The Story Starter

Mr. Bevan’s “STORY STARTER™”
The point to this creative writingexercise is to inspire and generate ideas that will lead to the writing of an original short story. This booklet can help make this happen.
POINTS TO CONSIDER:

An Archetype: Storytelling patterns that pre-exist in the subconscious of the human race. This list provides you with character ideas, as well as story patterns.

Main Character's Job or Profession: This element provides a basis for conceptualizing his or her everyday life, concerns, income level, talents, and so on.

A Key Object or Symbol: What does a knife make you think of? How about a hairbrush? Everyday objects as symbols can be used to set the thematic tone of a story; or they can serve as a key detail to the plot.

Setting: A time and/or place in which the story occurs.

Theme: The psychological/spiritual/moral issue at hand for the protagonist. …From empowerment to evil.

Voice: Most stories are told in 1st person or 3rd person narrative. Which ever you choose, you must stay consistent.
Your story, of course, doesn't have to include one of each of these given elements, although it can if you wish. This booklet is a great way to inspire you and give you some ideas. Just use the booklet to get the creative juices flowing.

ARCHETYPES –patterns we see throughout literature

MAIN CHARACTER OCCUPATIONS

KEY OBJECTS OR SYMBOLS

THEMES

SETTINGS