A CATALOG OF NONFICTION TECHNIQUES
2. Set up a transition before making it. The setup can come much earlier in the piece or just before the transition
EXAMPLE
(A nonfiction transition to a new section. The transition is bold italic.)
James Madison kept notes of the constitutional convention, contributing to our present understanding of the constitution as much as the document itself. . . . Madison's notes are the most complete minutes of the convention. The official secretary found keeping track of the debates too difficult, and the convention was closed to the press.
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3. There are many words that help writers make transitions. They can be used any- where in the transitional sentence, but they are usually used toward the beginning.
A starter list follows.
Transitional Words and Phrases
after after that afterward all the time all through as long as as yet at the time before by the time during
the first time, the last time the first time . . . the next time for ("for the next five years") in the meantime
just as
TRANSITIONS OF TIME later
many years (days, months, etc.) later next
the next day on Monday once
over ("over five years") recently (currently) still
that morning (afternoon, evening, etc.) this wasn't the first time . . . once before throughout
until
up to this point when
while
TRANSITIONS OF PLACE At the [place]
In [place]
Foreshadow the change of place by having a character anticipate going there.
EXAMPLE
(The transition is bold italic.)
John knew Trenton was a rough town. He had never been there and wasn't looking forward to it....
The streets of Trenton were covered with wet litter. John walked down one alley.
Remember that a change of place usually involves some change of time as well, so you might need a transition of time.
Part 2: A Catalog of Nonfiction Techniques ^ ^ ^ 127 TRANSITIONS TO CONTRASTING IDEAS
OR DESCRIPTIONS although
believe(s) t h a t . . . believe(s) that but, yet, still
by contrast despite either . . . or even though however
in that case . . . but in this case
ironically (happily, tragically, or other introductory phrases) neither . . . nor
nonetheless, nevertheless normally, usually
on the one hand . . . on the other hand on the one side . . . on the other side
TRANSITIONS TO SUPPORTING IDEAS OR DESCRIPTIONS
according to better yet even better even worse finally
first. . . second . . . third for example
in addition to
in the first place . . . furthermore more important than
moreover one of the such as what's more worse yet
(Pagination of paragraphs or lists can also be used as transitional devices.) moreover
is (was)
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WRAPPING UP
Sometimes these transitions are useful, but try to conclude without them, especially without "in conclusion."
as a result owing to
for these reasons therefore in conclusion thus in summary, to summarize ultimately
Some of these transitional words can become a crutch for the lazy writer. If your work is loaded with moreovers, therefores, and thuses, try making transitions by repeating key words
you break the habit.Tricks of the Trade
• If your rough draft of a piece seems confusing or poorly organized, check your
transitions before doing anything else. Clumsy or confusing transitions can make pieces that are well organized seem disorganized.
• It is easy to fall into the habit of using the same transition method for every piece even
though another method might work better. Try writing transitions using several
different methods until you feel comfortable with a variety of methods. The better you
get at using a variety of transitions, the easier writing will become.
CHAPTER
Fiction Workshop
5
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If you're a singer, you lose your voice. A baseball player loses his arm. A writer gets more knowledge, and if he's good, the older he gets the better he writes.
—Mickey Spillane
INTRODUCTION
If you want your students to develop fluency, confidence, the ability to write longer pieces, and a sense of using good details, a discussion of fiction techniques is the place to begin. It is easier to teach some of the more difficult, technical aspects of writing, such as transitions, in fiction than nonfiction. Once students can comfortably move from one time or place to the next by connecting scenes with transitions, moving from one idea to the next in nonfiction (see Chapter 4) is much easier.
In Part 1, we present one of our favorite writing activity: "Weaving Scenes." You can use it again and again for a hundred different lessons; it always works and never grows stale.
Teachers from fourth grade to college have reported success with this activity. As presented here, "Weaving the Scenes" introduces action, dialogue, introspection, and description, but it can be used as a template—combined with the activity "Follow the Leader" (Chapter 3, Activity 8)—to teach any fiction technique. Use our examples or those you find all around you, but don't be too picky. If an example might help students develop a feel for the pace and the level of detail they want to achieve, use it.
We frequently begin a fiction workshop by teaching narrative technique, asking students to write the entire story in narrative first. Narrative writing is short and easy to read as a whole. Then we have students choose sentences from their narrative and expand them by weaving in action and dialogue, and by using the other fiction techniques. Students love this;
it's a real thrill for them to see their writing expand—like popcorn almost. They love the way their stories begin to sound more adult.
Of note, the hard part of fiction is ending the story. If students can't find a good end to the story, don't worry about it. Have them write the story in scenes, pursing one scene after another. They may find the ending somewhere in the writing. They may think of an ending later. In the meantime, they will have learned a lot about writing, even if they never find a good ending. For students who can never seem to find an ending, suggest that they try nonfiction, in which endings are a little easier to write. They may find that they prefer nonfiction. Most adult writers develop a preference for either fiction or nonfiction; students are no different.
Part 2, "A Catalog of Fiction Techniques," presents an alphabetical listing of techniques—
action, description, dialogue, flashback, foreshadowing, introspection, narrative, and transitions—
each with an explanation, examples, and "Tricks of the Trade" (tips for using the technique).
Although most of the techniques covered in this chapter are basic, foreshadowing is more advanced. We have included discussion of foreshadowing partly because it is so much fun, partly because students begin to develop an interest in the craft of writing when they try foreshadowing. Also, it helps them learn how to use transitions.
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132 ^^s 5—Fiction Workshop