Making a story say something

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

Avalon Submission

 Avalon Submission will be accepted through February 26th. Submissions of poetry, artwork, photography, short stories, and more are now being accepted. Please send to avalon@su.eduwith text  attached as a Word document and artwork in high quality JPEG format. Submissions will also be considered for SU's writing contest. If you would like to join the Avalon literary magazine staff, come by the weekly meeting on Wednesdays at 3pm in Henkel 111. If you cannot make it to the meeting but would like to join, please email avalon@su.edu.

 Show Don't Tell Exercise

“You can take for granted that people know more or less what a street, a shop, a beach, a sky, an oak tree look like. Tell them what makes this one different.”  – Neil Gaiman

Answering the news reporter questions--who, what, when, where, why, how--turns bland writing into active writing.

·       Write the following sentence on the board: "Mr. Smith is celebrating."

·       That leads you to ask the following questions:

·       Does this sentence paint a picture for the reader?

·       Does it leave questions in the reader's mind?

·       Does it answer the questions who, what, when, where, why, how?

·       How could it answer who, what, when, where, why, how and paint a picture for the reader?

·       That should lead you to these questions:

·       Who is Mr. Smith?

·       What does he do when he celebrates?

·       When does he celebrate?

·       Where does he celebrate?

·       Why is he celebrating?

·       How is he celebrating?

·        

Rewrite each of the following sentences below with one or more verbs that increase the visibility and/or the sound of the motion suggested.  Do NOT add any adjectives or adverbs!

1.  He sat down.

2.  The puppy had a fine time playing in the park.

3.  The wind made a loud noise.

4.  He left the room in a tremendous hurry.

5.  She put the papers in her purse.

6.  The garden tiller worked quite well on the hard, rocky soil.

7.  She seemed to be feeling very happy.

8.  The old man went slowly across the street.

9.  The dog lay down on the rug.

10The boy drank the lemonade very fast.

Read the following paragraph and consider the ways that it shows rather than tells, and how that could be changed.

The Mercer men’s baseball team played hard throughout the game, achieving a score of 5-2 against Salem. Pitcher Matt Smith was particularly strong during the game, facing several league top hitters without any hesitation and pitching a perfect third inning with no runs scored. Mercer fans in the stands showed excitement throughout the game.

Rewrite the paragraph above adding description that uses at least three of the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste and touch). You may trim out text and change or add however you like, but you must keep all the key facts.

A narrative is the story (fiction or non-fiction) told and the order in which it is told. Sometimes, there is a narrator, a character or series of characters, who tell the story. Sometimes, as with most non-fiction, the author himself/herself in the narrator.

 No matter what you are writing there should be some narrative elements involved:

Opening - “It was a dark and stormy night.”

Exposition – What is the background? “She’s always been afraid of the dark”

Rising Action  - This is where it gets exciting. “She never thought she would have a gun in her hand.”

Climax – “She never thought she would pull a trigger – but she did.”

Resolution  - “Her roommate would ever forget her key again.”

Each person in the group will begin with an opening. After you complete your opening send it to the person sitting on your right. Read their opening and add your own exposition. When you are finished send your exposition on and write the rising action of the next story that comes your way.

More Ira Glass to understand storytelling