Wednesday 27 April 2016

Words

Duh. It all comes down to the words--the ones we choose, the order we put them in, the number of them we use. They can be a powerful sword or a limp noodle. We're all writers, and some of the more pretentious of us call ourselves 'wordsmiths' (wankers).

Frankly, I can't be bothered buying into the mysticism of The Word. For me, they're just the stuff I use to make my books pretty.

I'd much rather play with them like tiddlywinks.

Rhyming's fun.

So are iambs and trochees. Setting up rhythm patterns and then filling in the blank for instant poetry is a nice pasttime for lazy afternoons.
Here. Write your own limerick:

A _____  ______'/_____  ______'/_____  ______'/
A _____  ______'/_____  ______'/_____  ______'/
B _____  ______'/_____  ______'/
B _____  ______'/_____  ______'/
A _____  ______'/_____  ______'/_____  ______'/

Playing with synonyms is fun, especially if you're looking for a particular shade of a word to compliment the atmosphere of a scene.  By substituting a different word for 'said', you can alter the mood of a conversation.  

"Where are we?" Tom said.
"Where are we?" Tom laughed.
"Where are we?" Tom whimpered.
"Where are we?" Tom shouted.
"Where are we?" Tom whispered.
"Where are we?" Tom groaned.

So yeah. Play some games. But when it comes to the craft, when it comes to writing, I don't give too much thought to words. I just let 'em flow.

___________________________________
Her Grace can't be bothered with a postscript today.

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