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Reading and Writing 6-8 / Week 03 / Wednesday
3/6
Week 03 · Plot and Character

Wednesday

Writing Lab: the line that decides
// One story, five days, up the mountain and down
⏱ about 20 min

Wednesday: Writing Lab, the Line That Decides

Rocket sits at the Signal Desk with the butcher paper mountain in front of him. The peak is still blank.

"Episode Three has the turning point," he says. "I can feel it. But I do not know what it looks like."

"Sometimes it is a thing that happens," Raven says. "Sometimes it is a thing someone says."

"A line of dialogue? How can talking be a turning point?"

Nova hovers above the peak. "Think about the last time one sentence changed your mind," she says. "What did it make you do?"

Rocket is quiet for a moment. Then he picks up a pencil.

"Writing Lab today," Raven says. "Read the episode, find the line that decides, and write about what it does."

Learn it: dialogue and incidents propel the plot

In a story, a single line of dialogue or a single incident can do three jobs at once.

It can propel the action: after it, things move. It can reveal character: it shows what someone is like. It can provoke a decision: a character chooses because of it.

Raven thinks aloud: "The text says Raven asks, Which half do we still have in our heads? After that line, Rocket stops despairing and starts remembering. The line provokes his decision."

When you write about a line, name all three jobs it does, and quote it exactly.

  • Find the line or incident after which the story changes direction.
  • Ask what it makes happen next.
  • Ask what it shows about the speaker or the one who hears it.
  • Ask what decision follows, and who makes it.

Read it

Read it
The Missing Master, Episode Three: The Half We Still Have
By six o'clock the rain had stopped. The half master lay under the lamp, its gray top half curling as it dried.
Rocket had not spoken for ten minutes. He sat with his chin on his fists, staring at the streaks.
"Three stories," he said at last. "The repair day, the garden sign, the reading corner. All in the top half. Gone."
"The bottom half is fine," Raven said. "The lost dog, the boat race, the notices."
"Half an issue is not an issue. We skip this week."
Raven did not argue. She opened her notebook and turned the pages slowly, past a week of notes.
Then she asked a question. "Which half do we still have in our heads?"
Rocket looked up. "What?"
"You lettered the top half at three o'clock. You read every line twice while you did it. Which lines do you remember?"
Rocket opened his mouth to say none. Instead he said, "It is our ramp. You do not fix half of it."
The words sat in the air between them. Nova's light brightened a shade.
"That is the repair day quote," Raven said. "What came before it?"
"Eleven neighbors. Nine in the morning. Dede and the saw." Rocket was already reaching for a pencil.
"And I have the garden notes here," Raven said, tapping her notebook. "Every detail, in order."
Rocket pulled a fresh sheet across the desk. "We rewrite the top half tonight. From memory and from your notes."
He looked at the clock. "And we are faster than the first time, because we already know what it says."
Nova drifted to the lamp and turned it up one notch. Raven wrote on her page: 6:10. Rewrite begun.
CHECK IT: EPISODE THREE
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Which line of dialogue is the turning point of the serial?
What decision does that line provoke?
What does the line reveal about Raven?
Which incident shows Rocket remembers more than he thinks?
THREE JOBS OF ONE LINE
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
After "Which half do we still have in our heads?" the plot moves. Which job is that?
The line shows Raven asks rather than argues. Which job is that?
Rocket chooses to rewrite because of the line. Which job is that?
StatementTrue or false?
Rocket first wanted to skip the week's issue.?
Raven argued with Rocket right away.?
Raven's notebook had the garden notes in order.?
The crew decided to rewrite the bottom half.?
WHY THIS EXERCISERaven did not argue; she asked. The bottom half was fine, so they rewrote the top half.
At what time does Raven write "Rewrite begun"? Type the time with a colon, like 5:05.
WHY THIS EXERCISERaven's times mark each step of the plot. This one marks the peak of the mountain.
Try it
Add Episode Three to the peak of your story mountain. Write the turning point line beside it, in quotation marks.
Say the line aloud the way Raven would say it: calm, as a real question.

Write it: Writing Lab

Checklist
I quote the turning point line exactly, in quotation marks.
I explain what the line makes happen next in the plot.
I explain what the line reveals about a character, citing a second line.
I name the decision the line provokes and who makes it.
Every sentence begins with a capital and ends with a period or a question mark.

You found the line that decides and wrote about all three of its jobs. Tomorrow the crew comes down the mountain.

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