11/10/2014 by axonite
When I was 7 years old, an author came to my school to give a talk. I remember that he said that a good story “must have a beginning, a middle and an end.” At the time, I thought that this was so blindly obvious that it didn’t really need to be said. However, I came to realise that what he meant was that a writer should consciously structure his/her work. This is true of non-fiction as well as fiction.
You have probably heard of the Well-Made Play:
However, what is true of Drama is also true of novels, short stories, essays and speeches (Pay attention, those of you who have IOCs coming up).
Does your essay writing resemble a stream of consciousness? If so, then you need to address your structure as a matter of some urgency. Even if you are actually writing in the style of Talking Heads, you will notice that Alan Bennett does, in fact, structure his monologues.
Your structure is the skeleton around which you build the body of your speech, essay, story or whatever. In the case of the short story, the author may pose a question at the start and give his/her verdict at the end. Thus, by referring back to the original premise (without actually repeating) an author can confer upon the story a sense of completeness. This is the purpose of a conclusion – it is not a summary – it simply concludes. Too many oral exams fizzle out at the end, with the student saying, “um…er…that’s about it really.” Nothing screams Lack of Structure at an examiner louder than an oral exam that ends this way. So, before you come to talk or write, decide on the beginning middle and end.
Category Drama, Exams, IGCSE, Novels | Tags: essays,exams,IB,KS3,orals,short stories,structure | No Comments
