Mystery Draft Project: Due! Journals Due!

After taking notes on our short video, please turn in your journal to be graded today.

• Beginnings, Middles, Endings
• Writer's Block: Terrible Writing Advice
• Beginnings & Endings 

After we watch the videos, please turn in your journal. Take the short quiz on And Then There Were None. After the test, use the rest of your time today in class to write and complete your draft!

Done? Before you send me your Google doc and submit your work, check out the following:

• Did you title your story? [Stuck for a title? How about "The Mystery of ____ (noun)."]
• Does your story have a beginning, middle, and end? If not, write the parts that are missing...
• Do you use mystery tropes to help you write a story that could be marketed as a mystery or thriller?
• Did you include a scene with each suspect?
• Did you detail and describe your setting? Setting includes location, weather, season, as well as time. It also includes props and items or objects of interest (like the murder weapon or the crime scene...)
• Do you use characterization to describe your characters? Characterization is the dialogue a character says, the dialogue others say about a character, the thoughts a character has (ex. stream of consciousness), a character's description (physical and behavioral or mental traits), and a character's actions.
• Is there something at stake for your characters? For example: your criminal probably doesn't want to get caught for some reason, your detective or sleuth probably wants to solve the mystery for some reason, the victim of the crime may want to know "who done it?" for a reason...
• Remember that you can use imagery (describe smells, sounds, tastes, tactile feelings, and sights so that your scene comes alive for the reader!)
• Aim to write specific nouns and active verbs. 
• Correct and edit your grammar.

Remember the advice from the 3rd video today: read over your story draft before submitting and fix any glaring errors or problems with the draft. 

HOMEWORK: Complete And Then There Were None if you haven't done so already. Read the solution to the mystery and the epilogue (opposite of a prologue...like the one in Montana 1948!). If you will be absent Friday due to a field trip, please take and read "On Writing" by Stephen King. Friday's post will explain what you should do with his work after or during your reading of it. Complete "On Writing" by the time you return to class after Spring Break. 

All late and missing work must be turned in by Friday for minimal credit! Extra credit for the marking period may be turned in by April 19 (next Friday).