USEFUL WRITING DEVICES:Be specific, Use Characterisation, Describe scenes

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Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 33

USEFUL WRITING DEVICES

Let's look at some standard writing devices that can strengthen your material in the process of revision.

Once you add these simple techniques to your personal writing kit and learn to incorporate them

automatically into the first draft of anything you write, a lot of the pain will go out of the revising process.

1. Be specific

Every writer will give you this advice, and it will invariably be toward the top of the list. It's an important

rule. Whenever possible, skip generalisations and be concrete. "Kareem was attacked by an animal" isn't

nearly as effective as "Kareem was bitten on the knee by a Dog."

Focus on things that can be seen or heard or measured. Give the reader specific people, places, sounds,

colours, smells, scenes and sensations.

Generalities are too abstract. They mean different things to different people. If you want all your readers

to see the same thing, be precise in your selection of words and images.

2. Use `Active Verbs'

It's better to make the subject of your sentence do something, rather than let something be done to it.

"The owl hooted" is stronger than "An owl's hoot was heard." The first is active, the second passive. But

there's more to putting action in your verbs than merely avoiding the passive voice.

Just as with the first device, the advice here is to be precise. English is a rich, living language, one of the

ripest writing tools in the entire world. Take advantage of it. Never settle for the first verb that pops into

your mind if there's a better one available. Look for verbs that are closer to your meaning. Don't use

"shout" if what you really mean is "bawl" or "bellow" or "roar" or "shriek."

Check your thesaurus for synonyms. Thumb your dictionary for precise meanings.

Remember, verbs can be abstract, too. "The wind blew through the trees" tells the reader something, but

not enough. Was it a soft breeze? Try imagery. "The wind whispered through the trees." Perhaps it was a

heavy wind. "The wind thrashed the trees." Either verb gives the reader a better clue than the first to the

strength of the wind. But if you use imagery, be selective. Many writers have a tendency to get cute. Be

careful. Imagery should be used to illuminate, not to show off.

3. Brighten your article with quotes

Your readers like to hear people talk. If you're writing a profile about a specific person, by all means let

the reader listen in on what the profile subject has to say. But quotes will enliven your copy even if you

aren't writing a profile. For example, if you're writing about a thing or an event or an idea, and you refer

to some authority to buttress your presentation, open the authority's mouth and let him or her say

something.

Use quotes freely. But again, be selective. Don't give the reader simple pleasantries or small talk, unless

the quotes say something important about the person. Make sure your quotes are meaningful.

At the same time, no matter how valuable the quotes might be, you'll seldom want to put together an

article that is all quotes. Too many quotes can be just as boring to a reader as too few quotes. If you have

a piece that calls for many, many quotes, paraphrase a number of them. Otherwise your pace and flow

will suffer.

4. Use Characterisation

Not only do your readers want to hear a person talk, they want to see the person. Give them a glimpse,

such as this example:

"Faraz is a short, rumpled little man who wears a blue beret and his collar turned up. He has a fat nose

and big ears and he looks a bit like one of the gargoyles on the Cathedral Notre Dame."

Or give them a long, close look, such as this example:

"You don't want to fool with Joaquin Jackson. His face, as worn and weather-beaten as the scabbard of

his Winchester rifle ("If I can see you, I can hit you with it"), is sometimes about as friendly as a "Don't

Mess with Texas" sign. A fine Swiss-made cheroot or a Lucky Strike often projects horizontally from his

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lips. The forbidding visage surmounting a 5-foot-5, 200-pound body adds up to one intimidating

character.

One sees both men clearly. And, of course, there's more to characterisation than description. A writer can

also give readers insight into a person's character by showing the person in action, or by demonstrating

the person's attitudes and personality, or by presenting significant biographical details or even through the

reactions and comments of other people.

If you intend to delve into a subject's character, you should get to know the subject well. So be observant

when you go in for an interview. Watch for mannerisms. Make notes of things that impress you visually,

as well as taking down the subject's words.

5. Lard your copy with anecdotes

Anecdotes are important. Not only do they keep a story moving and keep a reader's interest at high peak,

but they also help to illustrate character traits. The essence of any good article is the anecdote. Newspaper

features use them. Magazines go in for them heavily.

How do you rake up good anecdotes? You interview your subject and ask leading questions. You talk to

your subject's friends and enemies. You look through his or her press clippings. If you have the time, you

follow your subject around on the job and watch. Do everything you can to track down those telling

details, those small stories that show your subject in action. A key anecdote is worth work.

6. Show, don't tell

This device is related to both the anecdote and the first rule, to be specific. Don't be judgmental. If you

tell the reader a person is friendly, or nervous, or angry or despondent, the reader may get some idea what

you mean, but judgmental words represent different things to different people. So show the reader. Show

the shy smile, or the shaking hands, or the gritted teeth or the long, low sigh. Don't write, "The professor

acted strange." Instead, write: "The professor drooled on his tie, staggered against the blackboard and slid

to the floor, moaning." Now the reader knows what you mean by "strange."

7. Describe scenes

While on the subject of visuals that put your reader in the middle of the action, here's another. Vivid,

brief description of scene and setting can help immensely in holding readers' attention and propelling

them through a story. Of course you can't avoid using descriptive passages when you're presenting

anecdotes. They're part of the package. But description can also create atmosphere or mood without

telling a story.

A quick description not only allows a reader to visualise the place, it tells the reader something about the

patrons.

8. Use vivid figures of speech

This device is handy, but it can be dangerous. Some figures of speech sparkle and are entirely appropriate.

Like H. Allen Smith's famous weather forecast: "Snow, followed by small boys on sleds." Saul Pett is a

master of the turn of phrase. His article is filled with them. He calls the bureaucracy "an immoveable

yeast." He tells us Uncle Sam yearly lets "billions slip through his fingers and disappear into the

sinkholes of waste, mismanagement and fraud." He describes that same Uncle Sam as a "10-ton

marshmallow, lumbering along an uncertain road of good intentions."

If you can bring off a fresh, original approach to some colourful saying or simile or outright cliché, you

can brighten your copy immeasurably. The danger is that they often fall flat. And a coy, cutesy or over-

contrived figure of speech is worse than none at all.

9. Use Analogies

Like figures of speech, bad analogies can get you in trouble, but good analogies are effective. An analogy

is a comparison of similarities.

Often, with technical information, the use of analogies can help explain complex ideas. The image comes

to mind instantly, helping to clear away confusion.

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Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

10. Use Humour

Readers welcome the light touch. Even if your subject is serious, slide a bit of humour into it if you can.

Anecdotes can be funny. So can quotes or simple narrative.

Humour can spruce up your copy and keep it moving. But humour is surprisingly difficult to write. Don't

press for it. It will come naturally, or not at all. And keep it brief. No joke works well if you spin it out

too long.

11. Use Direct Address

A standard device for involving your audience, as James Lake did with the POW story, is to address the

reader directly.

Direct address reaches out to readers and pulls them into the story, making them active participants rather

than passive observers. No matter how well you write, if you don't weave your facts around your readers

and force them to participate, your mass of information may be too remote to keep them interested. The

appeal may be direct, or it may merely be implied. But if you decide to use the open, direct, "you"

approach, make sure it shows up quickly in the article, preferably in the lead, or even in the first sentence,

to signal readers that it's coming.

12. Use the Question-Asking Device

Another technique that helps to involve readers is to ask them a question. Theoretically, readers will try to

come up with an answer, reacting to your question. But don't bank on it. Once you've introduced the

question, go on quickly to answer it, either briefly or at length. Unless you're purposely striving for

suspense, leaving a question unanswered may seriously irritate your readers and send them away from the

article, muttering.

Equally important, the question-asking device often serves as a useful transitional instrument. It can get

you from one completed topic to the next with very little effort. Then it promptly answers its own

question, moving to new material with scarcely a ripple.

13. Use Carry-Over Transitional Devices

Often, when you're writing, ending a thought with one paragraph, and then needing to begin an entirely

new train of thought with the next. This is a dangerous moment. If you blithely skip on to the next

thought without any bridge or link between the two, the effect can be jarring. Jar your readers often

enough and you may lose them. It's better to keep your copy flowing smoothly by providing some kind of

transition or hook to pull the reader along. One method is to forge a link between the first sentence of

your new paragraph and the last sentence of the preceding paragraph.

Examples include:

· His books depart from tradition in another way...

· Perhaps so, but DEA officials say...

· The Russians have other cards to play as well...

· But that's only half the answer...

· Still not satisfied? Then try...

· But most circus fans were asking a different question...

· Meanwhile, a search for solutions continues...

14. Use Overlapping Words or Ideas

This is another good transitional device. It calls for fashioning your link between divergent paragraphs by

repeating words or ideas, even though the new paragraph will tackle a totally new concept.

15. Stick to "Said" far Attributions

Some beginning writers go to extraordinary lengths to find synonyms for the most common of all speech

attributions. They follow their direct quotes with such constructions as: he expostulated, she averred, he

remarked, she stated, he added, she recounted, he responded and on and on and on. Best advice is: Don't.

"Said" is one of the most useful tools in the writer's kit. It becomes like punctuation--a comma or a

period, unnoticed by the reader except to identify the speaker. If someone "shouts" or "snarls" or

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"hisses," fine. Say so. But if your speaker is talking at a normal conversational level, stick to "said" or

"says."

Furthermore, if a direct quote is long or complex, don't wait to the end of it to identify your speaker. Play

fair with your reader. Put the attribution high, after the first spoken sentence or even at the beginning of

the paragraph.

16. Write Clearly

Your reading audience can't read your mind. They have only your words to help them follow the logic of

what you're saying. If you commit something to paper that you think may be confusing, back up and start

over. Clarity is vital. If your writing language is clear, you can use all sorts of writing tricks and

techniques with good effect. If not, forget it. Your readers will already have flipped the page and gone on

to another article.

These writing devices are a sampling of the professional tricks available to help you turn good prose into

better prose. There are many others. But these sixteen are all basic.

You'll learn more as you extend your writing experience, and you'll invent a few for yourself

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