EXERCISE: A Bonus For Who?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting  4 March 2009

What would you do?

At the consortium recently, one of the speakers mentioned an exercise in leadership that he uses with his students. He didn't get very many details, but it's basically pretty simple. Apparently he simply tells his students that they are the leader of a team, and they have just gotten a $10,000 bonus from the customer. The question is what do they do with it? How do you decide how to share it?

I have to admit, I was wondering if the company and the team know about the bonus. Although frankly that shouldn't influence how you handle it, I'm afraid there may be some students who might not be so interested in sharing it -- after all, as the leader of the team, clearly the bonus goes in my pocket, doesn't it? At least I've known a few managers who had that attitude -- not ones that I was terribly impressed with, but I could see that as something to discuss.

Hum -- there's also the wonders of taxes and company overhead that might be considered. I'll bet most students don't know about that -- which could significantly diminish the amount that the team actually gets.

But the basic question is still a fun one. You're the leader of a team, and you've got some bonus money to share with the team. How do you dish it out? Same amount for everyone? Senior people get a little bit more? Or maybe the junior people, with lower salaries, get a little extra?

And how do you raise the question, discuss it, and arrive at a decision?

Now there's something that can tear up the team, or help make the team. How do you handle it?

$10,000, 10 team members -- $1000 each? Individual bonuses, a team get away weekend, or . . .

Write!

TECH: And don't talk back

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 8 March 2009

Yakkity-yack

Writer's Digest, April 2006, Fiction Essentials column by James Scott Bell pages 20 and 21 talks about dialogue. It's not just for talking! In the writer's hand, it can set moods, change the pace, and make theme deeper. So how do you make your character's dialogue really work.

First, use the dialogue to set and support the mood. "Dialogue that's consistent with the mood of the novel can help pull readers into emotional moments and deepen the reading experience." Look at the dialogue independently of the action beats and description -- what mood does it set? Now revise so that the tone of the dialogue complements the action.

Second, use dialogue to speed up or slow things down. Short verbal exchanges with few action beats read fast. Use that to speed things up. Or if you want to slow things down, add in action beats, thoughts and reactions, and descriptions. Or of course you can make the dialogue longer. Aunt Sally's rambling version could slow down anything! Just make sure that it's true to the character.

And third, dialogue can reflect the theme. The characters are thinking about things -- and they talk to each other about it. We, the reader, get to think about it too. To get thematic dialogue, take it in three steps. First, as you write the novel, think about the theme that is emerging. Don't try to force one into your novel, just to see what is coming out naturally. Second, let several characters talk to each other about that theme. Go ahead and write too much -- you can always cut the extra dialogue out. And third, edit the dialogue, so that the characters explore and touch on the theme from the edge. Don't let them preach to the readers either.

Dialogue is probably one of the strongest tools in the fiction writer's hands. Think about how you're using it. Add in the mood, pacing, and theme so that your dialogue adds layers to the story. Now that's meaningful dialogue.

Write?