Welcome to Effective Writing for IT Majors Unit 2 Nick Pincumbe

Unit 2 Seminar Agenda Discuss narratives Dialogue Show rather than Tell Choosing an appropriate story to tell

The Narrative A narrative is a story, with a beginning, middle and an end. We’re familiar with the concept of “the narrator” in movies: now we’re going to narrate our own stories.

What Do Good Narratives Include? A single story (there’s no need for multiple, intersecting plots!). Convincing dialogue in the form of proper quotations. Details that “show rather than tell” your audience what’s going on. A well-chosen story.

Writing Good Dialogue When writing the narrative form, use dialogue whenever possible. Just like in life, what we say aloud often tells the story best. Instead of telling what the character in the essay said, allow them to say it!

The Rules of Dialogue It’s easy! All you need to do is enclose what was said in quotation marks. Put the period, or end quotation inside the closed quotation marks. Introduce the quote with a comma: My mother said, “I am so proud of your accomplishments as a student!”

The Rules of Dialogue (continued) You can also put the dialogue before the introduction, as in: “I am so proud of your accomplishments as a student,” said my mother. For examples of this, pick up almost any book: you’ll find dialogue everywhere!

Show, rather than tell Good stories get to unfold. Instead of telling what a character says, allow the character to say it for themselves. To do this, you will need to use dialogue, which means you need to quote what the person said.

Show, rather than tell (continued) For example: My brother warned me not to go to the gym that day. This becomes: My brother warned me, “Girl, you stay outta that gym, today.” Notice how by quoting my brother, I get to use the actual language he used, which enhances the story.

Use Slang This is the one time you get to break the rules. If your speaker speaks with an accent, or uses slang, it will be like adding some spice to your essay. Granny always said, “Fuggetaboutit!” Have fun with this!

Choosing your story Your story should be something true. It should also involve IT. Write about something that involves your computer or the Internet, like the time your hard drive crashed, or the time you fell in love, online.

Choosing your story (continued) Write your narrative in the present tense. Rather than: “My computer always used to…” Write: “Suddenly, my computer…”

Unit 2 Work—What’s going on this unit Reading: Read about narrative writing Seminar: Practice writing dialogue Discussion: Post a paragraph from your narrative to the board for the class to workshop. Project: There is no project this week!