David Almond is a superb writer. His novels Skellig and The Savage are humane, elegiac and compelling. Almond can always be relied upon to excite readers of all ages-no matter how reluctant!
The other day I was looking for a good illustration of direct speech in a novel and found Almond’s follow up to Skellig, his novel My Name is Mina. Not only did the novel help illustrate how to use direct speech in a most effective and engaging manner, it also provided me with a superb model for opening a story: especially for students under pressure who find writing a form of torture!
So here is a brilliant MODEL for any student writing under pressure. It works!!
‘I know that some people do not like fig rolls–Sophie Smith, for instance.She was a girl at school that I sat next to for a while.’
Now model your opening to a story on the couple of sentences above. Play with the essential ‘ingredients’ of the opening which I have underlined for you just to make it clear.
I know that some people do not like to speak in class, Archie Marchant for example, He was a boy I used to walk to school with each day.
I know that some people are braver than they appear- Sydney Snow for instance. He was a man I used to think I knew.
I know that some people do not like to be wrong- Jasmine Sanders for instance. She was a a girl that I played hockey with for a while.
