Technique 1: 

Take a well known classic and retell it in a modern context.  This is not plagiarism as the story will be the product of the authors imagination, but the theme may be similar.  The Movie “Apocalypse Now” set in Vietnam is a retelling of the Classic Joseph Conrad story, Heart of Darkness, which happened in Africa.  This is a good technique but the problem is to apply the classic story so that it is not diminished but still remains timeless.  There may also be copyright issues with this endeavor so check with the legal side.

Technique 2:

Write each chapter separately while keeping the complete story in mind and then putting them together as a complete story, leaving the reader to make the connections from the clues you have left in each chapter.

Technique 3:

Envisage the whole story playing in your mind much like a movie and they write it as quickly as it comes.  Then can go back over the story and write in the supporting facts like character summaries and settings.

Technique 4:

Write from the historical context. Historical Fiction is very popular because it gives almost a personal face to historical facts.  The reader can be drawn into some historical event and if the writing is done well the readers can almost feel part of that historical event.  The use of imagery and descriptive metaphors can make the novel so life like that a reader is transported to that time and into that situation.  An excellent knowledge of the language and a broad vocabulary is a prime necessity when writing a novel.  The author must be able to paint a picture with words that will leave a lasting impression with the reader.

Technique 5:

Study the scientific breakthroughs of the current time along with the aspirations of the researchers and try to extrapolate these into the future. From here write a science fiction story using believable concepts that have been explored already in our day.  The fact that you can point to the scientific research makes your story even more believable.

Technique 6: 

Imagine a world where you can let your imagination go wild in creating fantastic creatures.  Develop a struggle between good and evil and have the good character embark upon a quest to defeat the evil powers. This is called the High fantasy genre, and it is characterized by constant action and reaction all woven into a quest for a lofty goal.  The novels, Lord of The Rings and The Caver King are examples of this genre.

Above are some techniques that are used to brainstorm and write novels.  There are many different techniques that people use to be inspired to write but the generic structure of the novel remains basically the same.  The best technique that can be gleaned from this article is to keep your eye on the goal, which is the finished novel.  If you can do this you will lay aside any extraneous material which will try to distract you from your set task of finishing the story.

1. It withstood the test of time. It must have lasted for a long time, not for a few years or so. I would say that any book from 50 years ago with recognized value is most definitely a classic.
2. It is a original piece. Anything that has not completely been invented out of the mind of the author is not a classic. Any rewrites or parodies are not classics. Versions adapted for younger or older audiences are also not original only the first manuscript by the author and EXACT COPYS. Even typos must be rewritten!
3. It comes in all genres from all countries and from all time periods. Not one book in particular but you cant just say only books from America are classics or books from the 1700s are classics, or that only fiction books are classics.

I thought it may be helpful if a made a small list of classic books and their authors.

• Gibson- Old Yeller
• Twain- Almost any story
• Hitchcock- Almost any story
• Melville- Moby Dick
• Baum- The wizard of Oz
• Shakespeare- Any play
• Wells- The time machine
• Aesop- Any Fable
• Forbes- Johnny Tremain

Obviously I have left out many classics but almost every classic is good and worth reading!

Firstly the teacher should know about the history of the student and if he has had difficulty with another teacher. It helps knowing what methods were used to drive the student forward and how he reacted to them. For teachers who do not have the means or time to do this kind of investigative work a few questions to the student will give the teacher an idea on how the student feels towards writing and what kind of writing he might want to do first.

Let's face it, getting the student to write a autobiography when he is not comfortable about who he is would put a damper on getting the student to want to continue because the student might attach a feeling of low self-esteem every time he writes. It would be better then to pick a neutral topic or to find out what interests the student has that can be used as subject material and then move forward from that.

Participating with the student in his efforts to improve his writing often works best with the positive student who does not mind corrections to be made. An experienced teacher should be able to pick when the student is sensitive to being corrected in public and a softer approach can be used. One suggestion is to move from an uncomfortable spelling exercise to a story telling time where the student can use other words related to the one in question. I encourage students to write out words on post-its just as I would encourage adults in continuing education because the too can take advantage of seeing the written word as often as possible. That would help to break their fear of using those words in descriptive sentences or in dialogs.

In summary writing exercises should generally be integrated with other exercises so that the teacher does not risk dwelling on student weaknesses. One outlet that I find appropriate is the use of audiovisuals and film shorts that the person can describe orally and in written. Remember that students are young adults with access to all sorts of media, so there is no reason why the approach to writing should not be softened through the use of subtitled videos that gets the student to recognize the idiomatic expressions they will want to use in public. The actor in the film could even be one of their idols and that will also work as a catalyst in the learning process. Kids want to know the language that is found in musical lyrics too, not just the structured material the teacher read thirty years ago, not that the classics would do the student any harm.

Care should be taken to know what type of literature the student had been exposed to before he is coached in writing especially if this is an international student who is expected to analyze the plot of a western classic and put those thoughts down in black and white. If the student is complemented for his accepting a new culture and interest is shown in the culture he is putting aside mentally to accommodate the new, then he will be more likely to assimilate the new literature. This however depends on the cognitive ability of the child just as it does with the local child but in addition it depends on his learning a new approach at discovering what messages underline the story he has to describe in written form. It might help to get an oral overview first before the teacher goes into depth with the student.