The year is 2019. A tornado is approaching your main character’s home. Right before the tornado hits, the character’s child has an asthma attack and as the character runs to get the medicine that will save the child, the force of the tornado collapses the house, separating one from the other. Set the scene and demonstrate voice using concrete images and active voice, dialogue, and narrative POV.

Once you have a first draft:

• Circle active verbs
• Frame concrete nouns

Then study your work, asking questions that will promote further analysis of your writing choices as a means to discover approaches to improve the story.

• Which of the five senses are you bringing into the narration/scene? Why?
• Person: first, second, third? Why? Should you change?
• POV: omniscient, semi/partial omniscient, journalistic? Should you change?