Shaping a Text:  Work for Week 8 

                              Starting with the crisis

Start with the unusual event, what upsets the normal situation.   Then find ways of feeding

back-story.  It doesn’t matter how you do the back-story, but normally you need to try to

feed it in ‘naturally’,  for example through mention of key objects or aspects of the setting,

or through dialogue.   This latter can often be done by having one person tell another,

who wants/needs to know,  what has happened, what the situation is and who is who.

                            Writing and Re-writing

“She had gone to the hedge to pick some of the berries when she heard the splash. 

She turned round and saw the grey water still rocking convulsively.”

“She turned round, holding the berries she’d picked, and saw the grey water still rocking convulsively.”

“She had picked several of the berries when she heard the splash.  She turned. 

The grey water was still rocking convulsively.”     

The grey water was still rocking convulsively.  She stared at it, holding the berries.