#Fun with Words

[petermorwood]

As someone who's also done some writing, this is all Extremely Sound Advice. :->

Here are a couple of point enhancements, and a rant about how a famous production torpedoed itself - IMO, anyway - by getting fixated on one of them

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(2) Head-hopping / POV change - think screen format and a change of camera angle. A "dinkus" (one or more asterisks, bullets or other symbol) between paragraphs is enough to indicate this, and you're good to go.

I do something similar in my own posts, including this one, though properly speaking the asterisks would be centred. I've done that with the next set, though since I've done the centring by inserting spaces, they may be well off-centre in other themes:

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(3) and (4) Treat info- and expo-dumps like pungent seasoning. Your recipe (story) needs them, but Not All In A Lump.

A good way to do this (the equivalent to "stir in gradually") is to combine them with other action - eating a meal, a walk-and-talk, watching some non-essential business like someone grooming a horse, washing a car, mowing a lawn etc., etc.

Intersperse the necessary dialogue of the info-expo with descriptions of and comments on the other business. If that business can be made relevant to the info-expo (comparisons, side-comments etc.) so much the better, but the point is to break up what can too easily be what TVTropes calls A Wall Of Text.

Thriller-writer Philip Kerr's later books are notorious for this: there are numerous instances where a character starts to talk ("Open Quotes") at the top of one page and - without interruption and sometimes even without paragraphs - doesn't finish ("Close Quotes") until halfway down the next.

Worse, the character is often reciting a chunk of background information from Kerr's research files which should have stayed there, or at the very least been pared down to its bare essentials as something a human being might say during a conversation with another human being.

Which Does Not Happen. :-P

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(8) about epithets, tackles something well-enough known that it has a TV Trope, "Burly Detective Syndrome". This has a cousin, "Said-Bookism", and no matter what you might have heard or indeed seen posted along with lists of sometimes-ridiculous alternatives on Tumblr, "said" is not dead.

It's alive, it's well and it's doing its job, which is to be the unobtrusive hook from which dialogue is hung. As I've said more than once, if a hook attracts more attention than the thing it's holding up, something's gone wrong.

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(10) If there's a scene that's likely to be fun to write, and another that's likely to be a slog, then if it works for your writing habits try to swap to and fro between the writing of them, with fun as a reward for slog.

If chop-and-change writing like this throws you off, then write the slog first and the fun after since once again, that's the reward, something to look forward to. Doing it the other way means you're looking at the slog to come, and that's not my idea of a reward.

Also, it can happen (personal experience) that after the refreshment of the fun, you'll come back to the first-draft slog bit and revise it into something better.

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I'd suggest (6) and (7) about subverting expectations - whether characters' or readers', and the one will become the other as reading happens - are something that need approached with care, and should always have a solid reason beyond (box tick) Not What They Expect.

Showing an unsubverted episode or incident - for instance the character's going-out preparations, or their commuting-home routine - is necessary, often more than once *, to establish Normality, so the character and reader are aware that This Time Is Different.

(* I've seen this done by cut-and-paste repeating the same description from one chapter into the next. It was imaginative and effective there, but could easily have tripped up on its own cleverness by seeming UNimaginative. YMMV.)

Why is the character including a concealed weapon in their party dress-up? Why is the character concerned they might be tailed during that commute? A comparison between ordinary and extraordinary is needed to show this doesn't happen every single time.

It's also a good way of racking up page-turning tension before invoking (5) that cliff-hanger chapter ending... :->

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And now the rant... :-p

Subverting expectations as a (box tick) action because it was So Effective That One Time is what transformed the final seasons of a once-popular fantasy adaptation into such a disappointment.

"Game of Thrones" is an excellent example of subverted expectations, such as the Red Wedding where - despite the way heroes are expected to escape at the last minute - a crapsack world like Westeros means bad things play all the way through to their bad conclusion.

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It's also an excellent example of how bad writing and a (box tick) attitude can lead to subversions that should have been left alone.

One instance is the way Jaime Lannister's redemption was abandoned "to subvert expectations" (box tick) complete with redemption-dismissive dialogue that was a slap in the face to several seasons of character development.

The lack of any hint or implication that such a thing was even possible suggests - to this viewer anyway - that it was no more than a (box tick) without additional thought as to whether it was logical in-story, as long as it generated yet another "Oh No, we didn't see that coming!" reaction from the audience.

(Of course nobody saw it coming, since neither plot requirement nor character development had any reason for it to happen.)

Sometimes a story should play out logically as a story because It's A Story, Not A Documentary. Terry Pratchett knew this and called it Narrativium, the element which drives stories. TV Tropes calls it The Theory of Narrative Causality.

Whatever the name, and however storytellers may tinker and tweak with it, they ignore its basic rules at their peril.

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Another example is Cersei's death.

When a writer as amiable as C.S. Lewis said:

"Let there be wicked kings and beheadings, battles and dungeons, giants and dragons, and let villains be soundly killed at the end..."

...just dropping a building on her without involving any of the many other High-Profile Characters she'd hurt throughout the series was ridiculous, especially with one of those High-Profile Characters already in the vicinity.

It may well have subverted expectations, but it was a lousy resolution.

It was also bad storytelling which abandoned at least one long-anticipated set-up (all too common in later GoT), and still vexes me since in a storyline filled with subversions for the sake of shock value, NOT subverting audience expectations but instead rewarding them with what they want (what they really, really want) becomes a subversion in itself.

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It's not hard to imagine more original and entertaining ways of bringing Cersei's pigeons home to roost, the most obvious being a fatal encounter with Arya-reFaced-as-Jaime.

This IMO would have been a much more satisfying use of her well-established Faceless Man sneakmurder skills than that no-setup leap from nowhere onto the Ice King, another Bad Guy built up to deserve a more spectacular termination than his you're-done-now-kthxbye demise.

Certainly after eight seasons of scheming, murder, cruelty - and infuriating smugness, oh yes, that too - having Cersei "soundly killed" should have involved something, anything, more conclusive, up-front and personal than a load of bricks landing on her head.

Subvert, yes. But not just for the sake of doing it.

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And as @writeblrfantasy concluded, no matter what way you're doing it, have fun in the doing of it...

my 10 holy grail pieces of writing advice for beginners

from an indie author who's published 4 books and written 20+, as well as 400k in fanfiction (who is also a professional beta reader who encounters the same issues in my clients' books over and over)

show don't tell is every bit as important as they say it is, no matter how sick you are of hearing about it. "the floor shifted beneath her feet" hits harder than "she felt sick with shock."

no head hopping. if you want to change pov mid scene, put a scene break. you can change it multiple times in the same scene! just put a break so your readers know you've changed pov.

if you have to infodump, do it through dialogue instead of exposition. your reader will feel like they're learning alongside the character, and it will flow naturally into your story.

never open your book with an exposition dump. instead, your opening scene should drop into the heart of the action with little to no context. raise questions to the reader and sprinkle in the answers bit by bit. let your reader discover the context slowly instead of holding their hand from the start. trust your reader; donn't overexplain the details. this is how you create a perfect hook.

every chapter should end on a cliffhanger. doesn't have to be major, can be as simple as ending a chapter mid conversation and picking it up immediately on the next one. tease your reader and make them need to turn the page.

every scene should subvert the character's expectations, as big as a plot twist or as small as a conversation having a surprising outcome. scenes that meet the character's expectations, such as a boring supply run, should be summarized.

arrive late and leave early to every scene. if you're character's at a party, open with them mid conversation instead of describing how they got dressed, left their house, arrived at the party, (because those things don't subvert their expectations). and when you're done with the reason for the scene is there, i.e. an important conversation, end it. once you've shown what you needed to show, get out, instead of describing your character commuting home (because it doesn't subvert expectations!)

epithets are the devil. "the blond man smiled--" you've lost me. use their name. use it often. don't be afraid of it. the reader won't get tired of it. it will serve you far better than epithets, especially if you have two people of the same pronouns interacting.

your character should always be working towards a goal, internal or external (i.e learning to love themself/killing the villain.) try to establish that goal as soon as possible in the reader's mind. the goal can change, the goal can evolve. as long as the reader knows the character isn't floating aimlessly through the world around them with no agency and no desire. that gets boring fast.

plan scenes that you know you'll have fun writing, instead of scenes that might seem cool in your head but you know you'll loathe every second of. besides the fact that your top priority in writing should be writing for only yourself and having fun, if you're just dragging through a scene you really hate, the scene will suffer for it, and readers can tell. the scenes i get the most praise on are always the scenes i had the most fun writing. an ideal outline shouldn't have parts that make you groan to look at. you'll thank yourself later.

happy writing :)

[merakisphere]

Here's a Fun Fact, did you know this!?

"Was it a car or a cat I saw"

Spelled backwards is:

"Was it a car or a cat I saw"

Can someone remind me what you call these types of play on words? Also, if you know anymore, please share! :)

I am overjoyed that you've come across my handmade work! These are fascinating pieces that continue to captivate my attention since seeing them back in the early 90s. #corememory

I construct every piece by hand as you can see in the video. Please help me decide on a name for this crackly-blue colour way, as it's current name (Crackled Cobalt) feels a bit uninspiring...

Please consider reblogging/sharing my post as this helps get the word out that these still exist! I'm certain for every 10 reblogs, it'll cross paths with someone who also shares memories of these when they were younger.

My Etsy Shop: Meraki Sphere Use code TUMBLR for a special discount just for hanging out. <3

[galaga-senpai]

(a pangram is any sentence that contains all 26 letters of the English alphabet)

[marlynnofmany]

for-prophet organization (four-prophet organization?)

Sounds like a fantasyland tax-avoidance scheme! No gods to worship, just the prophets themselves. All four of them. Who are very good at marketing. Of course it's not a cult; why do you ask?

[king-of-men]

Reblogging for the wordplay that less than a percent of humans will get.

[michaelrotonal]

ambiguous compound words!

the rules are simple. blue, pink, blue+purple, and purple+pink all have to be singular nouns.

handlead

earlyear (early is a noun. its plural, earlies, is valid in scrabble as the plural of early)

mawhole (this feels like a fun one because both pronounciations are the same)

carbroom (this one also has both pronounciations the same)

partone

applead

singerman

[coquelicoq]

watching series 13 episode 3 of taskmaster and i've never been more prepared for a prize task than the one where they had to bring in the item that sounds funniest when you say its name over and over. i've had this locked and loaded since college. it's ladle. and with each object they bring in that's not a ladle i get more angry. like when you're listening to a podcast and the hosts are speculating incorrectly about something you're an expert in and you just have to sit there and let it happen. i never know what i would bring in for any of the prize tasks but for this one i was like oh OBVIOUSLY it's this one specific thing and if all five of you don't each bring in a ladle you are completely off your nut. at least judi went with pickle (ending in a syllabic /l/, you're so close, but the word also has to begin with an /l/ so the repetitions run into each other, come on, it's basic science), and pheasant plucker is of course an old diction practice/vocal warm-up/tongue twister standby (though not a real object), but ladle is literally right there. it's the best word in the english language and you're all sitting here wasting my time with nonsense. be serious now.

[autumnsunshine10]

Next Stop

Okay so here's the thing--

My guard went out to lunch

Then one shuffled up offering

Profundity temporarily covering

Nitty-gritty insipidity--for shame!

Trenchcoat drenched...look away.

Parking my backside on a bench,

Sitting out another grand slam game;

Pop up scrimmage on the fly,

Suiting up umpire style...

Learned lesson, belatedly applied.

Supplanted, supply and demand

Disenchanted by an elephant

In the room I read wrong.

My head can't wrap around

Tunnel vision distance...

Put the fun in funneling,

The scam in scampering.

There's nothing to see here--

Heavily cloaked fully clothed,

Dragging busted baggage...

So it's not just a compact carry-on.

That's fine, I'll take my chances

On the next bus to stop by.

Prompts: there's a thing, park bench

[gawrkin]

Normal People: Ambidextrous

Me: Sinister Dexter

[absolutely-esme]

A ghost from Generic Fantasy Past possesses a modern human but doesn't have complete control.

Something happens which startles both of them.

The ghost attempts to say "what sorcery is this?"

The human simultaneously tries to say "what the fuck?"

What actually gets said is "What fuckery is this?"

[mariana-oconnor]

Google docs trying to change "have good taste" to "taste good".

Yep, those two things mean exactly the same thing. I foresee no problems.

[king-of-men]

Compromise suggestion: Gulf of AmexiControversy.

[puppetmaker40]

A new life goal.

[shadesofmauve]

An email from my alma mater

Me: "What are they teaching those fish?!"

Dad: "How to solve their own problems."

[sdpubliclibrary]

The La-La-Theory #2

[dolores-hazy]

Coordination

Mutual appreciation

No depreciation in value

Nor use for self-

Deprecation

Simultaneous equations

Sixty-nine problems

One smouldering solution

Yin yang give-and-take culminating

In a satiating conclusion

Inspired by the #kamasutrachallenge prompt: sixty-nine