short stories...?

Question

i need an idea that ties in with the word lost.
I have several ideas but need some sort of twist to them to surprie the reader.

1. A mother returns to a beach where her daughter disappeared 2 years earlier. But what twist could i have? I was thinking of writng abbout the day it happend and have flashbacks etc....any ideas???

2. Someone feeling lost in a concentration camp during th second world war. But again i need something to happen to make the reader engaged....

3, An evacuee feeling lost with her foster family but again i need something to give the story a good plot.

Thankyou so much

Answer 1

I'll write them in the same order:

1. The mother could see the little girl walk by holding the hand of another man or woman - this could be an interesting twist, either a reflection of her obsession to find her child, or it really could be her(?)

2. Either someone the person knows or a relation of theirs turns up as a worker at the concentration camp - this could act as a medium by which the person could escape, or work as a deeper theme that, in fact, the worker is now more lost even than the person in the concentration camp.

3. I think this would be a lot more challenging to pull off - I would steer clear unless you're a very good writer of psychological stories.

Alternatively, search for a common phrase which relates to the word lost, such as 'lost in a world of her own' and think of what this could mean. A couple more ideas:

'Lost at sea'
'Missing in action'
'AWOL'
'Lost without him'
'Use it or lose it'

A phrase like this can develop into a very good short story or novella when thought about properly.

Just remember: who or what gets lost? when? why are they lost? how did they get lost? where are they lost (obviously they don't know, but you must)? will they get found again? how? by whom? where? it keeps bringing up new ideas.

I hope this has helped a little bit.

Answer 2

The reason you're asked to write a short story is to show that you know the skills that make up good writing. A plot is only one aspect that will be judged, so don't get carried away. Find one moment in time which is significant to an individual and base your story around that significant moment. The person who's going to mark your work doesn't need War and Peace.

You must first decide whether you are in the story, or whether you are an all-seeing and all-knowing god, who can know what characters are thinking and feeling. You must show you can describe settings (using details and effective adjectives); create characters by showing us how they think, feel, speak and act; use a variety of sentence structures; link paragraphs using various connective phrases; use the full range of punctuation; employ a wide range of correctly spelt and imaginative words; include examples of similes, metaphors, alliteration, and onomatopoeia; describe actions using powerful verbs and adverbs; and grab the reader with an intriguing opening sentence, present information to the reader in a logical order, and end with a satisfying last sentence.

If you imagine that all of these skills are equally important, then you'll realise that they plot is only a small part of what the marker is judging. If you don't do all these other things well, it won't matter if you've the greatest plot in history, you won't get a high mark.

Answer 3

How about........

1. She meets someone at the beach who has something interesting/ suprising/ horrifying to tell her. The person doesnt know who she is and recounts the tale of what happened to this young girl 2 years before....

2. A mute man/ woman is mistakenly put into a camp with foreigners and doesnt seem to be able to understand what is being said so has to learn by sign language. The twist is S/He is actually a spy, an assassin who is there to kill someone..... but who........?

3. An evacuee is taken from the big city to the country to a foster family. This family live on a barge though and it is parked on a river at the bottom of the runway of one of the USA bomber stations. She could make friends with one of the crew and hs dog and looks after the dog while the man is away...... until the day he doesnt come home....

Good luck with them all.

Answer 4

The concentration camp story begins on the train to the camp. The prisoners are shoved onto the cars like cattle. One of your main characters is a fifteen year old girl. She is separated from her family and knows she will never see then again. She winds up standing up and unable to sit down or move very much. She is next to her teacher from school who manages to get her a small bite to eat from his pocket. When the girl needs to use the bathroom, the teacher twists around and covers her with a coat giving her a tiny bit of privacy and dignity. When the train arrives at Auschwitz, the two are marched from the train to the camp. An SS officer stands there directing the prisoners right, to the camp, or left, to the ovens. The girl and her teacher arrive at this station. The teacher is directed to the left.

Answer 5

The word 'lost' evokes different reactions in different people.

I think you should trawl your memory for times when you have experienced loss - and use that as your material -

If you are planning to write for a living, then soliciting material from other people in this way is counter-productive - you need to develop your own strengths - your own ability to communicate your own unique viewpoint on things that matter to you...

Answer 6

first idea without a doubt... ok so mum returns to the scene to mark the annaversary of her daughters death. i say death because you could have the daughter lost at sea, accidently falling off the pier. at the end the mum could be walking along the pier, with a towel around her shoulders. she stands at the end and allows it to float down and jumps off herself.. but rather than her dying, she emerges above the water, and swims back to shore, and sees her daughters essence or ghost in a way, playing, which then dissapears... dunno if thats any help

Answer 7

the First Idea the twist could be that the flashback could take her to a cave where she finds her daughter but the kid has no idea who she is.

Answer 8

1. Perhaps she sees a child playing in the sand wearing the exact hat her daughter was wearing when she disappeared or had the same doll or teddy that was her favorite.