Smiley Face Tricks

1. Smiley Face Tricks Tricks of the writing trade to help you meet and exceed writing expectations. Ideas developed by Mary Ellen Ledbetter Powerpoint created by Gwen S. Thibadeau

2. Why use Smiley Face Tricks??? These writing techniques are common tools that ALL authors use. They are proven to add personality, voice, style, and reader interest.

3. Magic 3 A technique writers use to list items-the items must follow the same pattern.  Technically referred to as Parallel Structure.

4. M3--Example After school each day I typically drive home with my children, complete homework, and talk about the day.

5. Hyphenated Modifier A technique writers use to creatively describe or rename someone or something rather than using plain one word adjectives. A boring, one-word adjective is replaced by a phrase or clause that might come to mind when the person is in that particular situation.

6. HM--Example Some of her students sat in their why-do-I-have-to-be-here postures while others exuded eagerness.

7. Repetition for Effect While repetition without careful consideration can be tedious and ineffective, a carefully selected word or phrase repeated can add incredible emphasis!

8. RE--Example That week, the teachers attended three faculty meetings.  They went to two department meetings.  They sat in on one collaborative teaching meeting, and they held training meetings.  They were ready to go back to class just to get away from all of the meetings.

9. Specific Details Also known as imagery, this technique appeals to the senses and includes enough detail to allow the reader to identify with the description.

10. SD--Example Her car reeked of stale cigarette smoke.  The back seat was speckled with charred black holes where the cigarette ashes had burned what used to be the pale gray plush fabric.

11. Figurative Language • This technique finds new and creative ways to describe people, places, things, and ideas. • Similes—metaphors—hyperbole—personification • It incorporates fresh and creative similes and metaphors, not cliches.

12. FL- Example She had graduated. It wasn’t until then that she had realized what freedom really was. Finally, she was soaring through the air, wings spread wide.

13. Expanded Moment This technique involves the writer leaving the main story line to go into the character’s mind and explain a related experience or idea.

14. EM Example After the car accident, I held my father’s head cradled in my lap.  I talked to him and tried to keep him conscious for as long as possible.  I reminded him of the time we went fishing, and as we tried to load the boat onto the trailer, he slipped and fell, scattering fish all in the mud on the edge of the lake.  I stood by the truck and laughed as he struggled to stand up.  Suddenly, I heard the police sirens, and I told my father as he struggled to keep his eyes open that help was almost here.  He died before the police arrived.

15. Humor Writers use humor for many reasons... not only to create a connection with the reader and cause him/her to laugh, but also to lighten the mood in a tense or serious situation.

16. H—Example Sitting at the funeral home waiting for the services to begin, the old man knew what he would miss most about his wife of sixty years: her lying in bed waving the covers up and down, giggling as she vented her toot.

17. Full Circle Ending Writers will often begin a piece of writing with a key word or phrase, develop the piece, and will bring the reader back to the key word or phrase at the ending.

18. FCE--Example She was fat and happy.  The day she gave birth to her first child was amazing.  Everything was perfect.  The child had a beautiful head of hair, all ten fingers and toes, and slept rather than crying like most babies do.  Now, as an old woman sitting in her favorite chair visiting with three of her great grandchildren, again she was fat and happy.

19. Practice Makes Perfect!!! For the remainder of class and for homework, write one descriptive paragraph about your day, and in that paragraph, use at least four smiley face tricks. Come to class prepared to share your examples.