Thursday, October 1, 2009

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.

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About this course!

This course stresses understanding the characteristics & techniques in the literary genres of fiction, poetry, and dramatic writing. This course will continue to build on students’ reading and writing skills begun in previous creative writing classes. Readings and discussions of works by major writers in the field will be examined as inspiration and models of fine writing. This educational blog is designed for the use of the students at the School of the Arts in Rochester, NY.