Using your previous journal writing and the brainstorming you have been doing (with characterization, character sketches, setting description, etc. (ex. 9.1-9.3)) put the first draft of your story together. Call this draft #1. Your setting should change locale, weather, time at various points in the plot. Each new scene should complicate and develop characterization of your protagonist.
Title your first draft. Good titles at this point can be the setting or the name of the protagonist.
HOMEWORK:
On Wednesday, Nov. 4 (there is no class on Tuesday) the following work is due:
--Draft #1 (exercise 9.4)
--Read the short story "In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried" by Amy Hempel. In a short essay, discuss and examine how Hempel uses characterization and setting to effect you as the reader in the story. Use specific examples from the text to support your analysis and explain how Hempel uses characterization and setting to write a good short story.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Exercise 9.2 Brainstorming - Moving the Action
In exercise 9.1 you wrote about a setting. I asked you to drop one of your characters (from your character sketch) into this setting and write a scene in 1-3 pages. We are going to move forward now.
In exercise 9.2 you will be asked to write three additional scenes that could take place after your first scene. Change the SETTING in each scene. This will encourage you to plot your story. In each of the 3 additional scenes, give your protagonist some action to perform or do - get their hands busy! Also, sprinkle in some details from your character sketch. This is how we use characterization to develop a character. Try to avoid dumping all that information on the reader at once!
Finally, write one more scene in which you move BACKWARD in time in a technique called FLASHBACK. When you are done, you will have 4 additional scenes in your journal.
Read and refer to pages: 180 (exploring movement) to 186 for a model and/or further instructions and details about plotting, setting, and time.
HOMEWORK: read pages 180-186. Complete exercises 9.2 & 9.3 in your journal if you did not finish during lab time.
Activity: Having trouble thinking of settings or need a setting later for other stories? Look here.
In exercise 9.2 you will be asked to write three additional scenes that could take place after your first scene. Change the SETTING in each scene. This will encourage you to plot your story. In each of the 3 additional scenes, give your protagonist some action to perform or do - get their hands busy! Also, sprinkle in some details from your character sketch. This is how we use characterization to develop a character. Try to avoid dumping all that information on the reader at once!
Finally, write one more scene in which you move BACKWARD in time in a technique called FLASHBACK. When you are done, you will have 4 additional scenes in your journal.
Read and refer to pages: 180 (exploring movement) to 186 for a model and/or further instructions and details about plotting, setting, and time.
HOMEWORK: read pages 180-186. Complete exercises 9.2 & 9.3 in your journal if you did not finish during lab time.
Activity: Having trouble thinking of settings or need a setting later for other stories? Look here.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Setting
After the quiz on characterization and characters, please read this post carefully and complete the assignment.
Last class you were instructed to read pages: 177 (exploring setting) through 180. You were to complete Writer's Practice 9.1: Describe a Place. This should be completed already in your journal.
If you did this homework, you are ready to begin using your character sketches and put your characters in a setting. Before you begin, make sure you understand the following. Take notes on SETTING.
Setting: The natural and artificial scenery or environment in which characters in literature live and move.
Setting is the when and where your story takes place.
Apart from Character and Plot, Setting is one of the most important elements in your writing.
Setting includes:
• Artifacts or Props (the things characters use)
• Clothes (the things characters wear)
• Time of day, conditions of the weather
• Geography and location
• Trees, animals, and nature
• Inside and outside sounds, smells
• All physical and temporal objects
So that means setting refers to:
• The location (locale) or place the story is set
• The weather (including the season)
• The time
• The time period (historical period)
In short: setting refers to all the places and objects that are important in the work, whether natural or manufactured.
Types of Settings:
1. Natural
Nature shapes action and directs and redirects lives.
2. Manufactured
Manufactured things always reflect the people who made them.
Possessions often enter into character motivation and development.
3. Interior: locales INSIDE. Symbolically often refers to private/domestic issues.
4. Exterior: locales OUTSIDE. Symbolically often refers to societal issues.
What is a regional writer?
• A regional writer chooses to set all of his/her stories in one general place or time period. This place usually reflects how the author grew up.
Regional writers include:
• William Faulkner
• Stephen King
• H.P. Lovecraft
• Flannery O’Connor
• Bharakti Mukerjee
• Eudora Welty
Function of Setting:
1. Setting as Antagonist.
• Settings can cause problems/conflict for characters
2. Setting as reflection of mindset or ideology of one of your characters (often your protagonist)
3. Setting as character portrait
• Settings reflect or contrast character’s wants/desires, goals
4. Setting as quality of narrative vision
• Setting establishes trust between storyteller and audience
• Description of setting helps reader visualize the fictional world
5. Setting as reflection of theme or idea
6. Setting as reflection of conflict
7. Setting as mood or atmosphere
8. Setting as foreshadowing of plot
9. Setting as beginning and ending (establishing and closing shot…or frame)
Now, (THIS IS STILL BRAINSTORMING AND SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN YOUR JOURNAL): choose 1 or more of your characters that you created a character sketch for. This character will be your protagonist. The story should at this point revolve around this character. Put your character in your setting (9.1) and write a short scene (1-3 pages).
Finished and there's still time?
Go on to work on one of these setting exercises. This is BRAINSTORMING. Don't label it yet as a draft ONE. You may use as many of these exercises as you wish. Change anything you feel you need to as this is just BRAINSTORMING - the first step in the writing process.
Last class you were instructed to read pages: 177 (exploring setting) through 180. You were to complete Writer's Practice 9.1: Describe a Place. This should be completed already in your journal.
If you did this homework, you are ready to begin using your character sketches and put your characters in a setting. Before you begin, make sure you understand the following. Take notes on SETTING.
Setting: The natural and artificial scenery or environment in which characters in literature live and move.
Setting is the when and where your story takes place.
Apart from Character and Plot, Setting is one of the most important elements in your writing.
Setting includes:
• Artifacts or Props (the things characters use)
• Clothes (the things characters wear)
• Time of day, conditions of the weather
• Geography and location
• Trees, animals, and nature
• Inside and outside sounds, smells
• All physical and temporal objects
So that means setting refers to:
• The location (locale) or place the story is set
• The weather (including the season)
• The time
• The time period (historical period)
In short: setting refers to all the places and objects that are important in the work, whether natural or manufactured.
Types of Settings:
1. Natural
Nature shapes action and directs and redirects lives.
2. Manufactured
Manufactured things always reflect the people who made them.
Possessions often enter into character motivation and development.
3. Interior: locales INSIDE. Symbolically often refers to private/domestic issues.
4. Exterior: locales OUTSIDE. Symbolically often refers to societal issues.
What is a regional writer?
• A regional writer chooses to set all of his/her stories in one general place or time period. This place usually reflects how the author grew up.
Regional writers include:
• William Faulkner
• Stephen King
• H.P. Lovecraft
• Flannery O’Connor
• Bharakti Mukerjee
• Eudora Welty
Function of Setting:
1. Setting as Antagonist.
• Settings can cause problems/conflict for characters
2. Setting as reflection of mindset or ideology of one of your characters (often your protagonist)
3. Setting as character portrait
• Settings reflect or contrast character’s wants/desires, goals
4. Setting as quality of narrative vision
• Setting establishes trust between storyteller and audience
• Description of setting helps reader visualize the fictional world
5. Setting as reflection of theme or idea
6. Setting as reflection of conflict
7. Setting as mood or atmosphere
8. Setting as foreshadowing of plot
9. Setting as beginning and ending (establishing and closing shot…or frame)
Now, (THIS IS STILL BRAINSTORMING AND SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN YOUR JOURNAL): choose 1 or more of your characters that you created a character sketch for. This character will be your protagonist. The story should at this point revolve around this character. Put your character in your setting (9.1) and write a short scene (1-3 pages).
Finished and there's still time?
Go on to work on one of these setting exercises. This is BRAINSTORMING. Don't label it yet as a draft ONE. You may use as many of these exercises as you wish. Change anything you feel you need to as this is just BRAINSTORMING - the first step in the writing process.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Character Sketches
Last class you:
1. Made a list of character names (both funny, serious, and other)
2. You circled three of these names
3. You chose one of these three names and conducted an "interview" using the link below (Oct. 20)
You should have completed one of these "interviews" in your journal (brainstorming) last class.
Today, finish the questionnaire for your second and third character (from the list you created last class). All of this information should go in your journal. It is part of your brainstorming process. We will use much of this later in our next story.
After jotting notes in your journal (brainstorming), create a character sketch. Look here for notes about how to write a character sketch.
Write a character sketch (no more than 1 page, please--a few descriptive paragraphs is fine) for each of your three characters. This should be turned in as lab/writing participation credit.
Homework: Please remember to turn in your 4 ?'s from your reading of pages 174-177.
For today's homework, please read pages: 177 (exploring setting) through 180. Complete Writer's Practice 9.1: Describe a Place. We will be using this next class.
Also: there will be a quiz next class on Characters & characterization. You should be familiar with the information given in last class' post (Oct. 20) and know what "characterization" is.
1. Made a list of character names (both funny, serious, and other)
2. You circled three of these names
3. You chose one of these three names and conducted an "interview" using the link below (Oct. 20)
You should have completed one of these "interviews" in your journal (brainstorming) last class.
Today, finish the questionnaire for your second and third character (from the list you created last class). All of this information should go in your journal. It is part of your brainstorming process. We will use much of this later in our next story.
After jotting notes in your journal (brainstorming), create a character sketch. Look here for notes about how to write a character sketch.
Write a character sketch (no more than 1 page, please--a few descriptive paragraphs is fine) for each of your three characters. This should be turned in as lab/writing participation credit.
Homework: Please remember to turn in your 4 ?'s from your reading of pages 174-177.
For today's homework, please read pages: 177 (exploring setting) through 180. Complete Writer's Practice 9.1: Describe a Place. We will be using this next class.
Also: there will be a quiz next class on Characters & characterization. You should be familiar with the information given in last class' post (Oct. 20) and know what "characterization" is.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Characters and Characterization
Take notes on the following:
1. What goes into choosing a POV (point of view) for a story?
2. What are the strengths/weaknesses of each POV form?
3. Define: character, hero, heroine, villain, protagonist, antagonist, antihero, foil, minor, major character, stereotype, round, flat, dynamic. Be able to tell the difference between all of these terms.
4. How does a writer develop CHARACTERIZATION in a story?
Characters and Characterization
Choosing a POV for your character:
Major Question: Who is the story about?
--Someone who is most interesting
--Someone who is involved in the action of the story
--Someone who has the most to gain or lose from the event
1st Person POV: Main character is the narrator (good subjectivity, but lacks objectivity, limited to one character’s mind)
2nd Person POV: Main character is the “reader”, used through an objective and omniscient “I” narrator (difficult to maintain for a long time, reader must be willing to play the part, difficult to reach into reader’s mind)
Third Person POV: Omniscient or Limited
Omniscient narrators can tell the story of many characters, but this can be confusing. The reader may not know who the story is about or whose conflict is important.
A limited POV allows the writer to focus on one particular character. The story told is the story of that character. Consistent POV gives a story coherence. Inconsistent POV confuses the reader.
Character:
Hero/Heroine: The main character of a story
Villain: The character who opposes the main character
Antihero: A normal, ordinary character
Protagonist: The main character of a story
Antagonist: The opponent of the protagonist
Foil: Either one who is opposite to the main character or nearly the same as the main character. The purpose of the foil character is to emphasize the traits of the main character by contrast, and perhaps by setting up situations in which the protagonist can show his or her character traits. A foil is a secondary character who contrasts with a major character but, in so doing, highlights various facets of the main character's personality.
Characters can be either major or minor, round or flat.
Major characters are characters who are important to the conflict and plot of the story. They often have motivations linked with the main conflict
Minor characters are characters who are not necessarily important to the story. They often are used to develop the main characters or to provide rising action or complications to the plot.
Round characters have a distinct motivation and personality or “voice”; Often they are complex and dynamic (they change through the conflict of the story)
Flat characters are characters that do not change significantly through the conflict of the plot. Sometimes the reader knows or cares little about them because of lack of detail or purpose.
Stereotypes: Characters who are generally recognized as a “type”; These characters lack individuality and often can be boring because we already know how they will act and why.
Ways to develop character:
Characterization: Physical characteristics and personality characteristics which develop the individualization of a character.
Motivation: reasons for the character to act in the story
Dialogue: What characters say helps to develop them
What other characters say about a character also helps develop them
Action: Describing the actions of a character helps develop them (allows writer to show not tell)
Homework: Chapter 9 (pg. 174-177) Answer the 4 ?'s for homework (to be turned in) next class.
1. What goes into choosing a POV (point of view) for a story?
2. What are the strengths/weaknesses of each POV form?
3. Define: character, hero, heroine, villain, protagonist, antagonist, antihero, foil, minor, major character, stereotype, round, flat, dynamic. Be able to tell the difference between all of these terms.
4. How does a writer develop CHARACTERIZATION in a story?
Characters and Characterization
Choosing a POV for your character:
Major Question: Who is the story about?
--Someone who is most interesting
--Someone who is involved in the action of the story
--Someone who has the most to gain or lose from the event
1st Person POV: Main character is the narrator (good subjectivity, but lacks objectivity, limited to one character’s mind)
2nd Person POV: Main character is the “reader”, used through an objective and omniscient “I” narrator (difficult to maintain for a long time, reader must be willing to play the part, difficult to reach into reader’s mind)
Third Person POV: Omniscient or Limited
Omniscient narrators can tell the story of many characters, but this can be confusing. The reader may not know who the story is about or whose conflict is important.
A limited POV allows the writer to focus on one particular character. The story told is the story of that character. Consistent POV gives a story coherence. Inconsistent POV confuses the reader.
Character:
Hero/Heroine: The main character of a story
Villain: The character who opposes the main character
Antihero: A normal, ordinary character
Protagonist: The main character of a story
Antagonist: The opponent of the protagonist
Foil: Either one who is opposite to the main character or nearly the same as the main character. The purpose of the foil character is to emphasize the traits of the main character by contrast, and perhaps by setting up situations in which the protagonist can show his or her character traits. A foil is a secondary character who contrasts with a major character but, in so doing, highlights various facets of the main character's personality.
Characters can be either major or minor, round or flat.
Major characters are characters who are important to the conflict and plot of the story. They often have motivations linked with the main conflict
Minor characters are characters who are not necessarily important to the story. They often are used to develop the main characters or to provide rising action or complications to the plot.
Round characters have a distinct motivation and personality or “voice”; Often they are complex and dynamic (they change through the conflict of the story)
Flat characters are characters that do not change significantly through the conflict of the plot. Sometimes the reader knows or cares little about them because of lack of detail or purpose.
Stereotypes: Characters who are generally recognized as a “type”; These characters lack individuality and often can be boring because we already know how they will act and why.
Ways to develop character:
Characterization: Physical characteristics and personality characteristics which develop the individualization of a character.
Motivation: reasons for the character to act in the story
Dialogue: What characters say helps to develop them
What other characters say about a character also helps develop them
Action: Describing the actions of a character helps develop them (allows writer to show not tell)
Homework: Chapter 9 (pg. 174-177) Answer the 4 ?'s for homework (to be turned in) next class.
Brainstorming Characters
Complete all you wish to of your 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5, 8.6 drafts. Do not take more than 1 period to do this. Wrap the story up as tightly as it will go for now.
When you have completed your "final draft", please label it, title it, save it to YOUR file for now. We will use it later.
Take notes on Characterization (above). Learn what this means.
Brainstorming: In your journal make a list of names...some funny, some serious, some vague, some specific.
Brainstorming: Then, in your journal choose 3 of these names and write the answers to this quiz to develop your characters: The Writer's Trust.
Brainstorming: After you have completed this quiz for each character, write a brief character description for each person. Turn in these brief character descriptions as classwork.
When you have completed your "final draft", please label it, title it, save it to YOUR file for now. We will use it later.
Take notes on Characterization (above). Learn what this means.
Brainstorming: In your journal make a list of names...some funny, some serious, some vague, some specific.
Brainstorming: Then, in your journal choose 3 of these names and write the answers to this quiz to develop your characters: The Writer's Trust.
Brainstorming: After you have completed this quiz for each character, write a brief character description for each person. Turn in these brief character descriptions as classwork.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
It All Comes Down to This... End of Marking Period Info
Please complete Chapter 8 and the corresponding exercises: 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5, and 8.6.
Compile ALL your drafts (there should be a few). Put all the drafts into the SAME file. You can do this by opening your final draft, then copying the other drafts AFTER the FINAL draft. Some of you already have done this. Essentially, all your drafts should be in ONE file.
Chapter 8 - ALL DRAFTS for this assignment are due TO MY DROP BOX by Friday, Oct. 16 (end of the day). This will account for your portfolio grade (and writing grade). Turn in as much of this as you have done. This is a major assignment.
Also, on FRIDAY, Oct. 16, we will have a quiz on the following:
The Writing Process: brainstorming, composing (or drafting), revision, editing, and publication. (pg. 3-20 & blog)
The Hook, leads, or opening a short story (pg. 149-150 & blog)
The Types of Short Stories: (blog)
Working With Beginnings (blog)
In Media Res (blog)
First Person POV (pg. 152-154)
Establishing conflict (pg. 150-151)
Honest, Dishonest Voice (reliable or unreliable first person narrators) (pg. 154 & blog)
Dialogue punctuation (blog)
Realistic dialogue (pg. 157, pg. 160 & blog)
Speaker tags, Action tags, Thought tags (pg. 158 & blog)
Compression (as part of editing/revision) (pg. 155 & blog)
White space (pg. 164)
Essential elements of a short story (pg. 166, under Response Groups)
Craft (pg. 167)
Repetition (pg. 168)
Compile ALL your drafts (there should be a few). Put all the drafts into the SAME file. You can do this by opening your final draft, then copying the other drafts AFTER the FINAL draft. Some of you already have done this. Essentially, all your drafts should be in ONE file.
Chapter 8 - ALL DRAFTS for this assignment are due TO MY DROP BOX by Friday, Oct. 16 (end of the day). This will account for your portfolio grade (and writing grade). Turn in as much of this as you have done. This is a major assignment.
Also, on FRIDAY, Oct. 16, we will have a quiz on the following:
The Writing Process: brainstorming, composing (or drafting), revision, editing, and publication. (pg. 3-20 & blog)
The Hook, leads, or opening a short story (pg. 149-150 & blog)
The Types of Short Stories: (blog)
Working With Beginnings (blog)
In Media Res (blog)
First Person POV (pg. 152-154)
Establishing conflict (pg. 150-151)
Honest, Dishonest Voice (reliable or unreliable first person narrators) (pg. 154 & blog)
Dialogue punctuation (blog)
Realistic dialogue (pg. 157, pg. 160 & blog)
Speaker tags, Action tags, Thought tags (pg. 158 & blog)
Compression (as part of editing/revision) (pg. 155 & blog)
White space (pg. 164)
Essential elements of a short story (pg. 166, under Response Groups)
Craft (pg. 167)
Repetition (pg. 168)
Friday, October 9, 2009
Creative Writing Rubric
Creative Writing Rubrics
Exemplary (A/A+): Thoroughly developed characters, plot, structure, conflict, theme, and setting. Uses vivid description, effective diction and word choice, tone or voice, POV, imagery, and compelling dialogue throughout portfolio. Uses a variety of effective literary devices. Writing can be considered “art,” effectively communicating issues central to the human condition. Has few errors in spelling punctuation, syntax, and usage. Work includes evidence of several revised drafts.
Accomplished (B/B+): Well developed characters, plot, conflict, theme, and setting. Uses good description, diction, dialogue, voice, POV, imagery, etc. but work may not be as insightful or artfully constructed. Uses some literary devices, but with uneven success. Has some errors in spelling, punctuation, and usage but nothing that gets in the way of the reader’s ability to discern meaning. Work includes evidence of some revision (more than a second draft).
Developing (C/C+): Fairly well developed characters, plot and setting, but pieces in portfolio may have gaps. Uses some description, imagery, dialogue, voice, but with uneven success. Work suggests craft or insight into the human condition, but falls short of this goal. May use an occasional literary device, but work is abstract, too personal, clichéd, but does not lack meaning. Has errors in spelling punctuation and usage that distracts the reader. Work may be accomplished, but portfolio was late. Work includes some evidence of revision, but revision is largely in grammar and syntax, rather than restructuring.
Beginning (D): Development of character, plot and setting is on a very basic level, although these elements are present. Uses limited description, imagery, dialogue. Work is hastily done or lacks artistic style. Does not use literary devices, or work is largely abstract, or lacks meaning. Has careless errors in spelling, punctuation, and usage. Work includes little or no evidence of revision. Work may be developing, but story was turned in late.
Exemplary (A/A+): Thoroughly developed characters, plot, structure, conflict, theme, and setting. Uses vivid description, effective diction and word choice, tone or voice, POV, imagery, and compelling dialogue throughout portfolio. Uses a variety of effective literary devices. Writing can be considered “art,” effectively communicating issues central to the human condition. Has few errors in spelling punctuation, syntax, and usage. Work includes evidence of several revised drafts.
Accomplished (B/B+): Well developed characters, plot, conflict, theme, and setting. Uses good description, diction, dialogue, voice, POV, imagery, etc. but work may not be as insightful or artfully constructed. Uses some literary devices, but with uneven success. Has some errors in spelling, punctuation, and usage but nothing that gets in the way of the reader’s ability to discern meaning. Work includes evidence of some revision (more than a second draft).
Developing (C/C+): Fairly well developed characters, plot and setting, but pieces in portfolio may have gaps. Uses some description, imagery, dialogue, voice, but with uneven success. Work suggests craft or insight into the human condition, but falls short of this goal. May use an occasional literary device, but work is abstract, too personal, clichéd, but does not lack meaning. Has errors in spelling punctuation and usage that distracts the reader. Work may be accomplished, but portfolio was late. Work includes some evidence of revision, but revision is largely in grammar and syntax, rather than restructuring.
Beginning (D): Development of character, plot and setting is on a very basic level, although these elements are present. Uses limited description, imagery, dialogue. Work is hastily done or lacks artistic style. Does not use literary devices, or work is largely abstract, or lacks meaning. Has careless errors in spelling, punctuation, and usage. Work includes little or no evidence of revision. Work may be developing, but story was turned in late.
8.4, 8.5, 8.6
Today, complete exericise 8.4 for your "third draft". Then go on to 8.5 and 8.6. Repeat a major event and assemble the best parts and pieces of all your drafts.
Exercise 8.2 asked you to 1). Come up with a few opening paragraphs that grip, and hook us as readers. 2). Write the story quickly.
Exercise 8.3 asked you to add dialogue, change the story to 1st person POV, then cut unnecessary events, characters, and plots until you have one story where your protagonist is in trouble.
Exercise 8.3 - part 2 asked you to start again. Tell the story over again, this time without referring to your previous drafts.
Exercise 8.4 is asking you to skip some time (a day, an hour, a week, etc.) and have one or two of your characters talk to the narrator (remember this was supposed to be first person POV). Avoid introducing new characters. Through the dialogue there should be a change indicated through the narrator.
Exercise 8.5 is asking you to assemble the entire story. Pick up the pieces and tell the story again, now knowing what your previous drafts have given you. Consider using white space (see pg. 164). A sample model of this is on pg. 164-166.
Go this far. If you completely finish, we are going to finish this story by inserting repetition (as stated in exercise 8.6). Good stories often have a circular element to them. Things described in the beginning often come back again at the end. Try this sort of thing in your last draft.
Exercise 8.2 asked you to 1). Come up with a few opening paragraphs that grip, and hook us as readers. 2). Write the story quickly.
Exercise 8.3 asked you to add dialogue, change the story to 1st person POV, then cut unnecessary events, characters, and plots until you have one story where your protagonist is in trouble.
Exercise 8.3 - part 2 asked you to start again. Tell the story over again, this time without referring to your previous drafts.
Exercise 8.4 is asking you to skip some time (a day, an hour, a week, etc.) and have one or two of your characters talk to the narrator (remember this was supposed to be first person POV). Avoid introducing new characters. Through the dialogue there should be a change indicated through the narrator.
Exercise 8.5 is asking you to assemble the entire story. Pick up the pieces and tell the story again, now knowing what your previous drafts have given you. Consider using white space (see pg. 164). A sample model of this is on pg. 164-166.
Go this far. If you completely finish, we are going to finish this story by inserting repetition (as stated in exercise 8.6). Good stories often have a circular element to them. Things described in the beginning often come back again at the end. Try this sort of thing in your last draft.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
8.3 - Draft #3
You need a completed 2nd draft for this exercise. Start and complete that work if you haven't already done so.
Today, work on 8.3 - draft #3:
1. Take your two previous drafts.
2. Start again.
3. Begin by setting the story in place and time. Start in media res.
4. Tell a single incident or a series of brief incidents, moving the forward in time. Try a story that has more than one incident.
5. Place one character in addition to your narrator in the story.
See and read pages: 159-163 in your books for models.
Complete this draft.
Today, work on 8.3 - draft #3:
1. Take your two previous drafts.
2. Start again.
3. Begin by setting the story in place and time. Start in media res.
4. Tell a single incident or a series of brief incidents, moving the forward in time. Try a story that has more than one incident.
5. Place one character in addition to your narrator in the story.
See and read pages: 159-163 in your books for models.
Complete this draft.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Reading Groups - First Person POV stories
Today get into your reading groups (see earlier post). Together as a group, read the stories: All Girl Band, The Colonel, Vision out of the Corner of One Eye, I Didn't Do That, the Barbie Birthday, and Map of the Lost World.
Your draft one of exercise 8.2 asked you to create a distinct voice for a first person POV story. Discuss how each story tries to accomplish this. Additionally, look for the use of dialogue. How much dialogue is used and when is it most powerful? This will vary from story to story. Try to identify the different speaker tags as well. You should be able to name each one.
Once you have finished reading these stories, post a comment about what you learned about 1st person POV stories on our Forum.
Then work on draft 2 of the 8.2 exercise. Go on to exercise 8.3 if you are finished with the second draft.
Your draft one of exercise 8.2 asked you to create a distinct voice for a first person POV story. Discuss how each story tries to accomplish this. Additionally, look for the use of dialogue. How much dialogue is used and when is it most powerful? This will vary from story to story. Try to identify the different speaker tags as well. You should be able to name each one.
Once you have finished reading these stories, post a comment about what you learned about 1st person POV stories on our Forum.
Then work on draft 2 of the 8.2 exercise. Go on to exercise 8.3 if you are finished with the second draft.
8.2 - Draft 2.
In draft one (see below for instructions) you told a story from 1st person POV. In it you were asked to write without worrying about what you were writing, but keep writing until the story takes shape within the mess you created. You called and labeled this draft draft ONE. Now work on draft two of the same story.
Step two:
2. Cut your sentences down and combine them. Try to cut about 1/2 of what you just wrote. Keep only the most important information.
--Compress a string of actions into a sentence or two with a series of verbs
--Reduce dialogue to one or two important exchanges. Try to propel the action forward.
--Insert commentary, the internal self-talk of your character. Get inside the character's mind. This is the benefit of 1st person POV.
--Call this second step DRAFT TWO. Make sure you change the draft # and save BOTH copies: draft one and two.
Step Three:
3. If you finish with draft two, go on to complete draft 3.
--Create a central event. Narrate the major events that trouble your narrator (the voice you created in 8.2). Write dialogue tags with action and thoughts correctly.
NOTE: Start OVER. Use the same character, but put them in a different setting or at a different place and time. Include at least one other character. Include at least one scene with dialogue.
Step two:
2. Cut your sentences down and combine them. Try to cut about 1/2 of what you just wrote. Keep only the most important information.
--Compress a string of actions into a sentence or two with a series of verbs
--Reduce dialogue to one or two important exchanges. Try to propel the action forward.
--Insert commentary, the internal self-talk of your character. Get inside the character's mind. This is the benefit of 1st person POV.
--Call this second step DRAFT TWO. Make sure you change the draft # and save BOTH copies: draft one and two.
Step Three:
3. If you finish with draft two, go on to complete draft 3.
--Create a central event. Narrate the major events that trouble your narrator (the voice you created in 8.2). Write dialogue tags with action and thoughts correctly.
NOTE: Start OVER. Use the same character, but put them in a different setting or at a different place and time. Include at least one other character. Include at least one scene with dialogue.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Dialogue
Dialogue: What is it good for?
• Fastest way to advance the action of the story
• Reveals characters & provides characterization
• Provides exposition in a more realistic way
• Effective dialogue depends on an ability to listen and develop an ear for the way people speak.
How Can I Make My Dialogue Sound Real?
• Speak in short sentences
• Speak in fragments
• Change the subject
• Digress
• Use Colloquialism/verisimilitude
• Answer questions with questions or avoid answering
• Ignore what’s being said by the other person
• Respond to things that haven’t been said
• Repeat words or expressions
Speaker Tags
Always use tags when it may be unclear who is speaking. In two person scenes tags may not be necessary after the first one or two.
3 Types of Tags:
1. Speaker Tag
• Use “said” or “says”. Avoid fancy verbs like “ejaculated” or “spit”, “hissed” or “screeched” (unless you are writing a parody or humorous story). Use fancy verbs sparingly.
• Avoid adverbs (LY words) that indicate how something was said. (she said greedily; he said nastily; we said conversationally; It said nervously; They said happily). Adverbs suggest that your writing is not clear.
2. Action Tag
• Identify a speaker with a sentence expressing action before or after a speech
• Allows reader to “see” what is going on during dialogue
• Provides characters with movement and therefore reveals character or detail
3. Thought Tag
• Express what your character thinks, feels, knows, or wonders.
Do NOT use: “she thought”; “They felt”; “We knew”; “He wondered”, etc. Simply state the opinion on the same line, right after the tag. Overuse of this indicates telling, rather than showing.
Punctuation
“We’re going to learn how to punctuate dialogue,” the teacher said.
A groan rose from the students.
One of them whispered to her neighbor, “Oh, no. Not again! This teacher is always trying to teach us. He should mind his own business and let us get some sleep.”
Many of the students were already yawning.
“Punctuation goes INSIDE the quotes ALWAYS!” the teacher said. “If the quote does not end in an exclamation point or question mark, then after the tag line you must include a period,” he added.
“What do you mean?”
“Simple,” the teacher explained. “When you do not have a tag at the end of a line of dialogue, you can stop with a period.”
“Of course, you would have to use a comma when the complete sentence has not yet been completed,” a student realized.
“Every time there is a new speaker start a new paragraph.” The teacher emphasized this point by pulling out his hair in tufts.
A student’s hand shot up. “What do you mean?”
“I mean every time a new character speaks....”
“Or interrupts?”
“Yes, or interrupts. A new paragraph must be started.” The teacher continued to talk about dialogue and punctuation. He answered any questions the students had. Then he said, “You see? It’s easy.” The teacher knew his students were beginning to understand. He didn’t need to start a new paragraph since he had been uninterrupted in his speech.
The student in the back row smiled. He said, “I see now. Commas are placed before the quotation when the tag comes in the FRONT of the quote.”
“Yes! Exactly,” the teacher said. “Or inside the quote when the tag comes at the end.” The teacher sipped his coffee, then added, “Just like I did just now.”
“This is simple!”
“Yes,” Alaina, a happy student in the front of the class, said. “This is simple.”
The students understood so well, in fact, that they never made another punctuation error when using dialogue.
“Hurrah!” The teacher gave everyone in the class an A when grades were due because they had learned so much!
The End
• Fastest way to advance the action of the story
• Reveals characters & provides characterization
• Provides exposition in a more realistic way
• Effective dialogue depends on an ability to listen and develop an ear for the way people speak.
How Can I Make My Dialogue Sound Real?
• Speak in short sentences
• Speak in fragments
• Change the subject
• Digress
• Use Colloquialism/verisimilitude
• Answer questions with questions or avoid answering
• Ignore what’s being said by the other person
• Respond to things that haven’t been said
• Repeat words or expressions
Speaker Tags
Always use tags when it may be unclear who is speaking. In two person scenes tags may not be necessary after the first one or two.
3 Types of Tags:
1. Speaker Tag
• Use “said” or “says”. Avoid fancy verbs like “ejaculated” or “spit”, “hissed” or “screeched” (unless you are writing a parody or humorous story). Use fancy verbs sparingly.
• Avoid adverbs (LY words) that indicate how something was said. (she said greedily; he said nastily; we said conversationally; It said nervously; They said happily). Adverbs suggest that your writing is not clear.
2. Action Tag
• Identify a speaker with a sentence expressing action before or after a speech
• Allows reader to “see” what is going on during dialogue
• Provides characters with movement and therefore reveals character or detail
3. Thought Tag
• Express what your character thinks, feels, knows, or wonders.
Do NOT use: “she thought”; “They felt”; “We knew”; “He wondered”, etc. Simply state the opinion on the same line, right after the tag. Overuse of this indicates telling, rather than showing.
Punctuation
“We’re going to learn how to punctuate dialogue,” the teacher said.
A groan rose from the students.
One of them whispered to her neighbor, “Oh, no. Not again! This teacher is always trying to teach us. He should mind his own business and let us get some sleep.”
Many of the students were already yawning.
“Punctuation goes INSIDE the quotes ALWAYS!” the teacher said. “If the quote does not end in an exclamation point or question mark, then after the tag line you must include a period,” he added.
“What do you mean?”
“Simple,” the teacher explained. “When you do not have a tag at the end of a line of dialogue, you can stop with a period.”
“Of course, you would have to use a comma when the complete sentence has not yet been completed,” a student realized.
“Every time there is a new speaker start a new paragraph.” The teacher emphasized this point by pulling out his hair in tufts.
A student’s hand shot up. “What do you mean?”
“I mean every time a new character speaks....”
“Or interrupts?”
“Yes, or interrupts. A new paragraph must be started.” The teacher continued to talk about dialogue and punctuation. He answered any questions the students had. Then he said, “You see? It’s easy.” The teacher knew his students were beginning to understand. He didn’t need to start a new paragraph since he had been uninterrupted in his speech.
The student in the back row smiled. He said, “I see now. Commas are placed before the quotation when the tag comes in the FRONT of the quote.”
“Yes! Exactly,” the teacher said. “Or inside the quote when the tag comes at the end.” The teacher sipped his coffee, then added, “Just like I did just now.”
“This is simple!”
“Yes,” Alaina, a happy student in the front of the class, said. “This is simple.”
The students understood so well, in fact, that they never made another punctuation error when using dialogue.
“Hurrah!” The teacher gave everyone in the class an A when grades were due because they had learned so much!
The End
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Writer's Practice 8.2 - Creating Voice
The following explanation is also found in your books: "The Creative Writer's Craft" on pages: 154-158.
Using ONE of your three best openings/leads, write the first draft of a new short story.
Step One:
1. Introduce a character with a flaw and explore a dramatic situation in which that flaw or error is apparent.
--Choose an ordinary and natural situation
--Include action, dialogue, and your narrator's thoughts and feelings
--Write the story in present tense; Use first person POV.
Write the first draft quickly; do not hesitate or worry too much about its structure or incomplete elements. These will be smoothed over in the next draft. Simply write the story - from beginning to end. Try not to hesitate. Don't discard anything yet. Don't judge your work. Just write. See how much you can get with the time remaining in class. When you have this draft, name it DRAFT ONE, then move to the second step.
Step two:
2. Cut your sentences down and combine them. Try to cut about 1/2 of what you just wrote. Keep only the most important information.
--Compress a string of actions into a sentence or two with a series of verbs
--Reduce dialogue to one or two important exchanges. Try to propel the action forward.
--Insert commentary, the internal self-talk of your character. Get inside the character's mind. This is the benefit of 1st person POV.
--Call this second step DRAFT TWO. Make sure you change the draft # and save BOTH copies: draft one and two.
Go no further with this exercise. If you finish early in class, go back to your other short stories and work on these.
HOMEWORK: Please read pg. 149-159. Pay close attention to the information about how to write effective DIALOGUE.
Using ONE of your three best openings/leads, write the first draft of a new short story.
Step One:
1. Introduce a character with a flaw and explore a dramatic situation in which that flaw or error is apparent.
--Choose an ordinary and natural situation
--Include action, dialogue, and your narrator's thoughts and feelings
--Write the story in present tense; Use first person POV.
Write the first draft quickly; do not hesitate or worry too much about its structure or incomplete elements. These will be smoothed over in the next draft. Simply write the story - from beginning to end. Try not to hesitate. Don't discard anything yet. Don't judge your work. Just write. See how much you can get with the time remaining in class. When you have this draft, name it DRAFT ONE, then move to the second step.
Step two:
2. Cut your sentences down and combine them. Try to cut about 1/2 of what you just wrote. Keep only the most important information.
--Compress a string of actions into a sentence or two with a series of verbs
--Reduce dialogue to one or two important exchanges. Try to propel the action forward.
--Insert commentary, the internal self-talk of your character. Get inside the character's mind. This is the benefit of 1st person POV.
--Call this second step DRAFT TWO. Make sure you change the draft # and save BOTH copies: draft one and two.
Go no further with this exercise. If you finish early in class, go back to your other short stories and work on these.
HOMEWORK: Please read pg. 149-159. Pay close attention to the information about how to write effective DIALOGUE.
Powerful Lead Exercise
Today, before moving on to the major classroom assignment, let's grab our journals and do a little brainstorming exercise.
Write 3-5 powerful leads in your journal. Write a line that shows a character in conflict. This can be a small conflict--like a daily event. It doesn't have to be life threatening. Avoid dramatic issues.
A powerful lead will help establish character, action, and setting. A good lead will reveal point of view and create an inciting incident. All of these things are helpful in getting off to a good start when writing a story.
Remember that opening lines can follow various forms. We have stressed the "In Media Res" opening. But there are others. Please READ and REFER to the September 21 post on Tips About Beginning Stories. Know the different types of openings!
Write 3-5 powerful leads in your journal. We will use these in the next step of our writing process: composing/drafting.
Write 3-5 powerful leads in your journal. Write a line that shows a character in conflict. This can be a small conflict--like a daily event. It doesn't have to be life threatening. Avoid dramatic issues.
A powerful lead will help establish character, action, and setting. A good lead will reveal point of view and create an inciting incident. All of these things are helpful in getting off to a good start when writing a story.
Remember that opening lines can follow various forms. We have stressed the "In Media Res" opening. But there are others. Please READ and REFER to the September 21 post on Tips About Beginning Stories. Know the different types of openings!
Write 3-5 powerful leads in your journal. We will use these in the next step of our writing process: composing/drafting.
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