ShmoopTube

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[Coop and Dino singing]

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Let’s close our eyes and think about ice cream for a second. [Boy in class closes eye and thinks about ice cream]

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Don't think too hard, though.

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We don’t want you drooling all over your desk.

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Ice cream comes in a lot of flavors: [Flavours of ice cream]

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Chocolate…

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Vanilla…

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Strawberry…mmm…

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Three very different flavors, but they all serve the same purpose: to make your life

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a little bit sweeter. [Girl looks at different flavors of ice cream]

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Now think of these very different flavors as different kinds of writing.

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We know, writing isn't quite as delicious, but just stay with us…

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First you have a play, complete with characters, dialogue and stage directions. [Play text in chocolate ice cream]

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Second comes poetry, with rhythm, rhyme and meter.

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Lastly comes prose, with paragraphs and chapters separating the words.

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Each kind of writing is different, but it all serves the same purpose: to convey the

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writer's ideas.

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And bonus! [Girl reading about prose, plays and poetry]

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If you read all three, you can reward yourself with ice cream.

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See? [Girl receives ice cream and jumps up and down]

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It all comes full circle.

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Choosing your favorite type of writing is important…almost as important as choosing

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your favorite ice cream flavor. [Person chooses favorite ice cream flavor]

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Each writing style has its own pros and cons.

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Hah.

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Prose and cons.

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Get it?

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Ahem.

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Poetry, for instance, allows you to create something with lots of rhythm and rhyme, making [Poetry rapping in the street]

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it more interesting or pleasing to hear read aloud.

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It's also great for experimentation, since you can break up sentences into different

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lines to make the reader think about what you're saying in different ways.

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The main con of poetry is that it’s not always easy to understand.

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And you'll find that most readers prefer easy.

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Which is a great pro for prose! [Prose book appears]

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It's straightforward and well-organized.

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Writers can use paragraphs and chapters to further organize the action and ideas to make

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reading even easier.

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But it's not all rosy pros for prose. [Foot squashes flowers]

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Ever opened a book, seen all those words, and immediately wanted to close the book again?

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Yeah, that’s the con of prose.

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It can come across as a bit dull, as it has no interesting rhyming or rhythms like a poem, [Prose book in the street with a stereo playing music]

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and can occasionally feel too long-winded.

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The third format, plays, can be great fun for the writer, as it allows them to write

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something that’s meant to be performed!

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Writers get to explain what they want the stage to look like, how they want characters

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to behave, and what they want the characters to say. [Writer throws script at actors on stage]

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It’s kind of like playing dolls… but with people.

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The downside is that it’s often hard to get across exactly how or when you want something

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to happen, especially when so much of it has to be done through the dialogue.

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This means that the writer can't be sure that what they write will turn out how they intended

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it to.

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Which isn’t so great for those control freak writers.

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So the next time you have a great idea you want to get out, consider the pros and cons [Man has idea and considers pros and cons]

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of each writing style to decide which one suits your idea best.

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Remember: there's no “best” writing format – only different ones.

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And just check with your parents before you do that whole ice cream reward thing… [Girl with ice cream and Mom appears]

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If they say it's not a cool idea, then you didn’t hear it from us…

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