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- What were you thinking?
- Language fashion trends
- The need for criticism
- How well do you know your characters?
- Mature content
- Plotting against yourself
- How do you say that?
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- Try a little name dropping
- Does being well-read help you write?
- Talking yourself into writing
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Category Archives: Style and voice
What were you thinking?
The precise rules for dealing with thoughts are not recorded in standard grammar and usage books. There are opinions on how to do this based on current trends, which may become dated in a few years. One of these is … Continue reading
Language fashion trends
Speaking a language is a skill that we continue to do all our lives. If a child hears the language spoken properly, they will learn to speak it correctly without thinking about it. At least they will be speaking it correctly … Continue reading
Talking yourself into writing
I was rather amused by a study about learning foreign languages which concluded that extroverts learned to speak a foreign language more rapidly while introverts mastered writing in it quicker. The finding didn’t require rocket science, just a definition of … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Style and voice, Writer's resource
Tagged extroverts, introverts
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Reduction of language
Sometimes, I am fearful for the future of writing. We are not exactly converting to “newspeak,” But, there’s a trend of eliminating some words or even parts of speech from usage. I’ve read questions on a writing forum in which … Continue reading
Posted in Education trends, Style and voice, Teaching writing skills, Writer's resource
Tagged grammar, newspeak, writing style
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Charming characters can’t be trusted
The character with charm, with the twinkle in the eye, who speaks noble words with the perfect voice, who makes the impassioned plea to turn the crowd around– the character with all the traits of charisma that we desire—that character … Continue reading
Present tense prose
Since the popularity of The Hunger Game series and the awards won by All the Light We Cannot See, a trend is fiction is the use of present tense. This style is touted as making the character’s actions more intimate … Continue reading
Writing like you talk
When reading a professional author’s discussion thread, I noted that more than one person assumed the trick to creating a unique writer’s voice was “writing like you talk.” There is some truth to this if you are a good verbal … Continue reading
Posted in Style and voice, Writer's resource
Tagged problems with writing like your speak, tone, vernacular, Writer's voice
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Word of media
Recently we had to evacuate the school due to a gas leak. Students were jammed up against the back fence of a subdivision across from the school. Fire trucks roared past, lights flashing and phones were raised in the air … Continue reading
Posted in Style and voice, Writer's resource
Tagged Facebook, Standard written English, Twitter, Writers Resources
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Vibrant verbs
Writers can throw around the terms used to describe interesting language – sensory images, unusual syntax, well-developed descriptions, and vibrant verbs. But incorporating these into writing and preserving the flow is a challenge. Recently I worked with some nascent writers trying to … Continue reading
Posted in Style and voice, Teaching writing skills, Writer's resource
Tagged Verb, words to replace said, Writers Resources, Writing
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More than what you see
The term ‘imagery’ brings to mind, of course, images–verbal pictures that allow us to peer into the world which an author has dreamed up. Imagery sometimes implies page after page of descriptive detail–in which case you might risk having the … Continue reading
Posted in Literary devices, Style and voice, Writer's resource
Tagged allusion, imagery, schizophrenia, Synesthesia, Writer, Writers Resources
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