A lost notebook: writing a Turkish short story

The idea

For this story, build three parts: a person and a setting, a loss and an attempt to recover it, then a resolution. The father’s drawing gives Elif a reason to return. Keep the viewpoint close to what Elif notices, remembers and feels; the tea seller’s thoughts need not be invented. Distinguish background (bekliyordu), an earlier event (unutmuştu) and the next action (geri döndü). The closed zip at the end echoes the loss at the start. This is a writing strategy, not a compulsory pattern for every story.

Read the text

Examples

• O sabah Elif iskelede vapuru bekliyordu.That morning, Elif was waiting for the ferry at the pier.
• Çizim defterini bankın üzerinde unutmuştu.She had left her sketchbook on the bench.
• Vapur kalkınca boş çantasını fark etti.When the ferry departed, she noticed her empty bag.
• Defterin ilk sayfasında babasının yıllar önce çizdiği bir ev vardı; Elif o resmi kaybetmek istemiyordu.On the first page of the notebook was a house her father had drawn years earlier; Elif did not want to lose that drawing.
• Bir sonraki vapurla geri döndü, ama bank artık boştu.She returned on the next ferry, but the bench was now empty.
• Tam umudunu kaybederken çaycı, tezgâhın altından mavi bir defter çıkardı.Just as she was losing hope, the tea seller took a blue notebook out from under the counter.
• Elif kapağı görünce rahatladı; defter yağmurdan ıslanmamıştı.Elif felt relieved when she saw the cover; the notebook had not got wet in the rain.
• Çaycıya teşekkür etmek için son sayfaya onun resmini çizdi.To thank the tea seller, she drew his portrait on the last page.
• Eve dönerken defteri çantasına koydu ve bu kez fermuarı kapattı.On her way home, she put the notebook in her bag and this time closed the zip.

Watch out

Dropping a subject can hide a change of actor. In Çaycı defteri Elif'e verdi. Gülümsedi., either person could be smiling. If you mean Elif, write Elif gülümsedi. Repeating a name here helps the reader.

Try it yourself

1. Choose the verb that presents a completed event before the ferry departed. unutmuştu / bekliyordu

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   unutmuştu

   unutmuştu: leaving the notebook happened before the ferry departed; bekliyordu describes the waiting scene already in progress.

2. Complete the sentence with the contrasting connector. Geri döndü, ___ bank artık boştu. (ama / bu yüzden)

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   ama

   ama: returning creates an expectation of finding the notebook. The empty bench frustrates that expectation; it is not a consequence of returning.

3. Fill the gap so that Elif is clearly the person smiling. Çaycı defteri Elif'e verdi. ___ gülümsedi.

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   Elif

   Elif: naming her makes the smile hers. The previous sentence’s subject was the tea seller, so an omitted subject would leave the actor unclear.

4. Which ending returns to the story’s opening problem? Enter 1 or 2. 1: Ertesi gün başka bir şehirde yeni bir lokanta açıldı. / 2: Elif bu kez çantasının fermuarını kapattı.

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   2

   2: closing the zip shows a changed action after the loss. Opening an unrelated restaurant introduces a new plot instead of completing this one.

Use it today

Write 140–180 Turkish words about a meaningful object that disappears. Use three paragraphs, a reason to search, one setback and an ending that returns to an opening detail. Stay close to one character’s viewpoint. Finally, circle each change of actor and check that the reader knows who acts.