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TECH: Voila Style! (moldy oldie)

Original Posting 2021/3/12

Writer's Digest, December 1991, pages 30-33, had an article by David L. Carroll talking about style. He starts off by suggesting that of course, any professional's lifelong aim is to learn to write as well as you possibly can. At the same time, there are some shortcuts and tricks of the trade that can be useful. Then he provides descriptions of 14 of these "tricks." Here they are!

1. After making a strategic or dramatic point, move away from your subject for a moment, then return with sudden force. In other words, introduce the topic, then relax a moment with some other idea, and then come back to the original subject in a way that ties the two together.

2. Three ways to keep your reader emotionally involved: 1. Present a mystery, then unravel it in stages. 2. Create a situation of jeopardy than resolve it. 3. Identify a problem that readers are personally experiencing, then help them overcome it.

3. Use action to make a significant point. Show, don't tell. Dynamic imagery and motion!

4. Use a series of short sentences to build tension. Usually at a moment of tense action, short sentences with strong verbs adds intensity and builds drama.

5. Be careful using the dash. It's powerful, but don't overdo it.

6. Vary the lengths of your sentences and paragraphs. Mix it up.

7. When you're stuck for the right way to say it, try… Sometimes you need to use a grammatical device such as asking a question, giving a command, a quotation, a different subject, different punctuation, a joke, get personal with the reader, examples, emotions, an anecdote, a list, facts,…

8. Shift emotional directions in the middle of a sentence. "Sudden emotional changes can be stimulating to readers if done properly."

9. Introduce a string of short, descriptive words and phrases to make an emphatic point. Short sentences with strong adjectives and images might do the trick.

10. Avoid unnecessary connectives. Watch out for those transition words.

11. Don't weaken your prose with too many unnecessary adverbial qualifiers.

12. Use intentional redundancy on occasion. Sometimes, repeat yourself.

13. Make your sentences rise to a climax; let them reveal their most significant information at the end.

14. Use grace notes. Little asides and action that add humor or emotional color can make your story better.

There you go. Some little tricks you might consider while writing, or while revising.

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TECH: The Elements of Force (moldy oldie!)

Original Posting April 1, 2017

Writer's Digest, March 1996, for the technique of the month, had an article on pages 29-31, and 67, by Arthur Plotnik, with the title "The Elements of Force." The subtitle is a teaser!

"From oath to understatement, force comes to expression in a thousand potent forms, yet our discourse runs to the feeble," says this author and editor. But it doesn't have to be this way: Read on to discover how you can load your writing with word grenades, sound bursts and other power boosters.

Word grenades? Whoa!

Arthur starts out by talking about the tendency to deal with stock situations with stock phrases. However, sometimes we want "to express the extraordinary, to achieve self-expression, to pierce resistant minds," and the way to do that? Deploy the elements of force!

For example, the force of love. He describes visual effects in films, and the simple single-syllable words of Elizabeth Barrett Browning: "I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach."

And then he talks about where expressive force comes from. Words, symbolism, sound, figures of speech, arrangement… Impingement! We may think of forceful expression in terms of rules from freshman composition:

– Use powerful verbs, closely linked to subject and object
– use concrete language that stimulates the senses
– trim the fat; omit redundant words and needless clauses

But Arthur is going to provide us with a series of helpful tools. Start out with powerful charms. What does that mean? Well, some words have associations. In particular, specific things that kick us in the experiences and emotions. Words and associations, resonating in our minds. Now, how can you do that?

Start with power boosters! High-energy verbs. We all know that verbs are the action in sentences. So use the ones that have punch behind them. Novelty, freshness, and zing.

Word grenades. Arthur is talking about the difference between a pile of words such as "The students made a total wreck of our apartment like some kind of wild animals have been locked up in it," and "The students savaged our apartment." One word, savaged, explodes with meaning. Find that energetic word and put it in your sentence.

Sound bursts. Onomatopoeia? Words that sound like nature. Shared sounds, the hiss of stimulants, and the crunch of hard consonants. Use those sounds that are built into our words.

Wake up images. Sometimes we need the exciting image in the middle of description so that we think about what's happening.

Tension. We all know you want conflict in your story. Well, expressions can provoke worry, disturbance, fright. Headlines are often crafted to make you jump. Build the tension, and then provide catharsis or release.

Nowness. Be careful of fashion, fads in vogue today often sound awkward tomorrow, but while they're fresh, they certainly can add a little to your writing. Just be aware that you are also dating yourself. And even with the best of intentions, you may not be able to keep up with the hippies? Hipsters? What are the cool young people called today?

Music, rhythm, soul. Attention to music. Ethnic dialect, regional accents, and musical rhythms often make audiences feel comfortable.

Forces of nature. Natural forces and disasters certainly provide a lot of energy. Beware cliché and melodrama, though.

Irreverence. Prick, don't bludgeon. Insults and blasphemies are shocks, but readers don't like them. A little irreverence, however, can make the audience think about things.

Sincerity. Honest, heartfelt values. You need to mean it, and say it in a way that shows you are honest about it. You can't fake sincerity. But when you really mean it, sometimes it shows.

All right? So there's a whole group of possibilities for helping your writing express your meaning with force. Light the fire with high energy verbs, blow things up with some word grenades, make your words sound off, and give your readers images they don't expect. And that's just the first four!

An exercise? Well, an obvious possibility is to take something you have been working on, a scene or action sketch, and look for places you used each of these tools. Then go through, and see if there are places you can tighten it up by applying one or more of these tools! Can you slide in a high-energy verb? How about planting a word grenade in that scene? What are the sounds of your words? Add in an image that makes the reader pay attention? Go ahead, make your reader's day!

tink

Current Mood: nameless

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TECH: A doll without a head

Original posting 11 January 2010

A.k.a. Titles

Writers DIgest, June 2008, pages 71-72, has an article by Steve Almond with the title "Titles." It starts out with a little reflection from teaching writing fiction, where Steve says usually the day that people turn in stories for the first workshop, someone apologizes for not having a title. And usually a chorus of other people join in, with mention of how much they hate titles. At which point Steve apparently goes into his rant about how cool titles are!

And a key note of that is "a story without a title is like a doll without a head!" And then he gives his lecture on titles, with the title, "Who wants to play with a headless doll? No one, that's who."

So what's a title for? Well, Steve says they serve three purposes. First, they introduce the story's crucial images and ideas. Second, they initiate the rhetorical pitch of the prose. And third, they act as an inducement to keep reading. Now, all titles don't do all three, but the best titles catch them all.

Then he looks at some famous titles, and how they do on these three points. E.g. The Catcher in the Rye, Pride and Prejudice, and Lord of the Flies. But... don't be fooled, titles don't always come easy.

Good titles are organic, not imposed. They should grow out of the story, the vernacular that's used, the language and imagery and ideas.

But... avoid using a character's name as a title. Don't just recycle the last line, or something -- make the title original. Beware the pun, or the famous quote.

Think about details, or bits of dialogue. Look for images that grab you, and make a hook for the story. What's at the heart of your story? What kind of promise do you want to make to the reader?

And the sidebar has some exercises just for fun...

Take a look at your most recent work. Underline phrases that resonate for you. Try them as titles. Do they change the way you envision the story? How do they measure up to Steve's three points -- key image, rhetorical intro, and keep reading?
Make a list of your favorite novels and/or stories. Look at those titles. How do they work? What do they promise?
Consider what expectations -- in terms of plot, theme and tone -- the following titles provoke: The Day I Became a Virgin; Blue Falls; First Month, Last Month and Security; Sacrifice Fly; Sylvia Plath is My Love Goddess
Gather any old stories lying around, particularly ones that employ puns, famous allusions or character names. Now think about how to retitle them.

So, there you have it. Don't just expect readers to get interested in "Untitled Work #9" -- put your titles to work.

And write.

Current Mood: dusty

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EXERCISE: The Leap

Original posting 11 September 2009

Writer's Digest, October 2008, pages 67 and 68, have an article by Dorianne Laux on poetry with the title, "The Leap." There's an exercise at the end that I will quote, but let me summarize the article first.

Dorianne points out that Spanish poetry often uses a leap into apparently unrelated imaginary material (I was reminded of the magical realism genre, but let's ignore that for the moment). A number of Spanish poets have used this technique, and in the 1960s it was introduced to America by the deep image poets. So there are number of examples of "the imaginative leap" in contemporary poetry.

Next there is an example of such a poem by Ellen Bass. "If You Knew" starts with the simple question, "what if you knew you'd be the last to touch someone?" And then it goes into some examples of what you might do if you knew that someone would die soon after you touched them. The final verse then reads:

How close does the dragon's spume
have to come? How wide does the crack
in heaven have to split?
What would people look like
if we could see them as they are
soaked in honey, stung and swollen,
reckless, pinned against time?

"If You Knew" by Ellen Bass, from The Human Line, Copper Canyon Press, 2007.

A simple if somewhat unusual question, some consideration of what you might do, and then the fantastic metaphor.

There's another example, a modern-day poetic fable by Joseph Millar, with the title, "Sole Custody." It seems to be a parent and child talking about life, and then swerves into a simile, of sailors and ships and oceans.

OK? So that's the leap, mixing a strong fantastic image or metaphor into ordinary life.

And here's the exercise...

Try a Leap

"Write an imaginative poem where you knew you ask a theoretical question and extend it for as many lines as you can. Choose your examples from different areas of life so that you look at the question from a variety of angles or viewpoints. You could also tell a brief story taken from everyday life wherein you describe many of the various physical particulars and touch on one or two emotional moments.

"From one of these two foundations, allow yourself to leap into metaphor; find an image or a series of images that can contain and expand your extended ruminations.

"This exercise can also be used to resolve and revise an existing poem you feel hasn't yet attained its fullness and power. It may not be easy to find your metaphor at first. Don't be afraid to try anything: a box, a wave, a leaf.... look at your own life and don't rule anything out.

"Another approach might be to begin with the metaphor and find the context for it later. ...

[Skip]

"You might begin by describing an extended action such as weeding the yard, sweeping the porch, or dressing for work. After you've described your actions in minute detail, take a look and see how this description could be a metaphor for something else. Make that the title of the poem"

All right? Three different formats, really, each focusing on using an imaginative metaphor. One poses the question, consider some mundane examples, and then turns fantastic. Another simply considers something about life, and adds the fantastic to it. And the third... what if our mundane life is the fantastic?

Go ahead. A heaping cup of ordinary, and a teaspoon of fantasy. Reminds me a little bit of Peter Pan sprinkling fairy dust. You can fly!

Write?

Current Mood: poggle

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TECH: Make A Scene #21: The Final Scene

Original posting 16 September 2008

[oops -- forgot to send this over the weekend. Sometimes . . . ]

Chapter 21: the Final Scene

Here we are again, taking a look at Make a Scene by Jordan Rosenfeld. Deep in Part Three about scene types, we've seen the first scene, suspense scenes, dramatic scenes, contemplative scenes, dialogue scenes, action scenes, flashback scenes, epiphany scenes, climactic scenes and now it's time for . . . the final scene.

Note that this is after the climax. These are the ends of the story -- the conclusion of the significant situation, the wrapup to the events that opened the first scene, etc. Fairly often final scenes also are beginnings of something new, leaving the situation open for a sequel. Most final scenes:

summarize how the protagonist feels after the conclusion of the plot
are reflective in tone
remind the reader of the significant situation
are often slower paced

Fairly often there's one last surprise, answer or insight, but you don't have to do that. It is the end of the narrative, but you want to let your characters and settings live on, so you may want to make sure you have a memorable ending.

Before the final final scene, there sometimes are some final scenes wrapping everything up. This is where you can supply answers to all the outstanding questions. The real true final scene then focuses on showing the reader what the significant situation has done to the protagonist, how he has changed and what he feels now.

The final final scene shows character transformation. Whatever it is that has changed, outlook, lifestyle, relationships, self-image -- the final final scene needs to show that. It's also important that the story be finished -- whatever the complications were, this is where they have unrolled. Revealing whodunit, saying they lived happily ever after, there are different kinds of conclusions in different genres, but you need to finish it off. Let your protagonist grapple with the consequences of the significant situation.

Opening the final final scene. Counterpoints -- reflecting the first scene, while showing how the character has changed -- are an effective way to open the final scene. Another common technique is reflective exposition. Interior monologue and exposition can set up the mood, emotions, and theme for the finale.

The final scene usually is slow-paced, with small actions, quieter, reflecting the character settling their inner life. Details, metaphors, and so on are often pieces of final scenes.

In the final final scene -- final sentences. The last two or three sentences, and especially the very last sentence, are likely to have a strong affect on your readers. You want them to have an emotional flavor, and some of the feeling of the entire novel. Sometimes there's a final action -- usually a symbolic action or gesture. Sometimes there are final reflections or thoughts, even protagonist or narrator summing it up. And then there are final images. These trigger emotional responses, and need to be carefully chosen. Think symbol and metaphor, make a list of possible images, and then craft one that really resonates with your protagonist's journey.

Rosenfeld's checklist for final scenes:

Is the final scene a snapshot of the protagonist following the consequences of the significant situation?
Does the final scene reveal how the protagonist has changed?
Is the pace slower and is the scene reflective?
Is there too much action for a final scene?

Enough of Rosenfeld. What do you think? Some stories quite happily have the final showdown, then just ring down the curtain and end. However, there often is just a dab more -- the cleaning crew behind the scenes, someone rolling up the red carpet, and so forth. These are often slightly humorous, relaxing sorts of scenes, with the bad guys being rolled off to jail in the paddywagon, and the good guys joking about what just happened. And the guy finally makes a move with the girl. Or . . .

Do you like these wrapup scenes? Can you think of one that really stuck in your memory? Why? What made it memorable?

Then, of course, one might consider the stories you are writing. What kind of final final scenes do they need? Is there life after the climax? Can you reassure the reader that they lived happily ever after? Or do you need to say "Watch out for what's coming next?" Whatever, what is the right way to finish off your story? What needs to be there as a final wrapup?

Go ahead. Put together a final scene (or scenes) and tidy up the bits and pieces.

Write!