READ-in / WRITE-out

This is the “looming over the shoulder” or “video camera on the head” point of view. There is a narrator NOT in the story, but that narrator only knows what one character sees, feels, does, etc.

Practice writing from this point of view by writing a l-o-0-n-g narrative that includes the sentence:  He/she sighed. You may create any details, situation, setting, or mood that you wish. But you must keep the focus only on one character’s feelings, thoughts, and actions.

3rd person, past tense is recommended.

Sample (not as long as I expect from you):

She was confused–her visions had startled her. What was she to do? She felt sure that they were all true. Was this to herald a new time for her?  She turned back and looked at the crystal suspiciously. She poked it tentatively as if it were a sleeping snake. It did not move.  She sighed.

(from The Dark Portal).

Point of view has a huge effect on a story. Explore the 1st person point of view by taking on this challenge:

Write a l-o-o-o-n-g descriptive or “thoughts” paragraph, or a journal entry, that begins:  Hmm…an old boot.

Take one of the below points of view, or invent your own.  Who you are, where you are, and what is on your mind should be very clear to the reader.  You must revise and edit this piece. Listen to it before posting! Write in the 1st person (I) only.

Choices:

1. a worm, ant or other tiny animal
2. a stone
3. an old person
4. a child
5. an explorer or other adult
6. a dog or other larger animal (goat, cow…)
7. a spirit or other otherworldly creature

Below is the model for a short piece called “You Don’t Know Me.”  This is a personal narrative based upon the memories associated with a specific place and time. It is the way of developing character used in “Fish Cheeks.”  Note that the pattern of the piece is to repeat the opening of the sentences (there are only two sentences, each beginning with If you don’t know a tall house on a short street in a small college town in Wisconsin, you don’t know…), and then to expand that opening with a list of very well described incidents, people, and objects. The sentences are built with short elements connected by and and or. Sometimes commas are included, sometimes they are left out. The punctuation determines the flow and fluency of the piece.  Add your own piece in a Comment. This is an assignment that requires you to also make an .mp3 recording in NoteShare.  Use this recording to check your punctuation and use of language.  Make it sound extraordinary.

Imagine that you are the protagonist in a fast fiction story.  The author does not have the luxury of developing your character s-l-0-w-l-y.  You need to be quickly drawn.  The author has the choice of using dialogue, the reaction of another character, or using your actions to build your personality (right now, today, a snatch in time).

What does that author write?  When we read your post, we should know who you are.

OK – you can also make up someone to describe.

Do NOT describe yourself.  You can include description in dialogue tags or in details, but do not make physical description the focus of this piece.  Focus on a very short and specific incident or moment in time. Give us a dialogue, the reaction of another character to you, or your actions.  ONLY.

Write from the 1st person or the 3rd person point of view. You can be a character looking at YOU, YOU looking at you, or the narrator looking at you.

Need an example?  Find one in the novel you are reading or in one of the short stories we have read.

In one of the cores, we wondered aloud if it would be so terrible to sleep, in suspended animation, for 100 years.  What do you think?  What would be the outcomes, both good  and bad, if you slept for 100 years?  Write in 1st person, present tense, as if you had just awakened and the computer was magically recording your thoughts.  You can add any story details to that…  Would music help? Or a picture?  Go ahead and add that too.

Spell-check before saving your piece! Length: at least 10 sentences that make sense to the reader.

If you have not introduced yourself, please do that first. Go to my 1st post (below this one) and click on Comments under the post itself. Then come back here and add your reflection as another Comment.

What have you been reading? This is your 1st opportunity to introduce yourself to me as a Reader. All you need to do is to talk about what you have read. I don’t need a long summary of the story (I can find that at Amazon.com), but I would like to know what you think and feel about the reading. Use this format:

• 1-2 sentence summary – what you would tell a friend who asks you, “What is it about?”
• You might (but don’t have to) use one of the below phrases to begin your reflection:
  • I was surprised when…
  • I was disappointed…
  • This book made me think about…
  • I wonder what would have happened if…
  • It would be really wonderful if…
  • I learned…

Here is my reflection on the book I just finished, The Dark Portal:

What is the evil that Jupiter, god of the sewer rats, is brewing behind the Grill, deep down under the streets of London? Little Aubrey mouse does not want to know – but she is fated to play a pivotal role in the final battle.

As I read this (modern) classic tale, 1st in a series, I found myself comparing it to Lord of the Rings and other fantasy quest adventures, even though there is not a single human in the novel. It is interesting that so many of these tales have a young protagonist who does not know very much at all about the quest, the tools of the quest, and the nature of the antagonist (the evil forces, usually). The style of narration is also similar – the separate adventures of several characters are followed and interwoven until they came together in the climactic scene (a battle, of course). It makes the book a little harder to read because the reader can get lost (like the characters are!), but it also makes the book much more exciting! These are stories about navigating childhood, I think. I am not a child anymore, but I must have a child’s heart and curiosity because I LOVE them.

I also wonder if rats are really creatures of battle, lust, destruction, and killing. I know that they will bite (and even eat) babies, but I am not sure that they deserve the bad rep they get in literature. After all, if rats were so mindlessly dumb, they would not be so sought after by research psychologists. I am glad that there are “pro-rat” portraits in literature, like Mrs. Frisby’s rats, and I wonder why writers often seize on the same, stereotypical, models for good & evil characters. What if the big, ugly rat was the good guy for a change? This book actually has one rat character, Smiley (named that because his lips had been cut off and he had a permanent smile…), who I sympathized with and rooted for. It was refreshing to have feelings for one of the bad guys. Little details like that make a novel richer.

Mrs. Mac

Your first post should be an introduction. I did buy a yearbook, so I will be able to look at your picture (yes, I know it is probably not your best…) and connect a face to your name. But more importantly, I will be able to connect a name and a face to the story that you choose to tell me.

Add a Comment to this post that tells me a story about yourself. Make it a true story. And short. It can be funny, sad, silly, heart-breaking, inspiring, open-ended, or just a sit-in-the-back-seat-on-a-long-car-ride-and-pass-the-time story. You decide.

When you read your story to yourself (you should always do this with a story), it should be less than three (3) minutes long. Sign your first name at the end of the story, please. You will not use last names on Web 2.0.

Here is my story:

I learned to read when I was three, by reading the messages on tombstones in a graveyard in Lincoln, Nebraska. That is a family story; I remember walking in the graveyard with my day, and even falling into a freezing cold pool, but I don’t remember NOT being able to read. It’s right up there in my life with swimming, nose-picking, ball-throwing, running, and watching nature closely – things I have always done.

I hated kindergarten in Waukesha, Wisconsin, because everyone had to do the same thing at the same time: nap, snack, make a picture of Washington out of macaroni. I longed to go to 1st grade because it was upstairs, where my big sister went everyday. On the 1st day of 1st grade we were marched – full of anticipation – downstairs, into a basement room next to the boilers and the milk machine. Even though I could already count so I was allowed to collect nickels and get milk from the milk machine, I hated 1st grade. And 2nd grade. And 3rd grade.

I loved my 1st Waukesha neighborhood, though. It was next to a small college. Big sister Pat and I explored the football stadium while our parents played tennis way below. I loved my 2nd neighborhood across from a park, where we swam in the summer and skated in the winter and learned to ride bicycles and explored the haunted mansion at the top of the hill. Big sister Pat played in the car and released the break and drove it down the driveway and right into the intersection in front of the park.

In 5th grade (I skipped 4th) in New Jersey (exit 9 on the NJ Turnpike), I decided to be a Pirate. In 6th grade I fell in love with poetry and grammar (yes – grammar). In 7th grade I fell in love with science fiction and musical comedy and my mother locked me in the basement because I refused to do my ironing. In 8th grade I fell in love with… never mind that. In high school I fell in love with math and physics and reading and varsity sports and …

I was a lifeguard and actually saved a little girl’s life. I taught probably 200 little kids how to swim.

In college I decided to be a spy but I almost failed Russian so I did not make the spy-cut. But anyway I ended up years later in NYC as the head of a computer department in a very posh private girls’ school. I hated that and came to Georgetown, Maine, with Mr. Mac, Sprinkles and Little Bear. I read and read and read (rhymes with “seed”), walk a lot, and write my blogs and lesson plans and things that make me feel smart and happy.

I don’t do computer games but would if I had a PS2. There is a game I am hankering for that follows the day dreams of a flower.

Today I am sitting in my kitchen with Mr. Mac, Sparky and Dodger, sick of the rain, and wondering who I am going to meet on this blog over the summer.

You know who I am now. Who are you?