by Joe Bunting |
As a writers, you are sensitive to words. After all, they’re your currency. Even when you’re taking a break to watch TV, you may unconsciously be evaluating—with disdain or grudging admiration—the words you encounter. Developing sensitivity for lazy language can help you assuage any lingering guilt for taking breaks, especially with TV shows.
Admittedly a rationale for marathon TV watching, I discovered that television shows can teach valuable lessons in our writing, especially to spot those standard scripted sentences like, “I want my lawyer,” “Crash cart, STAT, and “We need to talk.” Once we recognize the penchant for too-easy language, we can learn from and avoid it in our writing.
Here I describe two types of lazy language and suggest lessons we can learn from them and remedies to apply in your own work.
by Joe Bunting |
Is your writing fuelled by everyday life and experiences or by imagination? Of course, these two are often mixed together; yet, you probably draw more from one than the other. You may be the type of person who eavesdrops in coffee shops and later writers stories.
You may be shut down at home, pulled into a parallel world of other planets, creatures and sixth and seventh senses.
by Liz Bureman |
We discussed purple prose a few weeks ago, and as Newton’s Third Law of Motion states, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Or something like that; my college Practical Physics class involved making ice cream with liquid nitrogen. And the equal and opposite reaction to purple prose is beige prose.
by Joe Bunting |
A student once asked her English teacher, “What’s a metaphor?” and he replied, “It’s a big place to grow grass.”
I don’t think he understood the question.
We’ve grown with up the distinction between similes and metaphors, but in a technical sense, all comparisons are metaphors. But let’s stick to this separation of powers, and think about the problem with similes and why metaphors may be better for your writing.
by Guest Blogger |
There are various elements that make up a great story—plot, story development, character growth, depth. All of these contribute to turning a good story into a great story. However, one more element that can spice up your story is a good action scene.
But how do you write a good action scene? Here are five tips to get you started:
by Joe Bunting |
Metaphor is a speeding train, pulling readers down the tracks of your story.
Simile, on the other hand, goes down easy like a glass of iced tea, but it’s forgettable like the canned lines in a greeting card.
Are you making full use of the power of metaphor in your writing? Or are you leaning on simile?
