Realistic+Fiction


 * Valerie Niedermeier, Laura Stanton, Christine Melvin, Kaitlin McMillan, Shelby Powers**

__Realistic Fiction__: Is a series of events that are not necessarily true but could be, because it contains no unrealistic aspects. A story or novel that is fictional, but would be believable to be non-fiction and may even have real people, places, and events.
 * Genre Definition**:

Important Terms and Strategies
__Setting__- A realistic time and place for the story to be in. Historical: The setting takes place in a time remote enough to be considered history. Contemporary: Fiction which takes place today or in recent past.

__Plot__- The storyline throughout the book (the flow of events that take place, the main story or plan) with no unrealistic events, all events must be able to happen of have happened. Events are probable. If the story has well developed characters, the choices they make are expected or reasonable for that character to make.

__Character Development__- is how the reader comes to understand and know a character by revealing details throughout the story. In a good story, details about the character and what kind of person they are are shown through their actions and words, instead of just a list of their characteristics or what they look like.

__Point of View__- Could be in any point of view.

__Dialogue__- An exchange of idea or thoughts through spoken words between two or more people.

__Conflict-__ Builds gradually and almost without you being aware of it, by use of person vs person, person vs self, or person vs society conflicts. The conflict builds through a series of events, all realistic, and comes to a point where a decision must be made by the main character.

__Climax__- After the conflict builds and suspense and tension mounts, the main character must make a decision or do something that will eventually result in the conflict being resolved. Also, other characters could do something that evokes a powerful emotion in the main character, and that could be the climax.

__Purpose/Theme__- Characters experience and learn moral questions/lessons that could or do happen in real life to normal people.


 * Process and Strategies for Writing**

__Experimenting with Characterizaton Through Dialogue__ Step One: Freewrite to get down the action of the story.
 * Start the story in a place and time, don't spend too much time on it
 * In the story, include a brief incident or a few smaller, brief incidents to help move the story forward.
 * Put in at least one character, make sure you don't include too many because then it will take to long to explain why each character is there

When ready, begin writing. Model:

Maria and Sandra were walking on the sidewalk on the way to school one Fall morning. They were walking when all of a sudden the school bus driving on the opposite side of the road swerved off the road and crashed into a ditch. Maria grabbed her cell phone as soon as she saw what happened to call 911, but Sandra panicked and froze. Soon an ambulance arrived along with a police car, thankfully nobody was killed in the crash. Although one boy's arm was broken. As the people of the crash were taken away the police got statements from each of the girls.

Step Two: Revise and add to step one with dialogue. Make sure to do the following. When ready, begin writing. Model:
 * Put in dialogue that helps you get a better sense of the/each character.
 * Realize the characteristics of the conversation.
 * Don't forget dialogue rules (indent when someone else begins to talk)
 * When needed (which is not every time someone talks) make sure to tag the speaker of the dialogue
 * Don't forget about the narrator, from time to time have the narrator comment on the surrounding.
 * Include actions.

"I sooo don't wanna go to school today," Maria complained loudly. It was Thursday, our least favorite day of school and we were walking slowly to school. "Oh I know. Did you study for that math test? It's gonna be so hard." I looked up and nearly screamed. A bus was heading straight towards us! We jumped out of the way right as the bus crashed. "Oh my god! We need to call 911!" exclaimed Maria, shocked by what just happened and our inability to help. We stood waiting for the ambulance which quickly arrived to pull people out of the tipped over bus. "Is anyone hurt?" Maria called out. The paramedic standing closest to us was the one to answer. "Only one boy so far, with a broken arm, but a lot of people are in shock." As he told us this a police officer approached us. He carried a clip board with him, "Can I speak with you girls? We need a witness report on what happened. "Of course!" Maria said. "When did you see they bus crash?" He asked us both. Maria was still the only one that answered while I tried to find my mouth. The conversation carried on without me until the officer had a full report. "Wow talk much?" Maria asked me. "What? Oh well, you know how I am in situations like this." I said attempting to defend myself. "Yeah you're useless." She joked. "I just couldn't take my eyes off that bus, I was so scary." I mumbled in a small voice. "Well, if we keep walking down this road maybe you'll see a few more bus crashes!" She laughed. "Yeah," I said picking up my bag and started walk toward school again, "by the end of the month I'll be a pro."


 * Example**s:
 * Sarah Dessen (The Truth about forever)
 * Jodi Picoult (The Pact)
 * Nicholas Sparks (The Choice)
 * Ally Carter (Learning to play Gin)
 * Kate DiCamillo (Because of Winn-Dixie)
 * Emily Giffin (Something Borrowed)
 * Jane Austin (Emma)
 * Garret Freymann-Weyr (Stay With Me)
 * Lauren Brooke (Heartland Series)
 * Not That Cool (Robert H.~ //Teen Ink//)


 * Bibliography and Links**:
 * The Choice
 * Realsitic Fiction Definition
 * What is Realistic Fiction
 * Realistic Fiction Definition and Examples
 * Character Development
 * Plot
 * Realistic Fiction Walk through
 * Examples of Realistic Fiction