3 Easy Steps to Success

1.       Utilize the power of dialogue. It's the most natural way to express the way one is feeling. So natural, in fact, that we seem to forget that we can use it to strengthen our writing. Perhaps it seems all too simple. But rather than saying, “Suzie didn’t want to go to the store,” you could easily substitute this in:

Three knocks were heard from the outside of Suzie’s bedroom door.

“What do you want?” said Suzie.

“Rude, much?” said her older sister, Janice, as she entered the room.

“I’m busy,” Suzie said, returning her gaze back to her homework.

“Well, Mom said she needs us to get eggs, milks, and bread.”

“And why does this have to involve me?”

“Well, smarty pants Suzie, the words ‘us’ typically includes more than one person. You-“ Janice says slowly, with wide eyes and a nodding head, “and me.” She pauses and waits for a reaction from Suzie, who is now looking back up at her with extreme annoyance.

“I see. Well, Janice the jerk,” she says harshly while throwing a spiteful look at her sister, “the word ‘busy’ typically implies that someone has better things to do.”

“Well, I’m sorry but she said we, W-E, have to go.” She waves her hands in the space between her sister and herself. They sit in silence until Janice rolls her eyes, and leaves the room, closing the door behind her, but not before she says, “I’ll be in the car,” flatly.

Suzie, eyes as thin as her favorite mint chocolate cookies, which she was enjoying up until about five minutes ago, stares at her shut plain beige door. After a moment of pure hatred-filled tension, Suzie slams her book, slips her feet into her flip flops, adjusts her bun, and leaves her room with a large exhale.

Moral of the story: Let the characters do the telling. It’s far more interesting and a lot easier to get the point across for me personally. 

2.       Power of Pathos. There is a difference between telling your reader how to feel and persuading them to feel a certain way. The example used in class went something like this:

“I was sad because my dog died,” was being compared to:

“I woke up this morning, feeling as if something was missing. For one, I woke up on my own. I used to feel her whiskers caress and tickle my face when it was still dark outside, followed by the feeling of a wet, triangular, pink nose, and then tongue. Small strokes, to let me know there was no rush; she was simply reminding me of the time and what had to be done. This morning, without the sweet touch to awake me, I sat up from my bed, moved my hair out of my face, and simply looked straight ahead at my doors. I finally gathered the energy to shift my body to the side of my bed. I felt the silk sheets that she once loved caress my ankles. I lifted myself, and felt my feet hit the cold floor. I walked to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and got the milk out, preparing to make my daily coffee. And without noticing, I walked to the pantry, scooped out some dog food, and put it in her bowl. Disturbed by the absence of the sound of tiny paw steps running to the bowls, I looked up. It’s as if I could still see her face; wet, big, glossy eyes filled with love, blinking, rhythmically in sync with my heart beat. She was gone, and I couldn’t believe it. This was just the first of many now empty mornings without her. 

Moral of the story: take advantage of the power of the picture. Certain things universally symbolize emotions (i.e. wet eyes, cold floor, and empty mornings.) Never did I use the word “sad.” 

(Omg what is going on in this picture. God bless Google Images.)

3.       Figurative Language. The two main types of figurative language that have been beaten into our heads since about third grade are metaphors and similes. Because it would be uninteresting to read anything that is solely metaphors and similes, I will substitute a couple of excerpts from the examples above using figurative language.

“Three knocks were heard from the outside of Suzie’s bedroom door.” Can be turned into… “Three knocks as loud and threatening as Odysseus’ sirens were heard from the outside of Suzie’s door.”

“This morning, without the sweet touch to awake me, I sat up from my bed, moved my hair out of my face, and simply, looked straight ahead at my doors.” Could be… “This morning, without the sweet touch to awake me, I sat up from my bed, moved my hair out of my face, and simply, looked straight ahead at my doors as a sailor lost at sea might look into the gray abyss.”

Once again, it makes it all the more interesting and serves as more of an outlet for creativity, something every good reader looks for.