Author: Terry Connelly

Terry Connelly is a retired high school English teacher. She earned her BA and Single Subject Teaching credential from California State University of the East Bay, in Hayward, California. Her short story "The Visitor" was published in the Noyo River Review after winning first place at the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference in 2019. Another short story, "Swept Sway" is in the CWC Literary Review. She taught for 18 years at Newark Memorial High School in Newark, California. She was gifted to work with both College Prep students and those with learning disabilities.

Body Switch

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Sports fans are often in awe of the superstars of their favorite teams. They’d love to meet them, get their signatures, and if they are athletes themselves have half of their talent. Imagine being able to switch bodies, as in many movies, and be a superstar one for just one game?

Some of us are too old for such things, but might like a healthier body, one without excess weight and creaky joints. What if the change could be permanent? I’m not sure I’d like that: after all, I already know all the flaws of my body. All the previously broken bones and knee problems. My wrinkled face no longer terrifies me and I am now longer embarrassed by the ray hair and slightly stooped shoulders.

Taking it a million steps further, what if you resembled someone so closely that you could walk in the same shoes, wear the same clothes, speak the same language and assume the same roles? Would you do it?

Your task is to write a story in which two people switch places. It can be an accidental switch, such as one person stepping through a closing door as the other is stepping out. Or it can be an intentional switch in which one person searches for a look-alike, contacts that individual, and then the two of them agree to change places for a set period of time.

Have fun with this!

Weather Events

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Imagine a dense fog that obliterates your ability to see the house across the street. Or driving through the curtain of mist. How you’d need to use your windshield wipers to remove the moisture so you can see.

Keep in mind that many people live where it snows and have to shovel their driveways, brush snow off their windshields and drive on slippery roads.

Others live where there are tornadoes or hurricanes. Coming home from a shopping trip, their car might get swept away by roiling water or a limb might fall and crush the front end. A tornado might destroy houses and hurricanes might wash away miles of beach.

Your task is to reread a section of your story, looking for places where descriptions of weather could influence behavior, actions, and thoughts. Write in elements that show how your character reacts, what he thinks and how he feels.

Have fun with this one.

A Thoughtful Gift

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            Choosing the right gift for someone can be nerve-wracking. You wonder if they will like something you do.

            You try to recall what kinds of things the person already owns and if you can add to the collection. Or, do you try to come up with something she’s never owned, to the best of your knowledge?

            What do you look for? Food? Clothes? Doodads? Tickets to the theater, concerts or sports events?

            Or are you one of those last-minute shoppers who rushes into a store and picks up the first thing you see, especially if it’s on sale, telling yourself that she’ll probably return it anyway?

            Your task is to tell the story of someone who needs a gift. First establish who is to receive the gift. What is he like? Picky or openminded? Grateful or greedy? Does the character have varied tastes or only likes certain items? When he’s received gifts before, has he been gracious or rude?

            Next create the situation in which gifts are to be given. Wedding? Birthday? Anniversary? Promotion? Open house?

            come up with at least one gift giver. Establish the relationship to the recipient through storytelling.

            Have fun with this one.

The Storm

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Imagine that it is raining. Not a soft, gentle rain, but a downpour that pounds against the windows and rivers and streams overflow their banks, flooding streets.

Many of us like to stay indoors on rainy days, perhaps sitting by the window, watching it happen. We might see leaves torn from trees due to high winds, branches that bend, almost touching the ground.

If we’re sitting inside a warm café, we might see people dashing about with newspapers over their heads as they scurry from the shelter of one building to the next.

All these sights can lead to an interesting story.

Your task is to write the story in which terrible things happen. Think of the news that you’ve seen on television. The devastation, the destroyed homes. Cars carried downstream or stranded in feet of water. Lives lost.

Write from your character’s point of view. Readers will want to experience the storm through your character’s eyes, seeing everything she sees, knowing what goes through her mind, especially when she is forced to evacuate. Have us walk with her as she decides what to save and what to leave behind.

Have fun  with this one.

The Ending

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Your reader wants to feel something at the conclusion of the story. They can feel happy because the characters fell in love, or they might be sad because someone died in a terrible car accident. If the story was a thriller, they might carry a fear with them for a few days, concerned that something similar might happen to them.

A good ending gives food for thought. The reader needs to process the journey that the character just traveled. The reader might think back over all the events that affected the main character, sometimes wishing that something different had happened.

Imagine how your reader would feel if your character checks into a rehab center to due to a drug addiction. He gets cured, but when he leaves, returns to those same drugs.

Perhaps your character receives an award for bravery or she is promoted to CEO or makes a major scientific discovery that cures cancer.

These are the stories that make the reader sigh.

Your task is to write a solid story with a beginning, middle and end. Challenge the character in ways that cause her to falter, and then recover. When you get to the ending, ask yourself how the story made you feel.

Rewrite the ending, adding clarification or details to give depth, something that will cause a reader to pause.

Have fun with this one.

Facing A Personal Dilemma

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            In life, when someone has to make a difficult decision, it’s portrayed as a multifaceted dilemma. One option might have less risk in terms of possible negative outcomes, but it might not be what the person wants to do.

            On the other hand, a second choice might seem preferable, but without proper foresight, unforeseen harmful consequences might result. Things might be so dangerous, that the person’s might life might be in jeopardy.

            Your task is to write a story in which your protagonist must make a choice between at least two very different options. Make sure that both pose potential threats. To increase tension, give the character limited time in which to make the decision.

Readers must second-guess the character’s eventual decision, questioning that person’s ability to make the right choices.

Give the character limited time in which to choose, so that there’s no time to research or deliberate. Then make the story happen, with elements of threat causing dangerous roadblocks along the way.

            Have fun with this one.

Free the Monstrous Enemies

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            A spell has held the monsters inside their personal prisons. The world has been safe and at peace for as long as anyone can remember. But underneath, behind the scenes, so to speak, the evil lord has been plotting and planning.

            Nothing makes a story more interesting than a monster or two set free. Think how mesmerized the world has been with the concept of King Kong, the giant gorilla who terrorized New York City and appeared to kidnap a beautiful woman.

            Or the evil shark in the movie Jaws who indiscriminately attacked and ate a how variety to humans. Even the music, that steady beat, beat, beat, told viewers that Jaws was coming, putting them on the edges of their seats.

            Your task is to write a story in which at least one monster is set free or escapes its bonds. Depending upon the length, you might want to have only one monster, but make it evil enough for an entire army.

            Create an interesting setting, a place where the monster can cause the most terror. Decide upon the protagonist. The young, the olders, and those with disabilities are the most vulnerable, the ones most likely to win sympathy. Decide how the monster gets free. It can be by accident or by intent, but make sure that it causes plenty of fear and havoc.

            Have fun with this one.

Unexpected Action

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            You’ve been reading a book long enough that you know exactly how a character is going to behave in just about any situation. Then she does something so off base that it surprises you. In a good way.

            Change can add not just tension, but also renewed interest. Change keeps a story from getting stale, keeps the reader involved, and can add twists and turns that take the story off in unexpected, while surprising, ways.

            Your task is to write a scene in which your character, who’s beloved by readers, does something so out of character that the element of surprise comes into play.

            A good way to do this is by establishing who the character is, what he likes to do, how he behaves in a variety of situations and how he treats others. A combination of dialogue and setting is important.

            Once it’s pretty clear who he is, then through in a twist. Instead of ordering vanilla, he goes for Rocky Road. He goes out to eat rather than cooking at home. He robs a bank even though it will get him disbarred when he’s caught.

            Have fun with this one.

A Careful Look into the Past

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Storytellers must keep in mind that events from the past can affect how a person looks at the present. Traumatic experiences, long buried, might appear worse when brought into new light. Angry words, a spanking, being accosted, hurt back then, but can still cause pain today.

Even so, the writer might find a sense of catharsis through the writing, and so telling those stories becomes a valuable experience.

Your task is to write a story in which your main character revisits past occurrences that caused some degree of emotional distress, whether the offenses were committed against her or if they were directed toward others.

You might consider looking at family dynamics. For example, in many families, the older brother who is worshiped by the mother and a younger sister can do no wrong. The middle child, no matter how hard she tried, you could never garner the mother’s attention.

In your story, show what the character did that got him in trouble, as well as those things that he could not control but that shaped who he became.

Include dialogue to touch on emotional issues and to build tension.

Have fun with this one!

Thanksgiving

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            There are times to celebrate all the good things that have come our way. Times to rejoice, to laugh, to pray, to give thanks. To remind ourselves That we might have more than others, and to be grateful for what we do have.

            Thanksgiving Day has become a huge commercial enterprise. There are gift cards, decorations, themed toys and gifts, cookies in the shape of turkeys and pilgrims. Schools have Thanksgiving celebrations where students make pilgrim costumes and share themed candies.

Commercials show happy families welcoming guests. For many, television mirrors their family life. But, for others, family gatherings are times of extreme stress and so they choose to eat alone.

            Your task is to write a story in which Thanksgiving plays a major part. Your character might be the type who celebrates alone, in which case you need to show how this is handled. For example, does she cook a turkey breast for herself? Volunteer at a local food bank? Go to a restaurant that serves a typical dinner?

Or does your character celebrate with others? That time doesn’t have to be free from stress. In fact, to make the story more interesting, a bit of high drama might be fun.

Remember to include emotional details so that readers walk in the minds and hearts of the characters.

            Have fun with this one.