A common strategy among English teachers for years has been to have students rework a writing in another genre. Teachers have asked students to create a poem based on a nonfiction article, to write a letter as one of the characters in a short story, or to develop a short story based on a news article. These crossover experiments not only help students understand how form shapes content, but also how the same thesis can be expressed in a variety of ways.

          In recent years, crossing genres has led to the emergence of the "new journalism," a form of writing that blends nonfiction with fiction. Truman Capote's success with In Cold Blood inspired a succession of similar fiction/nonfiction works.

          In the classroom students can have fun experimenting with this new form. Have students find a true narrative---either a nonfiction article or a filmed documentary---and write a short fictionalized story based on the events. Using a televised or video documentary provides one advantage: students can more easily experience and incorporate images. This makes their writing more detailed.

          In the following example, seventh grader Stefanie Klaus transformed the events from an episode of the television program Unsolved Mysteries into a short story. Here is the beginning of her fictionalized/nonfiction piece, which you can use as a classroom model. In this she adopted a first person viewpoint, placing herself in the role of the main character.

          I swung open the refrigerator door, hoping to overcome the empty, nauseating feeling of hunger that lingered in my stomach with some edibles to nourish my feeble body. I had had a thoroughly exhausting day. Last night I lay in bed, assuming various restless positions with agitation. I felt racked with anxiety, just thinking the unbearable thought that after I fell asleep, I would have to wake up again the next day.

          Something was going to happen. Something was wrong, very wrong. A few things did occur the next day, things that I would have preferred to miss. From feeling so vexed the previous night, I hadn't fallen asleep until approximately 3:00 A.M. I slept in until 7:10---10 minutes before school began! Stricken with panic, I didn't eat or drink a thing for breakfast, and hustled frantically out the door, my hazel, watery eyes rimmed with tired circles. I was in such a hurry, I forgot my lunch.

          In our seventh grade physical education class, we ran the mile. Ugh. Perhaps if I were more athletic, I wouldn't have found jogging nonstop up the track such a struggle. But I felt somewhat obligated to give it all my effort when I heard people comparing their times from last year.

          "You got a 7:51?" I heard one tall and flexible girl boast, as she stretched in preparation.

          "Well, I got a 6:50!"

          My cheeks flushed absolutely scarlet with a sheepish embarrassment. Compared to those speedy times, my 10:03 must have been like molasses in slow motion!

          If students have difficulty locating a written or a video source, suggest they search these news sources on the Internet:

          Remind students that since they are writing fiction, they should feel free to add imaginary images, slightly alter actual events, and inject fabricated dialogue. However, mention that since their work is more fiction than fact, they need to change the names of any individuals mentioned in the original article.

          You may also want to ask students to print copies of the original stories and turn them in along with their adaptations. This way, if you share stories in class, you can occasionally share the original piece the story was based on for comparison.