STEPS IN WRITING

1.The Paragraph

1. Sometimes a story may be written in only one paragraph-this means 100-180 words. 2. Within one-paragraph story everything gravitates around the so-called “Topic Sentence” which

actually includes the main idea. This does not mean that this important sentence should be the first one in the paragraph. But it has to be easily spotted and each sentence of events is to focus on the main idea.

3. The content of the paragraph may be based on a personal impression or on something imaginary: in eight or most ten sentences.

4. Sentences are grouped in paragraphs exactly like in essays: by relating them to the central idea an by having them lead on from one another.

5. The Topic Sentence sums up the thought of the entire paragraph: the others will bring in details, examples, comparisons, contrasts, causes and effects, repetition.

6. Paragraphs may be descriptive or narrative.7. Descriptive paragraphs describes people, objects or scenes.8. Narrative paragraphs tells a story or reports an event.

1.1.Descriptive paragraphs

a. First sentence given

1. The climb to the top of the tower had been well worth the effort. We were now confronted with a splendid view of the old town, with its narrow winding streets and its mediaeval stone church, with its small tidy gardens and its colourful market-place. From where we were, we could not hear what the passers-by were saying, we could not feel that special fragrance of the linden-trees, but, as a compensation, we were not disturbed by the noise of the cars and the general tumult and the somewhat unnecessary fuss reached our ears only as a lively whisper. It is really a subtle joy of living to be sometimes able to look down on the world.

2. The climb to the top of the tower had been well worth the effort. The view was not beautiful, but breathtaking, though. Somehow it was quite depressing. It had been a rainy day. The clouds formed a grey shield the sunrays could not penetrate. Everything was plunged into darkness. There was only bright spot and a pale streak of light where the horizon should have been. That one spot of light made the sad view so special. I could not say if it meant a sunrise or a sunset-the beginning of a new day or the wistfulness of night –light and life or dark and nothingness? As if I were the master of the world, I made my choice: it would always be a sunrise for me.

1.2. Narrative paragraphs

a. First sentence given

1. As soon as he heard the clock strike three, he knew it was too late. His foreign friend had not contacted him and he certainly couldn’t get out of the country by himself, leaving all his work behind to be used by the DGS. He racked his brains for a solution, but he realized he could not cross the border except under cover and that an attempt to hide in some isolated part of the country might prove equally dangerous. He looked out and saw the same black car with the same two people that always shadowed him. The two officers came in with his handcuffed foreign friend. He understood it had been a set-up and his friend had worked for them all along and there was nothing, absolutely nothing he could do as he watched them rummaging his papers.

2. As soon as he heard the clock strike three, he knew it was too late. The Great Sorceress’s magic had already begun to work. The bright light of the afternoon sun was beginning to fade and, instead, a reddish twilight came over the town. Red clouds were rolling across the sky, covering the weakened sun, and strong winds, the hurricanes that had been locked up by the White Fairy were now running free over the fields, bringing up clouds of dust and breaking down the trees. The waters had turned bloodlike and smelly and the ground was getting hotter and hotter, almost burning. Soon no creature would be able to step on it. One mistake of his had been enough to lead the whole world to destruction.

2.Composition

As far as only arranging sentences logically and correctly is focused on, the Composition is the bottom “stepping stone” to reach the superior level of essays of any kind, summaries, commentaries, debates, reports.

Compositions are not supposed to be long (180-300 words). Compositions may be generally of two distinct types: descriptive or narrative or, in

most cases, mixed. The three essential features of any kind of composition are:

1. Unity = theme and unity of thought2. Coherence = order and balance3. Emphasis = beauty of its style meant to capture the reader4. Harmony = rhythm and pleasantness of sound

How to make it

Whenever you start writing a composition: Decide on your central theme Think before putting pen on paper – try to visualize the scene, person or thing which

you are going to write about. Join up all the points by suitable linking words or phrases Try building a new paragraph for each new point. Mind the verb tenses (most compositions are based on Past Tense) When you have finished, check it over carefully for mistakes in grammar and spelling

Planning by points is like making up a skeleton whose bones are the words joined by linkers. Any composition must compulsorily respect three fundamental parts:

1. Introduction 1 paragraph announcing the theme in a succinct way, catching the attention to a clear purpose.

2. Development 2-4 paragraphs, developing the theme to the full from different angles.

3. Conclusion 1 paragraph to round it off like a neat, graceful summary, if possible with a “catchy” finish.

2.1.Discursive composition

What I like doing best

Central idea – My hobby and how it affects me I – P1 = What I like doing best is reading books and their general worthD –P2 = Special pleasures of reading – the types of books I read; when, where and how I practice this hobby P3 = How I first developed this passion for reading C –P4 = Closing thoughts on reading; how it personally affects me

What I like doing best

Reading might seem an obvious, easy choice of a hobby that implies little effort apart from keeping your eyes open when plunged in a comfy armchair, yet I consider it a life-long adventure whose main danger is that one might lose interest in reality altogether! Books are friends to the friendless people, comfort to those who cannot understand the suffering in their own lives, mines of truth for those who need the truth, beautiful delusion for the last dreamers of this world, source of inspiration for other books and other lives as well as the shortest way to mental freedom, helping us discover the world within ourselves and the outside world. The special pleasures of reading come from understanding, interpreting and completing the text with our own thoughts, dwelling on the details, imagining everything accurately enough to claim we have re-created a world that first belonged to D.H. Lawrence or Virginia Woolf.[…] A solitary passion though it is, it emerged from my wish to take part in the conversation of the grown-ups whom I admired. The first book I read was “Gone With the Wind”, my mother’s favourite and I remember the special delight with a touch of guilt that I felt on a bright summer afternoon, entering the study, opening the book- it almost seemed as if I intruded on her privacy. This curiosity has not diminished in time and is probably the secret source of my youth since the more I wish to know, the less I seem to understand and the more I learn, the more innocent I become, the less connected with real life.

2.2.Descriptive composition

Description of a person Central idea – My best friend – what he/she looks like // his/her character and why this person is my best friend

I – P1 = Name and reason for choice; length of time known D – P2 = General description- physical, position P3 = Character and personality of person, particular episode to illustrate thisC – P4 = The reason why I look at this person as my best friend

My best friend

When I first met Emma in 1993, I instantly thought: “she will be my friend” simply because her presence made the solitude I had always cherished seem incredibly dull and the immediacy of her answer was surprising –as if it had echoed my own thoughts. I had never had a close friend of my age, nor one that I could see every day at school; my darkest secret ( that I must now confess) is that I get bored quite easily- yet after 4 years I still like to catch her passing smile with its soft, peculiar weariness-as if she wanted to be angry with the world and couldn’t. Sometimes it changes into a bright, genuine smile; then her eyes take the lightest shed of blue, giving her the appearance of an unusually slim and tall angel – sometimes it reflects a rich nostalgia and her misty eyes seem to contemplate a secret dream, her profile looks remote, her swift elegant movements seem to answer some inner music. She is beautiful, but not in an indifferent, unchanging way – her beauty springs from the love between herself and the world and when she does not feel that beauty, she does not reflect it. The extravagance of her sincerity and the freedom of her mind are dangerous enough in themselves – but

she adds to these passion of living life to the full and an understanding of others so thorough that it leaves her little space to understand herself! Because of that she occasionally gets lost in the leaves her little space to understand herself! Because of that she occasionally gets lost in the maze of her dreams and I always try to bring her back, which may be reasonable, but also rather selfish of me – and when I feel regretful about it, she is the one to cheer me up since: “ I can never be angry with you!” . Well, I can never be angry with her, but I sometimes pretend to!

2.3 Narrative composition

Introduction – Setting, Time, Characters – P1 – Holiday time/our group set off to climb a difficult MountainDevelopment –Climax of story reached – P2 – Suddenly fog/lost and terrified/no hope for…/settled down for night…together for…

Conclusion – The Resolution of the Conflict or Crisis – P3 – Dawn –mist begins to clear / sight of rescue/ happy to discover we had actually been climbing in the right direction