I always feel wary of lists when it comes to writing advice. It’s arguably not a great idea to use the same word over and over again, but I feel it’s unnecessarily prescriptive to present writers, especially beginners, with lists of synonyms for both speech and action. It’s sort of negative to say, “don’t do this, use some of these words instead.” A much better way of looking at writing is positively, starting from what you have and building upwards, so that’s what I’m going to talk about in this post.
Briefly—one of my personal peeves is “synonyms for said” lists. In my book, if your character says something, then say that they said it. Don’t avoid common words—common words are common for a reason, and most of them will fly by without people taking too much notice of them. This is good, this means it doesn’t interrupt the flow of a story. You know what people will notice? If you never use said, if all your characters enunciate and articulate and vociferate. Okay, those are extreme examples, but you get the point, right? Beyond “said,” common words and common turns of phrase—yes, even clichés—are part of a vernacular that people are used to, and they don’t detract from your story in any way, don’t make it “samey,” don’t make it boring.
Now, I’m going to focus on lists about action and reaction, specifically lists of ways to show a character expressing a certain emotion.
I think that at the heart of the matter, when you’re writing something character-driven you need to know your characters well, and how they react to different things. The best way to do that is not to look at a list of, for example, ways that people can express surprise, and work backwards to apply as many different expressions of surprise to your character as possible. Instead, a good starting point is to think about how your character reacts to neighbour emotions. Some characters might have different neighbour emotions to others—for example, a more timid character might have similar reactions to surprise as they do to fear, and for a more adventurous character it might be surprise and excitement that are neighbours.
The neighbour emotion concept is a good way to create consistency within a character. I know exactly how worrying it is to place a character in a situation you’re not familiar with making them experience and having to work out how they react—write what they know. This is something I’ve been doing for years, and after a while it comes as second nature. It may not be the technique for you, but if you’re stuck, it won’t hurt to try it.
I know it seems obvious to say “don’t just pick off a list, actually think about characterisation,” but it’s so easy to get caught up in lists, and to view characterisation as a checklist of ways to make your writing to seem different to everybody else’s. Your writing doesn’t need to include creative and unusual character responses to situations. Lots of people react in similar ways to similar things. It’s okay if two of your characters both jump when they’re surprised, or rub the back of their head when they’re confused, or blush when they’re embarrassed. Lots of people do those things.
In general, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the more synonyms you use, the better your writing is. It’s even easier not to think about what sort of reaction you want to give your character and instead to consult a handy chart of ways that people express an emotion. Writing isn’t easy. Make it even harder for yourself by not settling for an idea from someone else’s list. Your writing doesn’t need to use a great variety of reactions to make it good—what will make your writing good is the way it effectively communicates what you want it to, in the way you want it to.
Let’s face it; grammar and punctuation are hard. Especially in the English language, it’s a vast and ever-changing pool of rules, regulations, and personal taste that can enhance your text or completely sink it.
Just as grueling a truth: We can’t do without them. We may hate it, but – just like your protagonist hates teaming up with the antagonist (even if the reader loves it) – we need it and we have to roll with it. Punctuation is mortar for a wordsmith and grammar is the clay in the bricks. If you want to build a successful and enjoyable story (fiction or non), you have to master these two incredibly vital, incredibly annoying elements.
“How,” you ask? Well, here are some of the easiest and most steadfast tips for getting a hold on it.
- Reading. Now trust me - this really is the best way. Seeing it in practice engrains the proper usage in your head. It’ll help you develop an eye for it and catch those errors everywhere. Eventually – over the course of two books or two hundred – you’ll begin noticing errors by just feeling that something is off. You may not know the technical reason, but that certain comma in that place has such a faulty tone about it that you can’t help but change it to an em dash. Or a sentence will just sound slightly off and you won’t be able to leave it until you’ve achieved that perfect click of corrected perfection.
- Writing. After seeing it in practice, putting it into practice yourself will solidify the entire process in your mind. It’s one thing to watch someone else ride a bike – and it’s helpful – but climbing onto one yourself and trying out the petals ensures you’ll never forget how to ride it. It’ll also show you which rules are hard and fast, and which are fashionable deviations. Bonus: Portions of grammar and punctuation are simply stylistic; so apply the hard and fast rules and then play with the stylistic portions to suit your own writing. Do you like the way a certain author lengthens their sentences? The way another uses commas? Neither are wrong, just a preference. Try out their methods and see which you prefer. You’ll probably fluctuate through a variety of styles while doing so and it’ll strengthen your writing voice.
- Getting Feedback. After placing your newfound knowledge on the page, having others look over it to catch mistakes will help to guide you even further in the right direction. As much as you may disliked it, having that one reviewer who points out every single error will help burn those mistakes into your head and you’ll never make those specific errors again – maybe just to spite them. And remember, as you’re downing that entire pint of Rocky Road: Grammar and punctuation are rather technical things, so don’t beat yourself up about making mistakes. Really, it’s just a misplaced generic symbol.
- Freelance studying. Certainly attending courses specializing in grammar and punctuation would be helpful, but maybe you don’t have the time or the funds to devote to that. Instead, as you’re writing, if you come across a comma you’re not quite sure about or a phrasing that’s not quite right, stop and Google your very specific question. “Does a comma come before or after a quote?” “Is [insert phrase] grammatically correct?” Usually a few results will come up with detailed answers, not only solving your problem but also explaining the rules behind this solution, which you can remember for next time. This is an invaluable step.
So whether you want to improve your use of grammar and punctuation for your own satisfaction or to get that one reviewer to shut up, the end result is master these two important bits of knowledge. It’s a long process, but these four tips will give you the most effective, most efficient, and least costly college course you can find.
I hope you find this helpful! Feel free to check out my website: Ember Ink Wordsmithing
Happy writing!