemingway; “Life of Pie”)
4. Man against Self Conflict wherein the struggle is internal, and the character must
overcome his/her own nature and make a choice between two or more paths. (Ex:
“Bridget Jones’s Diary” where Bridget deals with her own neurosis)
You may also add such conflicts as Man against Machine/Technology (“Brave New
World”); Man against Fate (“Odyssey”); Man against the Supernatural (“The Amityville
Horror or Alien”); and even Man against God (“The Book of Job” in the Bible)
An Approach to Story Writing
The following is an approach to story writing which you can use as a guide.
“A PSN Approach to Story Writing” by Peter Solis Nery (from his 2014 tour on Fiction
Writing)
There are many ways to kill a cat and write a story, but if you like a sure fire formula,
here‟s a Peter Solis Nery favourite. Hit these seven plot points with even just a bat of an
eyelash, and you can score a homerun. Note that this is a personal style and approach. It
may not be suitable for everyone. It is Rated PG-13, meaning Pretty Good when you are
thirteen.
The order in which these elements are introduced follows a story plot.
1. Flawed Character- a perfect character has no story. She‟s already perfect, why
bother? But if she is flawed or if she has a weakness and needs, she‟s just like you,
and you can relate to her. You want to know how she overcomes her weakness and
satisfies her needs. You want to know her story. You are hooked.
2. Intense Desire- your character should have a goal and objective. It must be strong
and intense. If the desire is not strong enough, why bother? Your readers should
recognize this goal, and would want it also for your character. Keep this goal outside
of your hero‟s control. Let your readers think that this is what your hero really wants.
3. Worthy Opponent- your opponent must be powerful. If your hero can defeat the
opponent with one punch, why bother? Your story can end there. David fighting
David or Goliath fighting Goliath is not as interesting as David fighting Goliath. Make
sure that your opponent wants the same goal as your hero.
4. Tactical Plan- this is the bulk of your story. It details your hero‟s strategies to defeat
the opponent and achieve his/her goal. However you plan for your hero to achieve
his/her goal is your unique contribution to literature. This is where your originality
and creativity is showcased. There are many ways to kill a cat; try to make your
approach unique.
5. Big Fight- if your big fight, or the fiercest battle between your hero and opponent,
appears on page one, you‟ll probably end your story on page one. So, if you want to
write a longer story, let there be small fights early on and build up to a really big final
battle, whether it is a confrontation of violence or a confrontation of words.
6. Enlightenment- your Flawed Character must learn something about himself just
before, or during, or after the big fight. He must realize that he is wrong about
something, and must show his enlightenment or self-understanding by doing
something. This completes your character arc. A change has occurred in the mind of
your hero.
7. Reorientation- the intense desire is gone. It has been resolved (either as success or
failure). Things are in a new normal state. “New” because your hero is fundamentally
and permanently changed. The change can make him a better, or worse, person than
he was in the beginning of the story. Your goal is to show this.
III. ASSESSMENT
DIRECTIONS: Identify the primary conflict in the following stories, dramas, or movies.
1. Life of Pi
2. Noli Me Tangere
3. Oedipus Rex
4. Jurassic World
5. The Terminator
6. Hamlet
7. Romeo and Juliet
8. 12 Years a Slave
9. Moby-Dick
10. To Kill a Mocking Bird
DIRECTIONS: Answer the following concisely based on the PSN Approach to Story Writing.
1. Why must your hero be a flawed character? What do you need to show or know about
his/her defect or imperfection?
2. Why must the opponent be equal or greater than a hero? Why can he/she not be
inferior?
3. What is meant by enlightenment? Where should this occur in your story?
4. What is a tactical plan?
MODULE 5: FICTION: IRONY, THEME AND POINT

OF VIEW
fiction.
II. DISCUSSION
IRONY, SARCASM AND SATIRE
The term Irony has its roots in the Greek comic character Eiron, a clever underdog who, by
his wit, repeatedly triumphs over the boastful Alazon, another stock character of ancient
Greek comedy.
(Recall what you have learned about Irony in Module 2)
 IRONY- is a literary device in which there is a contradiction of expectation between

what is said and what is really meant. It characterized by an incongruity, a contrast,
between reality and appearance.
Three Types of Irony:

1. Verbal Irony- is a contrast between what is said and what is meant. (Ex: Early on in
“Father Olan, God, and Rain,” the priest asked Don Beato, “So, what do you want me
to do now?” The don replied, “What if we prayed?” There is verbal irony in the reply
because while the priest understood we as himself and don, Don Beato used we
really meant the whole congregation.
2. Situational Irony- refers to the contrast between the actual result of a situation and
what was intended or expected to happen. The above example of Don Beato
suggesting, “What if we prayed?” is also a situational irony. Readers expect the priest
to advice, or invite, others to prayer; but in this situation, it is the don pushing the
priest into prayer.
3. Dramatic Irony- occurs when the audience or the reader knows more than the
character about events. In other words, what the character thinks is true is
incongruous with what the audience knows. The fact that Father Olan is afraid to
gamble everything and put his faith to the test is a dramatic irony because the
readers expect, or at least understand that a priest should put all his hopes and faith
in prayers.
Oftentimes, irony is confused with sarcasm and satire but understand the difference:
 Sarcasm- is a biting remark that is worded ironically, so it may sound like praise but
is really an insult. It generally involves malice and the desire to put someone down. It
is meant to hurt and wound a person. But yes, you are right; sarcasm is a
subcategory of irony. (Ex: “You are so cute. Now, which of the seven dwarfs are you?”
or commenting on a friend‟s really bad haircut, you may say “Wow! Is that the latest
hairstyle now?”
 Satire- is the exposure of vices or follies of an individual, a group, an institution, an
idea, or a society, usually with the hope of correcting them or forcing awareness. It
uses a lot of humor and a lot of ridicule, irony, mockery and sarcasm- that‟s why it is
also called comedic criticism. Think of spoofs, caricatures, and parodies. Or look at
“Chicago”, the movie musical that satirizes how anyone can break into show
business, especially those who are capable of murder. Or study “The Devil Wears
Prada” which satirizes the society‟s obsession with the big business of high fashion.
SUBJECT AND THEME
If you just want to write a story, just any story, you don‟t need a theme. Some stories can
do without theme. But to write really great stories, you might want to consider a theme or
two. Yes, you can have many themes in one story; knock yourself out, put in 25 themes if
you want. If you manage them well, you may be on to something that‟s never done before!
(That last sentence there is perhaps sarcastic, but you can really have several themes-
maybe 1, 2 or 3, but not 25- in a story.)
 Theme has something to do with your view of the world, how you see things, how
you want things to be, how you color the world that you see. Any topic can be a
subject of a story: love, war, death, animals, diseases, etc.
 Theme is the message you are trying to convey in your story. If it is a great theme, it
would touch on the human experience and appeal to readers regardless of age, sex,
or language; it would transcend cultural barriers and would sound universal.
Now, you can develop themes using these topics if you have really strong opinions about
them. What is your belief system about love, death or cats? Or your personal views about
AIDS or haemorrhoids?
Ex: Take Love as a subject. And take a joke:
Lover 1: Sweetie pie love, are you a password?

Lover 2: Why?
Lover 1: Because I cannot seem to forget you.
Lover 2: Oh, how sweet of you my love!
Lover 1: Yeah, but I can easily change you too! Hahaha!
(Note: replace is perhaps the more accurate word for the joke but change here is pretty
much correct in Filipino English.)
In the given joke, the theme is “Love is fickle,” or at least, “Love is not forever.” In the movie
“Titanic” or its theme song “My Heart Will Go On,” however, the message, or the theme is
definitely “Love is forever.”
In Literature, some of the more common themes on the subject of Love are:
1. Love conquers all.
2. It‟s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.
3. The greatest thing you‟ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.
4. Romance ruins friendship.
5. First love never dies.
6. Love is blind.
7. If you love somebody, you have to set them free. Love hurts.
8. The course of true love never really runs smooth.
9. Where there is love, there is pain.
Another joke: A grandmother who can‟t decide which jacket to buy for her daughter asked
the young salesman, “If you were to buy a jacket for your girlfriend, what would you get?”
The salesman replied, “A bulletproof one; I am married.”
The plain and simple subject of that last joke is buying a jacket. (It answers the question
“What is it about?”) Some of you, however, may argue that the subject is faithfulness to a
marriage. You may be right. But perhaps we can agree that the theme is, in more or less
the same words, “Those who try to break a relationship deserve to be punished.” That‟s a
personal view and that seems to be the message that the writer wants to convey.
Note that this is not a very Filipino joke. (Who buys jackets in the Philippines? And if
Filipinos do at all, it‟s usually the granddaughters buying their grandmas a jacket!) And
yet, male or female, married or not, you can easily relate to the experience. The theme,
because it touches on human experience has transcended culture and language. It has
become universal. That is why the story can be appreciated by many. That is why it is a
great joke.
POINTS OF VIEW
Points of view (POV), or perspective, is the angle, the perception, the position that you
take to tell your story. It answers the question, “Who is telling the story?”
Two of the most common POV techniques are the First Person POV, wherein the story is
told by the narrator from his/her point of view; and the Third Person POV, wherein the
narrator does not appear in the events of the story but rather tells the story by referring to
all characters and places in the third person using third person pronouns and proper
nouns.
Seldom used, but equally valid, is the Second Person POV. If you have read Jay
McInerney‟s novel “Bright Lights, Big City,” its first chapter title reads: “It is six a.m. do you
know where you are?” Its opening three sentences are: “You are not the kind of guy who
would be at a place like this at this time in the morning. But here you are, and you cannot
say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy. You are at a
nightclub talking to a girl with shaved head.” And it continues using the second person
pronoun YOU for the rest of the novel.
The First Person POV can still be divided into two angles:
1. OBJECTIVE FIRST PERSON- wherein the story is narrated by a fictional character

who plays a minor part in the story or isn‟t present in the story at all. (Ex: Ishmael in
“Moby-Dick” and Nick Carraway in “The Great Gatsby”
2. SUBJECTIVE FIRST PERSON- wherein the first person narrator is the main
character or one of the main characters in the story. (Ex: Huck Finn is both the
narrator and main character in Mark Twain‟s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”
The Third Person POV can also be divided into three perspectives:
1. OMNISCIENT THIRD PERSON- wherein the narration sees, knows, and usually
reveals everything about the characters in the story. It is godlike because like an all-
powerful, all-knowing deity, the narration can see into the hearts and minds of its
characters, revealing their most intimate secrets. (Ex: Rizal‟s “Noli Me Tangere” and
Victor Hugo‟s “Les Miserables”
2. OBJECTIVE THIRD PERSON- wherein the narration simple describes what the
characters do and say without giving the readers access to their thoughts. It is like a
video camera, recording and reporting everything it sees but allowing the readers to
make up their own minds about the characters‟ feelings, thoughts, and motivations.
(Ex: Dashiell Hammett‟s “The Maltese Falcon”
3. CLOSE THIRD PERSON a.k.a. Limited Third Person or Free Indirect Discourse-
wherein the narration uses third person pronouns, and like the omniscient, it gets
inside the minds of the characters, but the whole story is generally told from the
point of view of only one character. (Ex: Virginia Woolf‟s “Mrs. Dalloway”
(Note: The choice of the POV influences the tone of the story and manipulates the reader‟s
understanding of the narrative. The POV can allow the readers to access into the greater
reaches of the story or can withhold them.)
III. ASSESSMENT
DIRECTIONS: Identify the subject. Then formulate in your own words the Theme of the
following jokes.
1. On the wedding night, the groom asked the bride, “I thought I was your first
boyfriend. Why aren‟t you a virgin anymore?” The bride replied, “Of course, you are
my first boyfriend, the others were just customers.”
2. Three men died, but God gave them a chance to come back as anything they wanted.
The first guy said, “I want to come back as myself, but 100 times smarter.” So God
made him 100 times smarter. The second guy said, “I want to be better than that
guy, make me 1000 times smarter.” So God made him 1000 times smarter. The last
guy decided he would be the best, so he said, “God, make me better than both of
them, make me 1 000 000 times smarter.” So God made him a woman.
3. A priest died and went to heaven. Interested in ancient scripture scholarship and
having eternity on his side, he decided to study all the languages to help him read the
original texts: Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin. After becoming a linguist, he went
to the heavenly library to scrutinize the original Bible texts. All of a sudden, he
started crying out loud in the library. The angels rushed to him, only to find him
huddled in a corner, crying and muttering to himself, “An R! They left out an R!”
Puzzled, one of the angels asked him what the problem was. After collecting his wits,
the priest sobbed again, “It‟s the letter R.. the word was supposed to be
CELEBRATE!”
MODULE 6: FICTION: TECHNIQUES AND LITERARY

DEVICES
fiction.
II. DISCUSSION
FORESHADOWING
When you are giving an advance suggestion or hint of what is going to happen in the story,
you are using a literary device called foreshadowing. Its main function is to build up
anticipation in your readers‟ mind so that a dramatic tension is created such that your
readers would want to read more and would want to know what happens next. When you
are foreshadowing, you are also mentally preparing your readers to accept some
extraordinary or bizarre incidents as credible when they finally happen in your story.
Closely related to foreshadowing is building up suspense by a technique called Plants and
Payoffs aka Setup and Payoff. You put something in, you get something out of it, you
climax! Perhaps Setup and Payoff is best explained by Russian playwright and Author
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860-1904) when he famously said around 1889, “Remove
everything that has no relevance in the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a
rifle hanging on the wall, in the second and third chapter, it absolutely must go off. If it‟s
not going to be fired, it shouldn‟t be hanging there.”
So what‟s the difference between foreshadowing and Plants and Payoffs? Not much. Don‟t
torture yourself splitting hairs over this. But if you really must, just think of Plant and
Payoffs as the two essential parts of Foreshadowing.
Here is the Idea: Beginning with your title, you can foreshadow a lot of things and give your
readers much pleasure in the Payoff, if you are careful in giving your story the best title it
deserves. Most writers neglect the value of good titles. Now that you know, take time to
name your stories, poems, and your other compositions with the best titles that they can
have.
Another Idea: To effectively foreshadow, you first prepare the ground, you plant something
or put something early in the story because you will need it later. That is foreshadowing
Part 1: the Plant. Then, to fully realize your foreshadowing, you reap what you planted or
you collect your payment for your labor , and let the readers enjoy the Payoff. And that is
foreshadowing Part 2: the Payoff.
Symbolism and Motif

You may have already seen that common objects that you encounter in real life sometimes
take on other meanings more than just their literal denotation. When you give certain
objects a certain connotation- that is to say, an added meaning to their primary
signification, they become symbols.
Symbolism, as a literary device, is when you use an object, an action, an event, a place, a
person, or a spoken word in your writing to signify new ideas and qualities by giving them
an added meaning- usually to represent an abstract idea that is different from their literal
sense. A dove (bird) for example, as a symbol, can signify the abstract idea of peace. A
handshake (action) becomes a symbol of friendship. A flag can symbolize a country. Your
name (mere word or a few words) is a symbol that represents your personhood.
Note: One thing may symbolize many abstract ideas. For example, black (color) can
symbolize the idea of either death or evil. In Chinese philosophy, in the symbol for the Yin
and Yang forces, black is the symbol for Yin which connotes the negative and feminine
forces.
Note Further: Several objects may symbolize one idea, or one idea may have different
symbols to represent it. For example, the idea of Christianity can be represented by such
objects as the Bible (book), the crucifix, or the image Jesus Christ.
In module 3, you have learned that setting can be used as a symbol. Be careful then what
you signify when you choose your setting. The River, for example, can symbolize a path, a
road into and out of something. As a place of physical, moral, and emotional passage, the
river is the setting for Mark Twain‟s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Joseph Conrad‟s
Heart of Darkness.
The mountain, as a symbolic setting, is a land of greatness where the strong characters go
to prove themselves; and the mountaintop, where the character can see everything,
revelations are given and understood. Think of Moses and the Ten Commandments in the
Bible or the gods of Mount Olympus in Greek Myths.
What about the jungle, where everything seems to grab at you? Doesn‟t the jungle give you
a sense that nature overpowers man and that in such a setting, man is reduced to a beast
like in Tarzan and Jurassic Park?
The island, surrounded by water, can symbolize isolation and separation, thus, pretty ideal
for creating a story in a social context like in Robinson Crusoe, The Lost World and Blue
Lagoon.
What about the city? As a symbol, the city is the biggest man-made microcosm, and it can
be anything depending on which city you choose as a setting. It can be a “city-mountain”
like Gotham City for Batman; it can be a “city-jungle” like in the TV series Stranger Things;
or a “city-plain” like Paris or Los Angeles in Romantic-Comedy movies.
One last word about setting: You can also set the mood- meaning, the emotional situation
of the story- by the effective use of setting. The river, for example, can generate an
atmosphere of excitement and adventure; the jungle can have the sense or ambiance of
suffocation while the plains can give the mood of openness and freedom; the mountain can
create the mood of struggle as you climb, but once on top, it can give a sense of
enlightenment and understanding.
Note: Symbolism is an effective technique to enhance your writing because it gives your
work more richness and color, and even deeper meaning. Instead of just stating it obviously
and plainly, you can suggest certain moods and emotions by using the hints provided by
your carefully chosen symbols.
Motif
It is a recurring element- usually a sound, an image, an action, or some other figure that
has a suggestive or symbolic significance and advances the message of your story or its
theme. By repeatedly appearing throughout the literary work, a motif contributes to the
development of your theme and helps your readers understand the underlying message
that you want to communicate.
A symbol may appear once or twice in your literary work but a motif is recurring element,
and more importantly, while symbols are there to represent and clarify ideas, motifs are
there to explain and contribute to the theme or central idea of your written work.
Mood, Tone, and Style

As a literary essential, Mood is the element that you use to evoke certain feelings or vibes
in your readers through your words and descriptions. In short, it is the feeling that the
reader gets from your words. You can call it Ambience or Atmosphere, just understand that
it should create an emotional situation that should envelop or surround your readers to
ensure their impassioned attachment to your work, because once you have emotionally
stirred them, your readers would probably have an easier time understanding your
message and enjoying what you have written.
To create a certain mood, you may employ what you have already learned about setting,
theme, tone, and diction.
Recall what you have learned about setting in Module 3. More than just the location where
the events of your story happened, you also learned that setting can probably help
characterize your hero based on the description of his/her room. You can do that because
how you portray the setting creates a certain mood that colors everything in your work, and
that may even influence how your character behaves. That is the power of using the setting
to create the mood.
Another way creating the mood is by adjusting your diction and tone. Recall what you have
learned about Diction and Tone in Module 2- that Diction is quite simply your choice of
words or your style of writing or speaking; and that Tone is really just part of your Diction.
Now expand that understanding by recognizing several levels of Diction:
 Formal Diction or High Diction- when your preferred vocabulary is devoid of slang,
idioms, colloquialisms, and contractions; or even when your articulation contains
polysyllabic words, sophisticated syntax, and elegant word choices so much so that
your expression results in an elevated tone, a florid style, and a sense of stately
attitude or courtly dignity as exemplified by this vermiculate statement.
 Neutral Diction- uses standard language and vocabulary without difficult words like
this simple sentence. In this kind of diction, it‟s also possible to use contractions like
the one you see in this sentence.
 Informal Diction aka Nonformal Diction/Nonformal Dic or Low Diction- everyday
vocab is used! It‟s a relaxed, chill diction-thingy, pretty much like a cool convo among
kaberks that includes common and simple terms, idiomas, street lingo, slang, „n‟
contactions like “diz talk, dude!”
One last word on Tone: Your Tone lends shape and gives life to your work by creating the
mood as it stimulates your readers to read your work as serious, comical, sarcastic,
cheerful, or depressing. If your tone in writing is friendly and conversational, in most
likelihood, that warm and accessible attitude will be perceived and felt by your readers so
that when they read your work, they will approach it with more kindness and sympathy.
One last word about Mood: Because Tone influences the Mood and Theme often
determines the Tone, then you can easily see how theme affects the mood. If your theme or
central idea is that “Death is a sad and depressing event,” in most likelihood, your tone or
your approach to the topic will be glum and melancholic, which will translate to a mood of
unhappiness, sorrow, or mournfulness in your readers as they read your work. On the
other hand, if your approach is comical, then your theme must be about happiness and joy
that can make the readers smile or laugh.
Generalization: There are several techniques and devices that you can use to hook your
readers and keep them turning the pages of your work from beginning to end. For example,
you may build up anticipation in your reader‟s mind by foreshadowing and using
symbolism. You may also keep them engaged in captivated attention by your effective use of
tone and mood that results from your hypnotic diction or addictive style.
Remember that foreshadowing is a two-part technique: When you use “Plants” early on, do
not forget to follow them up with satisfying “Payoffs”. As for symbolism, open your mind to
the possibilities of a symbol while writing. You don‟t have to flood your work with symbols,
especially if one satisfying and unifying element will do.
Your diction (your choice of words and your manner of writing) is a very important tool. It
can never be overemphasized that words are your tools as a writer. Thus, you need to
cultivate and expand your vocabulary. There are several levels and types of diction. As a
writer, you will be better served if you know how to move from one level to another, or how
to jump from one type to the next. A rich vocabulary and agility in diction can help set up
your writing tones and moods of your work, and may even define your ultimate writing
style.
Many writers became interested in the art of writing because of the inspiring and influential
works of others that they have encountered. As a writer, you must continue to read the
work of others if only to be kept inspired. Better still, try to read these works closely and
critically, with a consciousness of the craft and paying attention to the techniques that the
authors used to hold you in rapt attention.
III. ASSESSMENT
DIRECTIONS: Answer the following questions concisely. (Not less than two sentences)
1. How does foreshadowing give pleasure and satisfaction to your readers?

2. What is the difference between Foreshadowing and the technique called Plant and
Payoff?
3. How does symbolism energize and breathe life into your story?
DIRECTIONS: Using Informal or Low Diction, write a p‟graph on the topic “Puppy Love
versus True Love.” (Minimum of 50 words!)
MODULE 7: SHORT FICTION: HOW SHORT IS

SHORT?
fiction.
II. DISCUSSION
FICTION: MODERN, LITERARY, GENRE

Fiction, as you may have been taught in the past, is originally defined as a literature in the
form of prose- that is, writing without metrical and rhythmic structure (as opposed to lines
of poetry) that describes imaginary or made-up events and people (as opposed to a report of
real-life events and persons), exemplified by novels and short stories. (Note: The relative
closeness of novels and short stories is tied to their history as you will see shortly how the
short story genre (established around the 18th century) came out of the novel (established
in the 17th century) tradition.)
Today, thanks to modern technology and the evolving human consciousness, you can now
express fiction- modern fiction- in various formats including short writing, blogs
(established in the late 1990s), live performances, electronic media, and recreational play,
among others.
Whereas traditionally, fiction includes novels, short stories, fables, legends, myths, fairy
tales, plays, and narrative poems only, Modern Fiction now also encompasses comic
books, operas, films, video games, radio programs, television programs, dances, spoken
narratives, and so on. Thus, unless you use the word “fiction” in a narrow sense to mean a
particular literary form, fiction is generally understood as a classification or category rather
than a specific mode or genre.
You may have heard of the labels Literary and Genre fiction. Well, if you can, for a
moment, distinguish ideas from emotions or art from commerce, those are the keys to
understanding these two classifications.
Literary Fiction aka Serious Fiction is the fiction of ideas, the primary purpose of which
is to provoke thought. As “literary,” it is supposed to be more concerned with the writer‟s
personal style and self-expression, and some well-constructed stylistic writing that stresses
character development and good descriptions.
Genre Fiction aka Popular Fiction or Commercial Fiction on the other hand, is the
fiction of emotions, the primary purpose of which is to entertain the readers. As “popular,”
it is more concerned with great dialogues, fast-paced plots, and characters with whom
readers can easily identify, and perhaps rightly so, because this form of fiction is expected
to rake in huge profits for the publishers. Genre fiction is sometimes called Category
Fiction or Formula Fiction too because as a marketing tool, it is used to categorize
subgenres as, among others, romance, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, historical,
crime/detective, Western, suspense/thriller, gothic, and horror, which are further
supposed to have some basic formula for writing.
VOCABULARIES FOR SUBGENRES OF FICTION

Formula fiction is easily characterized by its special vocabulary that matches the genre or
subgenre. The best way to learn these subgenres and vocabularies is to read and sample
them yourself. (Note: Do not venture into writing a detective story if you haven‟t even read
one or have never watched police procedural TV shows and movies. Remember, subgenres
of fiction have very loyal fan readers that know their stuff to the core. You don‟t want your
readers to be smarter than you are in his case.)
WHAT MAKES A GOOD STORY?

From your own reading experience, you already have an idea of what makes a satisfying
story. In most likelihood, whatever elements and literary techniques you find interesting in
the stories of other writers will help you improve your own writing too. You have already
learned the most important elements that make good fiction, namely, Character, Setting,
Plot, Conflict, Theme, and Point of View. You have also learned techniques and literary
devices such as Figurative Language, Diction, Mood, Tone, Irony, Foreshadowing,
Symbolism, and Motif that can help you write great fiction. Any combination of these can
make your stories outstanding.
Literature continues to grow because people like you always find something new to say or,
if not something totally new to say, at least a new way of saying and looking at things.
There is always a Romeo and Juliet story somewhere. Maybe a Romeo and Juliet in their
golden years? (Imagine Romeo and Juliet in their 70s!) But whatever you do, you must first
believe that you have something unique and different to contribute to the world‟s growing
literature.
THE STORY OF THE SHORT STORY

In a nutshell, this is the history of the short story as it developed and evolved in the
Western tradition: from oral storytelling traditions like the narrative epics of the Greeks, the
exploits of a hero were told again and again, sometimes in a shortened and popular version
that became tales and fables. Over the centuries, stories of new heroes outside of the epics
were also told in the form of anecdotes which were, of course, shorter than the epics.
Romance narratives in prose and verse flourished in the 12th to the 15th centuries. The oral
tradition started to be written in the early 14 th century Europe, and the printing press was
invented in the 15th century. Most of the earliest publications were individual short stories
collected together and framed by a larger narrative story. By the early 15 th century, the
nouville (a shorter form of what later became the novel) was developed.
Encouraged by the patronage of longer works in written form, the novel evolved to the form
as you know it now, enjoyed a renaissance in the 16 th century, and was firmly established
in the late 17th century. Despite the rise and dominance of the novel in the 18th century, as
fashion comes and goes, some writers returned to the shorter form and gave rise to birth of
the modern short story.
Toward the end of the 19th century, the growth of magazines and journals created the need
for a literary form that is between 3000 and 15000 words, thus establishing the defined
length of the short story. As a literary form, the short story also spread around the world,
reaching as far as Japan and the Philippines in Asia, and the Latin Americas. In the 20 th
century, the greatest names in short story history and literature made their mark; and the
short story as a form in the 21st century continues its stronghold despite the obvious
threats, of course, coming from shorter short stories (as evidenced by flash fiction or micro-
fiction) as the modern readers‟ attention span are becoming shorter and shorter, thanks to
the constant and endless bombardment of information provided by the fast-growing
technology and the Internet.
BEFORE YOU LET THE DOGS OUT

Perhaps you already have heard of Edgar Allan Poe? Writer, editor, and literary critic Edgar
Poe (1809-1849) was one of America‟s earliest practitioners of the short story, and is widely
recognized as one of the first American authors of the 19 th century to become more popular
in Europe than in the United States. As a writer, Poe influenced such genre as gothic,
detective, mystery, horror, and sci-fi. As a literary critic and theorist, he advocated that a
work of quality should be brief, and focused on a specific single effect: and to such an end,
the writer should carefully calculate every sentiment and idea.
Largely because of Poe, the short story began to characterized as a piece of prose fiction
that can be read in one setting, featuring a small cast of named characters and focusing on
a self-contained event with the intention of evoking a single mood or effect on the readers.
To achieve this, short stories make use of plot, resonance, mood, tone, and other literary
technique.
In short, because the modern short story has a long revered tradition, there are certain
expectations for your short stories to meet if they are to be shared in the literary
community and the general consumers of literature. Thus, it is important for you to be able
to troubleshoot and polish your work before you send out your stories.
How you evaluate your own work should share the same standards that you use to critique
to the work of others. With your knowledge of Plot, Setting, Character, Conflict, Theme,
Tone, Mood, and so on, you should be ready to analyse and criticize your own works and
others‟. The following questions will be helpful:
1. What is the world of your story? How convincingly are its details rendered?
2. Whom is the story about? Are you convinced by him/her? Do you care about
him/her?
3. Do the events of your story challenge the characters? Are the characters‟ true natures
revealed as a result of the story events?
4. How well does the language of your story communicate the story‟s theme? Is the tone
appropriate for the content? Are you being superficial- that is, using beautiful
language but shallow and insincere?
5. What are the stakes of your story? Does your protagonist stand to gain or lose
something by the story‟s end? How clear are the stakes?
Generalization: Understanding literary history is important to you as a writer because

fiction, in general, and short story, in particular, have changed much and have expanded
their reach over the years. These changes are caused and facilitated by the rapidly evolving
needs of readers and the demands of literature consumers, not to mention the rocket-speed
advances in modern technology.
Perhaps influenced by the diminishing attention span of the Internet generation, these
seems to be growing popularity of micro-fiction as can be seen in the rise of flash fiction
and 100-word stories. It is to your advantage that you recognize these trends, in addition to
your solid foundation of the traditional literary forms. The more you know about the
direction that these changes in literature are taking, the better prepared you will be in
positioning yourself for success.
Needless to say, whether it will be the long form or the shorter form of fiction that you
ultimately decide to pursue in the future, training and practice in the same time-honored
techniques and tradition will certainly help you in your success as a writer.
III. ASSESSMENT
DIRECTIONS: Answer the following concisely.
1. What is modern fiction?

2. When was the modern short story finally defined?
3. As a writer, do you really want to be dictated by external restrictions like word count?
4. Why does shorter forms like flash fiction became popular?
MODULE 8: CREATIVE WRITING IN THE REAL

WORLD
fiction.
II. DISCUSSION
Being a writer means understanding that writing is the route to learning. Not all writing will
produce excellent work. But when you write, your mind starts to work and look for more
ideas. Writing leads to writing. So do not be discouraged if you do not have a clear idea of
what to write; just start writing, and write to discover what you want to write.
CREATIVE BLOCKAGE
On days when you cannot write because you are out of ideas or drowned in an ocean of
ideas, and cannot decide which one to commit to; or you are stuck in the middle of writing,
and don‟t know where to go next; or eaten by fear that you have made wrong turn, a wrong
choice, a few paragraphs or a few pages back; or paralyzed by the thought that what you
are writing is no good at all, that is the reality called Writer’s Block.
Most writers have had writer‟s block; even the most experienced ones. Some have the block
for days; others for weeks; and still many others, for years, or even decades! And just as the
experiences of the writer‟s block vary, so are the practical solutions. If the block happens to
you, you may want to try some of these solutions but remember, just as writing is a
personal thing, so is the way to solve the problem of the writer‟s block.
The best way to address a creative blockage is to take a break. Your mind could just be
tired. Just as sleep rejuvenates the body, so does relaxation of the overworked mind. If you
are full of ideas, empty your mind and relax; or at least take a step back, see the big
picture, and see if the ideas on your mind can rearrange themselves to make sense. If they
don‟t go the whole nine yards and just empty your mind to make yourself ready to receive
fresh and sparkly new ideas.
If your mind is empty or running out of ideas, go take a walk, watch a movie, read a book,
experience life, talk to people, and fill your mind with plenty of new ideas. Ideas are a dime
a dozen and you can get them everywhere. But if they are not coming, don‟t force it. Give it
some time. If the idea is for you, it will be there for you.
But decide that you cannot be comfortable and be lazily content, not writing anything for
an extended time. To be a writer, you must write. No ifs and no buts. You cannot be taking
a five-year break and still call yourself a writer. And what if you are under some writing
deadline? The best way to attack the block if you really must write and produce something
is to just start writing again. Something happens when you begin to write: the mind
becomes engaged, and searches for ideas; it becomes focused, and almost always, that can
lead you a breakthrough.
If your block is caused by your inner critic telling you that what you are writing is not
original or not good enough, ignore the inner critic and kill it; proceed with your writing
and go to the finish; take a deep breath and take a bath; then go back to your work and
revise; polish your words and sentences and revise again; repeat as necessary.
Have you ever panicked? Do you remember if it really helped the situation when you did?
Or did it help that you tried to calm down and resign to the will of God or some higher
force? Everything you need in order to write is already in your head and memories, in all
that your senses provide, in all that you have observed and thought and been taught (!) and
absorbed. Sometimes, you just need to wait and give it time. If there is such thing as a
writing muse, the muse cannot be forced to come at your bidding.
Note: Do not so hung up on the idea of originality. If you bring your personal conviction
and unique ways of solving the problems of the world in your writing, that is original
enough. Most of us can sing the “Happy Birthday” song and still there will be over four
billion different versions of it, because we all each have a different sensibility, and some of
us can obviously sing slightly off-key.
THE LONELY JOURNEY

Writing is a lonely life, a lonely job. Even if you go out and socialize often, when you get
back to do your writing work, you will be all alone again. No one else can do your writing
for you. No one should. But knowing something about the writers that have come before
you can sometimes give you comfort and inspiration. Knowing what made some writers
great or what writing habits they had, can give you ideas to emulate. Knowing what caused
their downfall or failure can also give you a heads up on what mistakes to avoid. Needless
to say, many writers learn from other writers. After all, most new writers were first inspired
to write because of the works of those who came before them.
PERSONAL HABITS OF SUCCESSFUL WRITERS

Why do you think there are no books written about the habits of successful writers? Is it
because the writer‟s success is debatable? Who is the successful writer: the one with
critical acclaim, the one with the best seller status, or does it have to be both? Or are the
habits too personal and individual to generalize?
If some successful writers like Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Edgar Allan Poe, and
Tennessee Williams are alcoholics. Do you emphasize the drinking habit? What about the
reclusive Emily Dickinson, who was rarely published in her lifetime but had posthumous
success? Do you idealize and recommend her introvert habits to other writers?
While you cannot probably exhaust the ways that different writers hone their writing craft,
here are few things that you can understand with some common sense:
 Read. Because reading can inform you, give you ideas, and maybe encourage you to
write. When you are a wide reader, your knowledge of the world and the human
condition expands; and this knowledge is going to be valuable in your own writing.
 Write. Because writing leads to writing, it opens the mind and gives it focus. Set a
regular time for writing, develop a workable schedule, and try to keep it. It could be
30 minutes every day, or 4 hours on a weekend, or two blocked off days in a month.
Whatever schedule works for you, commit to it and keep it.
 Write in heat. When inspiration seizes you, write like crazy. Write from beginning to
end. Do not overcritical of yourself, not yet. Do not waste time thinking of your
grammar and searching for that elusive perfect verb. Just try and finish a first draft.
 Revise. Take time, spend time, waste time, take your time revising your work. Polish
every word and sentence. Perfect the pitch, the tone, the diction. Rearrange, change,
add, delete, transpose words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, sections. Do whatever
it takes. Make a second draft, a fifteenth draft, however many it takes until you feel
that you cannot make it even better anymore.
 Take a break. Distance yourself from your work. Get some sleep. Visit friends. Go on
a vacation. Just stay away from your finished work for a while.
 Get feedback. If there people you trust, hopefully not friends and family that
wouldn‟t dare hurt your ego/feelings, go ahead and let them read it so you can get
some feedback. If it‟s really an important work worthy of publication, get someone
more knowledgeable in the writing craft like a teacher; or if you can get money out of
your work, invest on an editor, a professional reader, or another writer.
 Read your work again. After a while, after your break, maybe two weeks later,
maybe a month, maybe a week if it is really short. Read your work with a new and
fresh attitude. See if you can find something else that you can revise. And revise,
revise, revise as necessary. Revision is an art but you can also approach it as a
science.
Note: Do not, for a moment, assume that success is only reserved for those blessed with
natural talent, genius, or skill. More than intelligence and skill, more than talent and
genius, great things are done by people who have developed better daily routines. There is
only one way to be great at something, and it is by taking action and doing it repeatedly.
TIPS ON HOW TO BECOME A FAMOUS WRITER:
 Look professional. Clean up your work. Self-evaluate. Prepare it for presentation.

Spell check, grammar check, check your punctuation one last time. Check margins
(typically 1.5 inches on the left, 1 inch on top, 1 inch on the right, 1 inch on the
bottom), check font type (Times New Roman is preferred for most manuscripts),
check font size (use 12 points for readability), check font color (black). Don‟t give
editors and professional readers the chance to hate your work because it is not in the
industry format or in compliance to their required format.
 Submit for publication. To newspapers, magazines, journals, anthologies. Self-
publish. Carry your work around, and go participate in open mic events. Photocopy
and give it away to friends. Do anything to circulate it. You wrote because you had a
need to communicate something. Well, communicate it and let somebody else hear
what you have to say. You have written something, let it be read! Learn to be famous
before you are dead. Hehehe
 Publish online. Blog it. Contribute to sites, e-zines, and all those online platforms
and avenues. Use the technology in your favour. Do not be shy. What‟s the worst
thing that can happen? If you so much believe in your work, take the risk.
 Submit to competitions. There are always the Palanca Awards, still considered by
many as the standard by which Filipino writers are measured. Visit their website
www.palancaawards.com.ph for announcements.
 Go online. Research sites for submissions and contests and workshops. Submit and
be quiet. Bragging rights later. Don‟t tell anyone until you are published, or declared
a winner, or accepted as a writing fellow. Have fun. Attract readers using your social
media network. If people can post what they ate for breakfast, you can surely post
what took you four hours or a week to compose.
 Attend writing workshops. Join writers‟ groups. Meet other writers. Socialize. Build
a community of writers. Be active in the community of writers. You want to be
famous before you are dead! Sometimes, it pays to know someone.
THE ESSENTIAL FIVE
1. Have a writer‟s notebook. A special pen. Or a laptop, tablet, or maybe smartphone

Notes app. A scarf. A timer. Mood music for writing. An autographed copy of some
book by your favourite author. A lucky charm. Anything to help you write. But most
important of these are the notebook and the pen or anything to record your “notes” of
your observation of people and places and maybe their dialogues that you have
overhead.
2. Get a good dictionary. A thesaurus too if you can afford it. Learn at least five new
words a day! A writer with an inadequate vocabulary is an inadequate writer with an
embarrassing vocabulary. Go figure!
3. Take notes. Talk to people. Watch TV, why not? Watch a movie. Read some more. But
always take notes. Notes, notes, notes! Something happens when you write them
down. It‟s as if they become yours. Take note of that. Take notes!
4. Read poetry or a psalm. Even if you are writing fiction. Even if you are writing
nonfiction. Even if you are not writing at all. Poetry feels the soul. A poem a day
keeps the doctor away. The apple was just a metaphor!
5. Write, write, write. Stop whining. Stop procrastinating. Shut up and write! Write at
least one page a day. It doesn‟t have to be perfect. It just needs to whet your writing
appetite. Practice. Remember your writing exercises and prompts. Write character
sketches, vignettes, short scenes, lines of dialogues, lines of poetry, whatever just
write! You are a writer! A writer writes!
Generalization: Creative blockage can happen to you but if you have developed a healthy
writing habit, its effects will be minimal. There are many types of writer‟s block depending
on what disables you to write or when you are unable to write. But there are many varied
real solutions, as you can learn from various other writers who have experienced it. Bottom
line, though it‟s all about taking a break and getting inspired again.
One of the wisest pieces of advice you can get about developing a writing habit is to
establish a writing schedule and keeping it. Writing leads to more writing. You may start
writing nonsense stuff, but once you get into some kind of rhythm, your mind will gain
some focus. You cannot edit a blank page- it is always better to write some ugly stuff that
you can improve, or discard and change, than to be whining and starring at a blank page.
Writing is a lonely endeavour, a solo flight enterprise, but you can always take comfort and
inspiration from others traveling in the same direction as you. Thanks to modern
technology and the Internet, more than ever, linkages among writers are becoming easier
and easier. You can now be connected with your favourite authors and writers through
their websites and other social media networks.
III. ASSESSMENT
DIRECTIONS: Answer the following concisely.
1. What is a writer‟s block?

2. Enumerate at least three ways to overcome writer‟s block.
3. What makes a work original?
4. In what ways can other writers inspire you?
5. How does reading help you become a good writer?
6. What is revision? Why is it important?
7. What does “writing in heat” mean? Why is it important?

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What are the different genres of creative writing discussed in the document?

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What are some tips given for developing a writing habit?

What are some tips given for developing a writing habit?

12

After going through this module, you are expected to:

 TECHNICAL WRITING is opposite to Creative writing which the main goal is to

 Creative Writing Genre:

“The Legend of Isla Pulang Pasayan”

(At least one paragraph or two with 25 to 50 words only.)

Instructor: Ms. Jeanica Duma-ug Aguilar

The Creative Writer’s Tools

Diction and Style

Commonly used Figures of Speech:

1. Accumulation- is a figure of speech in which the arguments previously stated are

Directions: Answer the following concisely.

1. Why is stylistic language important in creative writing?

Give three examples of the following Figures of Speech:

Frye’s Mode of Fiction

Evocation of Time and Place

MODULE 4: FICTION: PLOT AND CONFLICT

Story vs. Plot

He gave the now famous examples:

 The King died and then the Queen died.

An Approach to Story Writing

MODULE 5: FICTION: IRONY, THEME AND POINT

IRONY, SARCASM AND SATIRE

(Recall what you have learned about Irony in Module 2)

 IRONY- is a literary device in which there is a contradiction of expectation between

Three Types of Irony:

SUBJECT AND THEME

Ex: Take Love as a subject. And take a joke:

Lover 1: Sweetie pie love, are you a password?

1. OBJECTIVE FIRST PERSON- wherein the story is narrated by a fictional character

MODULE 6: FICTION: TECHNIQUES AND LITERARY

Symbolism and Motif

Mood, Tone, and Style

1. How does foreshadowing give pleasure and satisfaction to your readers?

MODULE 7: SHORT FICTION: HOW SHORT IS

FICTION: MODERN, LITERARY, GENRE

VOCABULARIES FOR SUBGENRES OF FICTION

WHAT MAKES A GOOD STORY?

THE STORY OF THE SHORT STORY

BEFORE YOU LET THE DOGS OUT

Generalization: Understanding literary history is important to you as a writer because

1. What is modern fiction?

MODULE 8: CREATIVE WRITING IN THE REAL

THE LONELY JOURNEY

PERSONAL HABITS OF SUCCESSFUL WRITERS

 Look professional. Clean up your work. Self-evaluate. Prepare it for presentation.

THE ESSENTIAL FIVE

1. Have a writer‟s notebook. A special pen. Or a laptop, tablet, or maybe smartphone

1. What is a writer‟s block?

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