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Teaching artist LeJuane “El’Ja” Bowens shows students how to take something they are afraid of and turn it into a creative, fictional story including characters, a setting, and a resolution.

Vocabulary You Will Learn:

• Character—An individual or being in a story.
• Setting—Where a story takes place, usually described by the time and location. 
• Resolution—A conclusion or ending to a story.

Materials You Will Need:

• A piece of paper
• A pencil or other writing utensil

How to Write Your Own Original Short Story About a Fear You Have 

1. First, think about a fear you have. Are you afraid of heights? Public speaking? The dark?
2. Now, you’re going to turn this fear into a character. Think about what your fear looks like. Is it eight feet tall? Is it small and hunched over? Does it have wings or scales, or pointy teeth? Write this description down. If you’re having trouble getting started, write down “My fear looks like…” and then add as many descriptions as you can. When you are done, give your fear a name.
3. Next, create the setting for your story. Where does your fear live? Does it live in a forest, or an underwater cave, or in your dreams? Write down as many details about this setting as you can. Do other characters live here? Is it bright, or dark? Are there trees growing from the ground? You can start this section with: “[Fear’s name] exists here, in…”

4. Now it’s time to decide how to conquer your fear! Will you defeat it with physical strength? Will you outsmart it? Or will you take it by the hand and become friends with it? Start by writing, “Today I conquered my fear by…”
5. Now you’re ready to put all the parts together and write your story! Introduce the character you created based on your fear, describe the place where they live, and tell the story of how you triumphed over them. If you’d like to hear LeJuane’s story as an example, scroll to around 5:10 in the video.

In this video, LeJuane teaches us how to create our own original story about a fear we have, including characters, a setting, and a resolution. If you want to go even further, think about these questions: 

• What other emotions can you think of that you could turn into a character? What would a hope, or something you are embarrassed about, look like as a character? What about something that makes you happy?
• How could you write a second part to the story you created in this lesson? If you and your fear became friends, what kind of shenanigans will you get up to next? If you conquered your fear another way, will you meet again and have another conflict?
• Can you bring other characters into your story? Do you have a sidekick who helps you conquer your fear, or does your fear live with its mom, who becomes part of the story? Or maybe your fear lives in a neighborhood with lots of other people around, some of whom could get involved in the conflict?
• Can you think of a way you could introduce a different setting into your story? Maybe you chase your fear out of the place where it lives into somewhere else? Or maybe later in the story, your fear comes back to confront you in your home?

Accessibility

Don’t forget that you can turn on “Closed Captioning” to view the YouTube video with English captions.

More about the Teaching Artist

LeJuane “El’Ja” Bowens (he/him) is an award-winning poet and spoken word artist from Raeford, North Carolina. He has facilitated creative writing workshops for schools and festivals with students ranging from ages seven to fifty. His mission as a teaching artist is to not only help novice and experienced artists stay creative, but to also help artists use creativity to heal themselves and those around them. Learn more about his work at .

Kennedy Center Education Digital Learning

Eric Friedman 
Director, Digital Learning

Kenny Neal 
Manager, Digital Education Resources

Tiffany A. Bryant 
Manager, Operations and Audience Engagement

JoDee Scissors 
Content Specialist, Digital Learning

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