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Mosaic Minutes

BeTWEEN the Lines Class Summary 3/17/14

3/18/2014

 
with Michelle Cameron

Notes From Homework

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Taking their stories home with me gave me insight into some issues that the writers are almost all dealing with. We discussed these at the beginning of class:

  • Their submissions should be double-spaced and they should make sure they’ve included their names on each page. 
  • Strong verbs (hobble, crack, lifted) help tell a story much more effectively than weak ones (had, gotten, made). 
  • They should watch qualifiers such as very, really, truly. While they think they are strengthening the sentence, in many cases they are actually making it less effective. 
  • Rather than using adverbs, they should try and show what is happening.
  • That they should pay attention to “dialogue grammar,” which is discussed below.

Today's Story Critiques

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We didn’t get through as many of their stories today. Please do have them bring a copy each week, in case we don’t get to hear your student’s story in class.

Among the comments we made today when considering their stories:

  • We talked about how effective personification can be – not just for animals, but also for plants and natural phenomena (in this case, a tree and the wind).
  • Some stories need to be expanded – when doing so, the writer should consider what can be added to each part of the story to make it richer.
  • Writing about characters who are very different from us gives us a great opportunity to “try out” personality traits that we wouldn’t normally embrace. We don’t want to be jerks, for example, but it’s often fun to write about one. 
  • Including a character’s description as part of the plot is more vivid than simply giving a laundry list of a character’s traits. 
  • Sometimes we need to consider the best end of a chapter – making sure the reader wants to keep turning the pages.

Dialogue

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Today we talked about the rules of dialogue and why dialogue is important. We discussed how we all love to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations and that dialogue helps bring a story to life.

We then talked about the “rules” for dialogue:

  • We MUST know who is speaking at all times. 
  • This means that we may need a dialogue tag (said, asked, exclaimed, etc.)
  • Said is not “dead,” despite what some grade school teachers teach. It’s a perfectly fine way to identify who is speaking. 
  • Dialogue should be “grounded” – we need to know where people are and what they’re doing. This is an effective way to break up long passages of speech. 
  • Silence is an option for dialogue – you don’t always need a character to respond.

We then discussed dialogue grammar:

  • Use a comma whenever the word that follows describes what’s being said. (“I’m awesome,” said EB.)
  • Use a period whenever the word that follows describes an action. (“I’m awesome.” EB jumped in the air.)
  • Start a new paragraph when you introduce a new speaker or a new actor.

Then I divided the writers into groups of two and three, gave them a scenario and a particular character. In these small groups, they wrote the dialogue, making sure to include where the characters were and what they were doing.

Homework

As always, this week’s homework is a choice. However, all homework should include dialogue in it.

  • Continue or refine the dialogue started in class. If they are doing it on their own, they can change it. They can also work with their partners to continue it. 
  • Continue with the story begun during an earlier class, including dialogue.
  • Start a new story and make sure dialogue is part of that story.

See everyone next week!

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