Archive for category The Craft Of Writing

A Poet’s Perspective on the Use of Structure (Guest Post by Poet Ron Hayes)

Ron Hayes is a poet and fiction writer from Erie, PA. He teaches English at East High School where he also coaches football, keeps stats for girls’ basketball, and continues to try to start a lacrosse team. A graduate of the Master of Fine Arts program at Queens University of Charlotte, Ron was named Erie […]

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Structurelessness

I started this post several times.  I kept trying to get my hands around structure – to find a context in which to explain it.   Then I thought I would write about structure in terms of Aristotle’s Poetics. But he’s already done that. Then I thought, “I’m a playwright.  I should write about the changes in […]

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Building Blocks of Storytelling

You are a baby sitting in a high chair. Your parents, aunts, uncles, their friends are telling each other stories around the dinner table. Afterwards, you watch cartoons while the grownups chat some more. Later, your mom reads you a book (My fave: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein). You are absorbing it all. Story […]

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Embracing Structure as a Tool for Your Story

In architecture, there’s an expression: form follows function.  This means that the way something is used dictates the shape of the building (or components of it). So, for example, stairs on a stair case are designed the way they are so that they can function the way they are supposed to: to allow a person […]

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Screenwriting Structure – The Three Act Paradigm

This month on 5writers, we’re going to be talking about structure, and what better way to kick us off than to talk about the most structured writing that exists – screenwriting! Not only do film scripts have extremely strict rules for how the script is formatted, but the underlying structure of the story has very […]

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A Poet’s Perspective on Grammar

David Locke works in the Library at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. He attended Louisiana State University as a double major in History and Creative Writing. In addition, he earned his Master of Fine Arts from Queens University in Charlotte. Though he hopes to begin submitting work again soon, he continues his self-imposed […]

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Grammar Blessings. And Curses.

I hate grammar.  I have been putting off this post, because I hate grammar.  I used to be good at it.  Now I’ve forgotten everything except the occasional comma rule.  And capitalization, I’m pretty good at that.  And incomplete sentences.  (I’m really good at those.)  And run-on sentences.  And subjective vs objective pronouns.  Okay, so […]

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Fun with Grammar

Here’s a fun sentence that is missing proper punctuation: Woman without her man is nothing.  (You’ll find this example in several places on-line, so I didn’t create it.)  It illustrates the importance of grammar (and knowledge of proper punctuation).  The key here is proper. The idea is not to ensure that you follow the rules […]

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Please Refer to the Diagram

I failed ruler in third grade. Though I couldn’t be trusted to take an accurate measurement, the notched wooden implement with the metal edge did serve a useful purpose in my young life: drawing precise lines and angles to diagram sentences. I’m pretty sure that was the same year I won the class spelling bee, […]

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The Pattern’s the Thing: The Uses of Grammar in Screenwriting by Allen Gorney

It is with great pleasure that I introduce guest blogger Allen Gorney: Allen Gorney is a Course Director in the MFA Creative Writing Program at Full Sail University. He earned his BA and MA in English (Film Analysis/Dramatic Literature Concentrations) from the University of Central Florida and has been teaching courses in literature, rhetoric, and […]

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