Now that Week 3 has come to a close, it’s time to review what you learned and take a Pop Quiz. We know you’re all going to nail it and will surely show off your plotting prowess! Take this quiz to see what you learned during week three of Kidlit Summer School.
On Monday, Laurie J. Edwards reminded us that…
- Backstory is anything that happened before the book begins.
- Loading the first chapters with backstory slows the plot.
- A good reason to use backstory is when a character is doing something totally out of character, and it’s vital for readers to understand why.
- All of the above.
On Tuesday, Maryrose Wood talked about making sure that …
- Your hero should make the big choices, risks, discoveries and sacrifices that drive the story forward.
- Your hero is uniquely qualified to address the central problem of your tale.
- You have a rich cast of unforgettable secondary characters, but that’s no substitute for making your protagonist the most interesting, compelling and indispensable character in your tale.
- All of the above.
On Wednesday, Lee Harper suggested for us to…
- Imagine the outline of your story is the blurb on the jacket sleeve (flap) of your book.
- Be okay that there is always a LOT of going back and forth in the process of plotting a picture book.
- Know that the beauty of the Post-it technique is that you can easily get rid of what doesn’t work without investing a great deal of time in your writing/drawing.
- All of the above.
On Thursday, Jennifer Latham taught us that in order to build a good MG/YA mystery, you need to …
- Set up the basic mystery and decide on what you think it’s resolution will be.
- Establish 3-4 major pieces of information your detective will need to learn.
- Allow some clues and plot elements to emerge as you write.
- All of the above.
On Friday, Marcie Collen showed us how to throw rocks at our character and …
- Get back to the basics.
- Brew up a storm and make lemonade (or in this case, stone soup!)
- When all else fails, step away and start a list of possibilities.
- All of the above.
On Saturday, Charlotte Bennardo helped us learn that …
- You don’t have to stick with your outline, because it’s meant to be a guide, not a prison.
- If you can stop writing at the end of a chapter, that when you pick up again, you can read the last few sentences, look at the notes for the next chapter, and it will all click.
- If you need to make a major revision, update your Post-its first so that you can see at a glance if the changes will work.
On Sunday, Heidi Schulz recapped …
- The work of plotting is not finished once you have created your first draft.
- To consider places to expand or trim your work in order to keep the plot even-paced.
- To be sure to give low-action scenes after high-action scenes in order to give readers a change to catch their breath.
- All of the above
How did you do? A++ right? 7 out of 7? If you’re not sure or think you missed something, that’s easy, simply go back and check out the posts from Week Three. This is an open blog test. You don’t even have to turn it in. Grade yourself and then pat yourself on the back!
