Structures of Writing

1. Structures of Writing

2. Structures of Writing There are four basic structures of writing: • Description • Action • Introspection • Dialogue

3. Description • Show don’t tell! • Allow readers to create sensory images that put them in the moment with the characters. • What do readers: • Hear? • See? • Taste? • Smell? • Feel?

4. Description When you are revising your draft, you need to add great descriptions and vivid words to increase the quality of your story and help it grow. Brilliant word choice Great Descriptions Precise details Figurative language Effective dialogue Active verbs

5. Description We can see how author Nikki Singer does a great job of nurturing her novel Feather Boy with description and detail. On page 20, Singer discusses the appearance of an older woman. She could’ve just said, “the woman is old,” but instead, she added description, figurative language, and detail so we can really imagine what the woman looks like.

6. Description “Mavis is a chicken in a dress. At once bony and fleshy, her plucked yellow skin springs with coarse hair. At some stage, her neck must have been chopped out, and her head stuck straight back onto her shoulders.” = + Mavis

7. Description Can you see the brilliant word choice,figurative language, effective dialogue, precise details, great descriptions, and active verbs? “Mavis is a chicken in a dress. At once bony and fleshy, her plucked yellow skin springs with coarse hair. At some stage, her neck must have been chopped out, and her headstuck straightback onto her shoulders.”

8. Description Now let’s practice using description in your story. How do you do it? Where do you start? • Choose an image in your draft that could be enhanced with detail, description, and word choice. • Brainstorm some great adjectives and figurative language to envision the image as you are imagining it in your head. • Play with the language! We will share our nurtured images later on in class.

9. Action • Action is what happens in the text. • How do characters move? Interact? Respond? • This is the basic plot of a story as depicted on Freytag’s plot diagram.

10. Action When you are writing action, it is helpful not to get carried away by including too much in your story! Let’s look at this passage which is full of action: Simon raced to the bus stop. He jumped on the bus. He rode to work, then got on the elevator. He ran down the hallway, then into his office. He left the office to get a latte and go buy his lunch. He worked at his desk until 5pm and then went home. What do you think about this paragraph?

11. Action Too much of one thing? You are right! There is just too much action in the story. IT IS BORING! How can we improve it?

12. Introspection • Characters think about the situations in which they find themselves. • Readers can listen to the thoughts in a character’s brain through introspection.

13. Introspection Let’s try to add some introspection to “the mix” to help make our story more interesting: Simon raced to the bus stop.Oh no, he thought. I can’t be late again. It’s my third time.Upon arriving at work, he snuck into his office, checking the clock as he slipped past. My boss is going to be so angry that I am late! I didn’t even have a chance for my latte today and my stomach is rumbling! He searched through his briefcase to try and find a granola bar. What are your reactions to the paragraph now?

14. Our story is starting to become more interesting! The reader begins to wonder what will happen next!

15. Just the Right Amounts… Action: • Gives us information about what characters do • Is an important part of narrative writing; it supports the structure • Should not be overused when writing short stories • Shows the writer’s skill • Helps make great stories great! After reading the new version, a certain teacher wants a granola bar too!

16. Dialogue • When characters speak to one another aloud, readers see these words in quotation marks in the text.

17. Dialogue Why do we need dialogue? We need dialogue because it is a window into a character’s thoughts, feelings, or beliefs

18. Bringing in Dialogue… Let’s look at our developing story and mix in a touch of dialogue: Simon raced to the bus stop like an Olympic sprinter.Oh no, he thought. I can’t be late again. It’s my third time!Unfortunately, he had gotten dressed in such a hurry that he hadn’t realized that his tie had a big blotchy stain on it that resembled a map of Boracay! “Here’s my money!” Simon barked at the bus driver, while trying to shove his shirttail into his pants. “Ain’t got no change yet at this time of the mornin,” drawled the conductor, as he continued to look straight ahead. “That is just great!” Simon droned sarcastically, as he stomped down the aisle. Upon arriving at the Milky Way Building, he snuck into his office, checking the clock as he slipped past. The clock face seemed to scowl back at him.My boss is going to be so angry that I am late! I didn’t even have a chance for my latte today and my stomach is rumbling! It felt like there was an alien doing cartwheels and somersaults in his belly. When he reached down to rub it, hewinced as he glimpsed the blob on his tie.He ratted through his briefcase to try and find a granola bar, but had no luck. He slumped back into his industrial gray chair. “Please let me just get through this day,” Simon mumbled to himself, with a defeated expression.

19. Purpose of Dialogue… • What do you learn about the characters from what they say? • What do you learn about the characters from the way they talk? • What do you notice about the descriptions outside of the actual dialogue? • What kinds of grammatical structures do you see to help you know this is dialogue? • What is one adjective you could use to describe each character involved in this dialogue?