Activity 4 — Action Writing

Teacher's Notes

The next activity to extend your story is to do two kinds of Action Writing--narration and physical action. The first one, narration, doesn't have to be very long, but it is very important. It sets up the whole story. One way to think of this is as a "wide angle" or "establishing shot" in a movie. This is the part that shows what the situation is. In a fairy tale, you might read, "Once upon a time there was a very rich king who had a daughter who refused to get married."

The first part of Activity 4 is to READ OVER everything you've written so far and ADD SOME NARRATION at the beginning or anywhere else to make sure that someone reading knows what is going on.

Second, add physical action to your story. This could be the exciting part, or the funny part, or something else. This is the part where you describe the fight, or how someone is clinging to a branch and almost falling, or how the baby throws food all over the wall. As you write, try to see the action in slow motion. I want you to describe it in detail. Don't just say, "She ran really fast and slid into second". Instead say "She stretched out her legs, pounding hard, as far as they could reach, dropped onto her side, and slid through the dirt on her right hip and elbow . . ." Try to put lots of action in the next assignments!

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