THE 19^TH ENGLISH SHORT STORY WRITING WORKSHOP II

Language and Voice

Dr. Emma H Zhang

Revision - Sample short stories

• Plot: a pivotal moment – a turning point
• Character: the main character should experience a revelation
• Theme: focus on one theme
• Language: show, not tell – make use of sensory language
• Texture: capture the emotional truth of your own experiences

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Language: show, not tell

• Use sensory language
• Use figurative language (be original!!)
• Make use of your first language
• Transliteration
• Translating idiomatic language

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Use sensory language - On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl on One Beautiful April Morning�

Show - We pass in front of a flower shop. A small, warm air mass touches my skin. The asphalt is damp, and I catch the scent of roses. I can't bring myself to speak to her. She wears a white sweater, and in her right hand she holds a crisp white envelope lacking only a stamp. So: She's written somebody a letter, maybe spent the whole night writing, to judge from the sleepy look in her eyes. The envelope could contain every secret she's ever had.

Use figurative language (be original!)

• Tell - One winter, both the boy and the girl came down with the season's terrible influenza, and after drifting for weeks between life and death they lost all memory of their earlier years. When they awoke, their heads were as empty as the young D. H. Lawrence's piggy bank.

Capturing Cantonese Dialogues in English �

Transliteration- Insignificant Moments in the History of Hong Kong

Translating idiomatic language �

Voice and Perspective -Snow, Glass, Apples (1994) Neil Gaiman

The economy of language – allusions

They're Made Out of Meat (1990) by Terry Bisson

Writer’s workshop

• Write a 100 – 150-word monologue/ dialogue from the perspective of a character from a well-known fictional work. Read it out aloud, invite group members to guess who is speaking.