3 - Setting and description - Week 1

 I would like you to write what I call a slow motion moment. Write 300-700 words describing an action that takes ten seconds of real time. You may write it from either the first person (I) or the third person (he/she/it/they). No interior monologue is allowed. That means we don’t get to hear what a character is thinking (if a character is indeed present). We can only see what he or she is doing or seeing. It’s important that you stick to only about ten seconds of real time. Jump right into the description with your first line. Do not provide context or describe other events that happened before or after these ten seconds. Remember, you may not allow the character to remember past events, to wonder what is happening elsewhere, or to ruminate in any way. Basically, you are describing only the concrete, material details of the event.

Here’s a snippet of a slow motion moment, from Ian McEwan’s A Child in Time. This is a description of an awful encounter on the road with a truck:

“… He was preparing to overtake when something happened – he did not quite see what – in the region of the lorry’s wheels, a hiatus, a cloud of dust, and then something black and long snaked through a hundred feet toward him. It slapped the windscreen, clung there a moment and was whisked away before he had time to understand what it was. And then… the rear of the lorry made a complicated set of movements, a bouncing and swaying, and slewed in a wide spray of spark, bright even in sunshine. So far Stephen had had time to move his foot towards the brake, time to notice a padlock swinging on a loose flange, and ‘Wash Me Please’ scrawled in grime.’”

Some events – like car accidents – do seem to occur in slow motion. Often they are momentous. But they do not have to be as dramatic as a car crash – take for example, the first glimpse of the person you would someday marry. Here are some examples of other interesting events that take less than 10 seconds, which you could describe. Feel free to steal one of these, or make up your own!

• Getting slapped

• Hitting a deer with a car

• Going downhill on a rollercoaster

• A kiss

• Pulling a trigger

She walks on the sidewalk of the first street, a few meters behind the intersection with the second street. The afternoon provides a warm orange light in the sky, with numerous clouds above the people. A gust of autumn wind moves her blue dress from behind. The dress crosses between her legs and sticks to them for a split second; her kitten heels give her a secure but slow pace.

A man approaches her, running to her right side. A typical Texan boy in blue jeans and a white interior t-shirt. She holds her phone in her right hand, next to her ear. Her long, black hair obscures her view, and the distraction of the call leaves her unaware of her surroundings.

The man stops running when he is 50 centimeters from her. He carries a large red portable fuel tank of gasoline. He raises his arms and starts throwing gasoline at the head of the black woman, making circles around her, moving his legs to her front and then to her back. As a taller person, he can easily and quickly soak her in gasoline while yelling and laughing like a maniac.

— HAHAHA DIE!

She can only reply by yelling.

—NOOO! NOOO!

All her long and beautiful hair is now covered in gasoline, as well as her dress. The ambient liquid makes her feel cold quickly for the last time. The man is in front of her, throws the red tank to his left, and using his left hand takes out a lighter from his left pocket. A gray metal Zippo lighter is ignited, producing a big flare. He takes a step back with his right foot and, using his left hand, throws the Zippo to her. The left hand is wide open, and she curls into herself while crying and screaming, watching the flare approaching. She puts her hand between her legs, making herself small. The phone is still in her right hand. A man is screaming and can be heard through the speaker of the phone. —LACIE! LACIE!

The Zippo touches Lacie's right shoulder, and the fire starts, first on the dress from the top to the bottom. The fire then spreads to her hair, and she stretches herself, looking at the sky to find a place to run.

2 - Character building - week 4

 Write an active scene (a dinner, a romance, an adventure) from the first person POV of no more than 500 words. Now take the exact same scene and write it again from the omniscient POV, entirely from scratch and without looking at the first version. Submit both scenes, and further, please comment on what changes you discover as you shift from one POV (I am telling the story...) to the other (the all-seeing creator tells the story...).

I saw him arrive. I was at my porch playing Pokemon Go on my cellphone. I knew what he was coming. He parked his car in front of my house and from the back seat take a bag. I imagined that he was going to buy my out. All dress in black and with the face sad as can be.

—How are you Eliphas?

He only said my complete name when he needs something or want something. I decided to stand up and go to the front of the house.

—I am not going to do it Ruben and you know it.

—My friend Please at least let me speak out my mind, before you take a decision.

—My decision is final, and you need to know it.

I knew he was going to bride me or warning me.

—She died last night.

—We all know this was going to happen. She has been in bed for the past two weeks.

—Bring her!

—I do not know what you are suggesting.

—You know

—You will lose something that you carry and once is out of you. You are never going to be the same.

—I wanted to say goodbye.

—Just a goodbye will be. Please bring me something that smells like her, a record of her voice and an image. The rest I will be manage it.

I knew this was a terrible decision, but I was in a position where I could not say no to a friend.

—Arrive after the sun goes down. I want to have the sky full of stars. I am going to explain something to you. The lines between this and the other are fragile but strong. They work between weights and exchanges. I am going to offer something of yours and they will let you see her one more time.

------------

He was a young adult 23, I think. From a long dynasty of shaman people. He was a normal guy; he had a desk job and like to take care of plants at his porch and back garden. If you go on a Wednesday to his house, most surely, he will be just starting at the grass growing.

He decided that calling death people and all type of things related are not something so fun at the end. A friend of his arrive on a Sunday morning at his house. The look on the friend’s face was just that of sadness after losing a loved one. He came to ask our young Shaman Eliphas to bring her mother back.

Our dear shaman did want to help his old friend Ruben but knew the consequences of his actions. See when a Shaman bring a people back from a second or days. You need to give something to the universe. I like to call it a proof of love. You are going to forget something that you love from your loved one. It is like a tactic from universe in case someone wants to constantly be calling their loved ones back.

Eliphas neglected the request from Ruben, but Ruben was able to convince him at the end.

2 - Character Building - week 3

 Create a scene (700-1000 words) with at least three characters. Two of these characters should have different viewpoints on the world; one should be an “insider” in the world you’re creating, and one should be an outsider. For example, you could set the scene in your country and have one person be native and one be a foreign visitor. The third character should be an eavesdropper on a conversation between the first two. Construct the story using no more than three speech tags (a speech tag is something that identifies a speaker, like "she said" and "Kevin replied"); instead, use the setting, descriptions, and idiosyncrasies to make the speakers identifiable. Be careful, however, to avoid caricature.

***Respond to the following question and include your response in your assignment submission. Additionally, take into consideration your peers' response to the following question while completing peer reviews of their work.

What is one aspect of your writing that you would like feedback on?

Welcome back and as all of you know Team Alligator has just loose against team Bravos. I am David your host and we have two master’s on the field. One is a world champion Josue Torres and the other one is my very good friend and an incredible analyst Ian Cooper.

—Thank you, David. I have played against bravos many times while I was a young boy and even at the end of my career and the philosophy and qualities of the team had always been an aggressive approach.

—This is not a Bravos Win, this is an alligator loose.

—Gentleman, we need to focus. What Bravos did right?

—In my experience Bravos at the first time, did not loose the breath. They defend and second time they risk everything. This strategy maintains the breath of the offenders. The bad part was that the first half the goal keepers and defenders were very tired.

—As an analyst I can tell you that while the strategy of the technician of Bravos was risky. At beginning the team was losing 1-0. The big mistake made by Alligator is that they went back. They got the 1-0 at the end of the first time and decided to pass to defend. The technician plays a strategy that only two men in the front and searching for the goal. Which by this time is what not a priority. While the Bravos decided for a strategy in which they have three men in the front line.

—Josue and Ian. Please let me stop you because we have a sponsor announcement to tell. If you are tired of bad loses when you put money on a game. We recommend the twitter account “Mastering the game”. Mastering the game is an AI startup that provides intel regarding soccer, American football, and NBA. Now back to you Josue.

—As I was explaining the strategy proposed by the coach of Bravos was great. By gaining this game they are now in the second position of the general table and unfortunately the leader who was Crocodile go down to the third place.

—Like all soccer players you missed the great win by the Leon heart team. That gave them enough points to go from second to the first position. The reality is that this season is going to be of Leon team.

—Gentleman, gentleman please. We need to explain the audience how does the win of Leon team affect. Please dear friend, you have always been a big fan of Leon team.

—The Leon team this season have a great team.. —I could defeat them with a bunch of kids. — Do you want a fight pretty boy? —I am not scared of you, piece of trash —Gentleman, gentleman. Please. We need to mediate our differences. I am sick and tired that all the commentators and TV host are always the same. They fight among themselves. —So, we are going to do the next. Please each one of you will talk about how their own inside world is and sees the other world of the other from outside. —Being a soccer player is complicated and is a mess. The fans, the coach, the teammates, everybody is looking for different contracts. Then social media arrive, and good players have bad social media and bad players were great at social media. This generates that budget of rehiring or sales affected. Because if you were a decent player but a great social media. It was easier to recover the money invested. In case if you were a bad player and a bad social media, you do not have achieve, but there were terrible players that were undisciplined, but the fans and social media loves them. The directive will think twice to sale. I was one the MVP of the season and achieve a champion for my team back at Spain and I explained to the team. I do not want to go, I want to retire in this team.

Then a Chinese team arrive and through brides and suitcase full of cash I suddenly was playing in the Chinese tournament. When you are a kid or teenage, everybody dreams to become a great sports icon, but after you achieve it. The sensation is the worse. There is money, but if the team does not have a proper strategy, you cannot make a strategy of your own. I understand what happened with our friends at Bravos. There is not a proper line to follow their coach is terrified that several of their starts are criticized for a bad game and affect his stay at the team. He pulled off the match.

Then we have these terrible people that are the sport analyst which inflate normal players because someone told them. I have seen better players than what this idiots “experts” on “soccer” can actually think of.

—Unfortunately that is all time we have for today. I am David he was Josue and next to me Ian. See you tomorrow.