Lecture note

Different stories are taking place in our daily life.
e.g. TV, movies, comics, video games and even our experiences.

Reflection
-Your ideas.
-Writing a short story about the new skill you were taught.
-Not a summary.
-It is about how difficult or how easy was the lesson.

Assignments should be all in:
-Present tense
-Third person (First is I, second is you.)
e.g. Vivian loves shopping.
-Active voice
-Third person focuses on the subject while present tense focuses on the verb.

Third person and present tense
-Used in script, synopsis, newspaper columns, television reporters and screenplays.
-Allow readers have a feel of what is in the script and feel like it is happening around them at the moment.
-It presents a more immediate and urgent feel to the material.
-E.g. Mark picks up the gun and holds it in his hand. It begins to tremble, as if alive.

Passive VS Active
Passive:
-weak verbs
-tells rather than shows what is going on
-distances the reader from story
-e.g. “The sky was blue with a lot of white clouds.” (Nothing’s happening.)

Active:
-strong action verbs
-shows action
-uses immediate sentence structure
-conveys story in lively manner
-e.g. “White clouds are gathering and soon covering the whole blue sky”.
-Put the subject infront to give it something to do.

Passive: Mark was angry at Jane for tricking him into helping her. (No actions from Mark)
(Actions: sighs, snaps, smirks, points a gun.)
Active: Mark snapped at Jane for tricking him into helping her.

There is always a reason for not doing something.
-Reason for not doing homework: My computer broke down at night, so I couldn’t even go to the library or my friends’ house to use it.

Tips for writing:
-If you have a work in progress, never stop for the night if you’re stuck.
-Always solve the problem and keep going until you are in safer water. A good night’s sleep is important. Sleeping on problems is a myth.
-If you can’s get started on a project, start writing anyway. To do this, you have to have some words to type.
-It doesn’t matter what you write. You’ll soon begin to think and move in your own rhythm/pace.

Dominic puts on his Hula Girl outfit and enters the temple. Alice’s beautiful face suddenly appears in his mind and he gets more determined to fulfill her last wish, but still reluctant. He prays hard that she will stay concious throughout the costume party and asks for blessing that it will not be her last birthday. The heart-broken boy then leaves the temple and heads to the hospital to fetch Alice. His heart aches even more when he sees his pale girlfriend with teary eyes and yet trying to fake a smile. Dominic knows that this day will come, but he just cannot accept the fact that Alice might leave the world and him anytime. The couple gives each other a hug before leaving for the party. At the party, all their friends and relatives who are in funny costumes, welcome Alice with the creamy cake. Yet Alice’s smile turns into frown.
“I told you I want a gigantic strawberry shortcake! Where is it? And where is the dance platform? You know it is going to be my last birthday! LAST!” She shouted as tears drip on her hand.
“NO! I will include the gigantic cake on your next birthday, the dance platform on your 25th and the fireworks on the 26th birthday! So to see all these, you have to live on my dear……”

Questions to ask:
-Whose story am I telling?
-What is the point of the story?
-How can I engage the attention of audience?

Next friday.
-Reflection
-Write 12 opening stories statements, ones that should let people feel creative in their writing.
-e.g. James paces around the empty hallway…
-e.g. Karen opens the envelope. Her hand shakes…