Writing Unleashed with Laura M. Harkins

Two boys playing on my street inspired me to write this week's assignment, which required me to dive deeper into dialogue, experimenting with as few dialogue tags as possible.  The few tags employed act as anchors to inform the reader which character is speaking.  Any other attributes to inform the reader are through description of action. Enjoy.  Your feedback is always appreciated.   Playground Power Struggle By Laura M. Campbell School bus 81 pulled into Willow Hill Estates just before four o’clock.   The weather unseasonably warm for a Friday in February filled all the children with hysterical energy after a long day of classes.   Laughter and chatter floated out the cracked windows while they grabbed their book bags and lunch boxes preparing to get off the bus.   Andy pressed his face against the window, scanning the crowd of parents for his mother’s red coat.   His gaze moved over to the playground.   Only a few youn...

discoveringmandarin.blogspot.com My first assignment for 200 Proof Storytelling required me to write a scene predominantly dialogue to practice status play.  The character with high status is considered to be in control; the other one has low status.  The point of the assignment was to create more dynamic dialogue, whether funny or dramatic, by tossing the high status between the two characters. The exercise provided an opportunity to better understand my characters in a short story I've been working on.  I'm struggling with the characters.  Their personality, motivation and how they handle situations is not fully developed. The scene with the abusive husband and his wife precedes my story and will not be included.  Although the husband is the aggressor, I wanted the wife to exhibit the strength she'll need to runaway in the short story. Disclaimer : The following scene contains: explicit violence and adult language. Punishment It was a chilly W...