BeTWEEN the Lines Class Summary 3/3/14

with Michelle Cameron

Changing Things Up

One thing I’ve noticed is that we spend a lot of time critiquing, leaving us with very little time to write in class. So this week I changed things up – and we wrote first. Because there was limited time, the kids got the choice of what they’d like to read, either what they’d brought or the story they’d started in class. 

From next week on, however, I’d like to request that the writers bring a copy of their work that I can take home with me. We’ll still read some of them in class (and I’ll keep track so everyone gets equal time to be heard) but the rest I’ll take home. This will allow me to give them more in-depth revision than we can do in class, as well as give us more writing time. 

If possible, a printed story is best. If that’s impossible, I will take a handwritten one. In both cases, the stories should be double-spaced, to give me room to comment. In addition, I’d like the stories (or additions to works in progress) to be at least 1-2 double-spaced pages. Adding a paragraph or two doesn’t give them time to fully develop their ideas.

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Creating Character

We began class today talking about characters that really stuck with them. Some of the ones they named were from Harry Potter – Harry himself, George, Hermione, Ron. Others included Percy Jackson and The Little Prince.

When asked what made a compelling character, however, they started telling me about the plotlines. So we backed up and talked about what made Harry such a great character. They recognized that he was brave and adventurous. Some of the personality traits from those books included intelligence (Hermione) and a mixture of fear and loyalty (Ron). 

Then I asked to describe Harry, and everyone mentioned his glasses and scar. We talked about how personality is a strong component of character – but their outward appearance is also important.

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Then we used The Writer’s Circles Story Magic Decks to create new characters. Each student got: 

• Two personality cards
  
• One appearance card

And Either:

• One Pragmatic Possibility card
• Or one Preposterous Possibility card

They used these as the starting point for some new characters and stories.

Critique of Stories

As noted above, we read a mix of stories today – some just their story starts based on the character prompt and some the stories they’d written at home. Some of the topics that came out of their writing this week included:

• That the stories they start in class could often use more description and action – a great thing to work on at home

• That sometimes telling the back story can bog a story down – it can be better integrated into the story after something actually happens

• That even a simple thing like falling asleep needs to be “earned” – was the character tired? Did she feel warm and safe and could then fall asleep?

• That characters need to react to what’s going on around them – it’s not enough to introduce a portal into a room, for example – the character has to let us know how he feels about it.

• That silence can be as much a part of dialogue as responding

• That dialogue is an important part of showing the reader what’s going on

• That similes and metaphors are terrific short cuts – helping us understand what’s going on.

Homework

As always, this week’s homework is a choice. Note that they will always be asked to write at home – and again, that I request they submit their homework to me (i.e., not write just in their notebooks).

• Complete the character story begun in class
  

• Write a new story using that character
  

• Continue with the story begun during an earlier class (adding at least 1-2 pages to that story)
  

• Start a new story
  

Their enthusiasm and excitement is contagious!