Name: ______________________________________ Period: _______ Realistic Fiction Writing Unit Checklist
STRUCTURE
Lead
Did you ...
● hook the reader at the
beginning of your story
● use a situation or setting to
ground story
● use details to point to conflict
OR show character traits, OR
other story elements
Transitions
Ending
Did you ...
● use transitional phrases and
clauses to connect what
happened to why it happened
(If he hadn’t . . . he might not
have, because of, although,
little did she know that).
Did you ...
● give the reader a sense of
closure by showing clearly how
the character changed OR how
the place changed OR how the
problem was resolved
● give details to leave the reader
thinking about the heart of the
story (if there is no resolution)
Organization
Did you ...
● use a traditional—or slightly
modified—story structure
(rising action, conflict, falling
action) to best bring out the
meaning of your story and
reach your audience
Not
Yet
If “Not Yet,” where in your
story can you add this in?
Starting
To ...
Yes!
If Yes, what line from the text shows that?
DEVELOPMENT
Elaboration
Did you ...
● intentionally use action,
dialogue, details, and inner
thinking to develop the heart of
the story
● develop a main character who is
like a real person; who has
strengths and flaws
● develop the settings and how
the character is affected by the
setting
Craft
Did you ...
● use techniques to show
contrasting character
motivations and complicated
situations
● use specific details and
figurative language to set the
mood of the story (symbolism)
● vary the tone to match variety
of emotions in the characters
CONVENTIONS
Spelling
Sentence
Structure and
Punctuation
Did you ...
● use the Internet and other
sources at hand to check
spelling of literary and
high-frequency words.
Did you ...
● vary your sentence structure,
sometimes using simple and
sometimes using complex
sentence structure.
● punctuate dialogue sections
accurately
Not
Yet
If “Not Yet,” where in your
story can you add this in?
Starting
To ...
Yes!
If Yes, what line from the text shows that?