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Wowser sequence in Life season 1 episode 3

ByJohn Brown

I just started watching Life, the NBC series. I’ve enjoyed the first four episodes. In fact, episode three has one of the most brilliant sequences I’ve ever seen.

Here’s the setup. Charlie Crews is a detective who was sent to jail for a murder he didn’t commit. Being a cop in prison made him a target for many many beatings. Eleven years later they found none of the DNA at the murder site was his. So they released him, and, as settlement for damages, gave him a bunch of money, and allowed him to be a cop again. He’s been partnered up with Dani Reese. Nobody really wanted him, but she’s had problems of her own and got stuck with him. Crews had a car in the first episode, geeked out about GPS and handsoff telephone (stuff his missed in prison), but the ex-con lawyer Crews has put up in his mansion ran it over with a tractor. He’s been riding the bus. In this sequence, Crews and Reese are looking for a guy named Manny Umaga who carjacked a man and his wife then shot the wife. In this sequence they go find where he is and then go get him.

Watch it and then read my comments below. It runs from minute 15:49 to 21:15.

1. Surprise. You walk into a dangerous car shop. What are you expecting? You know you’re going to meet hard characters. They’re not going to want to talk to you. There’s some danger and so a bit of suspense. So we meet some hard characters. I was still surprised by the particulars of Buscando Maldito–his neck tattoos and hat. Wonderful and new (at least to me). But before we can have a confrontation–surprise–Crews sees the car of his dreams. Then we get that wonderful exchange between him and Maldito and El Repitito. Total humor. Totally unexpected. Then Maldito suggests a posse? Not only is he willing to talk, but he suggests he goes with them? When going to get Umaga, more surprises. Flash bangs? Big honking Samoan running? Busts down the door? Takes Crews by the neck? Crews pulls his own knife? Surprise after surprise after surprise.

2. Characters. Loads of interest factors (see my post on character). Maldito and Repitito have fabulous eccentricities. Crews displays his own interesting reaction to the car. Surprising, but logical (BTW, in a later scene you see him driving the car!) Then we see his prison background coming up with the knife. Love his backstory. And did you notice how strong Reese is, taking none of Maldito’s crap?

3. Dialogue. Did you notice how the first few times Reese says anything to Maldito he doesn’t respond to her question? Total avoidance of on-the-nose dialogue, talking cross-purpose.

4. Soundtrack. The way they bridged the two scenes with that music was fabulous. And the music itself. Wow. BTW, that’s “No Nadie” by Edgard Jaude, Rafael Torres, & Andres Ayrado.

5. Conflict. Between the Maldito and Crews about the car, between Maldito and Reese, between Umaga and Crews. Then Crews and Reese (with the knife).

I think I watched this a dozen times. Loved it.

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  • What you need as a storyteller

    ByJohn Brown

    Brand-StorytellerOne of the most important things I ever learned about telling stories was in Orson Card’s weeklong boot camp where we “workshopped” stories by doing zero workshopping. Zero critiques. In fact, critiques were verboten.

    Instead, Card asked us to simply provide a report of what he called the three grunts a reader makes when things aren’t working–where it was boring, unclear, or didn’t ring true.

    We were to provide a report of our reader reaction, including parts that really entertained or interested us. NOTHING more.

    He compared it to going to the doctor. We were to report our “symptoms.” The writer’s job was to diagnose if it was an issue and prescribe a remedy, if any.

    Doing that with 19 stories over three days was amazing. It totally opened up what story was about. And taught me what beta reading was all about. One of the most insightful writing experiences I’ve ever had.

    Nowadays when I read, I try my best to simply report. And that’s it. If, afterwards, the writer wants to brainstorm ideas together, that’s fine. But I don’t ever want to diagnose and prescribe because there have been too many books that didn’t work for me that delighted tons of readers. My critique or advice would have been exactly the wrong thing.

    All I can do is report my reaction. And then think about what would have fixed it for me.

    Kristine Rusch recently wrote a great article about this and other things called “Writing by Committee” in which she suggests a list of things authors need to be successful. Give it a read. I think she makes a lot of good points.

    And a few I disagree with. She is quite forceful about writers not acting as first readers. I think that’s bunk. And she says as much in the comments. If a writer can give a reader response instead of a critique, that’s as helpful as a non-writer giving a reader response. I also disagree that you have to toss something and start over if it doesn’t work. If it’s fundamentally broken, sure. But many times a small adjustment gets you back on track.  Finally, yes, a story has to be surprising. At the same time, you had better deliver the type of experience you promise your reader. And that’s all defined by genre. You can’t promise your readers a thriller and deliver a romance. That only leads to irritated readers. I believe you have to consider your audience. But these are all quibbles. The article is great.

    BTW, please note I used “storyteller” in the title. I did that on purpose. More and more, I find I’m not interested in writing. “Writing” doesn’t seem to convey what I’m after. However, I am interested in telling cracking stories.

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  • Authors love women

    ByJohn Brown

    Two fascinating articles on who drives books sales. Would love to see original reports.

    September, 2010
    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2012801171_litlife06.html

    I arrived back at work, along with 2,000 e-mails and about that many incoming books, I got a report from Bowker, a global firm that tracks people’s book-buying habits. Here are some of the more interesting bits from 2009:More than 40 percent of Americans over the age of 13 purchased a book; the average age of the American book buyer is 42.

    Women make 64 percent of all book purchases, even among detective stories and thrillers, where they buy more than 60 percent of that genre. [see, they act all touchy feeling, but most women like to see someone kick hiney. Except I suspect a lot of that 60% is driven by mysteries; or are there a lot of women that like, say, Lee Child?]

    Thirty two percent of the books purchased in 2009 were from households earning less than $32,000 annually. A fifth of those sales were for children’s books.

    The biggest nonfiction genre is biography and autobiography.

    Whoa. Go gals.

    June, 2011
    http://tomorrowsbook.com/format-wars/features/who-is-buying-ebooks-women-reading-fiction.html

    Surprise, surprise: the hardcore power users in the eBook world are the same demographics as the hardcore power users in the physical-book word, as a report called Consumer Attitudes Toward E-Book Reading from the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) indicates both hardcore groups are dominated by women buying fiction.

    No surprise, really. The BISG says most eBook power buyers — that is, someone buying an eBook at least once a week — are by and large women (some 66 percent), who mostly buy fiction. Out of the entire eBook market, power buyers make just 18 percent of all buyers, but they buy 61 percent of the eBooks. [Holy crap! 18% are driving the sales–who are these people?! Of course, this is just the old 80/20 rule showing its face again.]

    In terms of exactly what is selling: literary fiction, science fiction and romance lead the way, each with over 20 percent of the market. [Go SFF!! and those are not the normal breakdowns, SFF is usually under 10%] Overall, eBooks comprise 11 percent of the total book market, with 13 percent of print book buyers also downloading eBooks.

    That evolution of the market isn’t surprising: early gadget adopters tend to be men, but as eReaders become more mainstreams, its userbase logically would look like the book market as a whole. And that’s exactly what happened: If women buy 64 percent of all books, it’s no surprise they’re buying 66 percent of all eBooks. [Except I think you got your math wrong; they’re 66% of power buyers. You didn’t say what report said of total sales]

    Whoa. GO LADIES!

    Seems women have been driving entertainment in a lot of ways for a long time. Watch a few minutes of this interview with Hitchcock back in 1964.

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  • Good Stuff! A great place to eat

    ByJohn Brown

    huhot-fb-defaultNellie and I recently celebrated our anniversary and enjoyed a delicious meal at HuHot Mongolian Grill in Logan, Utah.

    If you’ve never been to a Mongolian grill, here’s how it works. You take a plate, pile it with your desired selection of fresh meats and veggies, douse it with sauces, then hand the plate to the chef. He then spreads it on his gigantic, circular Mongolian grill and cooks it before your eyes, then hands your hot meal back to you. You take it to your table and enjoy a fine, fresh stir fry of your own making.

    If you want more, or want to try something different, when you’re finished, you go back because it’s an all-you-can-eat grill. I can happily report that Nellie and I did go back. We wanted to go back a third time but were stuffed.

    The food was excellent. The service was friendly. If you’re looking for something different, I think you’ll want to give HuHot a try.

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  • Top 200 YA Authors of 2010

    ByJohn Brown

    On Thursday I posted the top 200 YA  novels of 2010. Today I’m happy to share the top 200 authors. You might be wondering: if we already have a top 200, why post this? Because yesterday was about individual titles. Today’s post is about authors. Some authors might not have any books that are checked out in huge numbers. But because they have a lot of books available, the numbers of checkouts they do have add up. Yesterday’s list showed you the volume for individual books. Today’s list shows you the volume for each author. You’ll see it does result in a different ranking.

    This list is based on the same dataset as the previous list. And so while I can’t claim it represents the top YA authors for the whole United States, it does show who is being read in this neck of the woods. It’s a great list for those wanting to find YA authors to try.  Please be aware that these are YA books as defined by the library, which takes its cue from places like Booklist and School Library Journal. Other books like the first three Harry Potters, Brandon Mull’s Fablehaven series, and some of Dashner’s stuff are considered Middle Grade and so do not appear on this list. Later, I might do a combined list.

    There were 1,283 authors on the list. “Times Checked Out” is the sum of all the times any of the author’s books were checked out. “Number of Titles” is the number of different titles the author has that were checked out. “Avg Check Outs per Title” is the average number of times each title was checked out. “%” is percentage of total checkouts. Rank is rank. Another way to sort this would be by the Avg Check Outs per Title to see who’s getting the highest number of readers per book. But I’ll let you fiddle with that on your own. Again, I’m very happy to see a number of Utahans on the list. Kudos to the following (ranking in parentheses):

    • Stephenie Meyer (4)
    • Shannon Hale (5)
    • Jessica Day George (10)
    • Chris Heimerdinger (18)
    • Jack Weyland (38)
    • Lisa Mangum (55)
    • Mette Ivie Harrison (56)
    • Aprilynne Pike (71)
    • Brandon Sanderson (73)
    • Ally Condie (82)
    • James Dashner (94)
    • Bree Despain (110)

    EDIT: 1/15/2011 12:57 AM. Okay, okay here’s the list by average checkout: Top 200 YA Authors of 2010, Part 2. A number of people drop off, new names appear, and positions shuffle.

    EDIT: 1/16/2011 9:32 AM: Informed that Bree Despain is also a Utah author.

    The List

    Author Times Checked Out Number of Titles Avg Check Outs per Title % Rank
    Rick Riordan 989 8 124 2.68% 1
    Suzanne Collins 888 3 296 2.98% 2
    Tamora Pierce 634 26 24 1.60% 3
    Stephenie Meyer 529 5 106 1.56% 4
    Shannon Hale 517 6 86 0.96% 5
    John Flanagan 413 9 46 0.93% 6
    Meg Cabot 396 37 11 0.58% 7
    P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast 393 7 56 0.37% 8
    Scott Westerfeld 354 12 30 1.19% 9
    Jessica Day George 328 6 55 0.99% 10
    D.J. MacHale 328 15 22 0.32% 11
    L.J. Smith 326 22 15 0.15% 12
    J.K. Rowling 318 4 80 0.30% 13
    Darren Shan 313 24 13 0.14% 14
    Cassandra Clare 309 4 77 1.25% 15
    Lisi Harrison 304 23 13 0.40% 16
    Eoin Colfer 302 11 27 0.13% 17
    Chris Heimerdinger 280 16 18 0.50% 18
    Cameron Dokey 271 9 30 0.74% 19
    Anthony Horowitz 260 24 11 0.46% 20
    James Patterson 257 8 32 0.23% 21
    Angie Sage 246 6 41 0.11% 22
    Joseph Delaney 240 9 27 0.33% 23
    Richelle Mead 202 6 34 0.21% 24
    Christopher Paolini 191 3 64 0.10% 25
    Alyson Noel 188 9 21 0.10% 26
    Garth Nix 182 11 17 0.21% 27
    Sara Shepard 181 8 23 0.41% 28
    Hilari Bell 178 12 15 0.10% 29
    Michael Scott 165 4 41 0.61% 30
    Gary Paulsen 163 26 6 0.20% 31
    Ellen Schreiber 160 9 18 0.20% 32
    Patricia C. Wrede 158 9 18 0.78% 33
    Frewin Jones 155 8 19 0.19% 34
    Melissa de la Cruz 154 7 22 0.28% 35
    Maggie Stiefvater 153 4 38 0.09% 36
    Ally Carter 152 5 30 0.37% 37
    Jack Weyland 151 11 14 0.09% 38
    Suzanne Weyn 150 8 19 0.09% 39
    Sarah Dessen 150 9 17 0.37% 40
    Margaret Peterson Haddix 144 8 18 0.46% 41
    Libba Bray 136 4 34 0.82% 42
    Rachel Caine 134 9 15 0.09% 43
    R.L. Stine 132 43 3 0.09% 44
    Caroline B. Cooney 132 30 4 1.07% 45
    Kelley Armstrong 131 3 44 0.27% 46
    Gerald Morris 129 10 13 0.09% 47
    Diana Wynne Jones 128 6 21 0.26% 48
    Jean Ferris 127 13 10 0.17% 49
    Anna Godbersen 127 5 25 0.17% 50
    Cecily von Ziegesar 126 24 5 0.17% 51
    Janette Rallison 125 10 13 0.08% 52
    Markus Zusak 124 4 31 0.08% 53
    Lurlene McDaniel 124 47 3 0.17% 54
    Lisa Mangum 124 2 62 0.91% 55
    Mette Ivie Harrison 123 4 31 0.08% 56
    Ann Rinaldi 119 31 4 0.72% 57
    Kate Brian 118 21 6 0.08% 58
    Carolyn Meyer 115 12 10 0.08% 59
    Cinda Williams Chima 113 5 23 0.38% 60
    Amelia Atwater-Rhodes 112 11 10 0.08% 61
    Frank Beddor 110 3 37 0.08% 62
    Heather Brewer 108 5 22 0.08% 63
    Laurie Halse Anderson 108 8 14 0.30% 64
    Herbie Brennan 106 5 21 0.30% 65
    Kristin Cashore 105 2 53 1.91% 66
    Robin McKinley 105 6 18 0.07% 67
    R.D. Henham 104 7 15 0.21% 68
    Donna Jo Napoli 104 15 7 0.14% 69
    Catherine Jinks 101 10 10 0.21% 70
    Aprilynne Pike 101 2 51 0.21% 71
    Louise Rennison 101 10 10 0.55% 72
    Brandon Sanderson 100 4 25 0.34% 73
    Debbie Viguie 100 6 17 0.46% 74
    Melissa Marr 99 4 25 0.07% 75
    Catherine Fisher 98 8 12 0.13% 76
    Jonathan Stroud 97 6 16 0.99% 77
    Lauren Brooke 95 26 4 0.33% 78
    L.A. Meyer 95 8 12 0.13% 79
    Lisa McMann 94 3 31 0.13% 80
    Simone Elkeles 93 7 13 0.39% 81
    Ally Condie 93 6 16 0.32% 82
    Lynne Ewing 91 18 5 0.06% 83
    Donita K. Paul 90 6 15 0.06% 84
    Carrie Jones 88 3 29 0.06% 85
    Lois Lowry 86 3 29 0.06% 86
    Kenneth Oppel 80 4 20 0.19% 87
    Mary Hoffman 79 7 11 0.06% 88
    Philip Reeve 78 9 9 0.57% 89
    Jen Calonita 78 6 13 0.12% 90
    Holly Black 78 5 16 0.12% 91
    Laurie Faria Stolarz 76 7 11 0.06% 92
    Catherine Gilbert Murdock 76 4 19 0.24% 93
    James Dashner 75 2 38 0.06% 94
    Diane Duane 75 9 8 0.06% 95
    Philip Pullman 73 9 8 0.18% 96
    Gordon Korman 72 16 5 0.18% 97
    Neal Shusterman 72 9 8 0.47% 98
    Jerry Spinelli 72 8 9 0.17% 99
    Jane Yolen 71 14 5 0.06% 100
    N.D. Wilson 70 3 23 0.23% 101
    Ellen Hopkins 70 6 12 0.06% 102
    Carrie Ryan 69 2 35 0.45% 103
    Becca Fitzpatrick 68 2 34 0.05% 104
    Lesley Livingston 68 3 23 0.05% 105
    Esther Friesner 68 6 11 0.05% 106
    Megan Whalen Turner 68 4 17 0.43% 107
    Alex Flinn 68 3 23 0.48% 108
    Elizabeth Knox 67 2 34 0.48% 109
    Bree Despain 66 2 33 0.32% 110
    Bryan Davis 66 8 8 0.11% 111
    Patrick Carman 66 5 13 0.84% 112
    Nancy Werlin 65 6 11 0.05% 113
    Ann Brashares 64 4 16 0.05% 114
    K.A. Applegate 64 18 4 0.05% 115
    Rachel Cohn 64 9 7 0.05% 116
    Linda Buckley-Archer 63 3 21 0.05% 117
    Cornelia Funke 63 2 32 0.05% 118
    Ted Dekker 62 7 9 0.05% 119
    Vivian Vande Velde 62 13 5 0.21% 120
    Nancy Springer 62 7 9 0.05% 121
    Carolyn Keene 61 49 1 0.15% 122
    Kieran Scott 60 6 10 0.10% 123
    Robin Palmer 59 3 20 0.45% 124
    Claudia Gray 59 3 20 0.30% 125
    Victoria Hanley 58 4 15 0.55% 126
    Carl Hiaasen 58 3 19 0.15% 127
    Philip Pullman  57 2 29 0.15% 128
    Lauren Kate 57 2 29 0.29% 129
    Marilyn Kaye 57 29 2 0.05% 130
    Lili St. Crow 56 2 28 0.14% 131
    Sharon Shinn 56 5 11 0.05% 132
    T.A. Barron 55 6 9 0.05% 133
    Marissa Doyle 55 2 28 0.05% 134
    Celia Rees 54 6 9 0.05% 135
    Alane Ferguson 54 6 9 0.05% 136
    Ridley Pearson 54 4 14 0.05% 137
    Elizabeth Scott 54 4 14 0.05% 138
    Clare B. Dunkle 53 6 9 0.05% 139
    Jaclyn Moriarty 52 4 13 0.05% 140
    James A. Owen 52 4 13 0.05% 141
    Justin Somper 52 5 10 0.05% 142
    David Klass 52 11 5 0.19% 143
    E. Lockhart 51 6 9 0.24% 144
    Cornelia Funke  51 1 51 0.09% 145
    Rachel Vail 51 3 17 0.28% 146
    Susan Beth Pfeffer 49 4 12 0.09% 147
    Rachel Vincent 49 3 16 0.14% 148
    K.M. Grant 49 7 7 0.27% 149
    Michael Grant 49 3 16 0.14% 150
    Maureen Johnson 48 4 12 0.05% 151
    Terry Pratchett 48 5 10 0.05% 152
    Kay Lynn Mangum 48 3 16 0.05% 153
    Sarah Mlynowski 48 5 10 0.05% 154
    Judy Blundell 48 1 48 0.05% 155
    Wayne Thomas Batson 48 7 7 0.05% 156
    Christopher Pike 47 19 2 0.05% 157
    David Lubar 47 8 6 0.05% 158
    Janet Lee Carey 46 3 15 0.40% 159
    Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl 46 2 23 0.31% 160
    Lene Kaaberbol 45 4 11 0.54% 161
    Alison Croggon 45 4 11 0.98% 162
    Tera Lynn Childs 45 3 15 0.13% 163
    Lois Duncan 45 13 3 0.13% 164
    Carol Lynch Williams 44 3 15 0.09% 165
    Louis Sachar 44 2 22 0.17% 166
    Laini Taylor 44 3 15 0.13% 167
    Martha Finley 44 14 3 0.08% 168
    Kimberly Pauley 43 2 22 0.04% 169
    John Grisham  43 1 43 0.04% 170
    Beth Fantaskey 43 2 22 0.04% 171
    Guillaume Prevost 43 3 14 0.08% 172
    Margaret Mahy 43 5 9 0.04% 173
    A.J. Butcher 42 5 8 0.04% 174
    Lauren Conrad 42 3 14 0.04% 175
    Justine Larbalestier 42 5 8 0.04% 176
    Deb Caletti 42 4 11 0.13% 177
    Joan Lowery Nixon 42 16 3 0.04% 178
    Aimee Friedman 42 3 14 0.04% 179
    Gloria Whelan 41 10 4 0.04% 180
    Anne Osterlund 41 2 21 0.04% 181
    Philip Caveney 41 3 14 0.04% 182
    Eva Ibbotson 41 2 21 0.04% 183
    Michael Carroll 41 3 14 0.04% 184
    Francine Pascal 40 14 3 0.04% 185
    Walter Dean Myers 40 11 4 0.13% 186
    Gillian Shields 40 3 13 0.08% 187
    Isobelle Carmody 40 7 6 0.46% 188
    Fuyumi Ono  40 4 10 0.12% 189
    Stuart Hill 39 3 13 0.12% 190
    William Sleator 39 14 3 0.08% 191
    Michael Cadnum 38 11 3 0.08% 192
    Timothy Zahn 38 6 6 0.16% 193
    Sharon M. Draper 38 9 4 0.16% 194
    Peter Abrahams 37 5 7 0.33% 195
    Madeline L’Engle 37 11 3 0.12% 196
    Jenny B. Jones 37 3 12 0.28% 197
    Kimberly Derting 37 1 37 0.92% 198
    William Nicholson 37 3 12 0.20% 199
    Susane Colasanti 36 3 12 0.94% 200
    Ben Mikaelsen 36 5 7 0.08% 201
    Jacquelyn Mitchard 36 5 7 0.08% 202
    Richard Peck 36 9 4 0.04% 203
    Tim Green 36 6 6 0.04% 204
    Marilyn Reynolds 36 8 5 0.04% 205
    Sarah Miller 36 3 12 0.04% 206
    Sara Zarr 36 3 12 0.04% 207
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    Teachers (and writers)! Free Class Next Monday on How to Teach Narrative for the Common Core

    ByJohn Brown

    If you feel a bit lost or anxious about how to teach narrative for the new core, especially stories, I think I can help.

    I’m an educator in the private sector and an award-winning novelist and short story writer. I’ve been teaching authors in various venues how to write for the last five years. I’ve been on writing podcasts with thousands of listeners, taught at a number of writers conventions, and had a series of articles published by the national Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America organization, an organization for professional authors. I’ve also been helping Nellie, my wonderful wife, teach her 7th and 8th grade language arts students the unit on short stories during that same period. We’ve taught it to twenty different classes and picked up a number of important insights along the way.

    This last year I couldn’t help but examine all the materials Nellie brought home during the district’s writing program adoption investigations. Some programs looked very promising; others not so much. Some got some things about writing flat out wrong. Most of the programs had gaps.

    Furthermore, because I work with so many people wanting to write, I know that it’s difficult to teach if you really don’t understand what stories really are and how they work. For lots of people, the subject matter can seem impenetrable. And yet writing stories is such a wonderful way to teach writing, especially because so many kids love it. You won’t find a kid who will spend extra hours writing a business letter or poem analysis, but you will find quite a few who will go crazy writing stories. And the whole time they’re practicing their writing skills.

    The question is how DO you write a story?

    What is a story?

    How can you tell if it’s good?

    How do you come up with ideas?

    Where do you start?

    And what the heck is this chart? Do writers really use this? (Not many that I know.)

    Story Diagram plot-mountain-pic

    And does anyone think changing the diagram to look like Aspen, Colorado actually helps?

    Story Diagram Aspen 

    Hey, students—please make your story look like Aspen, Colorado!  (Yeah, that’s going to be effective.)

    And yet it’s not as difficult as it appears. Nellie and I have seen a lot of kids really get into writing stories. We’ve seen kids WILLINGLY going way beyond the assignment to write stories that are eight, twelve, twenty-five plus pages. And as they’re writing, they’re practicing grammar, spelling, structure, vocabulary, etc. without knowing it and having a great time. I know that if you enable your students, many of them will write, write, write. Especially in grade school. But also in the higher grades.

    Stories can be a blast. The assignments can connect to many students. And the results can be wonderful. I’ve laughed out loud at some of the stories coming out of Nellie’s class. Others have been enjoyable on other levels.

    But for this to work in your class, you need to know some key things. You need to understand the core of story and the story development process. You need a lesson plan that details everything step-by-step so your students don’t flounder. And you need to know some fundamental tips (secrets?) about teaching this content.

    So I’m going to hold this day-long class for you. A full eight hours. And share everything Nellie and I have learned. This class will be for teachers at ALL levels (I’ll show you some ways to scale the complexity of what you’re doing). There will be NO cost. The only thing you have to bring is a pencil, paper, whatever program materials you have, and a willingness to have a good time.

    When we finish, you will know how to write a simple story like the ones your students will write because, ta-dum, you will write one! AND you’ll have a step-by-step lesson plan that builds on whatever materials you have—an official program or one of your own. AND you’ll understand story better than 99% of the population. AND you’ll have a bundle of techniques to help your students. AND you’ll solve both world peace and maybe the lost sock conundrum.

    Truly, I think that instead of feeling stress, you’ll actually be looking forward to teaching and writing stories with your students. If not, you may bring tomatoes and huck them at me, but please be aware that I will not stand still; to find satisfaction, you will have to be able to hit a moving target.

    If you’re interested, just click the Contact John link under my photo in the left sidebar and send me an email letting me know.

    Hope to see you in class!

    GET READY FOR A FUN DAY OF LEARNING!

    Topic: Teaching writing (narrative & the common core)

    Who: Teachers (and writers at least 18 years old), seats are limited

    When: Monday, July 29th, 8:15 AM – 5:00 PM

    Where: Rich Middle School, 54 E 100 S  Laketown, UT 84038

    Materials you need to bring:

    • Pencil
    • Paper
    • The writing program you’ll be using this year
    • Kooky socks, for those who cannot resist the urge
    • A lunch or a way to get one

    AGENDA

    8:15 AM Arrive

    8:30 AM – 9:20 AM

    • Can you create a redneck crapper?
    • The 1st secret to teaching writing: Attributes & techniques
    • The 5 parts of story
    • Thieves prosper – using existing patterns
    • A car, a beggar, and an idiot — basic pattern 1

    9:30 AM – 10:20 AM

    • The 2nd secret to teaching writing: Do it with them
    • Technique: Sketch then draft
    • Workshop 1: Zombies and kisses
    • Technique: Zing hunting
    • Workshop 2: Hunt zing

    10:30 – 11:20

    • What makes a story big or small
    • Workshop 3: Select a right-sized THOM and character
    • Workshop 4: Select a Goal
    • Workshop 5: Make character sympathetic
    • Workshop 6: 3 tries
    • Workshop 7: Resolution

    LUNCH

    12:00 – 12:50

    • The 3rd secret to teaching writing: Cognitive modeling and the 6-step process
    • The 4th secret to teaching writing: Our tiny brains
    • Writing is telling: Narrative & description
    • Technique: Yes, SiR
    • Technique: Broad-brush + 1
    • Technique: The Pause

    1:00 – 1:50

    • The 5th secret to teaching writing: Have fun
    • Workshop 8: Write your story

    2:00  – 2:50

    • How the pros revise—concept, line, & copy
    • Workshop 9: Content edit
    • The 6th secret to teaching writing: Our brains are still tiny
    • Workshop 10: Line edit

    3:00 – 3:50

    • The 7th secret to teaching writing: The 3 grunts (responding to a story and grading)
    • Share stories
    • What the heck did we just do?

    4:00 – 4:50

    • How to adjust for grade level
    • Common core
    • Your program and lesson plan
    • Identify black holes
    • Wrap up & next steps
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  • “A Few Things Writers Can Learn from Harry Potter” by Cheryl Klein

    ByJohn Brown

    Klein (isn’t that a lovely photo with the arch, the girl, and the color? It feels Potterish and is perfect for Klein) is a senior editor at Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc. (Levine is the guy who purchased Potter in the US), and the continuity editor for the U.S. editions of the Harry Potter books. A “continuity editor” is responsible for ensuring that the world an author creates remains as consistent as possible through multiple books. A senior editor, on the other hand, finds likely books and acquires them for publication.

    Please look at this list of best selling books of all time. Rowling’s success is simply AMAZING. And Klein looks, as an editor, at some reasons why she feels Potter did so well. Of course, there are other factors like the fact that it was a book the whole family could enjoy and the wonder she created with things like quidditch and every flavor beans etc. But the points she makes here are marvelous. Take some time to think about and digest what Klein has to say. For more essays, here’s her website: http://www.cherylklein.com/.

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5 Comments

  2. lol.

    Now you must go back and watch episode 1 and 2. Wasn’t that a great sequence in the car shop and then going after Umaga?

  3. It was a terribly sad day for me when this show got cancelled. It was our family’s favorite show at the time. Great music, interesting stuff in every episode. It did a lot of things that the cookie cutter police procedurals of the time just didn’t do.

  4. Sometimes you have to wonder about network decisions. Of course, I haven’t seen how it plays out, but right now I’m loving it.

  5. Well, just don’t look for everything to come together perfectly at the end. I think they knew that they were being cancelled, because they tried to come to a solid conclusion of the main storyline, but a LOT of stuff happens in the last episode, so clearly there was more show that they never got to make. Still, it’s my favorite police procedural to date.

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