BeTWEEN the Lines Class Summary 3/17/14

with Michelle Cameron

Notes From Homework

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.

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Today's Story Critiques

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.

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Dialogue

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.

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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!