--- title: Putting it together: reading and writing like a writer — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Putting it together: reading and writing like a writer», a lesson of the english course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Reading like a writer means noticing the tricks an author uses, not just what happens: how the first line hooks you --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/) / Putting it together: reading and writi… # Putting it together: reading and writing like a writer Lesson 54 of the english course of Mova's primary school: 17 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/0/) — Reading like a writer means noticing the tricks an author uses, not just what happens: how the first line hooks you, how tension builds, how a twist surprises you. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/1/) — Then you borrow the tricks, not the words: a question opening, "show, don't tell" description ("her hands shook" instead of "she was scared"), and dialogue with a new line for each new speaker. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/2/) — A strong story often has a hook at the start, tension in the middle and sometimes a twist at the end that changes how you see everything before it. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/3/) — Good writers change their style for the reader: the same news ("we won the match") is chatty for a friend and polite and clear for the head teacher. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/4/) — Picture a boy in Glasgow saying "Ah'm gonnae write a wee story aboot ma dug" ("gonnae" means going to, "dug" means dog): dialect is fine in talk and in characters' speech, he can use Standard English for the narrator of a formal piece, and then he edits with the checklist and shares it proudly. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/5/) — Reading like a writer means noticing the techniques authors use so that you can use them too. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/6/) — Borrowing an author's techniques is good practice; copying their actual words and calling them yours is not. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/7/) — A hook is an opening that grabs the reader, such as a question, a sudden action or a line of speech. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/8/) — Tension makes the reader worry about what will happen next; a twist is a surprise that changes the meaning of the story. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/9/) — "Show, don't tell" means showing a feeling through actions and details: "her hands shook" shows fear. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/10/) — In written dialogue, speech marks go around the words spoken, and each new speaker starts a new line. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/11/) — A writer's toolkit is a list of techniques (openings, description, dialogue) to check before and while writing. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/13/) — Writers change their register for their reader: chatty for a friend, formal for a head teacher. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/14/) — Dialect is fine in talk and in characters' speech; formal writing usually uses Standard English. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/15/) — Writers are not born, they are made: practice makes progress. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/16/) — Praise is most useful when it says what was good; then pick one thing to improve. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/17/) — Slang to know: "boss" (Liverpool) and "slaps" (Gen Z) both mean great, and "heaps" (Australia) means very. - ← previous: [Writing assessment and the "Year 6 panic"](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/53-writing-assessment-and-the-year-6-panic/) - next →: [Olympiad: the Spelling Bee](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee/) - ↑ back to [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/)