Design your writing Craft your style

If you were going to design the storyboard for a creepy, tense story – what would you choose from below?

What sort of character would you choose?

What other ideas would you add? 0 Write a list. Think about the following 0 Sounds 0 Touch 0 As well as what the character can see

Just like designing the ideas behind the setting, plot and action - you can also design the … Punctuation such as using Full stop Comma Exclamation mark Question mark Semi-colon Ellipsis Dash ALL OF THESE CAN ADD STYLE TO YOUR WRITING

Do you know how to use a semi-colon? ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; Here’s an example: The officer gave unclear orders: the troops walked into the enemy. It’s like cause and effect. It is like the word consequently has been left out. Try the following 1 The wind was howling around the house I drew the dog close for comfort. 2 He did not move a muscle he felt as if he was being watched. 3 The moon cast a dim glow through the window long shadows fell across the floor. 4 They climbed quickly up the hillside the river had burst its banks. 5 A howl of a wolf filled the air we fell silent, waiting for the creature to pounce..

Now add punctuation to the following – design your sentences 0 Create a tense mood – add punctuation for effect 0 Outside the wind was howling like an un-tuned violin when suddenly out of the shadows a hazy shape appeared I stopped I froze the malevolent form slowly oh so slowly moved towards me 0 Create a calm mood 0 The trees swayed lazily in the morning breeze they seemed to dance in slow motion as the waves gently caressed the sand all was calm and tranquil.

Add style to your writing with a dash - 0 To create a tense, fast paced piece of writing, you can use a dash to make your style more conversational. Use it like a gasp, a pause of breath. 0 Read the following from the Tell-tale heart. 0 Highlight the dashes 0 the exclamation marks 0 the verbs

The Tell-Tale Heart What do we learn about the state of the character’s mind by the use of punctuation? 0 I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men, but the noise steadily increased. O God! What COULD I do? I foamed – I raved – I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose all over and steadily increased. It grew louder – louder- louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not ? Almighty God! – non no? They heard ? They suspected ! They KNEW ! – they were making a mockery of my horror! – this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything more tolerable than this derision ! I could bear those smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die ! – and now – again – hark! Louder ! Louder ! Louder! LOUDER! 0 “Villains!” I shrieked “dissemble no more! I admit the deed! – tear up the planks! – here, here! – it is the beating of the hideous heart!”

Count the sentence lengths 0 Count each word in the last 10 sentences and write them down. 0 Now what does the punctuation, verb choices and sentence length tell you about the characters state of mind?

Poe designs his writing – you can too 0 On a scale of 1 – 10, 1 being not much punctuation and 10 being extreme. How would you rate the punctuation in the last paragraph? 0 Why is this?

So what have we learnt? 0 You can design your writing by carefully choosing your punctuation to create a certain mood. 0 Short sentences suggest… 0 Long sentences suggest… 0 You can style your writing by using a range of punctuation.

Do it! 0 Choose one of these and create a calm or tense mood using appropriate punctuation, sentence length and vocabulary.