7th Grade Writing Tips & Quotes

GREAT WRITING TIPS WEBSITE:

http://www.bethanyroberts.com/writing_for_children_tips.htm#word choice

 

 QUOTES ON WRITING

“Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.”  E. L. Doctorow

“Read, read, read.  Read everything- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it.  Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master.  Read!  You’ll absorb it.  Then write.”  William Faulkner

“Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader- not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.”  E.L. Doctorow

“If you tell me, it’s an essay.  If you show me, it’s a story.”  Barbara Greene

 

QUOTES ON EDITING

“Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.”–William Strunk, Jr.

“The great thing about revision is that it’s your opportunity to fake being brilliant.” Will Shetterly

“I have rewritten- often several times- every word I have ever written.  My pencils outlast their erasers.” Vladimir Nabokov

“To be a writer is to throw away a great deal, not to be satisfied, to type again, and then again and once more, and over and over.” John Hersey

 

QUOTES ON TITLES

“A good title should be like a good metaphor.  It should intrigue without being too baffling or too obvious.”
Walker Percy

 

QUOTES ON CHARACTERS

“I would never write about anyone who is not at the end of his rope.”  Stanley Elkin

“Find out what your hero or heroine wants, and when he or she wakes up in the morning, just follow him or her all day.”  Ray Bradbury

 

Tuesday, October 25th Guidelines

Today, we will begin writing as soon as we get our computers!

Our schedule will be as follows…

30 Minutes: Write the rest of our story (SILENT TIME)

20 Minutes: Edit for Action/Power Verbs (NOISE LEVEL ONE)–see VERB INSERTION blog post

15 Minutes: Correcting Drafts (SILENT EXCEPT FOR QUESTIONS TO MS. NELSON)–see Correcting Drafts blog post

15 Minutes: Uploading to Engrade (NOISE LEVEL ONE)–see uploading to engrade blog post

Uploading to Engrade

1) Sign in to your engrade account

2) Find “Action Verb Story” Under Assignments

3) Find “Turn In”

4) Upload your final draft attachment to Engrade for grading.

Woohoo! You did it!

Verb Editing

GOAL: Edit less descriptive verbs for action verbs that increase the description of the story

Now it is time to insert ACTION POWER VERBS into your story.

Here is a great list of action verbs to insert in your writing:

http://www.momswhothink.com/reading/list-of-verbs.html

To edit for action, complete the following steps:

1) Go to your highlighting tool in Word 2010.

2) Read through your story, highlighting any verbs you want to improve and make more specific

3) Find words to replace your highlighted words, backspace, and type in your new word.

 

Correcting Drafts

 

Goal: To edit our writing for scholarly appropriateness.

Necessary Edits:

1. Spelling Check: Are any of my words underlined in red? This means they are spelled incorrectly. Find the correct spelling of the word and fix it.

2. Grammar Check: Read your story in a whisper to yourself. Does it sound correct? Are there any green squiggly lines in my text? This means I have grammar errors. Check, correct or ask for help.

3. Punctuation Check: Do all of my sentences end in a period, followed by a space, and a capital letter at the start of the next sentence?

4. Dialogue Check: If my character’s have speaking parts, do the parts look as follows on the page?

John said, “There was someone else here with me.”

OR

“What are we doing for dinner tonight?”, asked Sally.

Her mother answered, “We’ll have meatloaf and frog pudding.”

5. Font Check: Did I use Times New Roman, Calibri, or Arial as my type face? Is my font size 12?

6. Spacing Check: Did I double space my writing? Are my margins 1″ all the way around?

DID I COMPLETE ALL SIX NECESSARY EDITS FOR MY BEST FINISHED PRODUCT?

YES? AWESOME! I ROCK!

Ms. Nelson’s Model: PART ONE

Had it only been an hour? To Jacob, it felt like a lifetime. The energy jumped from behind his eyes. This was his chance to escape–he ran without stopping toward his new life.

Only one hour ago, Jacob shuffled from his job at 7-Eleven to his dingy apartment on the West Side Highway. He dreaded staring up at the same dilapidated front door–the feeling was as familiar as waking in a cold sweat. Jacob had resided at 115 12th Avenue for almost two years–two years since he gathered his duffle bag of belongings, snatched up his diploma, and shut the door to his parents house in Detroit, Michigan for the last time. The bus ride from Detroit gave birth to over 15 new sketches. He hadn’t produced that many designs in his last six months in Detroit. He thought that New York would open it’s big, warm arms and invite him in like a brother.

Until now, he was convinced he had thought wrong. Maybe now, New York would hand him a new card, present a lucky streak that would bring Jacob where he knew he should be.

Just one hour ago–really? He still could not believe it–Jacob stopped short in front of an authoritative man wearing a suit jacket, tie and sunglasses that suggested secrets. The man was not irked by their almost-run in. In fact, he stood, stoic, as tall as a building, it seemed to Jacob, and waited.

“Uh, sorry”, said Jacob, and he began to shuffle off again in his normal way.

“Do not worry. Why rush?”, spoke the man, sharply, in an unfamiliar accent.

“I, uh, was just–I didn’t see you–on my way home”, stuttered Jacob back to this daunting figure in front of him. The man’s shadow cast a darkness over the sunny glare that would have bounced off the buildings behind him. The man, oddly, placed one polished shoe on top of Jacob’s worn in Vans and slowly removed his sunglasses.

“You stay with me now”, he said, confidently.

What’s in a short story?

Parts of the Short Story

How do I know it is a short story?

 

I) There is a standard plot structure.

II) The story can be read in one sitting.

III) It has only one theme.

IV) It has only a few characters.

 

V) A short story has specific characteristics . . .

1) Plot Structure

a) Initial action ( introduction and background )

b) Rising action ( suspense )

c) Climax (most exciting part )

d) Denouement ( unraveling )

 

2) Characters

a) Protagonist – main character who tries to resolve the conflict.

b) Antagonist – force in opposition of the protagonist. Can be a person or thing.

 

3) Conflict

a) Conflict arises between the protagonist and antagonist forces.  It forms the basis of the plot.

b) Conflict is resolved when either the protagonist or antagonist wins or gives up.

 

4) Atmosphere

a) Atmosphere provides a feeling conveyed by the setting and scene.

b) Examples:  frightening, tense, suspenseful

 

5) Setting

a) Is the time, place and circumstances during which the story takes place.

 

6) Tone

a) Tone provides the author’s feelings about the subject of the story.

b) Tone is shown by writing style.

 

 

7) Point of View

a) This refers to the person who tells the story.

i)First person is when the main character tells the story.  It is easily  identified by the use of “I” and the fact tat the narrator is involved in the story.  BIASED.

ii) Second person is a minor character telling the story.  It also used “I”, but the character is telling  a story about someone else.  BIASED.

iii) Third person, also called Omniscient, is when the narrator is not involved in the story.  He/she knows all.  There is no use of “I”, and there is rarely bias.

 

8) Foreshadowing

a) Author uses foreshadowing to hint about the outcome of the story.

 

9)Flashback

      a) The author starts in the present, but goes back to the past.  At the end of the story, it comes back to the present.

 

Monday 10/24 Writing Guidelines

Hi All!

By now, we’ve reviewed power verbs, and it is time to put them to use. Today we’ll write with power verbs in short stories that focus on action.

Your story directions are as follows:

1) Your story must begin at the end of one hour of your character’s life. Meaning, one hour has just passed and you are going to write about the action that took place in that hour.

2) Your story must contain action. The past hour in the character(s) life was out of the ordinary. Something worth writing has happened to them! What was it?

3) Your story must find some inspiration. You can use one, two of the following inspirations:

http://writingfix.com/right_brain/Story_Starting_Sentences1.htm (sentence starter generator)

or

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sff2007/sets/72157609122065313/show/ (photo slide show)

Using sentence starters and photographs will help you anchor your thoughts. When you find your inspiration, begin writing and do not stop. You will edit when you are done, so just focus on getting the action and story on the page, and correcting later. That said, any power verbs you can insert during your writing will help your story develop.

The length requirement for your paper is going to be determined by how quickly you write. Your expectations as a learner are as follows:

1) When you are asked to pre-write, you are focused on finding your inspiration

2) When it is time to write, you are typing and writing, only stopping to think and become reinspired

3) You are only viewing websites that have to do with our assignment

4) You may listen to music quietly with headphones, but music videos are not allowed

5) Although there is no “length” requirement, your best creative effort is expected. Anything less than three paragraphs will be considered “less than your best” effort.

Engrade Directions

You will submit this completed assignment on Engrade to me by the end of class tomorrow (10/25).

If you need to create an engrade account, please take the time during class to create one (with my help if necessasary)

www.engrade.com/students

Please “Turn in” under “Power Verb Action Story” Assignment. Attach your file to the assignment turn in section.

 

Setting up your formatted page

You should set up your paper as follows:

Name

Date

Class

Teacher

Assignment (all single spaced)

“Title”

(After you set up your paper, SAVE AS lastname_powerverbactionstory_ELA immediately)