These in-class sketchbook worksheet assignments will help you to learn first-hand the fundamental skills used by fiction writers, such as creating viewpoint, character, setting, and symbol, and manipulating chronology and the revelation of clues in a mystery story. By doing these things yourself you will learn about the basic conventions of fiction in a practical, hands-on way.
In the process of completing these exercises, you should become a better reader as we work through the novel THE MOONSTONE. You will be more likely to notice, for example, how Collins develops his characters, how he uses setting both to create a mood and to suggest symbolism, and how he times the release of important clues.
Each sketchbook entry will be written in the format of a letter from a character in the novel. These individual sketchbook exercises will develop the writing skills that will be the basis for the longer written assignment called the Moonstone narrative. In this assignment you will pick a minor character from the novel THE MOONSTONE and write a narrative for this character. You will also select the place in the novel where you think that character's narrative should appear.
Author Sketchbook Exercises
1: Create a character's writing style
Pick a minor character that you have met so far in your reading. Write a letter from your character that portrays him/her well. If your character has any bits of dialogue in the novel, study them carefully. Think through these questions before you write:
Pick one of the characters present at the dinner party (Betteredge's narratie, Chapter 10). Have that character write a letter to a friend, relating what happened at the dinner party. Write so that your character's attitudes towards the events and other characters at the dinner party are revealed.
Sketchbook Exercise 3:
Drop a red herring
Write a letter from a character whom you suspect has secret knowledge that would help solve the mystery. Think through these questions before you write:
Pick one of the major characters mentioned in the P.S. to Franklin Blake's letter and think up a setting appropriate to that character. Write a letter in which this character describes the setting. Think through these questions before you write:
Pick one of the minor characters mentioned in the P.S. to Franklin Blake's letter and devise plans for a document suited for him/her to write. Think through these questions before you write:
Sketchbook Exercise 4:
Describe a symbolic setting
Sketchbook Exercise 5:
Invent a document format
