Writing Better Part 9

MISCELLANEOUS

A VARIETY OF VOICES

Distinguishing the speech patterns of various characters:

01) In addition to character profiles, develop a speech profile for each major character, considering:

a) Where, and how, s/he was raised;

b) Education level;

c) Interests;

d) Vocation;

e) Hobbies;

f) Marital situation;

g) Family/ethnic background;

h) Sensory preference - like being right- or left-handed, each of us is either visual, auditory, or kinesthetic (feeling). Visually oriented characters might use visually oriented words predominantly ("shaggy dog"), while auditorially oriented characters might prefer sound oriented words ("barking dog") and kinesthetics may use sensual terms ("smelly dog");

02) Cadence - alter inflection and/or sentence length to reflect each character’s background and sensory preference;

a) Phrases - a character who riddles his speech or internal narrative with prepositional or parenthetic phrases will sound completely different to the reader than a character who uses few or none;

b) Adverbs - These create a different cadence from adjectives modifying nouns or pronouns. Examples:

Adjective) Fine wine after an excellent program put Chelsea in a warm and generous mood.

Adverb) After the program, wine flowed lavishly, turning Chelsea’s mood warmly generous.

c) Word choice - Multi-syllabic words create a slightly more lyrical cadence than mono-syllabic words;

d) Articles - dropping articles (the, a, an) or incomplete sentences will also affect rhythm. Incomplete sentences can sound casual and informal, and are best reserved to showing friendship, since casual acquaintances and strangers are more apt to speak in a more expansive, verbose manner.

AVOID COMMON GRAMMAR PITFALLS

22 Tips:

01) Lose the flab:

a) Cut useless modifiers - such as really, truly, very, genuinely - and pointless phrases such as "it goes without saying" et cetera;

b) Cut redundancies - "armed gunman", "personal friend", et cetera;

c) Cut unnecessary extras that tell you things you know from context - "the shirt was blue in color" et cetera;

d) Find each use of the word "of" and ensure it is earning its keep - "he is the kind of man who is never afraid", et cetera;

e) Edit sentences which begin with "It is", "There are", et cetera. "There are three people dancing on the street" could be "Three people are dancing on the street" for example;

f) The terms "which is", "who are", and "who is" are frequently unneeded;

g) Don’t overuse adverbs - "He ran excitedly down the hill" should be "He bounded down the hill, breathless and smiling.";

02) Be precise:

a) Avoid vague modifiers - such as "a lot", "perhaps", "kind of", "somewhat", "kind of", et cetera;

b) Avoid jargon - it’s confusing, and subject to misinterpretation. (PERSONAL NOTE: Of course, if you want to add some confusion and opportunities for misinterpretation, jargon might be perfect.);

c) Use specific verbs rather than general - instead of "went" try "ran, moseyed, hopped, strolled, skipped, drove, tiptoed", et cetera;

d) Watch for doubled-up nouns, such as "action directive", "crisis situation", or "entertainment experience", et cetera;

e) Match up singulars and plurals - "Oasis is an excellent band, but their latest album stinks." Is Oasis an it, or a they? Pick one, and stick with it;

f) Watch out for dangling modifiers - "Coming down the hillside, the little white church was clearly visible", means the church was coming down the hillside; better to say, "As we came down the hillside, the little white church was clearly visible.";

g) Place adverbs as close as possible to the words they modify - "George only likes one flavor of ice cream" means George doesn’t like anything except one flavor of ice cream; better to say, "George likes only one flavor of ice cream", which means he doesn’t like other flavors of ice cream without implying that’s all he eats.

03) Stay active:

a) Where possible, transform passive into active verbs:

Passive) The decision was made by the city council.

Active) The city council made the decision.

b) Where possible, "amplify" verbs - use "scrutinize" for "examine", "transmogrify" for "change", et cetera;

c) Purge vague adjectives - amazing, interesting, compelling, wonderful, appealing…. Replace them with words that paint pictures, and let the reader decide if something you’ve described is "amazing";

d) Expand your vocabulary.

04) Maintain a logical structure and flow:

a) Make sure your sentences are "parallel" - equally balanced, as in, "He was tall and dark and had nice eyes" is better than "He was tall, dark, and had nice eyes.";

b) Have a beginning and end in mind before starting to write;

c) Every story should reach its conclusion in a logical series of steps;

d) Read your story aloud to a (preferably well-read) audience, to make sure all is in order.