Keep reading your short story text. Read slowly. Read it as a writer reads looking for the shapes and sounds of sentences. The number of paragraphs and scenes. Read to explore modern concerns (themes) in fiction. Read to know how stories work. What verb tense? What point of view? How would the story change if you changed tense and point of view?
If you were absent today, we read our books for 15 minutes. Watched a number of poem films. Read one introduction to a story from our books and made notes to answer this question: What makes a good introduction?
We came up with
who / what
captures the audience
appeals to the five senses
setting, time, place
interesting hook
uses action
a good title
Then we read a sample opening from a Writing 12 student. We noticed that the dialogue was interspersed with descriptions of the setting (a baseball game). We talked about how to use setting to reveal character. If you describe a glass shattering on the floor of a restaurant, the reader will connect that sound to the character's feelings or it will / can add tension/sound to the story. What sound does your story make? What colours?
Tonight:
Create a short opening to a story (1/2 to one page max).
You will write three versions of it. Attempt to change as little of the material as possible except for the point of view and the verb tense:
1. 3rd person, past tense (He walked to the store). This form is the most common, modern form.
2. 1st person, present tense. (I am walking to the store).
3. 2nd person future tense (You will walk to the store).
Notice how each point of view/verb tense combination changes the opening.
Bring your observations to class Monday. You want to become adept at all three points of view and verb tense.
As you read the stories in the texts you have chosen, notice tense and point of view choices. Notice if they are consistent throughout the story or if they change.
Monday: Make sure to bring a stamped, self-addressed envelope to complete your Claremont Review submission.
Make sure to bring a cheque or cash ($25.00) for The Claremont Review contest.
Make sure you submit your BCTELA contest entry.
We'll complete the electronic submissions Monday in the computer lab so ensure that the poems you plan to send are edited.
IF THERE ARE TYPOS IN YOUR FILMS, YOU MUST CORRECT THEM ON MONDAY BEFORE I MARK THEM. EACH TYPO EQUALS A DROP IN LETTER GRADE. YOU CANNOT ALLOW THESE TYPOS OUT INTO THE WORLD.
ALSO, IF YOU HAVE NOT ADDED MUSIC, YOU MUST ADD MUSIC TO YOUR POEM VIDEO.
