Crafted Word Writing Prompts

Who, What, When, Where, & Why?

These five words pretty much encompass the tools of a writer’s trade.  They are the bases any good story must run around in order to score because they answer the questions any inquisitive reader will have when reading your account of an experience you had, or witnessed, or simply want to write about. These are also excellent questions for you to answer when keeping a daily journal, as they are excellent questions to ask when writing any kind of narrative story.

 Who? Who did you see? Who did you meet? Who did you think about? (And remember, who can also be you!) Writing about people (yourself included) is always interesting because as persons who share the same feelings, thoughts, hopes, and dreams, we are intimately connected to the human condition, and so we like to read about your own experiences, and the experiences of other people, to find out how you, or he, or she deals with a varied and complex world.

What happened? As soon as "something" happens, we step out of the ordinary and into the realm of the extraordinary. This something can be as simple as noticing a bee upon a flower, a chance encounter with an interesting person, as heartbreaking as any human tragedy can be, or as newsworthy as a major headline in the news. If it captures “your” attention, it can (if you write well enough) capture the attention of even the most discriminating and demanding reader.

When and where did something happen? What many aspiring writers ignore is the need for readers to be able to place "your" experience (or the event that you are writing about) in a time and a place in a way that engages his or her imagination. It helps your readers to "see" what you are seeing as you tell your story, and it helps them to become as excited about and interested in your story as you are!
Why am I reading this? Most readers consciously or unconsciously ask themselves: “What’s in this for me?” Knowing why you are telling your story is as important as the story itself. When you know why you are writing about something, it will help keep your writing focused on a central theme (often called a “thesis” in an essay); moreover, it gives your readers a compelling reason to spend their precious time sharing in the power of your words!

 Remember these five words as you write about an event or person.  More importantly, remember these words as you edit.  If you have answered, in some way, shape, or form, these five questions in your writing piece, you have created a firm foundation for a solid writing piece. If you are missing something, go back and rewrite until you are confident that you have “rounded the bases” in the great game of writing!

 Writing Prompt: Life is the best teacher of all. Using “Who, What, When, Where, Why” as your guide, write about an experience you have had, heard about, or witnessed where you learned an important “lesson about life.” This can be a “big” lesson or a “small” lesson.  Either way, writing pieces that include a lesson or moral are always fun and interesting to read!

Ideas:
1.    Maybe you took a risk you should not have taken, like trying to mountain bike down a cliff, or swim in waves too big to handle, or sail a boat on a stormy day?
2.    Maybe you heard about someone who did something amazing.  Tell that story as well as you can?
3.    Maybe you saw someone struggle through a hard time in life, and you are inspired by his or her courage?
4.    Maybe someone did something for you
5.    What is the funniest thing you ever saw, and what did it teach you?
6.    What is your worst (or best) eating experience?
7.    What should someone NEVER do? (Be sure it is a true story from life.)

Our summer writing communities are about trying new ways to write and to practice by “doing,” not “thinking about doing.”  People are impressed not only by what we do, but by what we try to do.  Even the best baseball player fails two out of three times at bat—and only the very best only hit a homerun every twenty times at bat!

Don’t be afraid to swing. A good story idea is like waiting for the right pitch, but if you don’t swing at something, you will rarely round the bases.

As a writer in your writing community, you are the batter.  When we comment on the other blogs, we are the crowd cheering each other on as we play in this great game of creating literature.

Writing a Memoir

    I walk into my mother’s room at the assisted living center in Concord—and walk straight to the refrigerator.  It’s the same motion I’ve made every day since I could move in an upright position—some primal pavlovian response to the coolness of coiled condensers. The refrigerator from my childhood—bursting with an unending gaggle of epicurean delight to feed six ravenous kids and a steady stream of friends—is now an obscenely small countertop square in the corner of an uncluttered kitchenette.  But, still, I still expect to see gobs of grapes, oranges, and apples; chocolate pudding, leftover tuna casseroles, and Shepard’s pie, appian way pizza, kool-aid, custard, baloney; and eggs: pickled, deviled, scrambled, and boiled; and potatoes fried, mashed, hashed and rehashed in the unending evolution of necessity and tradition.

    But sometimes potato buds: dry flakes mixed with water and two tablespoons of butter and mixed, when times were harder—times that were never actually mentioned—with a cup of carnation instant milk whose greatest benefit to childhood was to hide the peas, beets, boiled onions and other scourges of an Irish Catholic childhood that we were force fed in the daily penance of nutrition.  The whole milk with cream tops in glass bottles with paper caps; my father pawing the top shut and shaking the heavy cream back into the milk itself, exhorting us to imitate his practiced perfection, which none of us could do, and we always spilled the milk on the cracked formica table and vinyl chairs, and he always screamed, “Every night, somebody has to spill the milk: every single night!”

    And then, after the mopping rags, dinner resumed in the chaotic recollections of the day: fights about whose night it was to do the dishes, and who didn’t mow around the trees; who got seconds last night, and who got a C in penmanship, and who shouldn’t get two hydrox cookies for dessert because they weren’t smart enough to hide their peas in the potato buds. And we sat in the same seats with annoying little sister Annie on my right and an annoying little brother Tom on my left and my big sisters staring across from me: Eileen with her studious perfection; Mary Ellen with her jocky, untempered cockiness, and Patty, so old and hip that I hardly knew her, until she died so young that I can’t forget her; and in the overstuffed kitchen dad’s back was almost crunched against the basement door, and mom was pressed against the dining room wall—the room with the walnut table and eight matching chairs that we never used—a museum stuffed with bone china and silverware we polished every Christmas, bought, I’m sure, with green stamps and coupons.

    And out of that space we were reborn each day.

    Every morning, mom poured the wheaties, boiled the oatmeal and cut the grapefruit, while we listened to Joe Green in the BZ copter mumbling unintelligible warnings about tie-ups at the Alewife circle, and we sang along to  the hits of the week:“Watch me wallabies feed, mates, watch me wallabies feed.” Dad would grab his briefcase and we’d all try to be the first one to scream “Bye dad!” in a cacophony of competition, and, as if on cue, mom would sneak behind me and hold my head while I jerked convulsively, and she’d rub a warm wet cloth across my face and straighten my clip on tie and try to force down my cowlick and pick at my ears until I was fit to be presented to Sister Jean Beatrice—and, by some sort of convoluted math, to God.  And then she’d sit in her chair, quietly, and write her own mother a letter.

    Every single day she’d write grandma a letter … One of us could get the letter paper; and one of us could get the envelope; one of us would get to lick the stamp; one of us could put it on the letter; one of us could carry it to the mailbox, and the last one could lift up the metal flag. I never knew it was a ritual of perfection—a continual journey into the heart of the mystic love of family. You never know, but still, you remember.

    I never know exactly who I’ll see when I visit my mom. Over the past two years, Alzheimer’s is slowly chipping away at the edges of her memory.  One day she’ll remind me that it’s my childhood friend Danny Gannon’s birthday, and on the next day she’ll ask me who all the pretty children are…and like polite grandkids they dutifully tell her their names once again, except for Tommy, who screams.  “You know me; I’m Tommy!” who jumps on her lap and asks for a kiss—“Not that kind of kiss—a chocolate kiss.” And she smiles and says, “Of course, I know you.”

    I went to see her last night and looked at ads for cars in the Boston Globe.  She wants a Toyota. “Your father loved his Toyota.” I smile to her, “That’s because Toyotas were cheap, and dad loved cheap.” It doesn’t matter that she will never drive again. It doesn’t matter that we will have the same conversation tomorrow. It doesn’t matter that soon she will slip into a cloud of unknowing. It only matters that she is here, and in the magic and mysterious majesty of memory, she will always be here.

******************************************

Writing a Memoir using Poetry or Prose

We all have people in our lives that are really important to us.  A "Memoir" is a story we tell about that person.  This week, try and write a memoir about a person in your life who is important to you. This person can be a friend, a grandparent or parent, brother or sister, or aunt or uncle—anybody whom you know well and who helps you feel special and loved, or who has helped you through a hard time in life, or who is inspired and inspiring.

The Prose Memoir

There are many ways to write memoirs. Here is a simple and straightforward way to write a prose memoir.

1st Paragraph: Set the scene. Start with a scene where you and your memoir person are doing something together. Describe everything about that scene.  End the first paragraph by telling the one thing you like most about that person.  That becomes the "theme" of your memoir.

2nd Paragraph: Say what you mean. Write about why this person is important to you. Tell us your thoughts and feelings, and describe the specific “actions” this person does for and with you that makes him or her so special. Try and write at least five sentences—more if you can write more!!!

3rd Paragraph: Finish it clean. Start your last paragraph by telling us why everyone should have a person like your memoir person in his or her life. End the paragraph with one short sentence that"captures" why your person is so great—and use an exclamation point at the end. For example: "Uncle Tony is the coolest guy in the whole world!"

The Memoir Anaphora Poem:

Anaphora is a poetic technique that uses repeating phrases to start each line of the poem.  In essay and narrative writing (prose), it is called “parallel structure.” In both cases, if done well, it adds a powerful rhythm and cadence to your writing.  I used it throughout my “Mom” memoir. Here is an example from my writing:

One of us could get the letter paper; and one of us could get the envelope; one of us would get to lick the stamp; one of us could put it on the letter; one of us could carry it to the mailbox, and the last one could lift up the metal flag.

A good way to start an anaphora memoir poem is with the phrase “I remember…” and then create a list of memories using images and actions. Each line should be one natural breath long—usually around 10 syllables, if you count each syllable carefully. This helps each line be long enough to have substance and meaning, but short enough that your readers don’t pass out trying to read your poetry:) It is also ok to put in some short lines, too, for variation, but that is up to you.  The point is to say what you want or need to say.

Each new stanza should start with a new phrase.

For example:

Stanza one: I remember…
Stanza two: He (or she) always…
Stanza three: I wish…

I think you get the idea. You can create any type of anaphora beginnings that you want because you are the poet—and good poets are always willing to take chances

Post your poem or story in your blog. Make sure to read other people's memoirs and leave a comment for them.

Thanks for trying this!

Fitz

Here is a fun writing prompt!

Copy this sheet and post your answers on your blog. Be sure to comment on the other blogs in your group.

 ABC About You Questions:
A-Angry after a sports game:
B-Birthday:
C-Camp you go to:
D-Drink you last had:
E-Easiest Person to Talk to:
F-Flip on a trampoline:
G-Gummy Bears OR Gummy Worms:
H-Hometown:
I-In love With:
J-Juggle:
K-Killed a bug
L-Longest Car Ride:
M-Milkshake flavor:
N- Number of siblings:
O-One wish:
P-Pets:
Q-Question:
R-Reason to Smile:
S-Song you last heard:
T-Time you woke up:
U-Underwear:

V-Vegetable:
W-Worst Habit:
X-X-Rays:
Y-YOYOS are:
Z-Zodiac Sign:

Random Questions About You:

Spell your name without vowels:
Your favorite numbers:
What color do you wear most:
Least Favorite Color:
What are you listening to:
What is your favorite class in school:
Word you always misspell:
When do start back at school:
Are you outgoing:
Favorite pair of shoes:
Favorite clothes:
Where do you wish you were right now:

THE CANS:

Can you dance?:
Can you tie a cherry stem with your mouth?:
Can you whistle?:
Can you write with both hands?:
Can you cross your eyes?:
Can you walk with your toes curled?
Can you speak another language?
Can you put worms on a hook?

THE DO'S:
Do you believe there is life on other planets?:
Do you believe in miracles?:
Do you believe in magic?:
Do you make your bed everyday?
Do you know all of the states?
Do you know how to swim?:
Do you like roller coasters?:
Do you get an allowance?
Do you go fishing?
Do you think you could handle the stuff they eat on those reality shows?:

THE HAVES:
Have you ever been on a plane?:
Have you ever asked someone out?:
Have you ever been asked out by someone?:
Have you ever been to the ocean?:
Have you ever painted your nails?:
Have you ever sung in the shower?
Have you ever had a mean teacher?
Have you ever had an amazing teacher?
Have you ever wondered if there is life on another planet?

THE WHATS:
What is the temperature outside?:
What radio station do you listen to:
What was the last restaurant you ate at?:
What was the last thing you bought?:
What was the last thing on TV you watched?
What do you want to do today?
What do you want to do tonight?

THE WHOS:
Who was the last person you called?:
Who was the last person you took a picture of:
Who was the last person you said I love you to?:
Who is your favorite teacher?
Who listens best to you?
Who would you call first if you are upset?

CRYING SECTION:
Ever really cried your heart out?:
Ever cried yourself to sleep?:
Ever cried on your friend's shoulder?:
Do you cry when you get an injury?:
Do certain songs make you cry?:
Do you cry at the end of sad movies?

HAPPY SECTION:
What can make you happy?:
Do you make people happy?
Can music make you happy?:
Who do you make happy?
Laughed so hard you cried?

LOOK AT ME.
How tall are you?
Do you have braces? Who is your orthodontist?
What is your current hair color?:
Current piercings?:
Have any tattoos?:
Eye color?:

CURRENTLY WEARING.
What shirt are you wearing?:
Pants?:
Shoes?:
Necklaces?:
Hat?

HAVE YOU EVER

Been in a police car?
Called 911 by mistake:
Laughed at the wring time in the wrong place?
Ran away from home?
Cried in school?
Thrown up in a store?
Wanted to be a movie star?
Cheated in a game?
Done a flip on a trampoline?
Seen a dead body?
Won a prize?
Teased your brother or sister?

THIS OR THAT

Pepsi or Coke:
McDonald's or Burger King:
Chocolate or Vanilla:
Strawberries or Blueberries:
Meat or Veggies:
TV or Movie:
Guitar or Drums:
Adidas or Nike:
Chinese or Pizza:
Cheerios or Frosted Flakes:
Cake or Pie:

FAVORITES:
Favorite Show:
Favorite Movie:
Favorite Song:
Favorite Band:
Favorite Book:
Favorite Food:
Favorite Sport:

Any other questions you can think of?

 
 

Writing Prompt: Write What You Read

At the end of this school year, a couple of my students--students who I already knew well from coaching--told me how scared they felt in the fall when they were placed in my 8th grade english class.  They had heard locker room talk that I assigned huge swaths of reading every night, and that I expected them to write thousands of words--and to write every day! Though they were mystified when some kids said it was fun, they still didn’t believe their supposed friends; they had to be suck-ups of some sort, but it was only reinforced when I assigned a 500 word writing assignment on the first day of class. Five...hundred...reluctant...words...slowly and painfully extricated from the embittered hearts of enslaved teenagers. Where did a laid back ex-shop teacher get the moral authority to force them to blindly write tortured prose and then post those words to a blog where “everybody” in class also had to read and comment on that writing? Papers were supposed to be turned in and quietly returned several days later with scribbles and scrawls that justified the grade discreetly placed away from the prying eyes of their competition.

These were the same kids who diligently armored their bodies every afternoon with helmets and pads on the hottest of September afternoons to push a five hundred pound sled around the football field while coach LoPresti snarled at them with the sympathy of a South Boston townie--and this they did for two hours everyday. Every mistake; every slip of the foot; every wheeze from tired lungs laid out for all to see.  They did it because they love the game, and they knew that it was just what you had to do to be a football player.  But they didn’t know--even after eight years of schooling--many of them in an elite prep school, what it takes to be a writer.  For these kids, there was no literary equivalent of Tom Brady to inspire their practiced motions; there was no scrimmage at the end of class to showcase their hard fought efforts, and there was no game at the end of the week to make every bruised bone worth the effort. In short, there was no real joy in writing. Writing was just something done in class for a teacher and to the teacher. There was no game, only an endgame--that single grade at the end of each term.

None of us can write well unless we scrimmage in our backyards. If my kids have a pickup soccer game going in the backyard, I won’t rush out back and set up cones for them to practice their dribbling skills. I am simply happy they are out there playing the game they love to play. More than just practicing soccer, they are figuring out on their own how to be a better player. They know the rules; they’ve had plenty of town and school practices, but there is never enough time to play with the joy and abandon of a backyard pickup game. The key to becoming a great writer is to find “joy” in writing--any kind of writing, and to “play” whenever the opportunity presents itself.

The basic rules of any type of writing and the basic rules of any sport are pretty simple--or  at least they should be. The best place to start writing--and find joy in writing--is to write what you like to read.  If you love reading the sports section of The Boston Globe, write about sports.  If you find yourself reading gothic romance novels, try your hand at writing a short story in that genre. If you are moved by poetry, write poetry.  Imitate who and what you love and who and what inspires you, and you will come to love writing; and, when you begin to love writing, you will willingly find the time to practice the skills you need to become a better writer.

For this weeks writing prompt I want you to do a few things. First, write an entry about what you really like to read. Be specific by naming writers and what type of writing they do. Secondly, try writing a piece in the genre of writing that you know you love.  Don’t worry if it is good or bad writing.  I’m a horrible basketball player, but I will still play whenever I get the chance for as long as my creaky knees will hold up.  Finally, spend an hour or so “practicing” the punctuation skills that are common to all writing. This is like the strength ad aerobic training that is useful for any sport! Start by making your way through the links on the “Punctuation” sidebar on your blog.  Begin with comma usage--everything seems to flow out of good comma usage! If you are feeling inspired, read parts of “Elements of Style,” which is also on the sidebar of your blog. Remember that these prompts are just the minimum I expect of you,  More is always better, especially if you are enjoying what you write.  I know that I enjoy everything you post and comment on the blogs!

The key is to be like those students of mine out on the football field and spend the time to both practice and play.  The game is what you write.  The crowd is the cheering of the writing community you are in. I know that many of you are off at camps and on vacations, but if you are near a computer, log in, have fun, and be a player.

Thanks!

Fitz

Essay Writing Prompt: 6/27/08

Writing Prompt: Fitzbloggers

Using my Essay formula (located on your sidebar) and this formula for writing body paragraphs, try writing some sort of extended essay (at least 750 words). It can be a personal narrative, a literary reflection, a memoir, or an expository essay of some sort. The topic, book, person, or experience you choose is completely up to you. Be sure to spell-check, proofread, punctuate, and paragraph! I would also suggest to write this with a word processor and not online.  That way there is less chance of losing your work before publishing because of an internet error.

When copying and pasting a word document into your blog, be sure to wait until the entry page is completely loaded before pasting.  Also, remember to go through your piece and reformat it using the formatting tools on your blog toolbar.

A Formula for Writing Paragraphs

    Writing paragraphs is probably the most important and useful skill any writer should master. The paragraph is the basic building block of all narrative, expository and literary writing. Knowing how to "put together" an essay means nothing if you can't "craft" an understandable and effective paragraph. When you are writing the body paragraphs of any essay (the “say what you mean" part of my essay formula) follow these guidelines. The numerous steps may seem excessive, but it works, and with a bit of practice it becomes a natural part of your writing!

    This formula will help you create the body paragraphs for any sort of essay you want or need to write, including, literary, expository, personal narrative or memoir type essays. 

    When writing analytical critiques of literature or an expository essay, you are trying to prove a point, illustrate an idea, and/or enlighten your readers.  Because you believe that what you are writing is a fact, there is no reason to use "I" in this type of writing. No "I think's." No "I feel's" No "What I find interesting's." Using “I" implies, explicitly or not, that what you are saying is merely an opinion. It also adds unnecessary words to your essay, and unnecessary words diminish the effectiveness of any writing piece. Think of these two sentences and ask yourself which is more effective at making a factual point:

1. I really think that all the pollution in the air will cause global warming someday,
2. Research by scientists at MIT’s prestigious Laboratory for Climate Studies conclusively proves that C02 levels in the atmosphere is the single direct cause of increasing global temperatures.

There is certainly a time and place for personal thoughts, even when writing an analytical or expository essay. (Though many teachers may disagree with this!)  The secret is to know when and where using "I" is a more effective writing choice.  If you are an acknowledged “expert” in the field, it is often a wise and powerful choice to write from your own point of view.  The only real rule in writing is how well a writing piece works to engage, inspire, and inform your intended audience! One of the world’s greatest literary masterpieces, “Walden,” by Henry David Thoreau, unabashedly uses the personal voice of the author.

In most books, the I, or first person, is omitted; in this it will be retained; that, in respect to egotism, is the main difference. We commonly do not remember that it is, after all, always the first person that is speaking. I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well.
-Chapter one, Economy, in Walden.

Obviously, when writing about personal experiences (as in a narrative essay or personal memoir) it is the strength and validity of your personal voice that will keep your reader with you the whole way through anything you write.

Fitz’s Paragraph Formula

Here is my formula for writing a great paragraph. Granted, it is a "formula," and formulas taken to the extreme can make for insipid and predictable writing; however, as formulas go, it's a pretty good one. Feel free to “tweak” this to suit the needs of your writing pieces and your sensibilities as an artist.

1. BROAD THEME: Write a short declarative statement that touches on a broad theme that all of us can relate to in some way or other.  This acts as a "hook" that will attract your reader’s attention. Despite what you might wish, no one really cares about you when they read; a reader cares primarily about himself or herself. This broad theme is a theme that almost any person can relate to on some level, and hopefully it is intriguing enough to make your reader want to read on.

For example, if you want to write about the importance of family, here is an example of a broad theme:

• It is only our immediate family that gives us unconditional love.

2. NARROW THEME: Narrow down your theme by writing a phrase or sentence that captures how your chosen theme is used in a specific way in the piece of literature you are analyzing, the facts you are going to present, or the experience you are going to convey. Make sure it is "clear, concise and memorable" because it is what you want your readers to remember "as" they read your paragraph.  (So, don't make it a long sentence—unless you are writing to very sophisticated readers!) This is the sentence that "steers" your reader in the direction you want your paragraph to go, and in that sense, it is what your paragraph is going to be about. This becomes the topic of your paragraph. If it works, try connecting these first two sentences with a semi-colon or a conjunction, or simply leave it as two sentences.

• It is our family that we turn to when there is no place left to go.

3. ONE/TWO PUNCH: Follow your topic sentence with one or two more sentences that add detail or explanation to your topic sentence. These sentences can (and maybe should) be longer sentences.

• When we are alone in the world; when nothing is going our way, we know that the door of family will always open for us and welcome us back into the arms of those people who are love us without reservations.

4. SMOKING GUN:  If you are writing about a piece of literature, write a sentence that sets up and leads clearly into a specific quote or scene from the book that "shows" how the author uses the theme of your paragraph in the writing piece. This is the "smoking gun." It proves that you know--or at least have thought about--the book in a meaningful way. In the same way, if you are writing about a personal experience, chose a specific personal experience that explicates, illustrates, and amplifies the theme of your paragraph. Finally, if you are writing an expository piece, this is the place to add your facts that supports your argument.

• At no other time in my life was this more obvious than when I returned to my family home in Concord after a three-year’s journey to the Himalayas to discover the essential truth about life. Broke, disheveled, and disenchanted, I stood on the doorstep and tentatively rapped on the door. No smile was wider than my moms; no arms were wider than my dads as they pulled me into their arms and into the living room I left so long ago.

5. HEAD & HEART: Show your reader your thoughts! Write as many more sentences as you "need" (but at least two more) to illustrate and elaborate upon whatever you introduced in your topic sentence. HINT: The more narrow and focused your topic sentence, the less you need to write to prove your point or describe your experience.

• It didn’t matter that I left home without even telling them where I was going. It didn’t matter that I had once criticized their lives as dull and meaningless, and it didn’t matter that I never called and never wrote.  It only mattered that I was home again.

6. GET OUT or GO ON! This sentence either wants to close out your thoughts or "transition" to a potential new paragraph.

• For me, it only matters that I will never turn my back on my family again because when times are tough, family is all that really matters.

    Always go back and re-read what you have written. Find three areas or sentences that you can make better. Often you can find a better topic sentence somewhere else in the paragraph. You can almost always find a more clear and effective way to write a sentence than you wrote on your first try. If you have too many short sentences, try combining sentences using conjunctions or semi colons.

Here is the complete paragraph.  At 220 words, this is what I would call a “full” paragraph.  In any essay you write, the body paragraphs should be of similar length. Otherwise, to will “look” like some of your points are more important and meaningful than other points!

It is only our immediate family that gives us unconditional love. It is our family that we turn to when there is no place left to go. When we are alone in the world; when nothing is going our way, we know that the door of family will always open for us and welcome us back into the arms of those people who are love us without reservations. At no other time in my life was this more obvious than when I returned to my family home in Concord after a three-year’s journey to the Himalayas to discover the essential truth about life. Broke, disheveled, and disenchanted, I stood on the doorstep and tentatively rapped on the door. No smile was wider than my moms; no arms were wider than my dads as they pulled me into their arms and into the living room I left so long ago. It didn’t matter that I left home without even telling them where I was going. It didn’t matter that I had once criticized their lives as dull and meaningless, and it didn’t matter that I never called and never wrote.  It only mattered that I was home again. For me, it only matters that I will never turn my back on my family again because family is all that really matters.

This paragraph might not win me a Pulitzer prize, but it does what it sets out to do, and that is the rimary aim of all writing.   Try it out and see if it works for you!

A Formula for Writing Paragraphs

    Writing paragraphs is probably the most important and useful skill any writer should master. The paragraph is the basic building block of all narrative, expository and literary writing. Knowing how to "put together" an essay means nothing if you can't "craft" an understandable and effective paragraph. When you are writing the body paragraphs of any essay (the “say what you mean" part of my essay formula) follow these guidelines. The numerous steps may seem excessive, but it works, and with a bit of practice it becomes a natural part of your writing!

    This formula will help you create the body paragraphs for any sort of essay you want or need to write, including, literary, expository, personal narrative or memoir type essays. 

    When writing analytical critiques of literature or an expository essay, you are trying to prove a point, illustrate an idea, and/or enlighten your readers.  Because you believe that what you are writing is a fact, there is no reason to use "I" in this type of writing. No "I think's." No "I feel's" No "What I find interesting's." Using “I" implies, explicitly or not, that what you are saying is merely an opinion. It also adds unnecessary words to your essay, and unnecessary words diminish the effectiveness of any writing piece. Think of these two sentences and ask yourself which is more effective at making a factual point:

1. I really think that all the pollution in the air will cause global warming someday,
2. Research by scientists at MIT’s prestigious Laboratory for Climate Studies conclusively proves that C02 levels in the atmosphere is the single direct cause of increasing global temperatures.

There is certainly a time and place for personal thoughts, even when writing an analytical or expository essay. (Though many teachers may disagree with this!)  The secret is to know when and where using "I" is a more effective writing choice.  If you are an acknowledged “expert” in the field, it is often a wise and powerful choice to write from your own point of view.  The only real rule in writing is how well a writing piece works to engage, inspire, and inform your intended audience! One of the world’s greatest literary masterpieces, “Walden,” by Henry David Thoreau, unabashedly uses the personal voice of the author.

In most books, the I, or first person, is omitted; in this it will be retained; that, in respect to egotism, is the main difference. We commonly do not remember that it is, after all, always the first person that is speaking. I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well.
-Chapter one, Economy, in Walden.

Obviously, when writing about personal experiences (as in a narrative essay or personal memoir) it is the strength and validity of your personal voice that will keep your reader with you the whole way through anything you write.

Fitz’s Paragraph Formula

Here is my formula for writing a great paragraph. Granted, it is a "formula," and formulas taken to the extreme can make for insipid and predictable writing; however, as formulas go, it's a pretty good one. Feel free to “tweak” this to suit the needs of your writing pieces and your sensibilities as an artist.

1. BROAD THEME: Write a short declarative statement that touches on a broad theme that all of us can relate to in some way or other.  This acts as a "hook" that will attract your reader’s attention. Despite what you might wish, no one really cares about you when they read; a reader cares primarily about himself or herself. This broad theme is a theme that almost any person can relate to on some level, and hopefully it is intriguing enough to make your reader want to read on.

For example, if you want to write about the importance of family, here is an example of a broad theme:

• It is only our immediate family that gives us unconditional love.

2. NARROW THEME: Narrow down your theme by writing a phrase or sentence that captures how your chosen theme is used in a specific way in the piece of literature you are analyzing, the facts you are going to present, or the experience you are going to convey. Make sure it is "clear, concise and memorable" because it is what you want your readers to remember "as" they read your paragraph.  (So, don't make it a long sentence—unless you are writing to very sophisticated readers!) This is the sentence that "steers" your reader in the direction you want your paragraph to go, and in that sense, it is what your paragraph is going to be about. This becomes the topic of your paragraph. If it works, try connecting these first two sentences with a semi-colon or a conjunction, or simply leave it as two sentences.

• It is our family that we turn to when there is no place left to go.

3. ONE/TWO PUNCH: Follow your topic sentence with one or two more sentences that add detail or explanation to your topic sentence. These sentences can (and maybe should) be longer sentences.

• When we are alone in the world; when nothing is going our way, we know that the door of family will always open for us and welcome us back into the arms of those people who are love us without reservations.

4. SMOKING GUN:  If you are writing about a piece of literature, write a sentence that sets up and leads clearly into a specific quote or scene from the book that "shows" how the author uses the theme of your paragraph in the writing piece. This is the "smoking gun." It proves that you know--or at least have thought about--the book in a meaningful way. In the same way, if you are writing about a personal experience, chose a specific personal experience that explicates, illustrates, and amplifies the theme of your paragraph. Finally, if you are writing an expository piece, this is the place to add your facts that supports your argument.

• At no other time in my life was this more obvious than when I returned to my family home in Concord after a three-year’s journey to the Himalayas to discover the essential truth about life. Broke, disheveled, and disenchanted, I stood on the doorstep and tentatively rapped on the door. No smile was wider than my moms; no arms were wider than my dads as they pulled me into their arms and into the living room I left so long ago.

5. HEAD & HEART: Show your reader your thoughts! Write as many more sentences as you "need" (but at least two more) to illustrate and elaborate upon whatever you introduced in your topic sentence. HINT: The more narrow and focused your topic sentence, the less you need to write to prove your point or describe your experience.

• It didn’t matter that I left home without even telling them where I was going. It didn’t matter that I had once criticized their lives as dull and meaningless, and it didn’t matter that I never called and never wrote.  It only mattered that I was home again.

6. GET OUT or GO ON! This sentence either wants to close out your thoughts or "transition" to a potential new paragraph.

• For me, it only matters that I will never turn my back on my family again because when times are tough, family is all that really matters.

    Always go back and re-read what you have written. Find three areas or sentences that you can make better. Often you can find a better topic sentence somewhere else in the paragraph. You can almost always find a more clear and effective way to write a sentence than you wrote on your first try. If you have too many short sentences, try combining sentences using conjunctions or semi colons.

Here is the complete paragraph.  At 220 words, this is what I would call a “full” paragraph.  In any essay you write, the body paragraphs should be of similar length. Otherwise, to will “look” like some of your points are more important and meaningful than other points!

It is only our immediate family that gives us unconditional love. It is our family that we turn to when there is no place left to go. When we are alone in the world; when nothing is going our way, we know that the door of family will always open for us and welcome us back into the arms of those people who are love us without reservations. At no other time in my life was this more obvious than when I returned to my family home in Concord after a three-year’s journey to the Himalayas to discover the essential truth about life. Broke, disheveled, and disenchanted, I stood on the doorstep and tentatively rapped on the door. No smile was wider than my moms; no arms were wider than my dads as they pulled me into their arms and into the living room I left so long ago. It didn’t matter that I left home without even telling them where I was going. It didn’t matter that I had once criticized their lives as dull and meaningless, and it didn’t matter that I never called and never wrote.  It only mattered that I was home again. For me, it only matters that I will never turn my back on my family again because family is all that really matters.

This paragraph might not win me a Pulitzer prize, but it does what it sets out to do, and that is the rimary aim of all writing.   Try it out and see if it works for you!