1. Creative Writing Mr. Way 11/13/13

2.  ELA Grades 9-10 1.0 Written and Oral English Language Conventions  1.3 Demonstrate an understanding of proper English usage and control of grammar, paragraph and sentence structure, diction, and syntax.

3.  Break up writing into paragraphs in appropriate places.

4.  Start new paragraph when:  Finished describing a thing or set of things.  Start describing a new place/person/thing  Finished describing a series of actions  Somebody new starts talking  Action starts after somebody talked  The scene changes  Time passes

5.  It’s better to have too many little paragraphs rather than a few giant ones.  Just like sentences, paragraphs are easier to understand when they are short and sweet.

6.  If you’re telling us about a person, place, or thing,  Start a new paragraph as soon as you’re finished with your description.  Example: The sunset was beautiful. Soft, rolling clouds were spread unevenly through the sky, and the fading sun painted them in glorious shades of gold and crimson. John paused for a moment to admire its beauty, and then proceeded on his journey.

7.  If you’re describing a whole set of things, sometimes you can put them all in one paragraph.  It kind of just depends on how long you describe each one.  Short descriptions can be clumped together, long ones should be each in their own paragraph.

8.  Sometimes an action should get its own paragraph.  But if one action directly follows another, they should be together in one paragraph:  Example: Maria slapped Joseph as hard as she could. He just laughed at her, so she hit him in the nose. He recoiled slightly and gently touched the blood dripping down his lip before shouting, “Woman, are you crazy?”

9.  As a general rule, the things people do after somebody talks get their own paragraphs.  Things people do WHILE THEY ARE TALKING should stay in the same paragraph, though. Ex. “Extra cheese on mine please,” José said, smiling broadly. When they called his number, he bounced up to the counter to take his tray and floated blissfully back to his seat.

10.  We’ve talked about this one.  Example: “I hate you!” she cried. “No you don’t, or you wouldn’t be here.” he replied. “For once in your life, you’re right!” she shouted, and walked immediately out of the casino.

11.  Any time somebody goes somewhere new, you should put a new paragraph.  If they go somewhere really far you should put a line break, too, or even a new chapter.  Usually when somebody goes somewhere new, you’ll have to describe it, and we already said that gets its own paragraph.

12.  Whenever there’s a jump in time, even just a few minutes, you need to put a new paragraph.  Example: