NARRATIVE WRITING THE ASSASSIN

AIMS To find out the structure of our narrative piece. To find out what happens in our narrative piece. To begin writing it.

After all the preparation we have done, you are now ready to begin writing your Assassin story. Read through your notes again, reminding yourself of the techniques you used to make your writing interesting and powerful. Make a checklist of your use of these techniques by using key words i.e. Senses Imagery Show dont tell

The Plot This is what will happen in your story An unnamed killer waits on a hillside above a lonely house His victim, again anonymous, arrives and is shot. The Assassin makes his escape Or you could choose to write a different structure after the initial introduction

Paragraph 1 This will deal with the killers wait. He should be lying down as comfortably as he can manage in heavy rain. Every now and then, he is alerted by a car passing down the road. Try to suggests his cold blooded lack of nervousness. Do not say why he is there until the last sentence; this builds up tension. Then you could write something like He lifted the rifle to his eyes and sighted down to the house.

Paragraph 2 This paragraph will deal with a description of the house and its immediate surroundings. Use this paragraph to make the atmosphere more depressing. Use descriptions of the weather. Use the shabbiness of the house and its surroundings, and use colour descriptions to help you.

Paragraph 3 Use this paragraph to describe the arrival of the victim by car. Do not waste time getting the car to the house. Start the paragraph with a sentence like He watched as a blue car turned off the road onto the muddy, rutted path leading to the house. Keep the assassin cool and unhurried; use the technique of observing small, seemingly irrelevant details such as a faulty brake light, mud streaks on the car etc.

Paragraph 4 In this paragraph, deal with the victim and the killing. How would the victim move from house to car? – remember, there are muddy puddles to avoid and it is raining. Delay the killing until the end of the paragraph – its harshness should be in sharp contrast to the cool calmness of the rest of the paragraph, i.e. She paused at the door. He knew she would pause at the door. Before the echoes could catch the shattering sound, the shell had ripped the life from her in a flurry of blood and splintered bone.

Paragraph 5 The Assassin moves away from the scene. He needs to pack away his rifle, remove evidence of his presence (cigarette ends, cartridge case), and move away towards the car. The atmosphere to aim for is calmness. He is unmoved, even casual, about the episode. He is a professional killer who remains calm no matter what.

Whats next? Begin reviewing your story. Edit the story paragraph by paragraph. Remember – the grade you will get is for the quality of your writing, so make sure that you take your time and write exactly what you want to write, to achieve the desired effect. Go back to the work we did on figures of speech and insert a few of the similes and metaphors that you wrote. Check that theres lots of SHOW not TELL.

Finally, you should… Check that it is technically accurate: spelling, grammar, tenses, punctuation Make sure that youve included everything that needs to be included, to make it powerful and effective writing. Make sure your plot has logical flow. Re-read your story to make sure that its interesting and up to standard. Award yourself a grade. Then, ask someone else to read it and ask them for a grade, and why they decided on that grade. If theres a difference in grades, try to discover why.