UST CommAch

2. Writing Survival Kit: Starter Pack
Ariesa Domingo

8. What is WRITING?

10. Survival Guide # 1: Get Started: Emergency Tips
• What
does
your
protagonist
want?
• What
morally
significant
ac7ons
has
your
protagonist
taken
towards
that
goal?
• What
unexpected
consequences
ramp
up
the
emo7onal
energy
of
the
story?
• What
details
from
the
se4ng,
dialog,
and
tone
help
you
tell
the
story?
• What
morally
significant
choice
does
your
protagonist
make
at
the
climax
of
the
story?

11. Show,
don’t
(just)
tell.

12. Tips…
• Keep
a
notebook.
• Write
on
a
regular,
daily
basis.
• Collect
stories
from
everyone
you
meet.
• Read.
Read.
Read.
Read.
And
Read
some
more.

13. Survival Guide # 2: Write a CATCHY first
paragraph
I
heard
my
neighbor
through
the
wall.
The
neighbor
behind
us
pracDced
scream
therapy
in
his
shower
almost
every
day.
The
first
Dme
I
heard
him,
I
stood
in
the
bathroom
listening
at
our
shared
wall
for
ten
minutes,
debaDng
the
wisdom
of
calling
the
police.
It
was
very
different
from
living
in
the
duplex
over
middle-­‐
aged
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Brown
and
their
two
young
sons
in
Duluth.

14. Survival Guide # 3: Developing Characters

15. Survival Guide # 3: Developing Characters
• Ac7on.
• Speech.
• Thought.
• Appearance.

16. Survival Guide # 3: Developing Characters
Her
name
is
Alys,
short
for
Alys
Zyril
Perez.
She
is
17
years
old.
She
is
a
fair-­‐skinned
Filipina
with
brown
eyes,
long,
straight
black
hair,
and
is
5
feet
5
inches
tall.
Contrary
to
the
expectaDons
of
the
people
around
her,
she
actually
doesn’t
like
studying.
She
loves
to
bake
and
has
the
knack
to
kid
around
most
of
the
Dme.
She
is
a
4th
year
high
school
student
whose
graduaDon
is
sDll
at
stake.
She
lives
with
her
parents
and
her
younger
brother.
She
has
two
best
friends:
Aya
and
Sheen.
She
loves
strawberries.
She
loves
anything
that
is
pink.
And
she
is
secretly
in
love
her
best
friend.

17. Survival Guide # 4: Point of View
First?
Second?
Third?

18. Survival Guide # 4: Point of View
First?
Second?
Third?

19. Survival Guide # 5: Meaningful Dialogues
“What?”
I
asked.
“I
want
to
break
up
with
you,”
Drake
said.
“But
why?”
The
tears
were
threatening
to
fall
and
my
lips
began
to
shiver.
I
couldn’t
understand.
What’s
happening?
Why
was
this
happening?

20. Survival Guide # 5: Meaningful Dialogues
Alys
was
nervous.
“I
don’t
think
I
can
do
this,”
she
said
as
she
bit
on
her
lower
lip.
Her
heart
was
pounding
wildly
inside
her
chest.
She
didn’t
meet
his
eyes.
She
lowered
her
gaze
and
kept
her
mum.

21. Survival Guide # 6: Effective Settings
VIVID

22. Survival Guide # 6: Effective Settings
The
color
of
the
walls
was
making
Alys
dizzy.
The
room
felt
small.
Everything
around
her
seemed
normal
but
the
truth
was
it
wasn’t.
The
sun
was
hiding;
the
flowers
were
dead;
no
one
was
around.
She
could
not
contain
herself.
She
went
outside
but
the
gloomy
weather
was
not
of
any
help.
It
felt
so
wrong.
Everything
at
that
moment
felt
so
wrong.

23. Survival Guide # 6: Set-up the Plot
Explosion
or
“Hook.”
Conflict
Exposi7on.
Complica7on.
Transi7on.
Flashback.
Climax.
Falling
Ac7on.
Resolu7on.

24. Survival Guide # 7: Writing the actual scene

25. Survival Guide # 7: Grammar
Don’t
seTle.
Always
strive
to
perfect
your
grammar.
If
not
perfect,
at
least
try
to
fake
it.