The Sunday News
Charles Dube
ONE of my teachers used to say, “Too much of too much, is too much.” The implication was that repetition brings monotony. I am saying this because I am almost guilty of repeating one and the same thing, composition writing, for some time now. My consolation is that repetition is at times necessary for emphasis. Emphasis is necessary to make students understand certain points. For example, today we go over narrative features we ignored before.
Story writing as indicated in earlier episodes is most favoured by students. When a topic reads: Write stories, which end or begin with the following words, students are quick to pounce on it without giving much thought to it. But on writing tips, the advice we give is that this type of writing is not as easy as they might think. As earlier indicated students should not write childish thoughts and expressions. This type of writing should relate a situation which is familiar so as to avoid an unrealistic situation.
Your story should not be one you have read unless asked for such. But ideas that you have come across will naturally come into your writing. In some topics expression of feelings is very important to create the appropriate atmosphere. For example, fear, loneliness sadness and other others. Students should remember that a story is something that always entertains. A story is always fiction. A fictional narrative is a story from the writer’s imagination. On the other hand, a non-fictional narrative, such as a biography or a history, is about events that really happened.
Fictional and non-fiction narratives have the same basic elements: character, plot, point of view, theme and setting.
A story can be gossip. A story can be told in a newspaper report and a story is something we learn from. Students should always remember these definitions when writing narratives. How to develop a narrative: Set the scene. This is done by writing down what your main character is doing. Then think of what happens next after the scene has been set. Think of three basic ideas and write them down under headlines, idea 1, 2 and 3.
Students need to complete the timeline with rough ideas of what will happen in their story. Set the scene first in the introduction. The timeline comprises the introduction, problem, high point and ending. If well followed a student is bound to produce a good story. Tell what the main character does in the introduction. For example, Ted makes a forced entry through a fence. What happens next? Idea 1 Police see him. Idea 2 Dog chases after him. Idea 3 Dog catches up with him. Idea 4 Police arrest him.
Reveal character: This can be done through use of interesting dialogue and vivid description to make characters as lifelike as possible. Dialogue gives the reader important information about the characters. What characters say and how they say it reveal personality and show relationships among characters. Use language that reflects the age, background, and personality of each character. Students can answer these questions as they describe characters in their narratives:
How do characters look, move, and speak? How do characters behave towards others? How do others react to the characters? What personality traits do the characters have? Bearing in mind such questions will help students produce above average work. Organisation is key to narrative writing. There is plot construction. A narrative is comprised of a series of events. Plot is the writer’s arrangement of events to dramatise a particular conflict or theme.
There is a view that most plots develop in five stages. Exposition is background information about the characters and setting. This sets the scene for the conflict that follows rising action develops the conflict. Climax as has been repeated before is the point of highest interest, conflict, or suspense in the story. Remember suspense captures the interest of the reader and makes him eager to know what happens next. Falling action shows what happens to the characters after the climax. Resolution shows how the conflict is resolved or the problem is solved.
When writing narrative it is worthwhile to establish conflict. Conflict sets the plot in motion and causes changes in the characters. In an external conflict, a character struggles with another character or an element of nature. In an internal conflict, a character struggles to make a decision or to act in a certain way. Use flashbacks to show the relationship between past and present. You can use fantasies, dreams and flash-forwards to offer hints of events to come. We are told some writers use character’s musings to introduce a flashback; others have characters relate past events.
Writers are encouraged to build narrative suspense. Suspense is the uncertainty about the outcome of the story. Add suspense to a narrative to give readers a pressing desire to read on to the end. Any of the following techniques can be used to create suspense in the writer’s narrative. Construct a strange setting. Use delaying tactics. Slow down time at a crucial moment with specific descriptions, flashbacks, or scene changes and of course, foreshadowing — a hint of what is to come.
Finally, winding up the story. Some writers know the ending of the story before they start writing while others have no idea at all. Think of what could happen to your main character at the end. Consider the following examples: Will your character win out in the end or will be in trouble? Will they be let down? Will they be helped at the last minute?
Will they learn from what they’ve been through or not? These are suggestions from various sources which I think could help students improve their compositions. Such information eliminates flat mediocre compositions.
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