Tag: writing

Building characters

Answer survey questions to better understand your characters in these Character Tests by R.J. Hembree as part of the online Writers’ Village University project (found via GalleyCat).

Sample question from the Character Builder Test (Hembree, 2010).

Building realistic characters is an essential component of writing fiction. The Character Tests are a part of a Character Building Workshop page, which also contains Character Building Tips, character archetypes, and a set of character disorders that help define them.

The challenge that comes with working with something like this is that following archetypes too closely has the potential to lead to cliched writing. This site could be very useful if used with caution. From the site’s creator:

The Character Building Workshop is an independent study of your characters using these online questionnaires. The process of filling out the forms will help you, the writer, learn about your characters on a more in-depth level. Once the questions have been answered, you will know more about the roles your characters play in your story. No longer will they be names on a page; they will become living, breathing beings as you continue writing your story.
—Hembree, 2010)

Letter from a dying explorer

While discussing polar exploration, I mentioned the story of Amundsen and Scott’s race for the south pole. The fascinating blog, Letters of Note, has Scott’s last letter, written bit by bit, on the ice, to his wife back home. It starts, “To: my widow.”

Photograph of Scott's (far left) expedition at the South Pole, on 17 January 1912, the day after they discovered Amundsen had reached the pole first. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

P.S. Letters of Note is a great resource for examples of great letter writing.

Writer’s Resources

MediaBistro has a series of posts for National Novel Writing Month to inspire and assist the serious writer.

Tips and links range from how to start a writing bible, to the correct writing posture. I’m partial to tip on how to turn your computer into a typewriter, although it’s something that’s never worked for me:

The free Q10 program will convert your distracting computer into an old-fashioned typewriter–focused by real typing sounds and disconnected from the Internet.
–Boog (2010) in GalleyCat

Adolescent humor?

And laughter without philosophy woven into it is but a sneeze at humor. Genuine humor is replete with wisdom, and if a piece of humor is to last, it must do two things. It must teach and it must preach – not professedly. If it does those two things professedly, all is lost. But if it does them effectively, that piece of humor will last forever – which is 30 years.
– Mark Twain

The term is not loaded with connotations of wisdom and wit, but “adolescent humor” is inescapable in the middle school. The question is, “What to do about it?”

(from Powell's Books)

With the recent furor over Mark Twain’s autobiography, which was embargoed for 100 years, I’m taking my cues from him (see above), especially since I like this philosophical approach to life in general.

I suspect it has much to do with the development of abstract thinking. During adolescence we develop a much greater ability to see and to create subtexts. With humor, the philosophy is behind the scenes, which makes it deep and resonant, but harder to see.

Background context is also important with humor, especially parody and satire: however, just because students can’t reference Plato or Socrates (the philosopher not the footballer), does not mean they don’t have their own cultural markers they can critique. Getting past “adolescent humor” means adding layers.

I am, of course, no expert on humor. This cycle I’m working with the mentor author group and my project is focusing on humorous dialogue. I have no high hopes, but I’m giving it the old college try.

None of this made it any easier last week, when I had to explain editorial cartoons. Our class is trying something new for a newsletter, a newspaper style. I vetoed Garfield-like strips as too simple, and insisted that their cartoons had to make a statement first and aim for humor second. The first student who volunteered for the job gave up after a couple hours of pulling his hair out. I think I’ll try showing them some editorial cartoons if I can find a good website. We’ll see how it goes.

Choose your own adventure: in action

One of my language groups is working on mentor authors, but the other is trying the choose your own adventure story.

I started with a short, four paragraph, seed story, written in the first person with a bit of generic foreshadowing and the requisite melodrama. The setting was modern. I did consider writing the seed story with the students as a group, but I’ve not had good luck doing writing assignments by committee. Indeed, the students did have the chance to discuss the character of the protagonist but found it really hard to get past physical descriptions (which they still could not agree on) and get the personality.

We read through the seed story and then, at the end of the page, created links for the different choices the protagonist could make. Each student came up with their own choice of what to do next.

Excerpt from CYOA.

They were assigned, for the next day, to write three paragraphs advancing the story and ending with another decision point. I had to reiterate that the choice had to be something the protagonist does, not just what’s going to happen next in the plot: “You rush out of the house without even changing clothes,” would be acceptable.

The students really got into it. They really piled into the writing. According to one student, “I think this is the best thing I’ve even written.”

We read the story drafts the next day. There was a little confusion about how to end with a decision point.

Everyone had become so invested in their own stories they did not want to, as I had planned, have someone else take over at the new decision tree. In response, I’ve offered to let them continue their stories as one of the decision options, but they each also have to add to one of their peers’ story.

I’m quite excited about how this is turning out. The students are enthused and motivated and actually writing. I can also see a million ways to vary the assignment so I’ll write this one up as a success thus far.

Good editing: Whittling to the bare essentials

I’d like to try this idea for writing assignments:

Every assignment would be delivered in five versions: A three page version, a one page version, a three paragraph version, a one paragraph version, and a one sentence version.

I don’t care about the topic. I care about the editing. I care about the constant refinement and compression. I care about taking three pages and turning it one page. Then from one page into three paragraphs. Then from three paragraphs into one paragraph. And finally, from one paragraph into one perfectly distilled sentence.

Along the way you’d trade detail for brevity. Hopefully adding clarity at each point. This is important because I believe editing is an essential skill that is often overlooked and under appreciated. The future belongs to the best editors.

Each step requires asking “What’s really important?” That’s the most important question you can ask yourself about anything. The class would really be about answering that very question at each step of the way. Whittling it all down until all that’s left is the point.

— Jason F. (2010) in Signal vs. Noise: The class I’d like to teach.

Why write persuasive essays?

Clarity of thought and the ability to persuade are important life skills that develop as the parts of the brain responsible for analytical thinking develop during adolescence. The persuasive essay is the most common form used to assess these abilities. During this cycle we will work on writing persuasive essays, but it is useful to remember that the pattern of these essays, with their beginning thesis statement, well organized persuasive paragraphs, and concluding statement, can also be used in many other types of presentation.

We can start by considering brain development, because during adolescence the prefrontal cortex matures. Located just above and behind the eyes, the prefrontal cortex is responsible for higher thinking: things like abstract analysis, controlling moods and planning. Not only does this part of the brain get bigger but the way the brain cells, called neurons, are connected also get substantially reorganized. New neural pathways develop as adolescents discover new and more sophisticated ways of thinking about themselves and the world around them.

However, just because the brain develops does not instantly mean we become instantly able to think abstractly. Practice tunes the brain. Repetition is what establishes new neural pathways and makes them bigger and wider.

Yet once we develop these skills, how do we show them to the world? This is where the power of the persuasive essay comes in: arguments require reasoning, logic and deft writing to convince. A good persuasive essay is a tour-de-force demonstration of these higher-level thinking skills. The ability to articulate a clear, straightforward thesis illustrates the ability to integrate disparate ideas. The sequencing of ideas in the paragraphs demands a strict adherence to logic. A beautiful turn of phrase or a description that paints a vivid picture brings the essay to life and captures the reader’s interest and imagination. Beauty appeals to the heart. Logic commands the brain. In combination, the persuasive essay appeals to the key attributes that make us human.

There are, of course, other methods for showing our prefrontal abilities, such as film, dance and oral argument, but these others lack the ease of distribution and the consideration of the audience offered to the reader of the persuasive essay. A simple missive, short and sweet, can be mailed, emailed or hand delivered quickly and efficiently. Furthermore, it places less stress on the reader. A good persuasive essay is necessarily concise; it says only what it has to to make its point. It also offers the reader great flexibility in how to take it in. By skimming the introduction and topic sentences the reader should be able to get the gist of the writer’s argument. Then the reader can choose to be drawn more deeply into the text, or even just an interesting paragraph, by the seduction of elegant prose. The reader can get an essay in myriad ways and can easily plunge into and out of it at will, wallowing in the language or skimming across the tips of the paragraphs.

So while a picture is worth a thousand words, the persuasive essay can convey, not just the ostensible argument on the page or even the message hidden in the subtexts, but the clarity of thought, the abstract thinking skills, and the logical control of the writer herself. A good essay tells as much, or more, about the writer than it does about the topic.