Writing Survival Kit: Starter Pack

Ariesa Domingo

What is WRITING?

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?  

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 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.  

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.