Andrew Melrose Write for Children (pdf)

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Rachel. I mean, before she could get so crabby at the slightest tease.
What are you two saying? asked Josie.
Here, I ll write it down for you, replied Rachel, which she
realised was a waste of time. She wrote on Josie s pad: I said it s no
fun not being able to tell you jokes.
Josie cast Rachel a frown as if to say, Yeah, right. But she didn t
say it out loud.
Then Amina took the pencil and wrote: I was just saying how
much I missed you.
Josie wanted to scream at them, but she knew it was best not to.
She couldn t let her secret out. Not yet, anyway.
Amina giggled. Silly prat! she said.
Rachel joined in. Silly s too good a word. But she is a prat if she
thinks that Joe is going to fall for her.
He is a hunk, though, added Amina. I mean, you have to
admit that.
Josie gave her a quizzical look.
Amina picked up the pad again and wrote: We were just
wondering if you will have to go to another school.
I wasn t born yesterday, replied Josie. You must think I m
d. . . She almost let her secret out of the bag. You must think I m
blind. I saw your lips moving and you definitely said the word
prat !
Amina giggled and wrote: No I didn t, I said perhaps . You must
have been mistaken.
Yeah, right, conceded Josie. Look, I m getting tired now,
would you mind going? She wasn t tired but the effort of pretend-
ing she was deaf was getting to be a bit of a strain. One more insult
from Amina might be too much to bear. Besides, she wanted to
check out Mary. There was definitely something fishy going on and
Josie wanted to find out what it was.
68 Write the rights know the wrongs
Come on, Rachel, said Amina, let s leave the little prat to her
silence.
Rachel giggled, then smiled at Josie. See you, prat face!
Josie smiled back and said, Bye! Her secret was safe for now,
but she was biting her lip. Just you two wait, she thought, as they
left.
Having this conversation with Josie pretending not to be able to
hear allows us to use a little irony while putting Josie on the spot and
testing her resolve. Of course, it also serves to dish up some humour,
lets us know how cruel kids can be and reveals a side to Amina and
Rachel. In other words, it s character-building. But so, too, is the plot
moving forward in this scene. Josie needs to get rid of them because
she needs to keep her secret. Why? Because she wants to check out
Mary, and being deaf will allow her to listen for indiscreet talk; on
which, of course, the plot hinges. I have also left in the small subplot
that she will get back at Amina and Rachel when the time comes (and
so should make a note: Do not to forget to tie this loop at an appropriate
time ).
Important in this scene is the way in which Amina and Rachel
exploit their dialogue/triangle to good effect. Introducing the third
person into a conversation opens up the potential for change. Try this:
have two people speaking, then introduce a knock at the door, a tele-
phone ringing, something said on the radio, a kid brother bursting into
the room, a mother interfering. This provides immediate change,
and change is what is needed for the story to progress. The third voice
also introduces empathy, sympathy, support, opposition, ganging up,
ganging against, and so on. This is because a dialogue between two
people is generally more intimate. A talks to B and B talks to A, back
and forth. Introducing another voice, C doesn t just make a threesome
but introduces the factor three to the equation to give six options. See
the diagram opposite on page 69.
Thus, there is more potential to open out the dialogue and widen the
subject matter, give facts and so on. However, once it goes beyond three
people it starts to get tricky and crowded: the characters can t get a
word in edgeways or one gets sidelined. While this can be used to good
effect, generally it is best to work around three voices.
Write the rights know the wrongs 69
AB
A B
C
Something which must also be considered is the connection between
dialogue and internal thoughts and subjectivity. Contradictions and
paradoxes between external and internal issues can be addressed.
Externally, Josie may be concerned about Joe (internally, too), but there
is also the issue of her dead mother, which remains unspoken yet festers. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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