Category: Writing Tips

WORDING: START vs. GO

In reading UNDERSTANDING COMICS by SCOTT MCCLOUD, there’s a moment where he points out that a character facing the left of the panel presents a stop to the action because we read left to right. If the character is facing right, our eyes keep the movement going to the next panel.

If I said that wrong or it’s confusing, go check out his long-heralded study on the comic book medium. It’ll change your life. It reveals not only the workings of comics but of our minds.

So, with that idea in mind, if the way a character is looking can inform us of movement, so can words based on the sound.

START, because of the hard T sound at the end doesn’t move for me. The word START stops.

GO, on the other hand has the open mouth O sound that a singer could draw out. It doesn’t just stop it moves.

Maybe that’s why we don’t say ‘Ready. Set. Start!’

WRITING TIPS: REHERSAL

Sometimes I have the gist of a story. But that’s not enough to dive into writing just yet.

I’ve found that writing the summary of the idea over and over again helps.

Start with a few sentences of your story.

Character has to battle demons. Character finds out he’s actually a demon. Ends with a really cool action scene.

Then come back and write it with more interesting details

Bob is a demon slayer, it’s not his only job, so he’s constantly trying to hide that he’s a demon slayer. But things get worse when he finds out he’s actually a demon and has been serving the wrong master, they battle over a giant lava pit.

Then add more details.

And then more.

Rinse and repeat.

Keep expanding. Add more characters and the scenes you know will take place.

Practicing your storyline helps. You’ll notice the natural flow, and whether or not it is likely to stay interesting throughout of if you’ve scheduled a ‘lull’ in the plot.

I do all of this before eventually creating my plot outline, and the best part about rehearsing is you’ll end up knowing your story inside and out. When I’ve rehearsed enough, I can write without any pause as to what comes next. There are still things to discover though. Characters have a way of taking over . . . but that’s another topic.

Want more writing tips? Check back every last Wednesday of every month for a new tip.

WORDING: CANNOT

Do or do not, there is no CANNOT.

I don’t like the word CANNOT. Not because of its connotations of being unable to do something/anything/whatever. I just don’t like the look of the word.

I’ve always been more of a CAN’T kind of guy.

CAN’T is the contraction of CANNOT. It’s supposed to be informal, but maybe I just didn’t grow up all hoity toity. CANNOT has always looked like a rotten carrot to me.

I tend to use CANNOT when I have an angry character, someone being stern.

YOU CANNOT HAVE DESERT. HAVE A ROTTEN CARROT INSTEAD.

vs.

I’M SORRY YOU CAN’T HAVE DESSERT BECAUSE OF YOUR TOOTH ACHE.

But there are times where you should use CAN NOT, with the space between. It’s when it comes before a phrase that begins with NOT.

YOU CAN NOT ONLY HAVE DESSERT, BUT A BIG HUG, TOO.

(Sometimes you need a big hug).

WRITING TIPS: DELETE THE LAST WORDS

We have a need to finish what we started. But sometimes, finishing that sentence before the end of a writing session is a death sentence to a story.

Why?

Because when we come back the next day, we’re no longer in synch with the story. Our mood has changed, our energy is different.

We were in it the day before, what happened?

We closed a thought.

Leaving a thought open by not completing the last sentence in a writing session is a great way to trigger the synch the following day.

Becuase you’ll read: Then Jeff left the house, slamming

And you’ll remember what he was slamming . . .the door.

I don’t know where I first heard this tip, but it is one I forget too often. If you can’t finish a story or a chapter, but have to get back into that world, deleting the last few words has helped me a lot in a pinch. I just have to remember to do it.

Want more writing tips? Check back every last Wednesday of Every Month.

WORDING: MOIST

Do you know someone that hates the word MOIST?

You’re not alone.

But it’s not me. I will always equate the word MOIST with fresh brownies or a delicious cake. Moist is the opposite of dry and stale. But other people think of gross bodily fluids being moist or hate the way it sounds ‘M-OY-STUH’.

So, it’s a word I’ve tried to learn to be careful with, mostly around my wife. She shudders when I say things like, it was perfectly moist!

It’s good to know if there is a word that triggers people, especially readers, because you wouldn’t want to put them off because of word choice. But now knowing the reaction most people have to the word MOIST, I like to throw it in to the scenes I want to be disgusting. It brings out the sadist in me.

WORDING is an ongoing series of posts on Words I love, misuse, overuse, and/or hate.