When we're writing, it's easy to grab at the first word that comes into our head. Take, for example, the sentence:
The fortune-teller wrapped her Tarot cards in a cloth.
How about being more specific about what type of fabric the cloth was made of?
The fortune-teller wrapped her Tarot cards in a square of silk.
Or:
The fortune-teller wrapped her Tarot cards in her damask cloth.
You could also give a fuller description of the cloth, by naming the colour, but again, a little attention to detail goes a long way. Compare this sentence:
The fortune-teller wrapped her Tarot cards in a red silk cloth.
with this one:
The fortune-teller wrapped her Tarot cards in a crimson silk cloth.
You can also play with the word order to add greater emphasis:
The fortune-teller wrapped her Tarot cards in a cloth of crimson silk.
Doesn't that sound more poetic?
Try making simple changes like these to your writing and see how they bring it to life.
Showing posts with label writing techniques. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing techniques. Show all posts
Monday, 6 October 2008
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Using Contrasts in Your Writing
Today has been a day of contrasts, weatherwise. This evening it was very warm, dry and close, uncomfortably so. I've been flinging windows open all over the house, but even that didn't really help to cool the place down.
Then about half an hour ago, the heavens opened. We had a torrential rain-storm, so loud you could hear the rain battering on the ground. It was a complete contrast, but obviously what we needed to cool down. We suddenly went from warm and humid to torrential rain in a heartbeat.
You can use striking contrasts like this in your writing too. You can lull the reader into a false sense of security or a state of torpor, then BANG! Everything changes! Suddenly there is a threat or a crisis or danger.
You can use this contrast technique in lots of different ways. You can have a sudden change in the weather; an unexpected incident; even someone suddenly falling in love.
In the Latin work by Virgil, The Aeneid, you get these combined. There is a thunderstorm during which Aeneas and Queen Dido take shelter in a cave and suddenly become a whole lot closer!
The main thing is that all of a sudden, everything has changed, everything is different.
Your characters will be thrown into turmoil by the sudden change and it will also unsettle your readers and make them curious to find out what it going to happen next.
Spend a few minutes thinking about a piece you're in the process of writing, about to write, or one that you've been working on. Think about how you could introduce a startling contrast to really things up. Then write or rewrite your piece using this contrast.
Keep your original idea or draft so that you can compare your versions and see what a difference it has made introducing a contrast.
Then about half an hour ago, the heavens opened. We had a torrential rain-storm, so loud you could hear the rain battering on the ground. It was a complete contrast, but obviously what we needed to cool down. We suddenly went from warm and humid to torrential rain in a heartbeat.
You can use striking contrasts like this in your writing too. You can lull the reader into a false sense of security or a state of torpor, then BANG! Everything changes! Suddenly there is a threat or a crisis or danger.
You can use this contrast technique in lots of different ways. You can have a sudden change in the weather; an unexpected incident; even someone suddenly falling in love.
In the Latin work by Virgil, The Aeneid, you get these combined. There is a thunderstorm during which Aeneas and Queen Dido take shelter in a cave and suddenly become a whole lot closer!
The main thing is that all of a sudden, everything has changed, everything is different.
Your characters will be thrown into turmoil by the sudden change and it will also unsettle your readers and make them curious to find out what it going to happen next.
Spend a few minutes thinking about a piece you're in the process of writing, about to write, or one that you've been working on. Think about how you could introduce a startling contrast to really things up. Then write or rewrite your piece using this contrast.
Keep your original idea or draft so that you can compare your versions and see what a difference it has made introducing a contrast.
Monday, 21 July 2008
Writing from Whose Point of View?
One of the things you will need to decide before you write a short story or a novel is whose point of view it will be told from? Who is the narrator?
Some stories are told as if the narrator is speaking. 'I woke up and found I'd turned into a frog.' This is a first person narrative. The difficulty with this is that you can only write what the narrator would actually know or see.
An omniscient third person narrator is more common. This is it is told from the point of view of someone looking on at what is happening, but (like God) this narrator knows everything so can explain what various characters are thinking and feeling.
A third person narrator with a limited point of view is quite useful, even with a more restricted knowledge and understanding compared with that of an omniscient narrator.
It's also possible to have a second person narrator, where the narrator speaks directly to someone all the time. 'You were standing at the market stall sniffing the mangos when I first saw you. You looked so exotic in your red and gold robes...' This is very unusual though and would be extremely difficult to carry off unless you were quite an experienced writer.
The next time you look at a short story or a novel, spend a few minutes figuring out whose point of view the story is told from, and whether it uses a first person, second person, third person omniscient or third person limited point of view narrator.
Some stories are told as if the narrator is speaking. 'I woke up and found I'd turned into a frog.' This is a first person narrative. The difficulty with this is that you can only write what the narrator would actually know or see.
An omniscient third person narrator is more common. This is it is told from the point of view of someone looking on at what is happening, but (like God) this narrator knows everything so can explain what various characters are thinking and feeling.
A third person narrator with a limited point of view is quite useful, even with a more restricted knowledge and understanding compared with that of an omniscient narrator.
It's also possible to have a second person narrator, where the narrator speaks directly to someone all the time. 'You were standing at the market stall sniffing the mangos when I first saw you. You looked so exotic in your red and gold robes...' This is very unusual though and would be extremely difficult to carry off unless you were quite an experienced writer.
The next time you look at a short story or a novel, spend a few minutes figuring out whose point of view the story is told from, and whether it uses a first person, second person, third person omniscient or third person limited point of view narrator.
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