Come tell us a story
Come tell us a story
Notes invites you to send stories for our monthly writing contest. Cheryl Rao will choose the most interesting ones.
We hope you will continue to respond to the writing exercises on these pages. Remember to give your name and grade when you send in your work and also try and work with the leads given to you.
— The writer is a freelancer based in Hyderabad, India
Writing Tips:
You have probably seen movies that show flashbacks. Sometimes the entire story unfolds in this way. The viewer already knows the end, but that doesn't make the story any less interesting. Flashbacks are used in writing too.
- Flashbacks don't go by a chronological sequence of events, but pertain to an earlier time.
- They may show what motivates a character.
- Flashbacks may supply background information
- Flashbacks are memory devices — things that make an impression. Picture the main 'happenings' as you want to write about them. What occurrences do you need to embellish to add to your story and reach where you started from?
- Sometimes writers hint at future developments in the story. This is called foreshadowing. It raises curiosity about what will happen. Sometimes writers mislead their readers in order to make their ending a surprise.
Ideas to work with:
Here are some free writing ideas based on articles that have appeared in Gulf News. Web links are provided to these articles in case you missed them in print.
Idea 1:
A friend in Australia! Notes April 27
Weblink: http://gulfnews.com/notes/
Education/10208825.html
Running on empty: GN May 1
Weblink: http://gulfnews.com/4men/
Issues/10209660.html
Dangerous: GN Unwind April 26
Weblink: http://archive.gulfnews.com/
unwind/People/10208402.html
Write a poem or a story with a surprise ending, but try and bring in some foreshadowing. You are on your way to an important event. You have to walk through a road tunnel or overhead bridge to get there. You get a feeling of being followed or someone warns you that you should or should not go…. What happens next?
Idea 2:
A cut above the rest: Notes May 4
Weblink: http://gulfnews.com/notes/
Events/10210407.html
Hamlet's a hit with the kidz: GN Tabloid April 24
Weblink: http://archive.gulfnews.com/
features/more_stories/10207884.htmEnveloped in history: GN Unwind May
Weblink: http://gulfnews.com/unwind/People/
10210133.html
i) Write an anecdote or short story that begins: Everything on display in the stall at the fair was sold out but only two of us knew exactly where those pots/beads and rare designs had come from and how we could get more of them……….
ii) Write a poem beginning 'I remember when I was 10 (or whichever age you choose), and relate what you remember about a special treat or an adventure at a fair or exhibition.
Guidelines to remember
- Keep within a word length of 500.
- Give your full name, age, grade, name of your college/school and emirate.
- Send your work to education@gulfnews.com
- Slug your mail with 'Write Time'
- You have two weeks to send in your writing. Your deadline: Sunday, May 18, 2008.
- The most interesting work will be published in Notes, issues dated May 18, 2008, and June 1, 2008. Work that cannot be accommodated in either of those issues will be posted on the Notes website www.notes.ae
Freedom writers
Their aim was not to fight
They fought for our rights
They got us our land
They even gave away their hands
They never thought about their lives
What they cared was just…
Just their walk of miles.
My heroes were fighting for me
Giving away their lives
With a dream to make a sky for me to fly
A world to live
World with peace and harmony in it
They thought of a world where humans will live
The world where no one will rule
And every soul will be free to live
But there is an end to every dream…
So this one had to give.
They were able to write our freedom
But my writers failed in writing our fate
They still are my heroes….
Heroes of my freedom.
Father Friends
When there is no one
To stand by my side
One heart beats
To save me from any kind of tide
A philosopher
A guide
A real help which keeps me alive.
He gave me birth
He brought me up
Never asked anything in return.
He is my father
My friend
My concern …….
Why do we forget the ones
who make us learn
how to run?
— Prateek Dass
The Key to your Soul
We are all the same,
no one is unique,
when to be different, we strive,
we all reside in the same hive.
We criticise our peers,
with no remorse,
we feed our fears,
from dusty faces, wipe tears.
For that is all we do,
it's all we can achieve,
react far too late,
to stop this harrowing fate.
For the key to your soul, you search,
find it not, at the top of any church,
look deeper, deeper than ever before,
and you might just find, the key to your soul,
the key to life, the key to your core.
Look not to the skies of grey,
for before your very eyes lay, it may,
From perilous quest, become unbound,
in order to find it, just look around.
Look at the ground,
that holds a tree,
that holds a branch,
a branch,
that holds a nest,
of birds, singing their best.
Look at the house,
that holds a room,
a room,
that holds the truth,
the truth,
that holds the beauty,
the beauty, of life's truth.
Listen to the music,
that holds a tune,
a tune,
that holds a meaning,
a meaning,
that might be tragic,
yet that is music's magic.
If the beauty of simple things,
we understand,
then we shall see the gifts,
that life brings.
Just as planned.
For when we understand a simple beauty,
and reach our goal,
then we shall acquire,
The key to our soul.
— Pawel Karas, Grade 11, School: Cambridge International School, Dubai
