This is one of the possible [[assignments for fiction]] you can choose. It would be good to do after you’ve done [[Analyzing Story Structure]]. (T1: Communication) Once you feel confident in your ability to [[structure in fiction|identify a story’s structural elements]], try your hand at *emulating* the structure of an existing story, by writing your own story with completely different details, but the same general, overall structure. For example, if I read “The Three Little Pigs,” I might describe the structure as something like this: > *It’s a [tripartite](https://www.websters1913.com/words/Tripartite) cautionary tale that starts out with naive characters existing in relative peace. An antagonist with a strange but destructive ability appears and terrorizes the first main character, who belatedly realizes he had not properly prepared for this threat. He gets help from a second character. The antagonist reappears and compromises both characters’ safety; the second character also realizes his preparations had been insufficient. They get help from a third character who represents an important virtue. The antagonist reappears and is finally defeated.* Then it would be my turn to write my own story based on that structure. It’s not going to be about pigs or wolves—it’s going to be a completely new story, following that same basic “shape.” So for example I might write a story about a civilization that has achieved peace through convenient labor-saving technology: > *Everything seems fine until runaway climate change repays their shortsightedness by destroying their agricultural and habitational capacity. Fortunately they’ve also been developing their space-faring technology, so they flee to a nearby planet where a few colonists have already been living for some time. Everything seems fine until their careless pollution and waste practices rapidly spiral out of control, making* that *planet uninhabitable as well. So they flee to a third planet, where only the hardiest of explorers had previously established a base. Due to the scientific and philosophical superiority of this new civilization, they are able to finally outsmart their own tendency to destroy the environment they live in, and unlock the secret to living in harmony with the natural world.* Here’s a link to [another example, based on the story “Barney” by Will Stanton](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yhnq3gAjF6Zt7zwJcbgdAnaPxVv8hGJogAzfDvr00yk/edit). Let me know the title and author of the story whose structure you’re emulating. [[mentor texts for fiction|You can find some good ones here]]. Aim for at least 500–1000 words, so you have room to develop the story’s elements.