EXAMPLES OF BEAUTIFUL BEGINNINGS - LOST AT SEA PROMPT

1. presents Creative Writing Mini-Lessons

2. PROMPT: LOST AT SEA

3. TYPES OF BEAUTIFUL BRILLIANT BEGINNINGS/HOOK/GRABBERS and THEIR EXAMPLES

4. DATE: START WITH A DATE I can remember the day when it all happen. I recall it vividly. It was Friday 13th August, 2013, a day that I will never forget. It was day that I almost lost my life/was kidnapped by a pirate.

6. SETTING: DESCRIBE WEATHER AND/OR SURROUNDINGS Crash! Sand, water and foam collided, spilling a salty aroma into the air. The hot golden sand seared the soles of my feet as I raced toward the clear cerulean waters. Shimmering shells, the colour of pearls where scattered near and far on the silky sand. Then I spotted it, laying on its side in the distance. It was an adventurer’s dream, an old fishing boat.

8. QUESTION: START BY ASKING A QUESTION What would you do if you found a beautiful abandoned boat and no one was in sight? If you are anything like me, you’ll become a pirate captain and sail the high seas. Well, I am warning you. Do not enter the boat, do not pick up those oars and do not paddle out to sea.

9. SOUND: START WITH A SOUND Eecaw! Eecaw! A million seagulls followed the old boat looking for signs of fish to steal. They were my sole companions save for a large slate grey fin that popped out of the deep blue ocean from time to time.

10. FLASHBACK- START IN THE PRESENT TIME AFTER THE INCIDENT AND GO BACK TO WHEN IT ALL BEGAN I lay on the hospital bed shivering feverishly. My teeth chattered and I could barely keep my head still. Clasped tightly around my shoulders was a heated metallic blanket that kept the biting cold deep in my bones at bay. As my mother, stroked my head, I recalled how I came to be in that situation.

11. THOUGHTS/FEELING: TELL YOUR READERS WHAT YOU ARE THINKING OR FEELING AT THE BEGINNING. “What craziness came upon me and made me decide to row this boat out to sea?” I thought to myself. I knew that if I didn’t die, my mother would kill me. We’re gonna die!!!

12. CLIMAX: START WITH THE MOST EXCITING PART OF THE STORY Water began gushing into the boat. I looked about frantically. I hadn’t noticed the hole before and now it was too late. I was too far out to sea to swim back. I wouldn’t stand a chance as I had only completed the water-babies’ level at swim class before I dropped out. Before me were my only options of survival. A rusty metal can that I could use to express the water, and an old dirty tattered cloth with which I could try to clog the large hole in the boat.

13. DIALOGUE: START BY LETTING YOUR CHARACTERS TALK “Help! Somebody, anybody help me!” I screamed as loud as my throat would allow. It was to no avail. The only living things that were around were the seagulls and a few fishes and I doubt that they would be the ones to rescue me.

14. FACT: START WITH A FACT The vast deep sea contains many man-eating monsters. Here I was, in a sinking boat, right in the middle of the vast deep sea.

16. DO THE FOLLOWING AN ACTIVITY/ASSIGNMENT Date: Subject : Creative Writing – Narrative Descriptive Beautiful Beginnings

17. Chose ONLY ONE BEGINNING and write it for the following prompt. Date, Setting, Sound, Flashback, Foreshadowing, Thoughts/Feelings, Character description, Question, Climax, Fact, Dialogue You were in the middle of a test when you heard a hissing sound in the classroom. You looked towards the corner from where the noise was coming, only to realize that it was a snake. Write a BEGINNING based on these ideas.. Beginning Used: Sound

18. MISS’ EXAMPLE Sssss! I raised my head and l looked away from the mathematics test paper I was currently doing. Sssss! There went the sound again. I scanned the small classroom and followed the sound with my ears and eyes. My eyes stopped in the left corner of the classroom. My mouth dropped and my heart hiccupped when I saw the noisemaker. Before I could utter a word, Anika Smith, the drama queen, squealed and her table, chair and test paper went flying across the class.