2nd Lesson.

I was the first to be in class!! weeeee!

Ok… So what we did in class was look thru’ some openers and then continue it. Here’s mine:

Sweat drips down as he pieces the map back together. The time left is another half an hour. Marcel just can’t figure out how the map fits. “I must not give up. I’ve come this far and I must not give up!” he thoughts as his hands move hastily. The place, which to Marcel, is a maze is installed with bombs. He can clearly hear them ticking away. All he remembers was being knocked out while walking. And woke up to find himself tied up in an unknown place. He found the torn map at the corner of the room, and knew he had to fix it before thinking about anything else.

I was thinking about the movie Saw II. I know it is different from my story but I sort of got my idea there.

Then, we worked on dialogue. And Leslie told us the elements of dialogue as well as the common mistakes….

* Able to show the character’s character and relationships with others.

* A good dialogue is an illusion of reality.

* Dialogue should not be use generously.

* Never tell the audience what they can see for themselves.. um. Let what Leslie said in class- if somebody jumps off the cliff, nobody would say “Oh My God! He jumped off the cliff!” Um. So whatever we can hear or see, we don’t write them. Agree!!

* Also, we’ll have to know what people will say without losing the kind of attitude they have.

We watched two short film. Ah Ma & Shh..

In Ah Ma, I can see that the relationship between the family members is not good. Their conversation never seems to exceed 5 sentences. The way they talk is very formal too.

Shh… – basically the animator just show us how the way life is thru’ words and action. It’s very creative! I like the idea of the change in every word. From one word, they change it to another thru’ actions.

HENCE! WE MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER:
> WHOM AM I WRITING ABOUT?
>> WHO IS MY CHARACTER?
>>> WHAT IS HE/SHE/IT LIKE?
>>>> WHAT DOES HE/SHE/IT DO?
>>>>> WHAT HAPPENS TO HIM/HER/IT IN THE STORY?

Ha. I always thought dialogue isn’t so complicating. Just write it with ” and ” can already. Maybe because of the passed 10 years, no English teacher encourages the usage of dialogue. Therefore I don’t really know how to write a good dialogue.

The end! I shall go people-watch!

First lesson.

The shuttle bus almost left without me again!!!

Storytelling… I thought it’s more of a verbal thingy at first. LOL! I just can’t understand the description about the modules lah. They just don’t seem to sound like it. I suck at writing la. When given “Leonard walks towards the box…”, I was a little blank. I didn’t know what to write. My verb is very weak and I just can’t think of any good strong verbs to use. Hopefully I will adopt the habit of going to the library more for books.. and also, get the words stored in my mind. I always can’t remember any big and good and strong words. GRRRRR. But still, I’ll try my best to do this module. Rather interesting cos’ finally it’s a class whereby the lecturer doesn’t freak out when his students use vulgarities. WEEE!

I hope I can really come out with 12 interesting openers.

& I really really really want to do well!!!!!!!!

*ADDED*

I think my reflection didn’t much reflect about the class. So, here to add more! I think storytelling will be interesting since we’ll be using present tense, visual voice and thru’ 3rd person. Indeed, adding an “-ing” weakens the action. It’s like causing it to not happen. Thru’ the active voice, we display the action right away. In a way, this allows reader to be following closely with the story.

I also agree that once you start to write, keep the flow. Back in secondary school, during English lessons, we were asked to write compos (duh). Whenever I manage to let out myself, the bell would ring. It really annoys me. The worst thing is, when I was back home, I wasn’t motivated at all. Hence, I leave it laying there till I’m nearer to the due date.

The idea of putting a word everyday into the shoe box sounds great (can use it for writcom also mah.. teeheeheee) But I guess I am too not discipline to come up with a word. I may even forget what word I’ve came up with. hahahhahaa. Therefore, I should just go to the net and randomly type a word and see what the first sentence contains.

& I’ll always end off with: I REALLY WANT TO DO WELL LEH.