LET'S WRITE ! WEEK #4 (LAST IN A SERIES OF 4)
PROMPT: The dorbell rang; it was 5 o'clock in the morning.
I hope this last column and those of the past 3 weks have given you the means to refine your child's
writing skills. Wasn't it easy?
HELP YOUR CHILD WRITE LIKE A PRO.;
You found no GPS (grammar,punctuation,spelling) lessons here. I presented my suggestions and ideas in the simplest forms based on methods used by professional writers--ideas that lend themselves to any writing level--particularly the work of young writers.
By way of re-cap, remind your child to eliminate the following:
Words that end in ING and LY
Said tags vs. Action beats (replacing he/she said with an action that emphasizes emotion/mood.
Today, I'd like to bring your attention to things I often see in all types of writing--they don't have a name that I know of--I call them "The Sillies."
It is common to write, "She had a smile on her face." Remove the words on her face. Where else would a smile be? or "He held the letter in his hand." Where else would he hold something but in his hand. Get rid of in his hand. or "She looked up at the sky." You can't look down at the sky. Chuck the word up. Also, when indicating thoughts, the correct form is to italicize the thought without ending it with he/she thought. i.e. I hope we win the footbal game, he thought. Scratch he thought...we know he's thinking, it's italicized.
Hope my suggestions have helped. Let me know with a comment.
WORDS OF WISDOM: THE "EYES" HAVE IT
New writers often have eyeballs running around on the page. I have to laugh at the literal picture I get. for example:
"His eyes were glued to the TV." Really? How'd his eyes get out of his head and get stuck to the TV set? Not what you meant? But that's what you wrote and what I see. Want more?
"His eyes popped out of his head." Really? How can he see without eyes, now?
"His eyes smoldered." They're on fire? Smoke is coming out of them? Oops.
Here's my favoarite. "Her eyes followed him to the door." What a sight! Her eyes left her eye sockets and followed him on little eye feet to the door? Get the idea.
The remedy--get rid of he sillly way you express yourself. Change eyes to gaze. Her gaze followed him to the door.
Be aware of the literal connotation of what you write. If you don't, your readers won't be laughing with you, they'll be laughing at you.
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LET'S WRITE ! WEEK #3
HE SAID...SHE SAID: Said tags vs. Action beats.
PROMPT: He/she walked down the long hallway expecting...
YOUR CHELP HILD WRITE LIKE A PRO.: Well, here we are already at week #3--with 1 more to go --and I've been hearing good things, mainly "thank yous" for bringing the issues I've presented for th past 2 weeks to the forefront.
Communication, coupled with expression (voice), will serve our children well and help them along the bumpy road to successful writing.
Today, for children interested in writing fiction, I'd like to speak about "Said Tags."
You will fijnd "said tags" in dialogue i.e. "I'd like an ipad for my birthday, " he said. or "Have you got an ipad?" She asked.
It is considered better form to use an action beat after a quote as in "I'd like an ipad for my birthday." A full smile lit up his face.or, "Have you got an ipad?" Her voice had a hint of jealousy in it.
Action beats not only eliminate the frowned upon "said tags", but reveal the speaker's emotion (s) associated with the quote. Treat it like a movie scene. If the quote speaks of anger ask yourself what people do to show anger. If happiness is involved, how is happiness shown?
A few examples: "I hate you!" She slapped his face.
"What a cute kitten." She hugged it to her face.
"A pop-quiz, again?" Mary rolled her eyes.
Now you try. Finish the action beats I've started:
"How can you be so dumb?" She stomped.......
"Tell me a story, daddy." Billy climbed..........
"It's a birthday card from grandma." He tore..........
Quotation marks are always an indication that a "said tag" is lurking nearby. With a keen eye, you should be able to find and have your child change them to the more descriptive, and desirable, action beats.
WORDS OF WISDOM: In the course of mastering the art of writing, I've heard it said, and written, "WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW."
Until recently, I doubted my abillity to write because I was paralyzed by that advice,. After all, what did I know? What skills did I have? Cooking? cleaning? driving a car? a bit about antiques?watercoloir painting? et al.
But, a few months ago I had an epiphany as I was wriing my debut novel, Marcel's Gift. The answer to what "I knew" came not from my list of generic talents, butfrom the little, insignificant things that clung to me like lint as I made my way through life. It's amazing what "sticks"--things you didn't even realize you knew. Things that you brushed by hardly noticing at the time. Snippets of conversation overheard on he street, mental snap-shots, things you heard on TV or on the Internet. Something you saw in a museum, a church, or in your neighbor's yard. Tap them all.
When I realized this "Wrirw What You Know" took on a totallt different perpective. I was being advise to use all the littlle crumbs I had gathered in life an to sprinkle them through my book.
As I wrote, wirds filloed mt chapters with althe things i din't know Ai knew. So open yourself to the small things...they are the big deal of "Writing Wat You Know."
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LET'S WRITE! WEEK #1
Welcome. Let's Write will contain in 3 segments-a Prompt for the week/Help you Child Write Like a Pro/ Words of Wisdom.
1--Prompt: The neon light flickered fighting to stay lit...
2--Help Your Child....: Our school systems teach what I call the GPS system of writing. (Grammar, punctuation, spelling). I want you to be aware of Style. No one seem to pay much attention to teaching Style.
My first suggestion is that you review your child' school essays etc. for the following. ING Words.
A normal thing for students is to start sentences and paragraphs with words starting with ING. For example: Running to the store he tripped...a better construction would be: He tripped as he ran to the store.Driving in the rain, he had an accident...a better construction: As he drove away in the rain, he had an accident. Get the point? Try this for the first week. Next week I'll have a different suggestion for you that will make your child's papers shine.
3--Words of Wisdom: Re" Characters' Names:when you are tearing up a sweat trying to think of a good name for one of your characters...think about a character trait or physical attibute. If the hero is tall, dark,handsome and really built, please don't name him Tom Little. On the same note, if you have a beautiful herooine, don't name her Maisie Brown (sounds like mousy brown). What if Shakespeare had written,"Giorgio, Giorgio, wherefore art thou ..." Ugh! Giorgio just doesn't fit. Also, Hannibal Lector, (the serial killer who ate his victims) Hannibal rhymes with cannibal. Get the idea?
My favorite: EBENEZER SCROOGE. Fits his character and demeanor. Perfecto!
