Writing!

1. Writing!

2. 5 Steps of Writing

3. Step #1: Planning • Sometimes called Prewriting, this is the stuff we do before writing. • Brainstorm (without rejecting ideas) • Make decisions (about plot, setting, and characters) • WOW! LINE (we’ll get there soon)

4. Step #2: Sloppy Copy • Write quickly and don’t worry about mistakes. • Use pencil only. • Write on every second line to leave room for revising space. • Use complete sentences. • No erasing! You might want to put something back! • No balling up paper and starting over!

5. Step #3: Revising • This is the most important step in writing. • Revising boosts your writing from good to GREAT! • Add stuff • Delete stuff • Move stuff • Substitute better words

6. Step #4: Proofreading • Correct mistakes! • SPELLING • GRAMMAR • PUNCTUATION

7. Step #5: Neat Sheet • If handwriting a paper, this is when you write your final copy. • If typing, check to make sure you have your paper set up correctly (margins, font, etc).

8. 6 Tricks to Narrative Writing

9. Trick #1: The WOW! Line • Always make and fill one out before you begin your sloppy copy. • Draw a horizontal line to represent your narrative. • Next, divide it into the 3 parts that every story must have (beginning, middle, end). • Draw a STAR toward the end of the middle section. • The STAR is your narrative’s WOW! moment.

10. Trick #2: The Lead • Catch your reader’s attention in the first sentence! • DIALOGUE • “Come downstairs, Josh,” yelled mom. • SMALL MOVEMENT • Allison kicked the can into the stream. • WHAT SOMEONE THINKS OR FEELS • “I don’t want to do this,” Jamie thought. • Beads of sweat formed on my forehead.

11. The Lead • The lead is your narrative’s most important sentence. • Professional writer’s do not start with “One day…..” or “One night…..,” so why should you? • Start noticing the lead of every chapter in your chapter book. 9 out of 10 chapters will begin with one of the following: • Dialogue • Small movement • What someone thinks or feels

12. Sloppy Copy Time! • Write your narrative quickly without worrying about mistakes or specific details! • Refer to STEP #2 of writing to help you with your Sloppy Copy!

13. Revising! • Now that you are finished writing your SLOPPY COPY, it’s time to revise! • Revising boosts your writing from good to GREAT! • Add stuff • Delete stuff • Move stuff • Substitute better words

14. Trick #3: Add details to the WOW! Moment • Actions and events • Description • Thoughts and feelings • Dialogue- very important! • Locate the WOW! MOMENT in your sloppy copy ADD some specific (exact) details to this part, especially some dialogue. • If you can’t remember exactly what happened or what someone said, MAKE IT UP!

15. Trick #3 Continued… • Use a ^ (caret) to add a few words. EXAMPLES: • BEFORE: As Maria slammed the door behind her, she saw a flash of green shoot toward the clouds. • AFTER: As Maria slammed the door behind her, she ^heard the flutter of wings and she saw a flash of green shoot toward the clouds.

16. Trick #4: Revising Step B • Add unusual details at 1st mention of main character or subject (in the beginning part). • Locate the place in your SLOPPY COPY where you first mention your main character or subject. • ADD some unusual or fascinating details about this person, pet, place, or object. • Use a caret to add a few words, or extra page with symbols to add several sentences.

17. EXAMPLE BEFORE: Mickey was a parakeet. He was pretty. We had a lot of fun together. AFTER: Mickey was a fist-sized parakeet. He had a green chest, yellow head and black and white wings. I trained him to say 35 expressions, like “Cheeseburger, cheeseburger” and “I love you.” He learned to sit on my finger, shoulder, and head. We had a lot of fun together, like when he used to sit on the edge of my cereal bowl and throw Rice Krispies across the table.

18. Trick #5: Revising Step C • Substitute special words! • Our Sloppy Copy is full of common, everyday words, like the words we use when we speak. • Now it’s time to make our writing sound special and more mature. • USE PRECISE, VIVIDLY DESCRIPTIVE, UNCOMMON, words and phrases! • These word and phrase substitutions make our writing sound more adult and professional.

19. Trick #5: Examples • BEFORE: Maria walked over in the snow and ice. After she got there, she got the snow and ice off her coat and hat before taking them off. • AFTER: Maria trudged through the blizzard. After she arrived, she brushed the snow and ice off her coat and hat before removing them. • Take a “boring” word like said and replace it with words like: • Replied, exclaimed, screamed, questioned, remarked, whispered, shouted, stated, demanded, responded.

20. Trick #6: The Conclusion • NO MORE SAYING “THE END” • Now we’re ready to write endings that SOUND LIKE ENDINGS, not like we just stopped! • Reasons our endings sometimes sound like we just stopped: • “I RAN OUT OF TIME.” • “I REACHED THE BOTTOM OF MY PAPER.” • “I COULDN’T THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE TO SAY.” • “MY HAND HURTS.” • “I GOT TIRED OF WRITING.”

21. Trick #6: Continued • How’s this ending for a story about when I won the election for class president? • “After dinner, we drove home and I went to sleep.” • SO, THAT WASN’T VERY GOOD! LET’S TRY THAT AGAIN! • “After dinner, we drove home and I went to sleep. All that night, I couldn’t stop thinking about the exciting projects I’d be working on as the new class president.” • NOW DOES THAT SOUND BETTER? WHY DO YOU THINK THIS ENDING WORKED BETTER?

22. Trick #6: Continued • The new ending works because it is either: • A thought • A feeling • A lesson learned

23. Trick #6 • How is this ending for a story about when my best friend moved to another city? • “After Chris moved away, I went home and watched TV.” • LET’S REVISE IT! • “After Chris moved away, I went home and watched TV, but it felt lonely without my best friend watching with me. I hope we get to see each other again really soon.”

24. Titles • Never tell, but only hint, at what’s to come. • Our titles usually give too much information. Often they spoil the story for the reader by “giving away” the WOW! MOMENT. • Do you like it when your friends tell you what happens in a movie you want to see? • Titles should make the reader wonder, “what’s this about?”

25. Titles How is this title for my narrative about a family camping trip? Our Family Camping Trip THUMBS DOWN! That title tells, when it should hint. Try this one: Mountains & Mosquitoes

26. FOOL-PROOF PROOFREADING • Fact: Scientific studies prove that SILENT READING DOES NOT WORK. • Fact: Having a partner proofread your story DOES NOT HELP YOUR PROOFREADING SKILLS. • Fact: Careless proofreading for errors leads the reader to LOSE RESPECT FOR THE WRITER. • Fact: Proofreading can be easy as A, B, and C.

27. The ABC’S of Proofreading • A: Proofread in a low voice so your ears can hear mistakes. • B: Point to each word with your pencil as you say the word. • C: Proofread in slow motion.

28. PROVE IT! • Prove to yourself this proofreading plan really works! • A: low voice • B: point • C: slo-mo

29. Paragraphing • Don’t you hate it when you have to read a bunch of pages without indents? There are just so many….WORDS! Words everywhere, with no break in sight! Whew! • We need some indents so we can catch our breath, don’t we? • INDENTS TO THE RESCUE!

30. Paragraphing • 1. at the beginning • 2. change of idea or topic • 3. change of place • 4. change of time period • 5. change of speaker