Bend II: Making Stories the Best They Can Be

How can you bring your story to life through revision?

Session 1: Revision as a Compliment to Good Writing 

“Today I want to remind you that writers look back at the stories they’ve written and find ones that deserve the honor of revision. Then they think, ‘How can I make this the best it can be?’ and they add the talking, actions, and feelings that make their story even better.”

Session 2: Revising by Telling and Showing Feelings 

“Today I want to teach you that writers can do more than tell people’s feelings in their stories— they can also show them! Writers can revise by adding the actions people do that show their feelings.”

Session 3: Revising to Bring Out What’s Deep Inside 

“Today I want to teach you that writers bring out the feelings in their stories by showing what’s happening on the inside. Writers can tell their character’s thoughts, hopes, memories, and secrets.”

Session 4: Starting a New Story Using Everything You Know 

“Today I want to teach you that once you know something as a writer, you don’t go back to writing stories the way you used to. Instead, right from the start, you write using everything you have learned.”

Session 5: Writers Are Responsible for Snap Words 

“Today I want to teach you that writers are responsible for spelling the words they’ve learned. They check for trouble words to make sure their books are easy to read.”

Session 6: Revising to Tell the Most Important Part Bit by Bit 

“Today I want to teach you that writers slow down the most important part of their story by writing in tiny actions that show exactly what happened, bit by bit.”

Session 7: Revising Beginnings and Endings 

“Today I want to teach you that the beginnings and endings of stories are almost always worthy of revision. Writers want their readers to imagine their stories right from the start. It helps to begin a story by telling exactly what the character is doing or saying, or by describing the setting—where the character is. And the ending needs to be special too.”

Session 8: Introducing the Narrative Checklist 

“Together, let’s learn: What did this writer do at the beginning, middle, and end to make this such a powerful story? How can you do the same?”