Word choice can make or break a piece of writing. When you find the perfect words, they will convey the exact tone, expertise, and information you want your reader to have. Tone Word choice can set a serious or humorous tone. Consider the following: Ricky puffed out his chest and flexed his arms Ricky thrust his chest forward and struck a strongman pose The first example shows preening where the second paints a humorous caricature. A tear slid down her cheek A tear coursed down her cheek One is a trickle the other a torrent. Or consider Spoiled children Spoiled brats Two distinctly different vibes emerge by…
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How do You Name Your Character?
I like my character’s name to be compatible with the time period. For instance, if my female character was born in the 1920s I’m inclined pick the name Evelyn or Doris. But if my female character was born in the 2010’s I’m more likely to pick Emily or Madison. So how do I select a time-appropriate name? Historically Accurate When writing in a different time period, my go-to website is SSA. The social security administration has compiled the 200 most common names for girls and boys from each decade starting in the 1880s. Generally speaking, when choosing a character’s name, I pick a number before I pull up the list…
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All Dogs Bark
Four dogs loped toward us. I walked along a country road with Dusty, my Husky Lab mix. Public lands spread out to the left, the back side of a rural neighborhood to the right. The four dogs looked friendly enough. I led Dusty down to the wire fence for a sociable sniff. The middle-sized dog suddenly lunged at the fence, finding an opening almost big enough to penetrate while barking fiercely. We backed up and continued along the road which paralleled the dogs’ enclosure. All four dogs continued to bark as they matched our progress along the fence. The largest dog, maybe seventy-five pounds, let out a single woof every…
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Revising for Sentence Flow
With no sentence flow, Dick and Jane are dull as tofu. But that’s how I learned to read. It’s a wonder I ever developed a passion for it. Most sentences are two to six words long. See Spot. Spot is Dick and Jane’s dog. There’s a limited word list—this is Dick Jane Spot run house— you get the idea. It begged to be read in robotic monotone, and who wants to listen to that? Repetition may help you learn to hit a baseball, but Dick-and-Jane-style repetition just makes you want to throw up! Structure Luckily, I was exposed to other great literature: A Thousand and One Arabian Nights, Grimm’s Fairy…
