Do you know I sat the GCSE English Language exam this November, and I get my result on the 8th of January?

I’m super excited, because I had two stories that I was desperate to write. They both came from my guide of story ideas. This is the guide few people wanted!

I thought, if I give students lots of stories, they’ll want to copy them and get downgraded.

But if I give them plots, with enough information, they can write their own top grade versions. Well, it turns out I was wrong. Lots of students didn’t want this. It just worked for me!

So, I had these two stories I wanted to write - one about elephants, and one about boots. I went for the boots version.

So, this is the part of the guide I had in mind:

These Boots Are Made for Talking

A teenager girl, Carla, is struggling to come out as gay to her divorced mother. She wants to, but is scared of the reaction. But she’s also not comfortable being gay, she doesn’t want everyone to know yet. She worries how people will react.

She goes Christmas shopping for clothes with her mother. They look at a blue pair of Doc Martens in the window. Carla likes them. Her mother Martina really likes them and suggests that her daughter ought to try them on. Carla refuses and comments that only a lesbian would be caught dead wearing them. Her mother laughs. As they walk down the street, they notice peoples shoes, and two girls walk by holding hands, each wearing a colourful pair of Doc Martens boots. Her mother christens them, Dyke Martins. They both laugh. Carla is furious with herself and her mother, but says nothing.

It’s Christmas morning, and Carla is still unsure how to come out to her mother. She’s filled with regret that she didn’t take the chance to say something yesterday. She comes downstairs, willing herself to find her voice.

Her mother walks in. She is wearing bright blue Doc Martin boots. ‘I think we need to talk,’ she says.

How to Start the Story

1.      Cara’s thoughts, as she goes shopping with her mother.

2.      The conversation about the boots, with Cara’s thoughts and worries are revealed.

How to End the Story

1.      Martina has bought them to help her Cara talk about being gay

2.      Martina has bought them because she is bisexual, and is using them as a way to come out to Cara – this is partly hinted at earlier with the divorce

So, I don’t want to write the whole story here in case students copy it and get marked down for copying.

But, I’ve given Bard and ChatGPT the chance to dazzle you. They can always get you to a grade 7. You have to make it more realistic for the grade 8 and 9.

I also asked Bard and ChatGPT to give me a 5 bullet point summary to make the story easier to remember.

I was very curious to see if they would write better with my plot as a prompt. See which one you prefer.

Bard Summary

1. Carla's Internal Conflict: A teenage girl, Carla, faces a personal struggle with her sexuality. She desires to express her true self but fears rejection and societal judgment.

2. The Symbolism of Doc Martens: During a Christmas shopping trip, Carla and her mother encounter a pair of blue Doc Martens. The boots become a symbol of both internalized stereotypes and potential acceptance.

3. A Tense Shopping Experience: The conversation surrounding the boots grows strained as Carla makes a hurtful comment about lesbians, and her mother reinforces stereotypes by labelling Doc Martens as "Dyke Martins." Carla's inner turmoil intensifies.

4. A Missed Opportunity: Carla retreats into silence, regretting her inability to confide in her mother. She carries the weight of unsaid words into Christmas morning.

5. A Mother's Unexpected Gesture: On Christmas morning, Carla's mother appears wearing the bright blue Doc Martens, signalling a willingness to engage in a crucial conversation. This powerful act paves the way for potential understanding and acceptance.

Bard: write the beginning of that story

The fairy lights winked like mocking eyes from the Christmas tree in the corner. It was Christmas Eve, a time for cosy togetherness and crackling fireplaces, yet inside her, the glowed embers of fear. Carla stared at the reflection in the bauble, the distorted image shimmering like a mirage of the girl she longed to be.

Outside, the snow fell in soft whispers. Inside, the silence was suffocating, thick with her unspoken words. The annual Christmas shopping trip with her mother loomed heavy on the horizon, a potential minefield where the carefully laid camouflage of her life could be blown wide open with a single misstep.

Memories of last year's trip flickered across her mind, the way her gaze was drawn to the crimson fingernail polish, the pang of longing when her mother dismissed it as "too flashy." This year, the battlefield would be a pair of boots. Not just any boots, mind you, but the electric blue Doc Martens that pulsed with defiance and self-expression in the shop window.

As her mother called from downstairs, the knot in Carla's stomach tightened. Today, the line between who she was and who she was supposed to be felt thinner than ever. Could she walk this tightrope of family traditions and self-discovery? Could she find the courage to speak the truth, or would she crumble under the weight of unspoken wishes and societal expectations, a silent martyr sacrificed on the altar of Christmas cheer?

Outside, the frosted world awaited, and with it, the potential for a thaw, a melting away of the winter that had encased her secret self. Today, beneath the twinkling lights and the feigned joviality, Carla would take the first tentative steps on the path of self-discovery, hoping that a brighter, truer Christmas awaited.

ChatGPT Summary

1. Carla grapples with internal conflict over her sexuality, fearing social reactions but drawn to self-expression.

2. A Christmas shopping trip for shoes turns symbolic, with Doc Martens representing hidden desires and societal perceptions.

3. Carla's insensitive comment and her mother's playful response create tension and highlight communication challenges.

4. Regret and missed opportunities simmer through Christmas Eve, leaving Carla yearning for authenticity.

5. A surprising act of solidarity from her mother sparks a crucial conversation on Christmas morning, hinting at potential understanding.

ChatGPT write the beginning of the story

Carla wandered through the bustling aisles. The holiday decorations twinkled above her, but the festive cheer did little to lift the weight pressing on her chest. Every step she took alongside her mother felt like a dance on a tightrope, a delicate balance between revealing her authentic self and the fear of rejection.

As they navigated through the maze of holiday shoppers, a pair of vibrant blue Doc Martens beckoned from a storefront window. They spoke to her - daring, authentic, and unapologetically herself. But as she admired them, an unintended comment slipped past her lips, a misguided attempt to shield herself from the scrutiny she anticipated.

Her mother's response, laden with stereotypes and misconceptions, stung like a slap, “Dyke Martins”, she called them, echoing society's narrow views that Carla yearned to challenge but feared confronting. The tension between them thickened, each word a missed opportunity, each glance a testament to their unspoken divide.

As Christmas morning dawned, Carla braced herself for the day ahead, the unspoken words and unaddressed feelings swirling around her like a winter storm. Little did she know, the day would unveil an unexpected gesture, a beacon of hope in their journey toward understanding and acceptance.

Now, just after the exam, I went to visit friends, and told them why I was taking my GCSE again, and about the story.

So here is a grade 9 story you can adapt. It needs a little shortening if you are going to use it in your exam, and make it your own.

Judith Jones

I told my friend about this story outline. She writes short stories every week. It was an idea too good to pass up, so she went for it:

The Blue Boots, by Judith Jones

‘You going to tell her then?’ Sam rolls over and looks at me.

‘Seems like as good a time as any,’ I stare back, a wave of love washing over me. Where would I have been for the last few months without her support, her strength and her total belief in me? It had been like finding the missing piece in a jigsaw puzzle, one that I’d not even realised had been missing till a few months ago.

Grabbing my phone I drop it into my bag, ‘I’ll ring you later.’

‘It won’t be that hard. Remember you’re a strong woman, twenty six, successful with a first class honours degree.’ She picks up her dressing gown, pulls it on and is beside me, ‘most of all remember I love you.’

We stand nose to nose for a moment, breathing in each other’s scent and I think, how hard can it be to tell your mother you’re gay, always have been and have now found the person you want to spend the rest of your life with? How hard can it be?’

The train is packed; I spend the first hour wedged against a wall and someone who must have put last night’s clothes straight back on. Where are all these people going at nine o’clock on a Saturday morning and why towards London like me? At Gatwick, half get off and I grab a window seat and breathe deeply, grateful the heady combination of stale booze, curry and fags is now heading across the platform dragging a large case along with it.

A spatter of rain hits the window as we reach the outskirts of the city; the city I grew up in; spent the first eighteen years of my life in until university beckoned and I escaped to the open spaces and windy beaches of Wales. The city I returned to occasionally, then rarely, as my parents embarked on the most acrimonious of divorces. My brother and I preferring to watch from the edges, trying not to take sides, wondering how two people could cause each other that level of pain after appearing to be happily married for almost twenty five years. It is something we still don’t understand.

‘Mum,’ I wave and jump up and down. I can see the small figure, neat in low heeled boots, jeans, smart jacket and matching hat. She likes an understated look, nothing jarring or too radical. Not quite twin set and pearls, but edging towards it. Thick auburn curls poke out from under the lime green of her beret and she waves back.

I inherited dad’s height and mum’s hair. Sam says it makes me quite a sight on the rugby pitch when I’m sprinting for a try.

The italics are parts of the story you could edit out if you want to shorten it to an exam length.

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