Writing Workshop
I went to a writing workshop last Thursday. Phyllis Johnston, a New Zealand author, came to talk to us about how she became succesful and give us some tips about writing. Phyllis Johnston is quite a successful author having twelve books of hers published. One of the things Phyllis Johnston talked about was her ‘Recipe’ for a story. It has five ingredients. The first one being a ’scene’ or the place where it happens. A scene can be any where, from outer-space to a hole in the ground! The second ingredient is the ‘characters’, the main people in the story. Within the first few pages of introducing a character the reader should be able to picture the character in their own mind. Also Phyllis Johnston made us realise that a character has to have feelings, not just one feeling but a range of feelings. In other words a character can’t always be excited or surprised, their feelings should change. Like Phyllis Johnston said “a story without feelings isn’t a story at all”. Another ingredient, the third one is the ‘action’. The action is the part where somethings happens to build up to the big problem. While writing this part of a story you should be asking yourself questions like ‘What would they do in this situation?’ and ‘What will happen if they do this?’. The next part is the ‘crisis or tension’, I also like to call this the big problem! This part should always be the most important and exciting peice of the story. Last but not least is the fifth ingredient ‘the end’. One of the tips Phyllis Johnston gave us was to use a few words from the first sentence in the last one. This gives it a good effect, it is as though the whole story has formed a circle and come back to the start again. So as you have seen, I have learnt heaps and will use these tips in my future writing.
