Choosing Structures B: THINK, FEEL, SAY, DO
Another thought: In a story characters will THINK, FEEL, SAY AND DO things. The first structure is something that Earl SAYS, “I need to tell you something.” The beauty of it is that it immediately implies a feeling. Earl NEEDS to. AND a future action: TELL. This is a seriously powerful structure.
Not all structures are this powerful…especially in the lower levels. For example, I choose the structure “wants to eat”. That is what Earl FEELS. It will help things flow if my next structure is not about feeling. So I could choose….
Earl wants to eat.
If I need to park on “wants to” I can stay there for a long long
time…but if I want to move on (for any number of reasons) I need to
pick another structure.
THINK Earl thinks about his favorite food………….or
FEEL Earl is really hungry………..or
DO Earl goes to SuperWalmart……….
ALL of which are now connected to the first structure and make sense. Trutfully, teadching beginning students is such a challenge. Their language pool is pretty shallow...it's hard to dive in deep!! Using the THINK, FEEL, SAY, DO model really helps.
with love,
Laurie
SO glad you wrote that...it's part of the notes that I didn't get down. In English classes, we're always telling kids that we learn about characters by what they say, do, and think, as well as what others say or think about them...and how those characters interact. I guess that saying and doing is included in interacting. But I hadn't really thought about applying these ideas full time to characters as we're developing stories. And although I've obviously tried to put in the "feel," I think I have given it short shrift. Thanks!!
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