Week 3, Day 19

Who?  What?  When?  Where?  Why?  How?

You've heard these words before.  Every good story includes them.  When I studied journalism in college, I learned that reporters must be certain to answer each of those questions as succinctly as possible.  You can use these same techniques to write your NaNoWriMo story.  Here's an example:

What happened?  A car accident.
Who was involved?  A drunk driver.
When did it happen?  2:00 a.m.
Where did it happen?  Main and Greenfield.
Why did it happen?  Driver was drunk.
How did it happen?  Driver ran a red light.

Now, take each of those components and write a paragraph:

Early Saturday morning, a drunk driver crashed into an SUV carrying two teenagers.  The accident occurred at 2:00 a.m. when the drunk driver ran a red light on Main and Greenfield, hitting the eastbound SUV.  All three victims were in stable condition when transported to local hospitals. 

Now take this journalistic style piece of writing and turn it into prose:

Megan yawned as she turned her vehicle onto Greenfield Road and began the long drive home.  It was worth waiting in line for three hours to watch the midnight movie, but now she was exhausted and longed for her soft pillow and comforter. 

"I'm really too sleepy to get up in time for class tomorrow," she said.  "Maybe I'll sleep in."

Laura fiddled with the radio, turning the dial left, then right, and settled on a jazz station.

"I know what you mean," she yawned.  "But you'll miss the Trig review.  I don't know about you, but I'm really struggling in that class."

"I'm doing alright.  It's Chemistry I'm worried about."

"Ugh," Laura responded.  "Tell me about it."

Megan drove the SUV toward Main street and pressed on the accelerator to make the green light before it turned red.

"I think that..." Megan began.

Suddenly, Laura watched as a white pickup truck sped toward the intersection.

"Megan, I don't think that guy is going to stop.  Megan, watch out!" she screamed.

Megan turned her head just in time to see the white truck speed through the intersection.  It hit her SUV, spinning both vehicles into pieces of broken metal and shards of glass.  The white truck slammed into a utility pole as the SUV flipped upside down.

The intersection was quiet except for the gentle tunes playing from a jazz radio station.


So - here's my point.  Create the Five W's - One H for your chapters.  Write basic paragraphs like the first example above.  Then go back and flesh them out with more detail.