All About English Creative Writing

[The Alternative Story]

smurfette3:

Hi TAS,


Your free trial includes the materials? So if my ds attends, can he take home the materials too?

Would like to ask if you have any more vacancy for your holiday classes for Love to write at the East? tks!

Hi smurfette3,

Yes our free trial includes the materials. Your ds can also take home the
materials. We do have vacancy for our holiday classes in the East.

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

Ophoph:

Which is correct

1.I like dogs because I can teach it tricks
2.I like dogs because I can teach them tricks

Tks

Hi Ophoph,

The correct answer should be (2). 'Dogs' is plural so the correct
pronoun should be 'them' and not 'it.

TAS

[optimistforum]

Hi TAS


Can you please help, on the following \"recognition of a sentence\" type question?


Re-write the following, putting a capital at the beginning of each, and a question mark at the end of those sentences that ask questions and a full stop at the end of those that do not ask questions:

1. give a ride on your scooter

TAS, it looks like a subordinating clause. One could argue it has a subject and verb (Is the subject \"your\" or \"scooter\"? And, is the verb \"Give\" or \"ride\"). I suspect that the subject and verb are \"scooter\" and \"Give\".

Also, is it a statement or a question?

Yours, very perplexed

Optimistforum

[The Alternative Story]

optimistforum:

Hi TAS


Can you please help, on the following \"recognition of a sentence\" type question?


Re-write the following, putting a capital at the beginning of each, and a question mark at the end of those sentences that ask questions and a full stop at the end of those that do not ask questions:

1. give a ride on your scooter

TAS, it looks like a subordinating clause. One could argue it has a subject and verb (Is the subject \"your\" or \"scooter\"? And, is the verb \"Give\" or \"ride\"). I suspect that the subject and verb are \"scooter\" and \"Give\".

Also, is it a statement or a question?

Yours, very perplexed

Optimistforum

Hi Optimistforum,

The following statement that you gave is an example of
an imperative command.

For imperative commands (eg: 'Give the toy to your
brother!'), the subject is implied and it is always the same.
The subject is 'you'.

Hence if we analyse the statement and break it down, it would
look like this:

Subject: (You) - implied
Object: (Me) - implied: Give (me) a ride on your scooter
Object: (a ride on your scooter)


Parts of speech: (verb, noun, adjective etc)
Verb: (Give)
Noun: (a ride/scooter)

TAS

[KRR]

Hi TAS,


I have been reading your explanations for the grammar questions and greatly impressed.
In one of your synthesis explanations on UNLESS u have mentioned

S&T example 1

- UNLESS

Things to note:

1) The condition in the sentence should be after 'unless'.

2) There should be one positive part in the sentence and one
negative.

My question is

The crops will be ruined if it does not rain soon.
Unless ___________________________________

My answer is: Unless it rains soon, the crops will be ruined.

However in this question \"one part positive and other part negative rule\" does not seem to work.
Is my answer wrong?

Thank u in advance for ur reply.

KRR

[The Alternative Story]

KRR:

Hi TAS,


I have been reading your explanations for the grammar questions and greatly impressed.
In one of your synthesis explanations on UNLESS u have mentioned

S&T example 1

- UNLESS

Things to note:

1) The condition in the sentence should be after 'unless'.

2) There should be one positive part in the sentence and one
negative.

My question is

The crops will be ruined if it does not rain soon.
Unless ___________________________________

My answer is: Unless it rains soon, the crops will be ruined.

However in this question \"one part positive and other part negative rule\" does not seem to work.
Is my answer wrong?

Thank u in advance for ur reply.

KRR

Hi KRR,

Your answer is not wrong

Here, when we mention that one part is negative and one part is
positive, it is taken in the context of the sentence.

Usually, we will take 'it rains' to be negative. However, 'it rains'
in this context is positive, as you would need rain for the crops
to grow.

So the answer is still correct:

'Unless it rains soon (positive), the crops will be ruined' (negative)

TAS

[KRR]

Hi KRR,


Your answer is not wrong

Here, when we mention that one part is negative and one part is
positive, it is taken in the context of the sentence.

Usually, we will take 'it rains' to be negative. However, 'it rains'
in this context is positive, as you would need rain for the crops
to grow.

So the answer is still correct:

'Unless it rains soon (positive), the crops will be ruined' (negative)

TAS[/quote]

Clear explanation. Thank so much.

KRR

[LadyBug3]

Hi TAS,


What do you mean by 'building tension'? I read in your book about it and can understand but how to get a child to understand it better? :?

[The Alternative Story]

No problem KRR

[The Alternative Story]

[Editor's note: Topic selected & edited for http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/tips-writing-better-building-tension.]

LadyBug3:

Hi TAS,

What do you mean by 'building tension'? I read in your book about it and can understand but how to get a child to understand it better? :?

Hi LadyBug3,

Most children do not know how to build tension, their stories
tend to jump from one point to the next or they tend
to solve the problem too quickly and as a result the
stories are not gripping.

Example:

I heard a creaking sound in the house. I wandered
downstairs and saw, to my horror, a masked man. He must be
a burglar! I stood rooted to the ground, I was shaking with fear.
The burglar suddenly turned and saw me. He advanced towards
me and then he caught me and gagged me.

In the above example, the writing seems good in the sense that
it has no grammar mistake and there is a smattering of
good vocabulary used, however, as a reader, you are not
gripped by the problem. The tension in the story is not built
up, the burglar catches the main character too fast.

Here is another example of the same story but one where
the tension is built up:

Creak..creak. What was that? I heard a strange creaking
sound come from the ground floor. There was no one else
at home. My parents had gone for a holiday. Was it a ghost,
a burglar or simply a stray cat?

Shivering, I tiptoed down the stairs. The hall and dining room
were dark and forbidding. Shadows loomed in the corners.
Just as I reached out to switch on the lights to dispel
the gloom, I heard the floorboard creak again.

Turning around, I saw a masked man advancing towards me.
Petrified, I stood rooted to ground, too frightened to move.
With a sneer on his face, the man came nearer and nearer.
I had to escape. I had to. I forced my trembling legs to move.

\"Get back here!\" the masked man threatened.

Without a backward glance, I ran up the stairs, slammed the
bedroom door shut and opened the window to call for help.


In this example, the tension is built by slowing increasing the
intensity of the problems the character faces:

1) Heard a creaking noise

2) The character is alone at home and in a
big house
- being alone makes it more scary for the character and being
in a big house makes the source of the sound harder to pin down,
you need some time before you discover who or what caused the
noise

3) The rooms were dark and shadows loomed in the corners,
making the character more fearful

4) Just before the light is switched on, the creaking sound is
heard again

5) The character finally finds the source of the sound-
the masked man

6) The masked man advances

7) The character bolts for the bedroom

At this point, the masked man has yet to catch the character.
Unlike the other example, where the problem escalates too fast,
here the intensity of the problem slowly increases, thus
making it more gripping for the reader.

You can get your child to do this when he writes, get him to think of
how he can increase the intensity of a problem slowly and write down
the points of increasing intensity before writing his story.

TAS