Here are two more ways for students and teachers to get involved with The Novel:Live! Below, you can find discussion questions for students to think about while they watch the author at work, as well as a great writing and discussion exercise (written by Kevin Emerson) for students and teachers to play around with either before or after they've watched the author at work. Or try it anytime!

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100-Word Stories

Liz Gallagher / Ice Cream
The whole shop is pink, except where its white. The crowd of smoothie-drinking girls at the window table could be laughing at anything. One waves. She tells herself theyre in a good mood because its a sunny Saturday and everyone feels light. She orders. A single scoop chocolate cone. Avoids looking at the scooper guy, who was in her gym class last year. He has seen her in shorts. She pays. Alone at a table, bravely, she anticipates her first taste of summer. Hears one more laugh. Knows this time; theyre laughing at her. She walks, gaze on the door, to the trash can. Tosses in her unlicked cone. Feels gray.

Kevin Emerson
Everybody bought the cover story, as attention span was at a premium. Nobody asked Naomi and Alex about that night at Lunettes Beanery on 86th, about the nefarious espresso machine, its sinister plot, or the desperate battle waged during a half-hearted November dawn. Only Alex would ever know that Naomi briefly transmogrified her cat into a battle axe; only Naomi that Alex made a star fire from his fingernail clippings. Later, they passed each other coming and going from a school dance, Alexs head in another bandage but what was there to say? Then it was too close to the holidays so there was all that, and time went by by by.

Deb Caletti / Come As You Are
You see him over your back fence with his guitar, singing his heart out. A kid, swooped hair, Coronas around from the last party. Theres a mattress, too. Sometimes he smokes on the roof. You can read his mind. Kurt Cobain. Nirvana. You saw him posting flyers in the U District Guitar Player Wanted. Cant suck. He doesnt mean you, though you once had real gigs before the mortgage, the wife. Even she doesnt know how you felt when your music and that crowd were a single heartbeat. But he does. He knows. And over that fence it happens. Your dreams rise, collide. Together, they make their own immortal song.

Writing Prompt

• Write a story in exactly 100 words no more, no less
• Write double-spaced
• Count your words as you go
• Optional: Use a first sentence form one of the examples above
• Optional: If you finish a 100-word story, try writing a 25-word story A 10-word story

Student Examples

Anai F.
The bus is packed with people, except where its not. Mostly old men and women wearing fancy hats and reading old, torn magazines. Its winter the snow falling peacefully on the streets. More people get on the bus. Nobody speaks. The only sound in the engine humming, and the occasional announcements of the bus driver. The windows are cold and slightly covered in condensation. I trace snowflakes like I used to when I was small in the backseat of my moms car. The bus comes to a halt. I stand up. Walk down the aisle. Down the small staircase. Into the cold.

Miranda H.
I missed Claire. The way she laughed. How she walked. When she parted her lips to speak but retreated. I wanted her back with me.

Teacher
Read at least one of the story examples (Liz Gallagher start with). Talk about:

• What happens in the story?
• How does it make you feel?
• How much time elapses from beginning to end?
• What tense is the story written in (present, past, etc.)? What perspective (first, second, third person?)
• Discuss the tone of the story, character development, word choice and/or other conventions as time permits. I like to point out the use of color in this story and how the author moves the story along and makes a transition from the pink/white/brightness of the beginning to the gray feeling at the end.

Look at the other examples if time permits, using the same questions (above) to discuss.

Give the assignment to write a story using exactly 100 words. Discuss the idea of using constraints to power creativity: with only 100 words the writer must be careful to use each word effectively, creating a rich atmosphere, moving the story along, catching the readers interest and making the reader feel something by the end.

If students finish early, ask them to try writing a story in only 25 words, then in 10 words.

Read some finished stories aloud.


Lesson plan created by Kevin Emerson for Richard Hugo House.

Click here to download the 100-Word Stories Lesson Plan (pdf 84k)

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Viewer's Guide Questions

1. What is the author writing about?

2. Is the story progressing at a slow, medium, or fast pace?

3. What is the tone or overall feeling of this author's writing?

4. List some of your favorite words the author is using. Jot down and circle any words that you don't know.

5. Is the writer using short, medium, or long sentences? Are there a good variety of sentence lengths?

6. From what you can tell, is the writer focusing more on developing ideas, or is the writer spending time on conventions (punctuation and grammar)? What do you think is more important in your own writing?

7. What point of view is the writer using to tell the story (first person, using "I" or "we;" third person, "he," "she," "it," which can be limited or omniscient; or second person, "you," the least common point of view)?

8. What is the conflict?

9. What is the setting?

10. Describe the main characters.

11. Is the author using dialogue? If so, is it helping or detracting from the action? Does it help you to get to know the characters better?

12. Write down any sentences or phrases that you like.

Click here to download the Viewer's Guide Questions Worksheet (pdf 48k)