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Hi,

Maybe, it is only me, but I actually found the structure of my short course a little confusing, so I just did all the parts in this course to be “safe”- just thought you should know.

As you should know if you have read an earlier post of mine in the category of “Short Course (posts)” that visual learning is my preferred style of learning, which is followed closely by reading/writing and kinesthetic learning styles and aural trails only a little behind as my least preferred learning style. However, my preferrence for visual learning is only mild, so it can be said that my learning style is reasonably flexible and adaptable.

The way that my short course in creative writing (Intermediate course) by BBC was presented suited my need for visual materials to learn more effectively as the whole course was presented online, so I could actually see the information to be read. Also, the use of some colour, such as the headings were in a different colour to the content captured my visual sense as colour helps me to learn better.

The actual completion of my reading and writing exercises for this course required the use of reading/writing methods to learn, which is really self-explanatory. Whereas actually having to put what I read into practice by completing writing exercises helped me to learn by ‘doing’ (kinesthetic), which along with the reading/writing learning style ties as my second most preferred learning style.

So, my short course not only addressd my preferred learning style, it also helped to develop my other learning styles, particularly reading/writing and kinesthetic.

So, I have finally completed the Intermediate course, which is a part of BBC’s “Get Writing” courses on creative writing. Overall I believe that I have achieved the objective set by BBC, which was to develop my skills of observation as well as develop my ability to write believable dialogue. I expected (or at least hoped to) somewhat improve my creative writing at the completion of this course, and I can honestly say that I think I have.

The 7 writing exercise that I completed were key in helping me to achieve these objectives and meet my expectatiions because they allowed me to put the tips, guidelines and other information into practice. I liked how the course was structured with information to read as well as exercises as it gives participants the option to simply read and/or actively participate by doing the writing exercises. I did both because I felt that for me personally it would be more effective than by doing only reading or writing alone.

 I was also introduced to a number of new concepts and ideas that I had never heard of previously. For example, the case against the use of phonetic spelling, which I had naively accepted as something people “just did” and assumed no readers had an issue with writers using phonetic spelling prior to reading about it in one of the topics. It was definitely a learning experience for me!

By, physically going out and recording live conversations for the exercise in Part 1, I understood more about the importance of making dialogue in creative writing believable, while still maintaining a sense of originality and maybe a sense of art in the writing. Being instructed to observe and listen to conversations for this exercise sharpened my observational skills a little and raised my awareness of my surroundings.

I can say that this course has indeed met my expectations and its objectives and learning has occured through meeting these objectives as described in the above examples.

Hi,

For the writing exercise in Part 1, I had to go to a public place to record some real dialogue, which I actually had a lot of fun doing. I recorded parts of conversations on the bus, and while that was interesting, I actually had more fun observing what the passengers were doing rather than what they were saying. I guess that this says (apart from the fact that I have no life) that I enjoy observation because visual learning is my most preferred style of learning.

Hi everyone,

Okay, so this writing exercise is supposedly the “final exercise”, which it would have been had I followed the exercises in order for my short course in creative writing. I still have to complete the exercise for Part 1, which will be my “final exercise” for this course even if BBC has not given it that title.

Anyway, I think that is enough waffling for now. For this writing exercise, I had to use the 2 characters (mine were Tanja and Ben) that I created in the writing exercises for Part 2 and Part 3 and put them in a tense situation for a short story. I decided to set my short story in the same place that they first met, which was at a law firm. Admittedly, I reused my storyline from the writing exercise in Part 3, but hey, if fits the criteria of a tense situation right? Besides, I developed my storyline further in this part, so it should be fine.

So, to summarise my 1500 word story, Tanja and Ben were in the waiting room at a law firm waiting for their parents. Tanja was annoyed and hostile, whereas Ben was a friendly boy, who tried hard to get along with everyone. So, Ben tried to start a conversation with Tanja, who was dismissive and uninterested in what Ben had to say. Tanja conveyed how she felt with her lack of eye contact or when she did look at Ben, it was only to glare at him. Ben, on the other hand tried to make eye contact with her and smiled a lot. My story is told through a third person, which meant that I could present the mental monologue (as well as the verbal dialogue) of both characters. Basically, Tanja was prejudiced against Ben and assumed he was just some spoilt, conceited brat and her thoughts revealed this. Ben’s thoughts revolved around his curiosity and shock at the things she said. The situation was awkard and tense between the 2 characters and it worsened when Ben told Tanja that his parents own the publishing company (that Danielle wants to sue). Tanja responded by launching a series of sarcastic remarks and insults at his parents (because despite being upset with her father, her loyalties were still with him and whom he cared about, such as Danielle), which Ben immediately answered to by defending his parents. Ben’s thoughts showed that he was struggling to maintain his normal cool, friendly behaviour, while Tanja was secretly amused at having hit right below the belt.

To be fair, my story was not a “complete story”, but I did follow the instructions and created a scene and wrote about 1500 words in my actual story (not this summary), so I think that it is good enough.

Okay, for Part 3, I was required to use the 2 characters that I created in Part 2 to write a dialogue of their first meeting, so I had to give them names as I had not done so in the previous exercise. The names that I chose were Tanja and Ben.  I wanted their first meeting to be a little different, so I set the scene in a law firm. Basically, the storyline is that Tanja’s father was representing his friend, Danielle (a famous writer) who wants to sue  Ben’s parents’ publishing company for breaching their contract, where they were in talks of not going to court at the law firm. Ben has to wait in the waiting room for his parents and their lawyers to finish their negotiation. Meanwhile, an irritated Tanja who had been waiting in the car for her father (who had promised to meet her there an hour ago) angrily enters the law firm. The secretary tells her father is still with Danielle and Ben’s parents and asks her to go to the waiting room. Tanja reluctantly goes to the waiting room where Ben is, which is where they first meet. The ever-friendly Ben tries to start a conversation with Tanja, despite sensing her hostility. Their personalities are developed in this dialogue, for example Ben smiles a lot and tries to make a lot of small talk, whereas Tanja does not return any of his smiles and her replies to his small talk revolve around sarcastic remarks and silence.

Hi,

For Part 2, I had to create 2 characters and write a list of things relevant to their background. This included their country of birth, age, education, introversion versus extroversion and whether or not they had any secrets. I created a teenage girl and boy who are both 17. The girl was born in Germany, but moved to the UK at the age of 3 with her father when her parents divorced. The girl comes from a highly educated family, where her father is a well known lawyer and she is expected to follow in his footsteps. Her mother, whom she rarely sees is an accounts executive who wishes to have as little as possible to do with her. The girl is articulate, sarcastic and opinionated and many of her classmates find her unapproachable and intimidating. But, she is always surrounded by her many “friends” at school who hang around her because they are scared of her and figure that it is better to be “with her” than “against her”. She is not a bully, but because she is so sharp tongued ,her classmates are afraid of her. Her social skills are poor and she has many issues relating to her peers, but most of all she is lonely.

The boy was born and grew up in the UK and comes from a previliged background, where his parents own a hugely successful publishing company. He is a popular and friendly student at his school and based on family tradition, as the first born child, he is expected to take over the publishing company when his parents step down from their positions. He is neither shy nor particularly outgoing, but rather comfortable in his own skin. But, he struggles to prove to his parents that he is ready to take over the publishing company who are seriously considering overlooking him in favour of his younger sister.

I found this exercise to be excellent because it allowed me to create 2 characters completely from scratch, thus drawing upon my visual skills.

Hi again,

I just realised that I have to record some conversations for this exercise, which was actually a suggestion in one of the topics for this course. However, I will not be doing this over a few days, but rather in one day. I will tell you about it later!

Hello,

The exercises at the end of the 10 topics consists of 3 parts, where the first exercise involves writing a short scene (using mainly dialogue) where the protagonist and antagonist meet for the first time. Just so you know, at this point (and probably) throughout this entire creative writing course, I will not be posting any of my writing here, because it is just too embarassing and I am not ready for it yet- perhaps I will post my writing in the future though.

I wrote a one page scene, drawing upon my reading/writing and visual learning styles to translate the visual images of this scene in my mind into words. My scene is set in a city bar at night where 2 sisters meet for the first time, where one of the 2 sisters Helen lives in the country with their family and Kristine was abandoned at birth due to their superstitious family’s belief that she is an “unlucky child”. Following the instructions for this exercise, this scene was developed using mostly dialogue. Also, I kept in mind the point raised in a topic that it is not always necessary to atribute each speech act. This was fairly easy to do since my scene featured a total of 2 main characters, but to make my characters more convincing, I defined the way they spoke through the use of a little slang and language. My character Helen was softly spoken and sensitive, while Kristine was sarcastic and suspicious of Helen for wanting to meet her. There was a lot of awkardness and tension between the sisters, which was created through descriptions and silences between then.
This was undoubtedly a learning experience for me, where I developed my dialogue writing ability a little further. I quite enjoyed this exercise, which reflects my preferred visual learning style as I was able to visualise the scene in my mind. I had a few images in my mind before I began writing, which I used to develop even more images to create a scene.

The second exercise required me to use a paragraph (provided online) and make it into a dialogue between 2 people. Using the information from the paragraph, I created a one page dialogue between a paraplegic girl, Lauren and her father, where she attempts to explain why she wants to move away from the family. Again, it was relatively easy to make it clear who was speaking through their speech. Lauren tried to be calm and reasonable yet convincing, which was reflected in her speech. Whereas her father was dismissive of her need for independence and very protective of her.

The final exercise involved working a soundbite into a storyline. I was feeling a little tired, so I simply used the example provided as the soundbite to develop a storyline. Basically, my storyline revolves around a slightly bitter and bored, 22 year old supermarket supervisor whose ultimate goal at work is to shock and irritate the customers, whom she perceives as disruptions in her life. She hates customers, but she hates her job even more. Admittedly, this is not a very detailed storyline but it was still amusing to come up with this idea. This exercise also allowed me to develop my writing/reading and visual learning styles.

Hi,

Wow, this course is actually a lot more demanding than what it seemed to be at first. But, I guess looks can be deceiving right? I cannot complain though because I am learning something and it is useful.

I read the final 3 topics (Dialogue as an asset, Parodies of dialogue and Tips) , so I am ready for the writing exercise.

These final 3 topics covered things such as how it is not always necessary to attribute each speech act, such as “he said” and “she said” when there are only 2 people speaking as readers will generally be able to work out who’s speaking. Also, this is not necessary if each character ’s speech is very defined as readers will also know who is speaking if this is the case.

Useful tips that were covered in this section included:

1. Dialogue does not necessarily have to follow conventional grammar and spelling.

2. To remember that dialogue serves these 3 purposes, which are to provide information, develop the story and adds depth to the character/s.

3. Subtext can be very powerful.

4. Avoid excessive dialogue.

5. Avoid excessive use of slang and dialect so your writing is still understandable in the future.

I will take a mental note to keep those tips in mind when I do the writing exercises in this course. They seem pretty useful, but again, it is general knowledge, although the tips certainly act as a reminder of common writing traps and other things to remember when writing.

So far, I feel that this course has lived up to its objective of developing dialogue writing skills as it has introduced some new ideas as well as refreshed some old ideas to write more effectively. Hopefully, I am now ready for my first writing exercise- wish me luck!