thumbnail gerrie

Write Better Stories With “What If?!” – Write For Fun: Part 3!

Hi everyone! My name is Ms Geraldine and I am an English Teacher and Curriculum Specialist at Lil’ but Mighty. Having grown up reading lots of books and writing many of my own (sometimes very silly) stories, I hope to spread that same passion to my students. Let’s now take a look at how we can write better stories by making use of “What If?”

 

In my “Write for Fun” blogpost series, I discuss some writing exercises that can help get your writing juices flowing. One such exercise is pondering the “What if?” question, two magic words that I am sure most of us grew up thinking about. What if animals could talk? What if human beings could actually develop superpowers? What if there were no examinations in school? Believe it or not, I too definitely asked myself that last question when growing up — not every teacher is a fan of tests!

Whatever it is you are wondering about, this magic “What If” question gives you room to explore creative situations that wouldn’t usually happen in our everyday lives. By writing about these exciting “What if” scenarios, we make our stories much more novel and engaging. After all, who wouldn’t want to immerse themselves in a world filled with a superheroes, or a world with intelligent, talking animals?

If it isn’t already obvious, the “What If” question has helped writers and filmmakers birth an endless variety of new and exciting stories. Today, I want to give you an example of how the “What If” question helped renowned author Roald Dahl write one of his best-selling children stories, Matilda.

The book Matilda revolves around a young girl, Matilda Wormwood, a gifted child who learns to speak fluently by the time she is one years old. She eventually also manages to read all the children’s books in her local library by the time she is four. Due to how much she reads, she ends up being extremely sensible, mature, and considerate despite her young age. Now, I think if Matilda ended up being a child to any parent in our world, they would likely be delighted by her genius and kind personality.

Yet Roald Dahl goes against all our expectations and asks these questions instead: What if clever Matilda was ignored, hated, and looked down on by her parents? What if her parents found her intelligence a nuisance and instead, favoured her nasty and foolish brother Mikey Wormwood?

For this is what happens in the book. Matilda gets so frustrated at how her family members refuse to acknowledge her strong reading abilities that she ends up entertaining herself by pulling some cheeky pranks on them… which—if you are interested in finding out what these pranks are—I will leave you to read about yourself 🙂

Matilda being disliked by her parents is not the only surprise Roald Dahl entertains us with. To make Matilda’s story even more compelling, Roald Dahl likely asked himself these next questions too: What if there was something more than just intelligence to Matilda’s abilities? What if her high IQ translates to other unique abilities that involve the brain?

In the book, Matilda does go on to unlock some of these unique and unexpected mind-related abilities. If you are curious to find out what Matilda ends up learning to do, I again recommend that you find out yourself by reading through Matilda’s entire journey 🙂 And so — thanks to Roald Dahl likely thinking about the magic “What If” question — the intelligent and kind girl that all of us end up rooting for achieves empowering growth and a satisfyingly happy ending.

Now that you have a clearer idea about how authors use the “What If?” question to come up with a rich and exciting premise for their stories, are you ready to try it out for yourself? Let’s carry out a short brainstorming exercise to see if we can come up with a novel and engaging premise to an otherwise ordinary story!

Firstly, I want you to consider the following ordinary set-up to a story: You, the protagonist, have a younger sister whom you are extremely close to. Both of your parents work long hours and sometimes stay overnight at the office, so you rarely see them. You are thus tasked with taking care of your younger sister most of the time. Now, based on this premise, we can see that there are a few story elements we can ask the “what if” question about: you, your younger sister, and your parents. Take a few seconds to consider these characters and see if you can come up with exciting “what if” questions about them!

Okay. I am sure that some of you are brimming with “what if” questions about yourself, your younger sister, and your parents. I am going to share some of my “what if” questions now, but go ahead and leave your own “what if” questions in the comments! For me, as someone who really enjoys the sci-fi/superhero genre, I will probably ask:

  • What if my sister was not my biological sister but a younger clone of myself? What if neither of us knew this truth about each other?
  • What if my sister and I were telepathically linked, which was why we were so close?
  • What if my parents were spies or assassins, which explains their long working hours?
  • What if my parents disappeared for so many weeks that my sister and I decided we had to investigate their absence?

Now, although all these questions offer very rich premises, I will probably not use ALL of them to avoid over-complication of the story. I will likely choose ONE of them and develop a storyline focused specifically on addressing that “what if” question. For those of you who are thinking of using similar “what if” brainstorming exercises to generate creative writing ideas, remember not to choose too many “what if” scenarios to cover in a single story because it will likely make your story too complicated and confusing. The key is to stay focused and not overwhelm yourself with too many juicy details!

Lastly, do be careful to avoid overly unrealistic and fantastical premises in your examinations in school. A best-selling author who wants to write about a telepathic sister in their own book has the luxury of time to develop the rich premise, often taking years to write and edit their story. Unfortunately, you only have less than an hour for your story writing in the examinations. So, as much as you may enjoy the “what if” question, remember to stick to realistic storylines in your examinations!

So there you have it! I hope you can see now how pondering the “What If” question can lead to many delightful and creative ideas in our stories. So what are you waiting for? Why not open your notebook and start writing about your dream world where examinations don’t exist today?


How Can I Add a New Twist to Old Myths?

Group 48 24 1
Ms. Geraldine

In her free time, Ms Geraldine enjoys writing her own prose and poetry, online gaming with friends, as well as critically analysing movies by penning down reviews. A die-hard fan of Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as an avid consumer of Netflix shows, she draws on such material in her process of lesson planning and curriculum design, with the goal of boosting student engagement and interest.

Have something to share? Drop us a comment below!

Leave a Reply

Share

Other related posts

Creative Writing | 3 Easy Steps to Write Your Own Haiku!
Verbs: More than Just Action Words! | Part 3: Changes in Verb Forms
Ketchup on English! – is, are, was and were!
Audience In Visual Text | Visual Text Comprehension
Exploring Points of View (POV) in Composition Writing
Metaphors For? | Part II – Implied Metaphors
10 Beautiful Vivid Verbs to Boost Your Writing and Oral! | Primary School English
Metaphors For? | Part I – An Introduction to Metaphors
3 Family-Friendly Shows on Netflix (Educational & Entertaining)!
Verbs: More than Just Action Words! | Part 2: Tenses
2021 Father’s Day Contest Winners
Verbs: More than Just Action Words! | Part 1: Subject-Verb Agreement
10 Beautiful Words You Can Use in Narrative / Descriptive Writing | Secondary School
Ways To Create A Well-Rounded Character | Creative Writing
Understanding Purpose-Related Questions in Visual Text Comprehension
How Playing Video Games Can Improve Our English (With Practical Tips for Parents!)
Primary School Composition | Onomatopoeia – What’s That?
2021 Mother’s Day Contest Winners + Our Founder’s Journey (Mother’s Day Special)!
Composition Revision: Using Your 5 Senses in Your Writing
How to Create A Dynamic Piece of Writing Using Idioms
Ketchup on English! – Subject-Verb Agreement
Punctuation Marks: Colon Vs. Semicolon
4 steps to Create Suspense
That Simile Though 2 | Using Stronger Similes
Primary School P1 English Syllabus: Laying the Foundation for Lifelong Learning
PSLE ORAL | Compiled Prelim 2021 Oral Topics + Questions!
If you’re looking at getting recent PSLE Prelim Oral topics and practice questions, this will be an excellent resource for you!
5 Steps to Convert a Newspaper Article into a Cloze Passage
I would like to share with you 5 steps on how authentic articles can be transformed into cloze passages easily. Read on here!
PSLE English | Oral Conversation: Free SG50 Sample Practice + Model Answers
In this blogpost we will be touching on the oral stimulus-based conversation topic of National Day and SG50! Read on here!
PSLE English | Oral Conversation: Filling your Story with Details Easily + Free Revision Cards
By simply using the 5W1H, your children will be able to lengthen their stories (hence, the conversation!). Read on here!
PSLE English | Situational Writing: Q&A + Formal vs Informal Writing Comparison Chart
To aid you in your situational writing revision, here is a comparison chart that shows the differences between formal and informal writing!
PSLE English Tips | Oral: Stimulus-Based Conversation Checklist
To help my children handle the Stimulus-Based Conversation examination, here are some instructions again about using the checklist!
A Little Encouragement | DIY Motivational Bookmark (Easy to personalise too!)
A bookmark with a quote to motivate is also a chance for them to see the power of words and how words can mean more than what they seem.
Situational Writing: Step-by-Step Guide + Free Revision Card
I believe a walkthrough on the process of doing situational writing is in order. Here are the requirements for content and language!
I Love Reading | 5 Ways to Motivate Reluctant Readers
One of the most important ingredients necessary for a child or anyone learning English is the habit of reading. Get motivated to read now!
PSLE English | Printable Ultimate Grammar & Synthesis Summary
Today, we are sharing two lists of essentials in our Ultimate Grammar and Synthesis Summary Printable. Download them free here!
How Well Do You Know Your Past Participles?
While we are familiar with the past, present and future tenses, the little less known but equally important tense is the past participles.
Primary Composition Writing | Starting Sentences with Introductory Clauses
Today, we'll be revising the use of sentence starters to help you create variety in your sentence structures. Read on here!
The Sentence Train | Lower Primary English
Today, we are going to learn what makes up a sentence. It will come in handy when you do the word order activity in school! Read on here!
PSLE English Tips | Oral: Reading Checklist
This Oral Reading Checklist can be used by children when they practise reading on their own. Download it now!
Language of COVID | 10 Words Added to the Dictionary
Using Personification to Show, Not Tell!
Expressing Character Feelings Too! | Using Show-Not-Tell (Part 2)
How to Choose a Book to Read: 8 Ways
How to Dress Up A Boring Paragraph | Creative Writing
Ketchup on English! – Halloween Special: Prepositions of Time!
Ketchup on English! – Verbs Are Not Just Action Words!
Expressing Character Feelings | Using Show-Not-Tell
Which Picture Should I Use? | Choosing the Best Picture to Use for Composition!
Oral: Reading Passage | Long Vowels – Have You Been Reading Your Vowels Correctly?
Previous
Next

Like what you are reading?

Subscribe now to receive news and tips hot off the press!

shape icon 06
shape icon 05