story “Using the power of story to foster the desire to write” Katie Van Ark Godfrey-Lee Public Schools Godfrey-Lee Early Childhood Center 961 Joosten SW Wyoming, MI (616) x1210 Lake Michigan Writing Project

“A writer must write.” Laini Taylor SCBWI-MI Spring Conference May 2012

doesn't even know the alphabet “How do I get someone who doesn't even know the alphabet to write?”

“Once upon a time there was a mermaid. The cat lived in a castle with a puppy. She wanted to make a castle and asked for help. They said OK, we'll help you. So she said, “I will do it myself.”

“From what materials do we create the scenes that will one day walk and talk their way across the screen? What is the clay we twist and shape, keep or throw away? What is the “substance” of story? In all other arts the answer is self-evident. The composer has his instrument and the notes it sounds. The dancer calls her body her instrument. Sculptors chisel stone. Painters stir paint. All artists can lay hands on the raw material of their art – except the writer. For the nucleus of a story is a “substance,” like the energy swirling in an atom, that's never directly seen, heard, or touched, yet we know it and feel it. The stuff of story is alive but intangible... McKee Quote

McKee Quote con. “Intangible?” I hear you thinking. “But I have my words. Dialogue, description. I can put my hands on the pages. The writer's raw material is language.” In fact, it's not, and the careers of many talented writers...flounder because of the disastrous misunderstanding of this principle. For just as glass is a medium for light, air a medium for sound, language is only a medium, one of many, in fact, for storytelling. Something far more profound than mere words beats at the heart of a story.” (McKee, p. 135)

Mentor Texts

Character “Anything that can be given a free will and the capacity to desire, take action, and suffer the consequences can be a protagonist.” (McKee p.137)

Character con. The protagonist has: ● a conscious desire ● the capacities to pursue this desire convincingly ● at least a chance of obtaining it ● AND may also have a self-contradictory subconscious desire

Group Exercise ● Listen to the read aloud of David Shannon's book, No, David! Examine the illustrations. ● What do we learn about the character of David in this story?

He does things that are not safe. He has accidents. He is messy. He likes to play. He likes to be naked. He wants to be Superman. He loves his mom. He likes baseball. 20 Things Kindergarten Students Know About David: (a partial list) He is not careful. He likes to eat cookies. He likes sharks and bombs. He likes to be noisy. He gets mad. He likes aliens. He has two names. He picks his nose. He likes to color.

Student Work Samples

Student Work Samples, con.

K Mentor Texts for Character ● Baby Happy, Baby Sad – Leslie Patricelli ● Cookie's Week – Cindy Ward

Events “Many of the actions in any story are more or less expected. By genre convention, the lovers in a Love Story will meet, the detective in a Thriller will discover a crime, the protagonist's life in an Educational Plot will bottom out... Consequently, writing that puts less stress on what happens than on to whom it happens and why and how it happens. Indeed, the richest and most satisfying pleasures of all are found in stories that focus on the reactions that events cause and the insight gained.” (McKee, p.178)

“We come to fiction for the emotional ride.” Donna Jo Napoli, Author SCBWI-MI Fall Conference, September 2011 “I know a manuscript is ready to be sent out when it chokes me up when I read it.” Jennifer Mattson, Andrea Brown Literary SCBWI-MI Spring Conference, May 2012

Student Work Samples What were the effects in student work samples before and after our work with story elements?

Writing Stories

Writing Test Samples (Girls)

Writing Test Samples (Boys)

Content Area Samples

“THE PRINCIPLE OF ANTAGONISM: A protagonist and his story can only be as intellectually fascinating and emotionally compelling as the forces of antagonism make them.” (McKee p.317)

Individual Writing Exercise Ideas to try: ● Write about David's valentine or David's vacation ● Change David into a girl or a teenager, how does that change the storytelling? ● Create a protagonist with a deep, dark secret Note: If you write fiction (even adult fiction) and have a character of your own you'd like to work on instead, please do!