Many Genres Writing Tip from Jason Jack Miller

EDUCATIONAL TIP FOR WRITING:
WHAT ARE CONCRETE NOUNS?
Concrete nouns help authoritative authors establish dominion over setting by showing readers that the action isn’t taking place in a fluffy, generic anywhere. Concrete nouns show without telling. Time period, seasons, political climate, socio-economic situations and social mores can all be demonstrated by the nouns an author utilizes to animate his settings. Timons Esaias, a mentor in Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction program, says that "every concrete noun paints a picture".

WHY SHOULD I USE CONCRETE NOUNS?
Being more specific with nouns can transform your prose into a much more concise and believable product. If nothing else, let this lesson provide a more systematic approach for writers who have yet to develop their own method of formulating vocabularies for their projects.

HOW DO I USE CONCRETE NOUNS?
If a reader has ever been to a place a writer hasn’t, it’s evident to the reader almost immediately. Authenticity is tough to fake, but good writers do it all the time. And they do it by thoroughly researching subjects to provide themselves with a vocabulary of the region and culture they are writing about.

Make your own, extensive lists of concrete nouns. Jump into the book knowing how characters speak, where their parents went to high school, what they ate on Fridays growing up, how they describe local weather phenomena, what their neighbor’s favorite sport is. It may seem excessive, but by creating your own, extensive vocabulary for your novel you can leave much of the telling out, and stick to showing.

Among the nouns your list should include are:
Colloquialisms - a regional way of speaking
Slang - less regional and more about social groups
Local culture, holidays, and customs
Local food, drink, and restaurants
Music
Famous events in local history
Smells
Stereotypes and archetypes
Place names and local landmarks

This exercise isn’t meant to be totally inclusive or even mandatory. It’s a starting point for compiling concrete nouns that should be used throughout a story to make the setting more vivid and authentic. The checklist should be fluid and amendable, and writers should feel free to adapt as they see fit.

Contributor: Jason Jack Miller

Articles in MGOC: "Painting Your Setting with Concrete Nouns", "Setting Limits: Working in Small Spaces", "Magical Realism as Genre: Or, Waiter, There's an Angel in My Soup", "Essential Magical Realism"

Link: http://jasonjackmiller.blogspot.com

Other Work: The Devil and Preston Black
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You can order Many Genres, One Craft, edited by Michael A. Arnzen and Heidi Ruby Miller, through any of your favorite book sellers, including Amazon.

Many Genres Educational Tip from Matt Duvall

EDUCATIONAL TIP FOR TEACHING:

One area many teachers (myself included) struggle with is assessing whether students are actually understanding what we're teaching. Formal assessments, such as tests, take time and effort to create, grade, and return. Worse, there are some situations where a test just isn't an option--like when you're teaching a writing workshop. Here are a few quick ways to assess student comprehension in almost any teaching setting.

The first technique is student self-assessment. Have the students give you a "thumbs up" if they're very confident in their understanding, a "thumbs sideways" if they feel so-so about it, and a "thumbs down" if they're completely lost. This gives you a quick, immediate sense of how your students are feeling.

The second method is to pose a simple question based on the material you covered. Have the students write three sentences, max, to answer the question. You can quickly read these over during a break or while the students work on another activity, and decide whether there's anything you need to clarify.

The third method is to have a volunteer share with the class a paraphrase of what you've said. Then, the students can discuss if anything was left out or different than what you taught. This allows students to learn from each other, and also gives you feedback on areas where students are still confused. (You can also break the students into small groups, where each group does this--it can help for shy students or large classes.)

There are many ways to check for understanding--these three are just some that have worked for me. Regardless of the method you use, make sure you are checking and not just assuming that because you've said it, students got it.

Contributor: Matt Duvall

Articles in MGOC: "Powerman Writes Women's Fiction: On Writing What You Know"

Link: http://facebook.com/therealduv

Other Work: "Writing Hell" to appear in The Chiaroscuro re-launch mega-issue (April 2011)
"Writing Hell" is a reprint of Matt's humorous horror story that originally appeared in Seton Hill University's Eye Contact magazine.
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You can pre-order Many Genres, One Craft, edited by Michael A. Arnzen and Heidi Ruby Miller, through any of your favorite book sellers, including Amazon.