Note 8 — 3. Making Stories Better[7]

Note 8 (page 5). As pupils suggest improvements, Tom's dream should be rewritten on the board, sentence by sentence, the point being throughout that Tom did not tell all that he had in mind. The class will greatly enjoy and profit by seeing Tom's original bald, fragmentary story become a vivid narrative, full of interesting detail and realistic color. See Note 64. Later this should be compared with Tom's improved narrative as it stands on pages 5 and 6. Pupils should not conclude, however, that length is necessarily a virtue in compositions. What is desired is not mere fullness but fullness of interesting detail.