How to write a picture story?
- Look at the pictures carefully and try to get the meaning (plot) of the
story.
- Collect words and phrases!
- If necessary, give names to the characters (Personen) in the story.
- Write a first draft (Vorschrift) and be careful with the past tenses!
- Work through your draft. Students often forget how to make a story
interesting. Adjectives (in comparative or superlative form) and adverbs as
well as sub-clauses (Nebensätze) and (in)direct speech to express the
characters' thoughts are important.
- Now, that your story is almost finished, find a good headline.
- Write the story again (better: by computer) and count all words.
IMPORTANT: It is definitely not enough to take
an eight-picture-story and write only eight sentences! Creative writing means
using the pictures only as a kind of support. The story you write about them is
more important!
Check List
- Do I have a good headline?
- Is it clear who is who?
- Is my story conclusive (schlüssig)?
- Do I have past tenses in my sentences? (Other tenses are only possible in
direct speech sentences.)
- Do I describe the characters well enough (sex, age, how they look like,
how they look)?
- Is my word order correct?
- Does my story have a good beginning and a good ending?
- Is my story interesting to read?