Plot Creation Amateur Class

Plot Creation Amateur Class Lesson #1

Greetings and welcome to the first class started on the International Writer's Institute! Please keep in mind that we are in the beta-testing stage of the site, so frankly we don't know how this is going to work out. I'll just be doing my best to help whatever students we have master the curriculum of each Class level and imrpove their writings skills in each class - in this case, Plot Creation.

I'd start by calling roll, or more appropriately for this format of lessons, just listing what students are meant to be in this class so far. If you aren't on this list, you haven't been placed in a class for this subject yet or chose not to do this subject. In either event, consult the information around the site, or PM myself or a principal for instructions on how to be placed in a class such as this.

- "017350"

Because this is in the beta stage and we only have one student in any class yet, there'll be no set schedule. I'll post, then I'll be waiting for whatever student(s) we have in this class to reply with questions/submissions/acknowledgements before posting again. Don't feel pressured to post everyday or worry about me getting impatient waiting. I'm doing this for the benefit of the students, so it's up to them to keep up at their pace. If you proceed slowly with this, it doesn't bother me. If you post every single day after me without fail, then I'll do my best to keep up!

I'll be keeping to a continual format as much as possible in these posts as I can though. When addressing the entire class, I'll just type it out as I have so far. When addressing a particular student, I'll place '@ (student's name):' atop the paragraph. Once I start addressing the entire class again, I'll place '@ Class:' . This will just make it easier to show where comments are directed specifically, though of course all students can obviously pay mind to what I say to individual students.

Now that that stuff is out of the way, on with this first lesson.

The curriculum states that by the end of this class:

Pen & Paper wrote:Students will have learned all about the basic genres of Action/Adventure, Humour, Romance, Children, Suspense and Horror, and how to infuse elements of said genres into their stories. Remember: Very few stories include only one genre. For instance, the protagonist of an action novel may also have a love interest.

So for this level of class, we'll be focusing on perfecting your knowledge of both recognising aspects of the main genres and employing those aspects in your own works.

At the moment it's just 017350 here, so for now I'll start with a few comments on the entry he submitted for judgement to be placed in a class for this subject.

@ 017350:
First off, it's a good little story. Your writing overall is at a decent level. Here I'll only be working with you on plot and story aspects, so I'll try not to lecture you much about your spelling/grammar and such (not that you need a heap of lectures in that department anyway).

The prompt for that submission obviously intended for your story to be aimed at children, and as such would be centred in the Children's genre. You put together a story that clearly displayed elements of this genre correctly. It had a simple, flowing structure from start to end, and a simple story overall. I knew from the start of the story where you were going to go with it and so predicted the ending. But of course, someone of my age would be able to predict a children's story - this shows that it was indeed simple and straightforward enough for a child reader.

One thing I'd mention as being negative would be the part where the main character left the store without paying for what he'd intended to buy. Even if he was being herded out by the store manager, not paying for things isn't a message typically intended for children. Tim should have tried harder to remind the manager that he needed to pay, and succeeded - even if he just left the money on the floor at the door of the store.

The only other negative comment I have is with the start. You left much of the setting and situation a mystery. We found out that Tim was nine, but we don't know whether his sister is older or younger - though I'd assume younger - or where their parents are (or even where they are for that matter - though again I'd presume they'd be at home.) A children's tale should reveal that kind of information either at the start to establish the setting or through the story as it develops.

Genres aren't concrete rules, I know, but those are just my observations as to how you could have kept the story closer to the appropriate genre.

I'd like to know if you understand the comments I made. If something I said sounds wrong to you, don't be afraid to tell me you think I'm an idiot or that you don't understand. I'm not guaranteed to be correct 100% of the time, and since I'm just starting out here I'll need the help of you students to let me know if I make a fool of myself somewhere or if I'm not explaining something well enough.

If there's anything you wanted to mention about that entry yourself - such as things you did that I might not have noticed, or reasons why you did certain things - please do.

@ Class:
I think that's enough information to absorb for one post. I'll wait either for more students, or for 017350 to respond before continuing any further.

If anyone has any questions about how lessons and classes work or ANYTHING at all related to myself or this site, please don't hesitate to PM myself or a Principal. We're trying to get this site off the ground at the moment, so ANY comments at all are very helpful.