Beginning Creative Writing

Sample Lesson - Introduction

Lesson 2.06: Oral Tradition

This dad didn't follow our easy steps to becoming an oral storyteller, and you know what happened? Nothing but awkward silence.
(Source)

When we say, "oral tradition" we're not talking about the practice of going to the dentist twice a year…as excellent as that practice is. Instead, we're talking about the time in history when stories were generally not written down, but were passed down from one generation to the next through being told aloud.

And when you think about it, a lot of the storytelling out there is still told out loud. Sure, you can write your stories down and get them published, but most of the stories in your life are the ones you say out loud to other people, from monologues on stage to the gossip you whisper behind your locker door.

But telling a story out loud is a little different from writing it down. It might be relatively informal—stories among friends, as it were. You have an audience, and you can actually see them; they're right there, responding in real time to the words that come out of your mouth.

Most importantly, your audience is hearing your narrative rather than reading it, so your language needs to be accessible and easily understood. If you use a really obscure word, your audience can't go look it up. The length of sentences should vary to keep things interesting, but overly long sentences will lose some members of your audience. At least some sentences should be short ones.

The point? Navigating the oral story can be surprisingly tricky, but we're confident you're up to the task.

Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 2.2.06: That Was Easy

We promise, today's reading is simple. First, you're watching a video. Then, as we've asked of you in the past, you're reading something you've read before.

You read things for different purposes all the time. For example, if you read a book for fun and then realize it'd work well for a school project, you might reread it or skim over it with this new purpose in mind.

That's what we're going for here, in a way. We read these essays as models originally, looking for features we liked and analyzing various aspects of craft. Today, we're going to reread them so that we can rewrite the essays themselves in a new format.

…Huh?

Stay with us. So far, we've read three narrative essays. In today's reading, we'd like you to skim through these essays again and choose one you think you could adapt into a nonfiction talk or speech.

In a way, it's like being a speechwriter for a day. You'll prepare the text for the original writer, reformulating and restructuring in ways you think will work well for a spoken version of the essay.

It might seem a little strange to speak in first person representing someone else's personal narratives, but it's not really that different from telling a fictional story in first person point of view. Besides, that's part of the reason we're giving you three options. (You're welcome.)

First, watch the first ten minutes of Amy Tan's TED talk about creativity. It'll be a useful guide for the activity.

Then, take at least ten minutes to choose one of the narrative essays you've read so far, which you'll later turn into a talk (like a TED talk). When you've settled on the essay that you think would work best, please read it closely so you can decide on the content and structure for the talk version.

As you read, consider the following:

• Will the essay's basic structure lend itself to a talk, or will you need to make some changes there?
• What's the central point of this essay, and when would that central point need to be communicated in the talk—near the beginning, middle, or end?
• How much narrative do you need in a talk version of this essay? If there are multiple brief anecdotes, do you need them all, or would you prefer to be selective?
• As you revise this narrative essay as a talk, what would be the best way to begin?

Your thoughtful reflection as you read will be a huge help to you in today's writing activity. Trust us.

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 2.06: Living Out Loud

In this assignment, we're asking you to adapt the language of the essay you chose as though the writer of the essay will be giving a talk. There's no need to use quotation marks; that would be a little clunky and distracting when Amy Tan or David Quammen stood up to give their talk.

The first person "I" will be the original writer of the essay. (Weird, we know. Imagine how working speechwriters must feel doing that all the time. Do you think they start referring to themselves in third person after a while?)

Here are a few guidelines:

• You can use as much of the language in the original as you'd like; your goal is to communicate the same main ideas in a different setting with a different sort of audience.
• You can also use as much of the narrative as you'd like. If the author used multiple short anecdotes, decide whether it will work best to use all of them or to be selective. Feel free to use as much of the detail of the original narrative as you'd like.
• Since you have complete artistic freedom here, you're also welcome to add and invent details not present in the original to make it more engaging or vivid for your audience.

Make sure your talk communicates the central ideas of the original narrative essay in a way that would engage an audience listening to it. It might be useful to picture a specific setting for the talk. What if the writer came to your school or to a college campus or to your local bookstore or library?

Your finished product should be 300 – 500 words long. Make sure your talk

• communicates the original narrative essay's central ideas.
• uses narrative to illustrate or expand upon those ideas.
• engages the audience with interesting use of narrative, accessible language, varied sentence length, and effective structure.
• uses a conversational voice.

If Shmoop were to write an adaptation of Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue" we might start like this:

I've got to say, language is a tricky thing. I have, like, dozens of stories about ways in which language has made life easier or harder for my family. For instance:

When I was fifteen, I impersonated my mom on the phone—because she asked me to, not for fun or anything. The stockbroker on the other end of the line may have believed my adolescent voice was that of "Mrs. Tan."

And my mom was standing in the back whispering in broken English. She was mad that the guy had lied to her. Apparently, he was supposed to send a check, but it was two weeks past due.

And then I said in perfect English, "Yes, I'm getting rather concerned. You had agreed to send the check two weeks ago, but it hasn't arrived."

I can only imagine what he thought a few weeks later, when the real Mrs. Tan spoke to him very differently in his office.

I am not a linguistics scholar. I am a writer. And by that definition, I am someone who has always loved language.

When you're finished writing your talk, read it aloud to yourself at least once. If there are any parts that sound clunky when you say them out loud, fix them. When you're satisfied with your work, upload it below.