Shelfari

Project ideas for your independent novel

1. Photo album—Think about the most significant events in your novel. Decide which scenes from the novel the characters would want to remember. Draw several (min. three) of these scenes as “photos” for an album page and write a caption explaining what the drawing is about and why it is important.
2. Character Alphabet—Write an acrostic poem for a character that you liked. Each word must be accompanied by an explanation of your decision to use the word that you did.
3. Soundtrack—What songs would make up an appropriate soundtrack for your book? You don’t have to actually make a CD-just provide a list of at least three songs with lyrics and an explanation for why you selected the songs that you did.
4. Superheroes—What kind of superhero would your favorite character be? Why? What attributes does the super hero have that your character finds appealing? Min. one paragraph.
5. Identity Project—choose three to five items that are representative of your book or a character. Then, write a paragraph explaining what each item is and how it is a good representation.
6. Astrology—choose three main characters and explain what astrological sign they were born under. Drawing on each character’s actions, attitudes and thoughts explain why you think the sign is appropriate.
7. Poetry—Write two poems in response to your book. The poems could be about a character, the setting, subjects and themes, etc. Min. 10 lines each.
8. Current Events—Select three news or feature stories that your main character would be interested in. Explain why your character is interested in said stories, explain how your character would respond to each story, and any opinions your character would have about these current events.
9. Talk to the author—Write a letter to the author of the book explaining to him or her why you think s/he wrote the book and what they were trying to reveal. Also explain what you got out of the book.
10. Journal—If your character kept a personal journal, what would they write in it? Min. three entries, one paragraph per entry.
11. Yearbook—Imagine what three characters were like (or what they are like) in high school. Cut out a picture of a person from a magazine to represent each person. Mount on per page and under each picture place the following information: the character’s name, their nickname, activities, clubs, sports, favorites such as colors and foods, a book that has made an impact on them, plans for after high school, a mock award such as “class clown,” or “most likely to become a used car dealer.”