Intro to Fiction presentation, SFCC, Spring 2019

1. Truth: You need to do
both

2.  Fiction tries to create the emotional impact of
actual experience.
 Unlike other forms of art, it does so by using
words to create: feelings, ideas and images.
 Various writing techniques help accomplish
this.

3.  Writing is more effective when it’s specific.
 Specific means using concrete details.
 Concrete details are sensory and concrete
versus general and abstract:
 Sensory means simply that: appealing to one of
the senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch

4.  Details should appeal—evoke—the senses,
but also matter to the story.
 Susie wore a pair of shoes.
 Susie wore a pair of blue Oxford loafers.
 Susie wore a pair of blue Oxford loafers, one
size too large so that she constantly stepped
out of them. The heals were scuffed, and a
piece of duct tape kept the bows on the left
shoe attached.

5.  Susie wore a pair of blue Oxford loafers, one
size too large so that she constantly stepped
out of them. The heals were scuffed, and a
piece of duct tape kept the bows on the left
shoe attached.
 Susie wore clothing that showed she was poor.
 Susie wore clothing that showed she didn’t care
about clothing
 Susie was slovenly

6.  Just as characteristics should be rendered
with detail, so should emotion.
 Avoid labeling emotions in writing; rather, try
to describe them with sensory details.
 Susie was sad (telling)
 Write a quick sentence or two that shows
poor Susie’s sorrow.

7.  Concrete details also play a role in
foreshadowing the plot and underlining the
theme of a story.
 Chekov’s famous statement that a pistol
shown in the first act should be fired in the
third. Use concrete physical objects as plot
devices.
 Details also can be used to reinforce the
theme of a story. Imagery and metaphor
evokes larger ideas.

8.  Take one minute: Write down the emotions
and themes at play in this story.
 Take another few minutes and scan the story
for language that reinforces those emotions
or themes you wrote down. These can just
even be words: “hot pink.”

9.  Both metaphor and simile—poetic devices—
are ways language can be used to create
emotion in fiction.
 Simile compares; metaphor is used literally.
 She was like a tree.
 She was a tree.

10. Clichés:
 Hot as hell
 Cold as ice
 She was sweet, like sugar and spice.
Overstretched:
 Her eyes were like a prehistoric dragon
breathing fire on a village (what?)

11.  One of the greatest challenges most writers
face is remembering to keep prose in active
voice. This can be dealt with on revision, but
it’s key to strong writing.
 In active voice, the subject performs the
action:
 Julia operated the computer (active)
 The computer was operated by Julia
(passive)

12.  Active voice keeps the prose lively—passive
voice is monotonous, and should only be used
purposefully:
 The guard beat the prisoner (active)
 The prisoner was beaten by the guard (passive,
but with purpose)
 Active verbs have the same impact in prose as
concrete details: they show rather than tell.
 She ate a cookie vs. She wolfed down a cookie.

13.  Pick any story
 Quickly scan a paragraph and mark the
active verbs.
 How do these verbs contribute to the
feeling/emotions of the writing?

14.  A good rule of thumb is to vary the length of
your sentences to create energy and texture
in prose.
 But rhythm can also be used to reinforce the
emotion by creating a tempo that works with
what is happening in the story.
 Long sentences can slow down time, for
example.

15.  15 minutes:
 Describe a beautiful setting (mountain vista,
pristine lake etc) from the point of view of
someone who has just undergone a terrible
loss. Do not tell the story of this loss or refer to
it; just use the description to show the
perception of this place through the viewpoint of
someone in this situation.
 Quick note on in-class writing: Use the time.

16.  Like art students copying the masters,
“seeing” (writing) through the eyes of a writer
you admire can be instructive.
 Take the writing you have brought to class.
Rewrite two of the paragraphs, keep the
sentence structure, but use your own nouns,
verbs and other parts of speech.

17.  David Bowie was one of the most widely
revered musicians in the world. Once, before
he was to deliver a small concert at a rock n’
roll ceremony, the guitarist who introduced
him described him as an example for young
musicians of the world to imitate. He was
almost 40; his style was studied and
mesmerizing, and he wore a meticulously
trimmed goatee.

18.  These are in the syllabus:
 January 30
 Reading assignment: “Lobster Night” by
Russell Banks (CASF), page 15; “My Writing
Method” by Kate Chopin (GWAF), page 43
 Bring to class observations, questions and
ideas about the stories, with particular
attention paid to sensory detail. Also note
use of active voice and rhythm of sentences.