Leitmotif

LEITMOTIF – A Leitmotif starts with a beautiful melody that represents a character, a feeling, an object, or an emotion.

Should we begin all our writing with a Leitmotif?

In a sense, yes, I guess we should. Your reader needs to see, hear, feel, and touch your main character, the heart of your story-worth-telling, as soon as possible. He needs to feel the trauma, the story-worth-telling desire of your main character or your premise/theme.

We are dealing with dynamite when we deal with words – whether they are printed words or verbal. Words carry the subconscious interpretation of what we’ve written or said.

A reader interprets the page, a listener interprets the sound –conflict is story – make it count. Don’t let the fuse be dampened and the dynamite a mere fizzle. “Conflict is the music of story,” says Robert McKee.

If we use the balloon analogy that Robert McKee uses in Story, we think of the balloon as holding in the content of what you have to say, the content doesn’t change just because you apply pressure (conflict in story)it only shifts to another spot.

If you can keep this in mind, and use it to corral the dynamite of your words—creating a Leitmotif of character, setting, conflict – your story will explode in the readers mind with accuracy, emotion and a pleasurable reading experience that he/she is sure to pass along to others.

Remember, words are power – dynamite. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising for your works be they fiction, non-fiction, article, poem or prayers.

Love of Words

Words, Words, Words, my stock in trade. I can never get enough of them. Bob Bly just released a whole book - with nothing but words every vocabulary should have. At the top of that list I would put Compassion for your fellow man - but today I found another word about words from Your Dictionary Dot Com - Love this daily email!
The word:
Periphrasis (noun)

Pronunciation: [pe-rê-'fræs-is]

Definition: The figure of speech whereby a longer, descriptive phrase is used in place of a simple word or phrase; circumlocution; the use of several words where one would do.

As writers we are warned of this nearly daily by editors and critiquers - but being a wordy lot that we are we need to make our word count grow - even at the risk of confusing our reader - or boring them to tears. Not a good thing to do if you are trying to increase your readers list.

We do love to play with words though, don't we? Next time you are tempted - besure all that verbage is necessary - The Dictionary of Concise Writing, by Robert Hartwell Fiske has written a dictionary just for us to keep on track. Check it out of you want to express yourself the best that you can.
Speaking of words my good friend J. Gayle Kelly's An Apple For The Teacher will be an exploration is just what the good use of words can do. Hurry out and get your copy wherever good books are sold. ISBN 1-60703-902-8 It's a great read.

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Dictionary The Devil is in the Details

Billie A Williams ©2007
Dictionary – does that word throw you into a tail spin or are you ready to sit down for a good read? This morning when I went to look up a word that just happened toward the back of the dictionary (tribute) I wanted to know the meaning for a project I was doing. Anyway, I opened my concise Oxford English Dictionary (this is a one volume tome that you can read without the magnifying glass that comes with my two volumes, slip cased tome.) This one has plenty in it, just not everything. In the back of this delicious piece of writer’s arsenal were some things I never bothered to look at thus far, called Appendixes —what could they possibly have that would not be in the dictionary right?

Well—an hour later I’m still enjoying these delights Collective Nouns — where you will find such things as a group of apes is called a shrewdness, a group of bears a sloth or sleuth— wouldn’t that be a quirky red herring for your mystery? A group of boys = a blush. Ha, not in this century. A group of cats a clowder or glaring or a group of wild cats would be a dowt or destruction — they don’t know my Lady Slipper she is a destruction force of one. Or did you know that a group of nuns is a Superfluity. Love that one. Wonder if Janet Elaine Smith thought to use that in her book Old Habits Die Hard, one of her Patrick and Grace Mystery Novels?

The Collection of Collective Nouns, while entertaining, is very useful for trivia contests, writing your novel or poem and more. These particular ones above are noted in the Concise OED are from the 15th century Proper Terms Book of St. Albans by Dame Juliana Barnes.

The list goes on but here is just a glance at what those appendix hold:
1. Countries of the world with capitals, square area, population, currency unit
2. Prime ministers of Great Britain, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand and Presidents of the USA.
3. Kings & Queens of England and the United Kingdom
4. Weights, Measures, and notations with conversions to metric, Fahrenheit and Celsius temperatures, metric prefixes with meanings and power notations.
5. Chemical Elements
6. The Greek Alphabet
7. The Solar System
8. Collective Nouns
9. Types of Language; formal, informal, archaic
10. English in Electronic communication – Abbreviations used for text messages cell phone or computer.
11. Guide to Good English

All of this was fascinating, but then words are my stock in trade. I love them. That’s why Richard Lederer is such a treasure to me.

Then I decided to take a look at the introduction. I always read the introduction, preface, prologue in the front of books now. I never used to. I thought they were a waste of time. They certainly are not. The introduction to my Concise Oxford English Dictionary is a plethora of great information from how to use the dictionary (everyone knows that, right? You may want to think again) the way it is set up, the uses, and method of the whole book— to trade offs between Canadian English and American English; gas for petrol, braces for suspenders etc. There are 22 pieces of information that are contained in each word and definition if you understand what is presented there. My new rule – Never skip an Introduction the author or authors put it there for a reason.

And Speaking of writing - guess who is a guest blogger right here next week - Friday the 13th of April ? - my good friend and fellow author Joyce A. Anthony. She will stop by to talk about her new critcally aclaimed book that is taking the world by storm -- STORM. You won't want to miss her visit. Be sure to come by April 13, 2007.

Words - trite or true

"As a writer, teacher and former editor, I wince in horror. Spelling isn't "if it feels good, do it." Spelling is precise, and if it isn't, the writer comes across as incompetent, and the manuscript gets tossed into the reject pile more times than not."

There are as many views on this topic as their are colors in Crayola's biggest new box and more--blended, shaded and just plain interpreted in someone's native tongue...So what's the answer?

"I often use spellings that have some meaning to me. That is : I always use grey in describing a soft color as in grey velvet but when something is ominous like a darkening sky I use gray. To me blond is just a haircolor but blonde is a person with great beauty. We as writers have the option of using whatever spelling that conveys the meaning of our words.Go for it." says FoxLady, Dee Carey

So it sounds like we can't just use what we chose - but I'm all for using concise, precise words to say what I mean. I've been a blonde all my life - well until I got some grey (or is that gray?) mixed in there - I learned a gray squirrel is gray -- a cloud can be gray - or white and fluffy...but does that make me right? Only in the country where I use it -- USA - the Brits have a whole 'nuther point of view and spelling for a lot of words which are perfectly correct over there. So, who's to be the judge?

I guess, when it doubt check the latest issue of The Associated Press Stylebook, Chicago Manual of Style or some other source to be sure you are using correct spelling. If your editor says -- wrong word spelling choice -- you better believe you should go with her/him...if you want to be published by that particular publication or with that publisher that is.

But then again, that is just my humble opinion on a very broadly discussed topic. What do you think?