How do you make up a short story?

For my Language Arts class, I need to make up a story, write it (a page long) and read it to the class. I have no idea what I am going to write, so can you help me with some ideas and such? Thank you!How do you make up a short story?
Sketch the details of your main potential characters start with looks, mannerisms, background, etc. Write the details down - or even draw them if you are a visual person.





Then take your main character or characters and imagine them in some new odd/out of the ordinary (out of your current work's context) places or scenarios 鈥?anything goes! Write down ideas on what would have to happen to your type of character or how they would react to the scenario you placed them in.





This may seem futile, but it will help you flesh out your characters further and give you insight into what you may want to happen to this type of character in a potential story. You may even come up with multiple story lines and can see if one of them just seems to be the best or easiest to continue





Strong well-crafted main characters can inspire readers to love your story as well as drive you to write a great story for these imagined beings to be in! :-)





This should get you going. Then you may want to write an outline of you story (a kind of synopsis).





MAKE SURE YOUR OUTLINE HAS A STRONG ENDING.





I have heard that John Irving writes his endings first, down to the last line, and works backwards. The idea of the outline is to give you goals as you proceed. Writing the ending first may give you the ';spark'; you now need.





How do you make up a short story?
Think about something that has happened in your life recently, something that was meaningful to you, something that was funny, sad, or otherwise caused emotion, or something from your family life or school life. Add details to the event, either real ones or ones that you imagine, and go from there. Just start writing, not worrying about how long it needs to be. If you finish and it is too long, you can edit, and if it is not long enough, you can add more details.