Is That the "BEST" Word to choose?

Swimming. I have been waiting for my first long- 30 minute- swim of the summer in the clear, beautiful lakes of the Haliburton Highlands. It was worth the wait. The water temperature was 79°F (26°C). The lake was calm and perfect. I love swimming. I am not an expert by any measure except enjoyment. My old arthritic body is happy, and I am content. 

Writing. Perhaps I have waited too long to be a writer, or perhaps all those years of living and loving have made this the perfect time to be a writer. It was worth it. I love writing. I am not an expert by any measure except determination and enjoyment. My mind is alive and excited. I am content. 

My novel is coming along, and I am pleased… so far… Is a writer ever completely pleased with his, her, their efforts?  The first twenty-five thousand words are done, and I am ready to move on to Act Two: the next fifty thousand words of my Three Act outline. 

I am also interested in the concept of beta readers. I want input from a stranger who likes mystery novels to read and give feedback on my novel. Actually, I would like feedback on the first act. Need to think some more about this. Have any of you used beta readers? 

I miss writing short fiction stories. I am working on a couple of short stories this week. I miss having a writing group for sharing and suggestions. Perhaps I should try to find a new writing group. Need to think some more about that too. 

Moving along…

Is that the “best” word you can choose?

My topic for this edition of Open Gates is Word Choice

In one of the first courses I took, we were given the writing task to use our previous writing task of several paragraphs and go back through it and change every verb, hopefully with one that says it “best” or, if not, with whatever works. In doing so, I noticed how frequently I used “said” and how often my other verbs were ineffective and boring. I became more aware of word choice, of using the old-fashioned thesaurus and the incredible importance of verb choice.

From Fiction Writers Workshop 2nd Edition by Josip Novakovich - pages 155 to 164

(Note: this whole section is an important and worthwhile read.) I will attempt to highlight a few of the main ideas. All of the following points are direct quotes from the author. In his text, he provides examples to accompany these points. 

Verbs:

• You must be skilful with verbs to be, literally, verbally expressive.” 

• Donald Hall says, in Writing Well: Verbs act. Verbs move. Verbs do. Verbs strike, soothe, grin, cry, exasperate, decline, fly, hurt and heat. Verbs make writing go, and they matter more to our language than any one part of speech”.

• Use vigorous verbs, 

• Don’t overdo the vigour because your writing will sound sadistic and cruel. 

• For the sake of compactness and clarity, present verbs in the active voice wherever feasible.

• Avoid weak connective verbs - is and has (and their variants) because they stall action and impart a static quality to your writing,

• Use strong verbs, but beware of this potential to exaggerate to the point of absurdity. 

Nouns and Concrete Description

•  Rely on concrete nouns - that is, the names of things - because in fiction you must give us the illusion of a world. 

• To describe, you must use concrete nouns more than adjectives 

• Tom O’Brien gives us an excellent model of concreteness in The Things They Carried.

Adverbs and Adjectives

• These modifiers diminish the effect of your verbs and nouns.

• Mark Twain advocated that, after finishing a piece of writing, an author should cross out all the adjectives and adverbs, take a second look and then bring back the ones that are absolutely necessary. He guaranteed that this strategy would improve the prose. I don’t think you need to be so strict about using modifiers, but do examine them. You might accomplish more by choosing verbs and nouns precisely. 

 Metaphors and Similes

•  In Greek, metaphor means transport …you carry over meaning from one realm to another - a human becomes a willow tree or a horse - and thus expand your view. You borrow a strong expression from wherever you like and bring it to your view, enriching and complicating, creating a dual reality, with a possible stereo effect, a sharper and deeper sound.

•  Metaphors and similes are stylistic devices. If your metaphors explicitly draw attention to themselves, your prose will appear laboured and mannered. 

Avoiding Clichés and Wrong Word Choices 

•  Mark Twain said, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is the difference between lightning and lightning bug. 

• In metaphors, it is essential that the transposition of one set of elements to a new context be fresh - that you have never seen it like that before. If you have seen a metaphor or likeness many times before, don’t use it. Otherwise, your metaphor will be cliché, such as busy as a bee.

***

Back to me: I have made progress in eliminating adjectives and adverbs. Nevertheless, I can see myself taking up the challenge of crossing out all the adjectives and adverbs and rethinking their use. I will do this in the two short stories I am currently writing. I do think, as Mark Twain said, my prose will improve. The same process will be applied to weak and boring verbs.  Write on!

Take care

Gail