Listen To Me Words and Synopsis

Listen to me words

 

Define these words

• Noun - Any of a class of words naming or denoting a person, thing, place, action, quality.

• Verbs - A word used to describe an action, state, or occurrence, and forming the main part of the predicate of a sentence.

• Adverb - Any of a class of words used generally to modify a verb, adjective, another adverb, a phrase, or a clause, by expressing time, place, manner, degree, cause etc

• Adjective - A word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase.

​

Things to look out for

• Small detail – When writing it is important you decide what details to include, this comprises of huge details but also small details that without realising can change the meaning of the entire text. These small details can include describing the simple action of knocking or something even simpler such as walking. ‘She lightly knocked on the door’ tells us much more then ‘she knocked on the door’ however, it's also important to note that sometimes it is more beneficial to write exactly what the person is doing. Another example would be ‘she walked softly’ rather than ‘she walked’ the addition of the adverb ‘softly’ creates a much bigger image, is she perhaps a meeker character? Is there a reason she is walking quietly?  

• Get rid of the adverbs and adjectives – When writing, it is easy to fall into the trap of overusing adverbs and adjectives – it is important that you explore the possibility of stronger verbs or other techniques before using them. For example, reading ‘Her eyes bore into the man as she stood holding her once full drink, ‘don’t ever come near me again’ her voice was cold and stern as she spoke before giving the man one more glance and striding off.’ is much better than reading ‘she looked at the man furiously, her hand shaking with anger as it held her once full drink, ‘don't ever come near me again’ her voice rang out loudly, full of hatred before giving him another hate filled stare and walking off.’  

• Change the verb – Another thing to look out for when writing is how you can change the verb and how that can impact the text. ‘She tapped on the door. It echoed in her ears like an ace to a carcass’ in comparison to the first sentence this conveys a much deeper meaning, adding the word echoed suggests this action is creating anxiousness within them, possibly at the reaction this could elicit. The inclusion of the verb ‘tap’ also already describes a light knock, removing the need for the adverb ‘lightly’. ‘She crept across the path feeling as though her movements created an explosion with every step’ - changing the adverb to the verb ‘crept’ creates the illusion that she is walking slowly and quietly without stating it. The addition of the word ‘explosion’ allows the readers to see she is anxious about the noise she is creating whilst also making it feel as though she is waiting for something bad to take place.  

• Avoid cliches – Cliches within text are sometimes unavoidable, however, it is essential you look for different ways to describe something before resorting to them. This can include trying to find unique metaphors and similes to replace them – for example the use of the phrase ‘it’s raining cats and dogs out there’ you can describe the impact of the rain on the ground, the people running for shelter or the water rushing down the road or down a drain.  

​

Imagine task

For this task, we had to imagine a character standing alone in a room. We had to see the room through their eyes and write a pure description of it. The character in my piece had just received a phone call about a promotion at work. We focused on using our words to describe and portray how someones mental state can colour their perceptions.

​

The once wearisome room, clad with lifeless hues and dust-covered furniture had now become the miraculous opposite, as soon as the telephone was placed back on the table, by ten trembling digits.

A facade of rose-tinted glasses converted the room into an expanse of joy, a physical embodiment of good news and newfound hope.

Coatings of dust that lay upon the vintage rocking chair in the center of the space seemed no longer like a layer of burden. Instead, they became molecules of fortune - millions of specs announcing their congratulations, content with being dusted away and replaced with a clean slate.

​

Exercise

''The man ran down the road towards the house.''

• Man is the lowest common denominator. What other words could you use to be more specific. (remember only using nouns)

• Ran is also the lowest common denominator

• It describes movement in the dullest way.

• Think of other words to describe running/ran (remember only using verbs)

​

Alternative words for running/ran:

1. Dashed

2. Ambled

3. Flew

4. Galloped

5. Scrambled

​

Compare and contrast

For this task we had to find a short story or an extract from a story and identify all of the interesting and listen to me words - after finding and highlighting them we then had to review them as writers, changing them to words we would use or if we would use a word there at all. This allows us to realise when it is necessary to add a verb/adverb and when it is necessary to not, it was an interesting activity to delve into why writers may choose certain words and what words I would use instead. I completed this task with my classmate Ella.

​

The Lottery - Shirley Jackson

The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o’clock; in some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June 20th, but in this village, where there were only about three hundred people, the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o’clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner. 

The children assembled first, of course. School was recently over for the summer, and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them; they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play, and their talk was still of the classroom and the teacher, of books and reprimands. Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix—the villagers pronounced this name “Dellacroy”—eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys. The girls stood aside, talking among themselves, looking over their shoulders at the boys, and the very small children rolled in the dust or clung to the hands of their older brothers or sisters. 

Soon the men began to gather, surveying their own children, speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes. They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed. The women, wearing faded house dresses and sweaters, came shortly after their menfolk. They greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip as they went to join their husbands. Soon the women, standing by their husbands, began to call to their children, and the children came reluctantly, having to be called four or five times. Bobby Martin ducked under his mother’s grasping hand and ran, laughing, back to the pile of stones. His father spoke up sharply, and Bobby came quickly and took his place between his father and his oldest brother. 

The lottery was conducted—as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program—by Mr. Summers, who had time and energy to devote to civic activities. He was a round-faced, jovial man and he ran the coal business, and people were sorry for him because he had no children and his wife was a scold. When he arrived in the square, carrying the black wooden box, there was a murmur of conversation among the villagers, and he waved and called. “Little late today, folks. ” The postmaster, Mr. Graves, followed him, carrying a three-legged stool, and the stool was put in the center of the square and Mr. Summers set the black box down on it. The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool, and when Mr. Summers said, “Some of you fellows want to give me a hand?” there was a hesitation before two men. Mr. Martin and his oldest son, Baxter, came forward to hold the box steady on the stool while Mr. Summers stirred up the papers inside it. 

The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box. There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the first people settled down to make a village here. Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything’s being done. The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained. 

 

Assembled (verb) - Congregate  

Boisterous (Adjective) - Rowdy  

Stuffed (verb) -  Cram

Pronounced (verb)  - Articulated

Clung (verb)  - Clutched

Surveying (verb)  - Observing

Faded (Adjective)  - Bleached

Devote (Verb)  - Dedicate

Paraphernalia (Noun) - Implements 

​

​

​

Evaluation

During this week's sessions, we covered ways in which we can sharpen our writing using 'Listen to me words', which encourages your writing to choose your words wisely and limit the use of adverbs. I found this helpful as I find that I sometimes have the tendency to overcompensate my writing with an excess of description and 'fluff', which can take away from the important aspects. As I am used to making mistakes like this, I initially found it difficult to craft my work using the methods we learned as I wasn't sure what to remove. An Exercise that helped me to overcome this was reading published work and determining ways in which the writing could be sharper by removing words and replacing them with more descriptive ones.

Overall, these sessions have allowed me to pay attention to what I can change in my writing in order to make it clearer and more precise.

​

Synopsis writing

What is a synopsis?

The word "synopsis" comes from the Ancient Greek word synopsesthai which means quite literally "a comprehensive view." 
 A novel synopsis includes a brief summary of your story's main plot, subplots, and the ending, a few character descriptions, and an overview
of your major themes.
A novel synopsis appears in the query letter you will send to potential literary agents and publishers. Literary agents and publishers will then use the synopsis to determine the marketability and salability of your book.

​

Essential elements of a synopsis

• Characters: The protagonist and antagonist form the foundation of your story; the characters are why the story was written in the first place. Within your synopsis, it is essential that you make your characters strong and memorable whether they are main characters or simply background characters. Each character holds an importance to the story and if not made interesting, your synopsis won't be either as well, which in turn creates an uninteresting story.  

• Conflict: Conflict is the primary tension within your story, it gives the readers a reason to keep reading. Describing the main conflict within your synopsis is important, without conflict even with interesting and well-developed characters your story loses the relatability and memorability every story needs – this is why it is important to include within a synopsis, so they can see your story is a story and not just a description of characters.  

• Narrative arc: The narrative arc, including the inciting incident and the ending, is the skeleton of your plot – it is the outline of every part of your story. However, within a synopsis it is important you break the narrative arc into simpler terms and stick to describing the 5 main elements – this includes, exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. Including this in your synopsis allows readers to understand the basic outline of your story, giving them an insight to what they will be reading and gaining their interest. 

​

Five tips for writing a synopsis

• Write in the third person. Even if your book is not written in the third person, keeping your synopsis in third person creates more professionalism and a narrative distance from your story.

•  Keep it short and written in present tense. A good synopsis is single-spaced and typed, with a word count between 500-700 words.  

• State the category. It is important to decide on the closest category that your story falls into, even if it includes a multitude, deciding on a category helps a literary agent envision how and what market to sell the book within.  

• Reveal it all. A synopsis is not the same as the blurb written on the back of a book, it is meant to tell you about the whole story rather than simply intrigue a reader or buyer.  

• Convey your voice. Your synopsis is an extension of your writing style, so make sure it sounds like your writing and is in line with your voice – it is an opportunity to sell yourself as a writer.  

​

Write a Synopsis

I decided to write a synopsis for my short story, 'A Boston Bandit', as it was my chosen piece for my audio recording and I wanted to demonstrate how the plot of my story could be summarised into a synopsis effectively. To help me write this, I decided to use the 'Curtis Brown Collective' template in order to guide me in the right direction when it comes to the layout, word count, content and style of my synopsis.

• Link to the Curtis Brown Synopsis steps

​

A Boston Bandit synopsis

A Boston Bandit

​

​

Evaluation

During these sessions, we learned all about writing a synopsis, and why it is important when it comes to summarising your work, especially in the publishing industry.

We covered the important aspects of a synopsis, and their importance, then applied these skills to writing our own.

I was intrigued by the art of writing a synopsis as it was not something that I had ever written before and had little idea of what they should look like. This is why learning about the basic structure came in handy as I understood the layout and process. In particular, the 'Curtis Brown Collective' template aided me in writing my own synopsis.

I did run into a few problems when writing my own, as I was unsure of how much information I should include, but after reading back through the slides and practicing, I was more confident.

Overall, these sessions have allowed me to understand the importance of a synopsis and the skills I need to write my own for my own work.

​

​

​