Focus and format

Focus and Format

Before revising for focus and format, you musty first answer the following:

What is the focus of my piece?

Examples:

1. My grandfather’s death

2. My fear of dying a horrible death

3. My determination to keep going despite struggles

4. The irony of the spork

5. How character x comes from nothing and becomes a hero

6. How my first love changed my life

7. How difficult it is to do the right thing when the wrong one is so tempting

Etc…

What is the purpose and tone of my piece?

Examples:

1. To show my confusion in the moment, and later sadness that he’s gone (Tone: somber and sad)

2. To scare the reader (Tone: suspenseful and mysterious)

3. To inspire others (Tone: hopeful)

4. To make my reader laugh (Tone: satirical and humorous)

5. To entertain (Tone:changes- humorous, hopeful, sad, suspenseful)

6. To express myself (Tone: romantic and humorous)

7. To express myself and connect w/ reader (serious, angry, hopeful)

What format would best fit my writing style, the focus of my piece, and mood I’m going for?

Examples:

     1. A memoir written in first person because I can describe the memory and also say what I learned from the experience

     2. A scary short story

     3. A poem

     4. A satirical essay

     5. A long story- include an excerpt

     6. A vignette of our first kiss

     7. A short story about a guy who gets caught up but changes

Once you’ve established what it is you’re writing, go through your piece and

àDelete or compress parts that don’t fit your purpose or tone

àExpand and add detail to parts that match your focus and tone

Other ways to add focus:

     Remove irrelevant information that doesn’t move the story forward

     Remove extra words in apoem and focus on concrete images

     Take out anecdotes or examples in an essay that aren’t funny (if that’s the tone) or don’t add to your focus

     Express the main idea in a variety of ways, using comparisons, dialogue, examples, summary, description. Don’t just say it the same way over and over again

     Take out an action or dialogue that doesn’t fit the character or doesn’t relate to the plot

As always, please see me for specific help. I’m here in class and available at lunch daily