Writing Survival Kit: Starter Pack

Ariesa Domingo

What is WRITING?

Survival Guide # 1: Get Started: Emergency Tips

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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?

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Show, don’t(just) tell.

Tips…

•  Keep a notebook.

•  Write on a regular, daily basis.

•  Collect stories from everyone you meet.

•  Read. Read. Read. Read. And Read some more.

Survival Guide # 2: Write a CATCHY firstparagraph

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.

Survival Guide # 3: Developing Characters

Survival Guide # 3: Developing Characters

•  Ac7on.

•  Speech.

•  Thought. •  Appearance.

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.

Survival Guide # 4: Point of View

First?

Second?

Third?

Survival Guide # 4: Point of View

First?

Second?

Third?

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?

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.

Survival Guide # 6: Effective Settings

VIVID

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.

Survival Guide # 6: Set-up the Plot

Explosion or “Hook.”

Conflict Exposi7on.

Complica7on. Transi7on. Flashback.

Climax. Falling Ac7on.

Resolu7on.

Survival Guide # 7: Writing the actual scene

Survival Guide # 7: Grammar

Don’t seTle. Always strive to perfect your

grammar. If not perfect, at least try to fake it.

Now, let’s talk about theEnglish Grammar.

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