Dracula writing

• Engels
• MBO
• Studiejaar 1

Planning

• What do you already know?
  
• TED-Ed video
  
• Writing exercises
  

What do you know about Vampires?

Can you name any famous vampires?

Dracula

Today we will discuss the world's most famous vampire

We are going to watch a TED-Ed video now

Make sure to take some notes for inspiration since you are about to write a short story later!

Activity

You are going to write a very short story in groups.

1. The first person will write the first 2 or 3 sentences.

2. Then you fold the paper so the next person does not see what the first person wrote.

3. We will do this 4 times, so you will have 4 stanzas in total.

Guidelines

1. The first person starts their stanza with the words: "Once upon a time" and tells something about the vampire. (name, how old is he/she?) 

2. The second person writes about a problem that the vampire has.

3. The third person writes how the vampire will solve this problem.

4. The fourth person writes about what the vampire is going to do next. (Example: now that he has found his suitcase, he is going on a holiday to Spain)

NO swearing, we stay civil.

Let's hear some of the stories!

Writing tips

- A strong point of view. Know from the beginning what it is you want to say with your short story. Ask yourself: what do you want people to feel or think as they read your story? 

- Experimental element. Short stories don’t necessarily have to stick to traditional storytelling techniques, which means that you can feel free to play around with certain conventions.

There are some common elements across all fiction writing, but short stories specifically feature:

-  A clearly defined mood or feeling. This can be a genre (horror, comedy) or an emotion (grief, happiness). Or it can be a combination—as long as the point is clear.

- Clear, descriptive language that sets up the concept of the story quickly, try to avoid vague language. (Example, instead of saying 

- A small cast of characters, including a main character and supporting character(s) who must serve an important role in the story. 

Past simple

The Simple Past is used for actions that started and finished at a specific time in the past. It’s also possible to use the simple past in a sentence without specifying a time, but it must have previously been made clear that the speaker is referring to a finished period. 

 Example: "I drank blood yesterday."

 

• The Simple Past is used to describe several actions that were completed in the past.
  

 Example: "My maid dusted my castle, cleaned my coffin and ironed my robes."

• The Simple Past is used to describe a process that started and finished in the past. In this case, the process of the action is long and is used by specifying time periods such as ‘the whole year’ or ‘all day’.

Example: "I lived in Italy for a thousand years."

• The Simple Past can also be used  to describe past habits. It should be clear in this kind of sentence that the action referred to is a habit. Time expressions like always, often, usually and never can be used to underline this.
  

 Example: "I often sharpened my teeth when I was a young vampire."

Forming the past simple

Forming the past simple

Affirmative: Subject + past simple + object

Example: "I walked through my castle yesterday."

Negative: Subject + did not + base form of verb + object

Example: "I didn’t eat dinner yesterday."

Interrogative: Did + subject + base form of verb + object?

Example: "Did you dust my castle yesterday?"

Final exercise

Now you are going to write a short story by yourself.

You are a vampire and are about to write a short story about your life in the 18th/19th century.

Use the past tenses that we discussed!

Use your creativity!

You are allowed to use pictures.

Min. 100 words