Story Exercise

Write a linear story, in which a strong main character is on a quest for something important and specific (such as a shelter for a baby, medicine for a sick mother, a key to the storehouse where all the food is held, etc). The object is a given - don't spend time explaining its importance. The main character should start acting immediately; s/he then meets a (specific) obstacle; finally s/he triumphs over the obstacle by some means. You may introduce minor characters, but the narrative should never abandon your main character, and your focus should be on telling the story through action and dialogue.

This exercise is to get you more familiar with the bare bones of story structure - that upside-down checkmark plot.