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90 ^ ^ 3—Getting the Words to Flow on Paper
3. Capsule: The capsule hook opens the piece with a brief summary.
EXAMPLE Fiction
Marlon the Magician sent something every Friday and it usually caused trouble. The purple dragon was no exception. Jesse, of course, didn't know that this particular purple dragon had been sent to save her life.
Nonfiction
Seatbelts have saved more lives in the past twenty years than any other human invention. Even more lives can be saved if we take a few seconds to buckle up each time we get in a car.
4. Definition: The definition hook begins with a definition, either from a dictionary or one you write.
EXAMPLE Fiction
Dragons are huge, terrifying beasts with beautiful, jeweled eyes and disgusting breath. The friendly ones are purple. It was one of the purple variety that met Jesse in a meadow one Friday.
Nonfiction
A seatbelt is something you spend three seconds buckling to save three years in the hospital. The simple act of buckling up each time you get in a car reduces your chances of being injured or killed by fifty percent.
5. Problem: The problem hook briefly suggests a problem that you will solve in the piece.
EXAMPLE Fiction
If a large purple dragon drops into a meadow in front of you one day, it won't go away until you understand why it came. Jesse knew Marlon had sent the dragon, but she hadn't the faintest idea why.
Nonfiction
Most people's biggest problem when driving is getting their passengers to buckle up.
The best way to accomplish this life-saving task is to explain the facts.
From Teaching Writing in Middle School. © 1998 Beth Means and Lindy Lindner. Teacher Ideas Press. (800) 237-6124.
Part 2: Directing the Artist ^ ^ 91
6. Question: The question hook asks a question that you will answer in the piece.
EXAMPLE Fiction
The question for Jesse was this: What do you do with a large, purple dragon? Hers landed in front of her in a meadow one Friday afternoon. Obviously, Marlon had sent it, but she had no idea why.
Nonfiction
Before you start your car, do you check to be certain all your passengers are buckled up? You can save money, time, and grief with a two-second check.
7. Statement of Authority: The statement of authority hook is most often used by experts writing about their subject of expertise. You can use it, too, provided you show why you or one of your characters is an expert.
EXAMPLE Fiction
When Marlon sends you a purple dragon, he has a good reason. I know. He sent me one, and it caused no end of trouble. (In this case the expert is Jesse.)
Nonfiction
According to a survey I took of students in my school, only thirty percent of them buckle their seatbelts every time they get into a car. They might buckle up more often if they knew the facts. (You are the expert because you did the survey.)
8. Quotation: The quotation hook begins with a quote, from a person or from a book,
magazine, or newspaper, that fits the story or subject. For fiction, you can make up people, books, magazines, and newspapers to quote.
EXAMPLE Fiction
"In 3050 King Fardmen declared the last dragon dead."—The History of the House of Fardmen. Jesse had read the famous history of her country written by the scholar Quiliman, and she knew it was wrong, particularly on the subject of dragons. One Friday, more than 150 years after the King had declared dragons extinct, a large, purple dragon appeared before her. Dead? No. This dragon was most certainly alive, at least lively enough to cause her no end of trouble.
From Teaching Writing in Middle School. © 1998 Beth Means and Lindy Lindner. Teacher Ideas Press. (800) 237-6124.
92 <^>* 3—Getting the Words to Flow on Paper Nonfiction
"I know I should wear seatbelts, but I often don't" said Bill Bramer, a student at Leschi Middle School. According to my survey, Bill is like many students at Leschi. More than seventy percent of those surveyed said that often they did not buckle their seatbelts.
9. Statistics: The statistics hook cites a statistic that leads into the piece. For fiction, you can make up a source.
EXAMPLE Fiction
According to the Fardmen Daily Screamer, more than eighty percent of all dragon sightings in the year 4101 were somehow connected to one man, the Magician named Marlon. Experts claimed that this statistic was pure twaddle. They maintained that both the Magician Marlon and dragons were myths. Jesse never believed in the magician, but the day a large, purple dragon appeared before her, she knew Marlon had sent it.
Nonfiction
One in every eight people will be involved in an automobile accident at least once in their lives. Even a minor fender-bender can produce serious injuries if the passengers are not wearing seatbelts.
10. Comparison or Contrast: The comparison or contrast hook compares two things for
similarities, contrasts them for differences, or both.
EXAMPLE Fiction
(contrasting girls to dragons) Young, headstrong girls and dragons have little in common. Girls can rarely be successfully ordered around, whereas dragons are always under orders, usually those of a magician. Girls laugh at magicians; dragons worship them. Girls are sometimes pretty; dragons are always gorgeous, if you can ignore their stink. Getting a girl together with a dragon is difficult, but this was the Magician Marlon's task one Friday when he sent a large, purple dragon to meet a girl named Jesse.
Nonfiction
(contrasting what can happen in thirty seconds) It takes thirty seconds to buckle the average seatbelt and the same amount of time to die without one. People who do not use seatbelts are twice as likely to die in an accident as those who do.
From Teaching Writing in Middle School. © 1998 Beth Means and Lindy Lindner. Teacher Ideas Press. (800) 237-6124.
Part 2: Directing the Artist ^ ^ 93 Activity 7:
Warm-Ups for Cold Days
o u don't start with any aesthetic manifesto, you just do what works.
—E. L. Doctorow
Writing can wax hot and cold. Students, like all writers, may have trouble getting started because they are writing cold that day. In the "Warm-Ups" handout, we've collected ideas to help students get started on those cold days. Students enjoy doing these activities in their practice journals, independent of any writing assignment.
Instructions to Students
When you begin writing regularly (every day or every other day), you will begin to notice something strange about writing. Some days, writing is very easy—you are writing hot and nothing can stop you. Other days are just the opposite—you are writing cold and it is hard to get started. There is nothing wrong with you; this is the way of writing.
You should not stop writing just because you are having a cold day. What you need to do is get warmed up. We have a handout listing some ideas for warming up on cold days.
Save it; it's a handy list.
(Text continues on p. 97.)
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