Creative Writing Hero’s Quest

With Extracts from The Fortress by Faye Carlisle

The FortressBy Faye Carlisle

What is the Fortress about?

• Cameron is identified at his school as having the abilities to defeat the Sinisters, an evil group of men who are taking over the Kingdom. • The Sinisters have betrayed the King and have stolen three keys that

allow the King to rule effectively. • Cameron can manipulate the four elements: earth, fire, water and air,

and a prophecy says that a boy who is able to do this will restore peace to the land and defeat evil. • Cameron is sent on a mission to find the Sinisters with his two friends

Anna and Sam. Anna is able to see visions of the future, and Sam has special navigating powers.

Quiz time

1) What is Anna able to do?

a) Control the four elements with her mindb) See visions of the futurec) Find places without a map

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2) What are the baddies called in the book?a) The sinistersb) The navigatorsc) Quadrias

3) What is a prophecy?

a) An experiment b) A description of someone’s characterc) A prediction about the future

You will be working on a task a week. At the end you will use the skills to write a story.

• Task 1-Developing characters• Task 2-Writing dialogue• Task 3-Describing emotions• Task 4-Describing a setting

Characterisation

• When writing a story it is a good idea to imagine what your different characters are like.

• The two boys, Cameron and Sam in the Fortress are quite different. Cameron is quite serious and feels a responsibility to fulfil the prophecy. Sam is a bit cheeky and rebellious.

• The two girls, Anna and Jenny, are also very different. Anna is sharp-tongued, fiery and clever. Jenny is shy and caring.

Complete task 1 developing characters

Developing Character Task

Read the extract below:After class, Cameron escaped as quickly as he could to the lunch hall. Anna and Sam caught up with him in the queue. ‘That was cool,’ Sam said with a look of awe. Cameron blushed. ‘It was no big deal. You and Anna have powers too.’‘Yeah, but we can’t do that,’ Sam replied. ‘Navigation skills are more useful,’ Cameron said. ‘It helped us find our way off the mountain last year, didn’t it?’‘Yes, but it was my fault we got lost anyway.’ Sam grinned.Cameron laughed. ‘Losing everyone to skip meditation was a pretty dumb idea.’‘That’s me. Anything to get out of boring meditation.’ Sam smiled, running a hand through his fair, wavy hair.‘You don’t give it a chance,’ Anna protested.‘We can’t all be perfect,’ Sam said, using his index finger to draw a fake halo around his head.‘I take the training seriously, that’s all,’ Anna said. ‘And you should too. One day we might have to use our skills.’‘That’s years away,’ Sam replied. ‘In the meantime, I intend to have a bit of fun.’

Task1) How old do you think Cameron, Anna and

Sam are?2) What do think their personalities are like?3) What do they look like?4) What do you think are the best and worst

character traits of Cameron, Anna and Sam?5) Think of the hero and baddy you want to

have in your story? What gender and age are they? What are their best and worst character traits?