The Finer Points
I may be getting a second class of ESL students. I teach as a volunteer, and my Wednesday night class is composed of Latinos from El Salvador and Mexico. But now a second class of eight immigrants has potentially reached out--these people are Chinese.
The class I teach is of my own making. I visit a lot of ESL sites and use ideas I see for lessons, but it's pretty much, for now, "Boot Camp" English. Last week we learned money and "What can you do?" "I can cook, I can clean, I can . . . " Next week is "I feel"--"I feel happy, I feel sad . . . " But then because I have students who cannot read and write even in Spanish, and are completely illiterate, there are other very basic things I have to teach. Next week? What is a normal body temperature? If you can't read and write and can only count to 50 or so, then how can you read 98.6 and above? You see, at least the students I have . . . I am teaching them to survive.
I envision a day, of course, when my students can write the alphabet. ALL the letters, not just the first five we did last week. And when they speak well enough that we start learning the finer points of language. You know . . . which witch is it?
Because I work with words all day, and then teach at night, it seems like language is all around me. And I started thinking about writing. You start out just telling a story. But then, like over at Lurker Monkey's flash fiction. you start thinking of story as beginning, middle, and end. No sooner do you learn to get rid of passive language, then you start grasping the whole "back story dump" concept. You learn pacing, and how to create more memorable characters. You get a few rejections or you get a beta reader, and you have, frankly, "Ah ha" moment after "Ah ha" moment.
So where are you in learning the finer points of writing a novel or telling a story? In my current work in progress, after years as a dialogue-driven writer, it's a lot of prose this go 'round, and it's a whole different level of storytelling. One of my characters can't speak . . . so all his chapters are internal. I'm learning to dig deep on the details.
Thoughts? Where are you on the finer points? What do you struggle with? Santo cielo, it's not easy.
16 comments:
So cool that one of your characters can't speak. (Cool from the writing perspective...)
I've had some A-HA moments recently, some big ones. And I know that everything that I write now will be different than before.
I know that I still have a lot to learn about the finer points, but I'm definitely on the way. I can't wait for the next big A-HA!
Right now I'm working on how much detail to put in--those little kernels that breath life into a story. I have a feeling that too many kernels is just as disastrous as too few.
Heather:
My problem in my wip is too few. There are scenes where I KNOW I can go a lot deeper. I'm actually pausing now (100 pages in) to work on that so I am sure I am hitting the right notes.
reading and writing and reading and writing is where I learn the finer points (hopefully).
In terms of what I'm working on, everything. I'm fairly comfortable with my sense of pace, the way I write action, and dialogue, but a constant concern for me is depth of characterization, especially as it battles with pace, scene setting (I think writing an SF novel has helped with this), internal aspects that I suppose connect to characterization. A lot of times it comes down to "how much" and "how do you balance things." At least for me.
Mark:
Since I started out in comedy, essentially, it was never about this huge plots, but rather the character front and center, and dialogue. So the emotionality and depth of character I usually nail. I wallow in plot. :-)
That sounds like such a challenge. My husband started teaching English a couple months ago but his challenges are nothing like yours. Wow.
A-ha moments... the biggest is the true genius that is Travis Erwin. He's given me ideas for my novel that are really pushing me and have me SO excited for this story. But you probably meant about my writing, right? I had an a-ha with my process (which I talked about on Monday) -- not so much my actual writing.
Hi Melanie:
There's teaching English to people who have actually been to school at some point in their lives . . . and teaching to someone who has never, ever been to school and can't read and write. It's incredibly challenging, and I think frightening navigating the world without language ability. This is the second time I have taught someone like that, though last time, the person actually had gone through fifth grade, I think and had an alphabet, but there were other deficits. Like she thought the world was flat. Things we take for granted that "everyone" knows.
I spend each Wednesday thinking of what "survival" element is important. Next week will also be the 9-1-1 call.
E
I always remember hearing about problems with prescription bottle because of once vs once (11) a day.
I'm learning to create tension that's more specific to character, if that makes any sense. In other words, play on a character's worst fears, and bring those fears to life.
Melanie:
I hadn't thought of that one!!!!
Jude:
That makes sense, versus just plot happening where there's not that connection.
And to tie in with your ESL theme, one of my worst nightmares would be to find myself isolated (or even worse, imprisoned) among people whose language I know nothing about. It would be utterly terrifying.
Jude:
One of my students is very scared, almost like panic attacks, when he tries speaking English. It's really overwhelming for him.
E
I think I'm working mostly on pacing. This thriller is killing me that way. I'm trying to keep it exciting, but the characters have to stop and figure stuff out at some points, too.
Maybe then, it's tension. Tension on every page. I think my latest lesson is "If characters agree, then why are they talking about it?"
And I'm still struggling with not tagging every line with "see" words, like stared, gazed, glanced, and just look.
I think the last wip was more about craft and voice. The work on craft pushed me so far over that my voice was stilted and I had to come back to center and find my balance.
This one is less about the mechanics of it and more about theme. The voice was easy because I'm using my natural voice and it fits the character. But everything else is coming into play, and it's not a quiet, self-reflective type of book but it has those deeper truths woven through it... which means that everything I see and read and think about goes through the lense of what's going on with my wip
E, I can't tell you how much I love the work you're doing with your ESL classes - and I can't imagine how hard it is when they don't even have a base in their own written language.
I've known a lot of different people who didn't have English as a first language. And I always think it's so courageous of them, to put themself out there. Even trying to say simple phrases in a foreign language is so humbling for me - I'm never sure if I'm going to get the nuances right, and so many times if you just mispronounce a word slightly it has a completely different meaning.
When I was in 2nd grade, my mom went back to work and we had a sitter, Anna, who would be at the house to watch us after school. Anna was from Poland, and she carried a Polish to English dictionary with her at all times. She was one of my favorite people, she'd let me leaf through her dictionary (which I thought was the coolest thing ever - like magic that you could totally decipher another whole language), I'd find words and then she'd let me try to sound them out in polish - I never did very well, but she'd correct mine and then I'd correct hers. Plus, she'd play board games with me and make us snacks and she was generally a lot of fun.
But I can still see how troubled her face would get if she misunderstood a word, or said a word she thought was right but it meant something else. I can't imagine how much more difficult it would be if she couldn't have relied one her well-worn dictionary - because she held onto it like a lifeline.
Arizona has been really aggressive, lately. They're asking questions they shouldn't when legal kids go to the hospital or parents apply for benefits for their legal kids, so there's a lot of fear going around, kids with big health problems getting no treatment at all, because they're afraid to go to the hospital, etc. I'm trying to learn Spanish really fast so I can go with them to appointments and help them answer only what they legally have to answer, but lately my two hours a day of study has turned into two hours a week. I'm trying to squeeze out 4K a day right now. So yeah, I'm one happy ball of guilt and pressure, LOLOL.
So right now, I'm mostly thinking of getting the words out. But pacing is a big obsession of mine, which sorta umbrellas over plot, emotional arcs, character, everything, LOL. And voice.
Talk about a challenge, Erica. My hats off to you.
Every time I start a new story I feel like I'm still learning. There are a number of things that I find myself stumbling through and some things that come natural.
I guess this business will always be a learning experience.
Post a Comment