CREATIVE WRITING
Let's face it. A lot of the success of a short story lies in its ability to 'hook' you, the reader at the beginning. It is your job as a writer to hook your reader. You need to do something to get them interested in your story or they'll ditch you straight away. The tricky part is how to do this. This page will give you some tips and resources that should help you become better writers. |
LEARNING GOALS
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How do i invite my reader in?
Below is a link to a webpage with some really useful information. Use the information on this page to answer the questions below.
questions
1. List the different strategies a writer can use to engage the reader at the beginning of a story.
2. List the three things writers should avoid doing in their opening paragraphs?
2. List the three things writers should avoid doing in their opening paragraphs?
Opening paragraphs can do more than just hook the audience. They can give us other information that can involve us in the story.
3. Describe the other types of information story openings should give readers.
3. Describe the other types of information story openings should give readers.
4. Explain how each of the following story openers have engaged their audiences
5. As well as hooking the audience, what other function do these openers achieve? (See question 3).
5. As well as hooking the audience, what other function do these openers achieve? (See question 3).
a) “It has been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists perfected a cure.” –Delirium by Lauren Oliver
b) "The best day of my life happened when I was five and almost died at Disney World. I’m sixteen now, so you can imagine that’s left me with quite a few days of major suckage.”–Going Bovine by Libba Bray c) “The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit.” –Uglies by Scott Westerfeld d) “The end of the world started when a pegasus landed on the hood of my car.” –The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan e) “Despite her casting him down to this place, despite the fresh bruises on his skin and the blood under his nails, Roiben still loved Lady Silarial.” -Ironside by Holly Black |
How well do you remember our earlier lessons?
6. For each of the following, explain how a language technique has been used to affect meaning. (What technique is being used and what is its effect?)
6. For each of the following, explain how a language technique has been used to affect meaning. (What technique is being used and what is its effect?)
a) “There’s a hint of wind coming over the top of the stone walls and through the barbed-wire sky on the day Alexander Stowe was to be Purged.” - The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann
b) “The world is a clock winding down.” - The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey c) “It was as black in the closet as old blood.” - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley d) “The night breathed through the apartment like a dark animal.” - Reckless by Cornelia Funke e) “The assassins dropped into the palace grounds at midnight, four fleet shadows dark against the wall. The fall was high, the ground was hard; they made no more sound on impact than the pattering of rain.” - Ptolemy’s Gate by Jonathan Stroud |
7. Consider the openings you have read above in questions 5 and 6. Based on its opening sentence, which story you would be most interested in reading and which one holds the least interest for you?
Write a detailed comparison of the two openings explaining:
Write a detailed comparison of the two openings explaining:
- why you made this choice
- what features you found most/least appealing and why (include details)
8. Write the opening sentence for a short story of your own choosing. You should use at least one of the techniques we have explored in this unit to hook your reader.
9. In one paragraph, explain how you have attempted to hook your reader in your opening.
9. In one paragraph, explain how you have attempted to hook your reader in your opening.
ACCOMMODATIONS AND RESOURCES
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A print, colour coded worksheet of the questions above.
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Here you will find a print copy of the information available on Resource 1.
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20 Amazing opening lines in YA fiction by Epic reads
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-jane-hathaway/38-best-first-lines-in-no_b_8836484.html
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38 best first lines from the Huffington Post
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