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02/08/2007
Apart from having a compelling story to tell, the next important thing you need to do is tell it well. While the first part of this equation is up to your imaginative powers, the second part is easily learned and skills easily acquired. Quite simply, this is done using powerful words. What I mean by that is that every single word counts and has a potential role to play, so make each one “sing”.
In an inspirational lecture some years ago, Ray Bradbury told me that everything, EVERYTHING you write is metaphor. He meant every word. Think of it. Think of how every element of your writing illuminates your story. How does your setting help illuminate your characters or their conflicts? How does a character’s speech illuminate his/her background or lifestyle? How does a description create mood or affect pace?
So, how do you do that? Make every word count?
This is accomplished in many ways. Here are ten tips on word wizarding that will help:
1. Use “power verbs”—I don’t just mean active vs. passive (e.g., stay away from was, am, is, were, being, have; is believed, was seen)…I’m talking about finding a verb that scintillates and compels, a verb that captures exactly the mood, scene, action (e.g., instead of “he put his hand in his pocket, you could say his hand dove into his pocket or dug into his pocket or slid or fumbled or…get it? This tells us so much more about HOW he felt in his action). Verbs best convey the mood and the action. Using a power verb also prevents the need for superlative modifiers (e.g., adverbs or adjectives, can almost always be replaced with a powerful verb).
2. Try to remove as many adverbs and adjectives as you can and replace with powerful verbs, particularly where you want the pace and tension to heighten.
3. Avoid weak sentence starts (e.g., nothing is going on: “He walked into the room” instead of, say, “Leisha stormed into the lounge, eyes searching for a victim”) and end each sentence with a strength (i.e., the important thing you are conveying should appear at the end of the sentence as opposed to some added on detail that often “dangles” at the end; this weakens the whole sentence).
4. Be aware of cadence and vary it and sentence length within a paragraph (reading your stuff out loud often helps).
5. Remove filler words…e.g. Jimmy paid more for (the) rent (that he accrued) because Sam hated him. Avoid unnecessary modifiers and additions (e.g., “in the case of”, “of…something”, “degree of”, “of the fact that”, etc. Less is more, people.
6. Watch for and remove redundancies (e.g., general consensus, on first entering, totally devoid of, first introduced, flawless perfection, etc.). Use repetition sparingly, only to make a point (when used this way it can be very effective). Check for two sentences saying the same thing (even if in a different way) in a paragraph.
7. Take out “in” phrases (e.g. “in colour”, “in size”, “in shape”, etc.).
8. Look for and remove clichés.
9. Use lots of dialogue and remember to break up your text into fairly short paragraphs for reader ease.
10. Use metaphors, similes and alliteration. These help to give description a double purpose by describing something but also ascribing it a mood and quality in keeping with the POV character.
If you use any of these techniques, I guarantee that your writing will improve and start to sing.
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