Instruction
Write a five-page short story using the following guidelines: It will be an epistolary story or a story written in letters, but only from one side of the correspondence. The story will consist of five one-page letters that follow Freitags pyramid. The first letter will introduce the problem or conflict. Letters two and three will increase the tension/intensity of the conflict. Letter four will be the climactic moment, where something changes irreversibly for the character. Letter five will be the denouement/resolution.
User_11553 added on 07/26/17 at 04:18 AM (PST):
For example, letter one could be a character, Jane, trying to get her roommate, Karen, to move out. Jane has to act and to make a decision for a reason (she wants her boyfriend to move in), but its also a chance to reveal their history to us in vivid details. Remember, our first actions are usually quite conservative, so it follows that Jane simply writes to Karen and says politely, Its time we parted ways, Karen, and you moved out. But those decisions and actions have consequences that will happen off the page.
n letter two, the problem must increase in intensity as a result of this decision that Jane has made. We learn that Karen will not leave, so Jane has tried to increase Karens motivation by threatening to change the locks, but Karen beats her to the punch. Now Jane is writing to get the new keys made and to let her know she does not accept Karens claim to squatters rights. She threatens to get the police involved.
In letter 3, Jane writes to say she got the photo of Jane and her boss at dinner in the mail (we see on the return address that Jane is now staying at her boyfriends), the one where he is kissing her hand and knows the roommate is threatening to reveal Janes secret affair with her boss to Janes boyfriend. She agrees to meet Karen one last time.
Letter 4 is the point of no return, where Jane finally decides to do something drastic, permanent to solve the problem. Lets say, Jane breaks into the apartment and tosses all of Karens belongings out the window. In doing this, she knows Karen will tell her boyfriend about the affair, but Jane decides her own apartment is worth more than the relationship or the tyranny of Karens blackmailing.
This last letter should end the problem in some way (but note that ending a problem does not necessarily mean solving it). Jane loses her job and cant make rent. She tries to reconcile with Karen so she can move back in, but she knows it is a lost cause. Of course, this is just an example, and you are free to write on any subject, but hopefully it shows you how to set up a story given these constraints.