FICTION 107 [M] [Warm-up] [1] [2] [3] [4] - Classroom A - Classroom B

Lesson 2

Lesson 2 Narration

• Reading

  Pages 15 through 43 in Lewis Turco's text, Dialogue

• Writing Assignment

  Suggested length:  500 - 2500 words

After the reading, write a short story beginning "in medias res." Your story should demonstrate the following techniques:

• Tag lines - Try to make your tag lines invisible.
  • When reviewing your work, remove tags that aren't necessary.
  • Use adjectives sparingly and adverbs even less.
• Frames - Frame your story by telling it in first person. Your narrator must be a character other than yourself.  In other words, you, the writer, won't be telling the story.  Your narrator could tell of someone he or she knew in the past. If you want to really have fun with frames, you may have the narrator tell the story of another character telling a  story. Mark Twain and Mary Shelly were both masters of this technique.
• Pacing - Let your story change pace at least two times. Here are a couple scenarios you might use to show pacing:
  • An argument that leads to a fight or to an understanding ... or both.
  • A scary place can be miserable for the character, but a lot of fun for the writer.

When writing peer critiques or constructive comments, focus on the effectiveness of the techniques used, and backup your comments with quotes from Turco's text whenever possible. A good rule of thumb is to find three things you liked, and would like to see more of, and two areas the author may consider for improvements. Use quotes from the author's work whenever making comments, and give specific suggestions. Avoid saying things like, "This is good" or "this didn't sit right with me." It is better to say why you liked or disliked a part, so the author can use or modify the technique for future revisions or stories.

Have fun!

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