29 Just Write

View the study guide for this event.

Just Write

Novels don’t just spring onto the page complete. It takes time and work to get the voice, the pace, the bridges, the dialogue, the characters, the humour and the setting just right. Join three masters this afternoon and go behind the scenes to find out how their characters come to them, what tricks they use and where they find the fun in committing a story to paper. How much is intuition and how much is craftsmanship? And when do they know they’ve got it “just right”?

Curriculum Connection:

• discuss character traits and how a writer creates characters in words.
• explore writing dialogue.
• select and apply strategies to develop written communication.

Activities

1. Different writers have different methods of putting together a story and a plot. Ask students to try these different methods for plot creation and character creation in order to discover which one suits their style best.
 o Brainstorming. Simply jot down as many ideas as possible, even ones that are not their own such as quotes. They can jump back and forth between setting, plot, and character. At the end, have students come up with a plot that can be summed up in one or two sentences.
 o Cue cards. Use cue cards to write down scenes and characters in a more organized fashion. Divide the plot into separate connecting scenes leading up to the climax and conclusion of the story. The cue cards can be shuffled to rearrange elements of the plot and the characters.
 o Freeform. Without preparing beforehand, ask students to come up with a very basic plot premise and a character they wish to use, and then begin writing. The purpose is to have the details of the plot and characters take shape as they go along. Does the journey of the story turn out unexpectedly even for the writer?
 o Have students pick an element of storytelling (plot premise, setting, character, a line of dialogue) and create all other elements around that one. Then pick another element and do the same. Which is easier? Does the plot come first, for example, or the characters? Both at once?

2. Have students write a scene using only an exchange of dialogue between two characters and cues in speaking (such as a pause or a stutter). Students should try to do their best to develop separate character voices in order to distinguish between the two speakers (word choice, accents, things they say). Ask students to think about how they speak compared to others around them. The purpose is to explore how to write dialogue naturally and distinctly.

Close