Notes

These are reference materials or notes for you to digest and reflect upon.

My notes on Writing from a website I subscribe to,

As an author, you often don't have much control over (1) the book cover or (2) the blurb, BUT every writer knows that a sizzling story start is vital! That first paragraph has to grab the reader's attention instantly. Yes, you should do 'orientation' as the curriculum guidelines say. However, smart writers know you actually reveal more about your characters (orientation) by showing them in action, rather than by writing long slabs of description about where they are and what they wear. There are lots of ways to create Sizzling Starts. Here are five suggestions.

Start with a bang I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

Make the reader curious Let me explain about the divorce, the beach house and the bacon.

Create a Moment of Change Everything was going well, until my Mum said 'I've got a job in California.'

Use humour Never let your three year old brother hold a tomato.

Dialogue quickly introduces your characters 'It's just a rat,' I said, breathing hard. 'Rats don't growl,' said Mike.

First impressions count. Research claims you make up your mind about someone in the first four minutes after you meet them. It's just the same with a story. Unfortunately how many starts go like this? I leapt out of bed that morning and hurried to get dressed because today Dad was taking us to the zoo. I was really excited because they have this big monkey enclosure there and I was mad about monkeys. I also needed to get some really good photos for my Science project.

So how can we get you to write like this? 'Here,' I told my sister, 'hold my rucksack. I'm just going to get a bit closer to the monkey's cage.' A bit closer meant over the fence, past the sign that said 'No entry' and right up to the wire. 'You're monkey mad,' said my sister. Well, maybe I was. But I was also desperate for an 'A' in my latest Science project. A picture of a cute monkey, smiling right at the camera, might make all the difference.

The answer: Start at the 'Moment of Change', right where the action begins. In the first example, the writer starts the story at the beginning of the day, yet the action really takes place at the zoo. So begin the story at the zoo - as the person walks right up to the monkey's cage, camera in hand, shining earrings swinging in the sun, just waiting to be grabbed by a quick sharp paw. But how to explain why you are there? Easy - use the 'backfill' technique. Fill in the basics of 'who, what and why' as the rest of the action unfolds. This makes it much faster and far more interesting writing!

Imagine a birthday party, a top restaurant, friends and family - and a massive earthquake that ends in disaster. Before: Here's the starting point by a 9 year old boy. We were having fun in the restaurant when suddenly the ground started to shake. I didn't believe it. Then glasses started to break all over my plate. My sister tried to stand up, she was afraid. The ground was trembling, there was noise everywhere… Tension scenes are one of the hardest parts of a story to write. Students often make them too basic and short. Why? Well, we say 'write what you know', but kids don't have enough 'emotional experience' to imagine this sort of thing. However, other people do - and their words are all in a dictionary or thesaurus.

So, suggest this. Get students to underline key words in the story - and then use a thesaurus to help bring the scene alive. You can do this BEFORE students write as well. Just ask, 'what are the things which will happen?' and make a list for them to use. This is a great scaffolding technique to support beginning writers. e.g. • fun - delight, enjoyment, amused, teasing, laughing, happy • shake - shudder, shiver, quake, quiver, buzzing, tremor • break - crumble, disintegrate, collapse, crush, shatter • afraid - troubled, scared, fearful, terrified, panicked • tremble - quiver, shudder, beat, vibrate, grind

The idea is NOT to merely substitute one word for another. It is to give a greater variety of words/inspiration/ideas to the student - and let their subconscious do the melding.

After: The waiter smiled as he put down a hot chocolate pudding right in front of me. 'You're not going to eat all that!' said my Dad. 'Here, I'll help!' He reached across with his spoon, he was always teasing me. I pulled my plate away fast. Everyone laughed. 'Just a little bit,' Dad begged. I shook my head. It was weird, but there was a strange buzzing sound as if everything was not quite real. I lifted my spoon, my hands felt like they were shivering. Or was it really the floor shaking? It wasn't possible, but now all the glasses were starting to clink. Suddenly one fell, shattering glass across my hands and pudding. Then the noise hit me, harsh, grinding, vibrating right into my brain…

Get the idea? See how the word 'fun' has turned into something more specific - teasing and Dad trying to steal chocolate pudding. A simple 'shake' now has triggered 'shivering' and a 'buzzing' in the head. Best of all look at that last line; the words suggested from 'tremble' have now made this incredibly evocative and powerful.

OK I confess, we authors cheat when we write – especially when we write dialogue. Normal conversations go like this:- 'Hi.' 'Hi. How are you?' 'Good. And you?' 'Good.' 'I was thinking of going shopping.' 'Oh. What for?' 'My mother gave me some money for my birthday and I need a new jumper.' 'Sounds great. Count me in.' We can talk much more quickly than we read, so in real conversations we don't mind a bit of rambling, or 'uhm' and 'er' mixed up in the words. However, reading takes effort, so to keep things moving writers cheat and cut right to the interesting part. 'Hey, my mum gave me some money for my birthday. Want to go shopping?' 'Sounds great. Count me in.' How can you use the same technique? Try these suggestions:- • Start right in the middle of the conversation, where things get interesting. • Simply ban all the 'hi, how are you…' segments. • When editing the first draft, highlight the really attention-grabbing bits in your dialogue. Ditch the rest.