Dead Words

Dead words are simply words which are so overused in the English language, they no longer have much meaning nor do they add any emotion to the work. This applies to some teachers guidelines in various schools and even some editors may follow these guidelines.

that
so
a lot
like
got
very

You might even see out there on the internet to never use the word "said". I am a not a strong supporter of using the word "said," but I don't think you should use it every single line. Spice up your writing with emotion words rather than using the constant "said," but don't over do it to where you never see the word "said". Sometimes, you don't even need dialogue tags, especially if it's a conversation or fight between two characters. The reader can keep track of who's saying what.

"That" tends to take away emotion from the subject or object of the sentence. It's easy to replace with who, whom, or which. In turn with each other depending on what the sentence demands.

"So" is commonly a passing of time, and if you're looking for word count, it's much easier to replace with a longer sentence. You can even cut it completely and no harm done.

"A lot" you know, I don't understand why this one is a dead word. I see nothing wrong with it. It simply expresses there is an abundance of something. Maybe they just want you to use fancy language.

"Like" this one gets irritable after a while. It's used for comparisons and saying if you have crushes on people. It's easily over used, I see nothing wrong with it in conversation or dialogue, but it's generally best to avoid.

"Got" I got a frog in my pocket. Replaceable with "have" or "received," same general use as the word "like."

"Very" usually in conjunction with the word "like," meant to rank importance on a certain subject. Use fancier language when not in dialogue.

I'm not saying you can never use these words either. I use them when I cannot reword the sentence, replace it with one of my suggestions above, or when it's in dialogue. They are good words, I just recommend you don't use them constantly when you can make your writing become a little more lively. Feel free to still use these words as much as you want to, this is just what I have experienced personally as a writer.

Past vs. Present Tense

Before reading this post, I would suggest reading this article first. I'm going to be talking about Past vs. Present Tense in writing and the link takes you to an article I wrote back in High School. The post is an explanatory for what the tenses are and where you may find them.

Books are generally formatted in a Past or Present tense, I have yet to see a book which has the future tense and I imagine it would be quite difficult to read. Some writers struggle with writing in one or the other and many don't even know they are doing it. Other just don't even understand there is a difference, and the rest just want to know how to know what they are writing in and fix it. I commend all of you and hope this post will save a lot of stress and insult at a later date.

Let's break it down in a few ways to quickly see what a writer is writing in.

Past is something which has already happened, which means the text is bound to have more "ed" verbs (actions). Present is something which is happening now, at the time you are reading it-the text will most likely have more "ing" and "s" verbs. This is of course, outside of dialogue as dialogue does not follow the same rules as the surrounding text. Dialogue fluctuates depending on what the characters are doing, they could be talking about past events, planning what is going on in the future, or giving a running dialogue for what is going on at that exact moment.

Examples of Past Tense:
happened
danced
talked
said
exclaimed
stood
shot
came
visited
shown

Examples of Present Tense:
happens/happening
dances
talks
says
exclaims
stands
shoots
comes
visits
shows

Let's try some example passages, see if you can correctly define each paragraph and its tense.

1. "'Hey, Catnip,' says Gale. My real name is Katniss, but when I first told him, I had barely whispered it. So he thought I’d said Catnip. Then when this crazy lynx started following me around the woods looking for handouts, it became his official nickname for me. I finally had to kill the lynx because he scared off game. I almost regretted it because he wasn’t bad company. But I got a decent price for his pelt." (Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, page 8, 2008)

2. "At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.

‘Little tyke,’ chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four’s drive." (J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, page 2, 1997)

3. "I sit on the stool and my mother stands behind me with the scissors, trimming. The strands fall on the floor in a dull, blond ring.
When she finishes, she pulls my hair away from my face and twists it into a knot. I note how calm she looks and how focused she is. She is well-practiced in the art of losing herself. I can’t say the same of myself." (Veronica Roth, Divergent, page 1, 2011)

4. "'But if you bought me a car now, it would be yours when I go away to school in two years. Still practically new,' Helen said optimistically. Unfortunately, her father was no sucker.

'Lennie, just because the state of Massachusetts thinks it’s okay for sixteen-year-olds to drive . . .' Jerry began.

'Almost seventeen,' Helen reminded." (Josephine Angelini, Starcrossed, page 1, 2011)

Answers:

1. Present

2. Past

3. Present

4. Past

Did you get it right? If not, reread this post and see if you can get it this time. Those are some of my favorite books and I encourage you to read them, especially Starcrossed.

Laws

This is not about laws in writing. No, no, no. I firmly believe there are really no laws with writing or in English because everyone is taught differently and there are so many different variations of English. English vs. American English for instance, they are really almost two different languages. Just think, "i before e except after c, except in words like neighbor and weight." Here's my response to that "law" we learn in school.

I mentioned in my first blog post about setting, which you can find here, that you are given the liberty to create laws inside your story. Laws can be set down by the time period or country as well, so it's always best to do research if you're writing a story where some laws may already be in place. There are countries in the world where men do not generally speak to women at all, nor do they acknowledge taxi drivers. Environmental factors may create laws as well, so it's always best to study your people and setting before trying to create any laws for them.

Laws generally come from the ruling class; in America the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive Branches are generally those who "rule" the country, so to speak, through the people who elect the Congress members and President. In Britain, however, an election is held for who will be Prime Minister, The Queen is head of State and her duties are in this sector only, meanwhile the Prime Minister takes care of Parliament and the other items of the country which do not fall in the Queen's domain.

In my own story, I had to have laws which exist for the humans, much like it is now, laws which pertained to my new race of people, and laws which controlled the interaction between the two. It was a lot of fun deciding how some of the laws of the human world had changed because I introduced a new species, it was also a lot of fun to figure out why the death penalty is such a common practice among this new race. It's going to take some time, but figure out what is against the law, what people regularly do your society, what the punishment is, and how people get revenge on one another. Figure out how they communicate as well because they have to spread the law around somehow.

An Extension From Yourself

This may be a recap to some of you who have been keeping with my blog, others may recognize this from writing groups on FB. I talked about in an earlier post about how your characters are really just an extension from yourself, they are never completely separate. This weeks article was a response I had to someone in my writing group who was wondering about characters and how they could make them seem more human. I'm trying to reinforce some very important principles about writing into your mind.

[You may] say you've already figured out your characters, but if you can't get them to talk to you then you aren't really listening to them. Find out how honest they are, are they loyal, what is their social habits? Ask yourself questions like in an interview and don't be mad if they don't give you an answer right away. Spend sometime in the world in which they exist. Figure out the laws they have to live by, how would the laws affect their choices? What is the ultimate point of the story? How is the character going to work towards this ultimate goal? What kind of obstacles are they facing, what obstacles have they faced, what has made them who they are today? It takes a lot of time to really listen to the character, try and talk to them, strike up a conversation. You say you already know the, how about you try to get to know them. Bring how they look and their mannerisms to the front of your mind, ask them question you "already know the answers to" sometimes they'll tell you something different and suddenly you realize they aren't who you thought they were. What are their deepest secrets? Do they have a horror in their past they try to hide? What if one of them is afraid of heights? How do they cope? Do any of your characters have any type of an addiction? How do they respond to other people? Bring two characters to the front of your mind, watch how they interact with each other, carefully observe their attitude... I had to do this same process with my characters just a couple months ago and my story and its point changed completely. The characters suddenly felt real and they had attitude, I loved watching them all sitting together because they were all just so different. Each one has a different background or a culture they come from and it affects who they are. I put a Russian in the same room as a Native American, I put a Chinese person in the same room as someone from Botswana, Africa. It's amazing how different these people really are, their cultural background is beautiful on its own, but as they have to figure out several at a time as they grow together as one, it's a spectacular sight to behold. They've become my creations and therefore my children, I hug them tight in my mind and show them just how loved they are when they've had a life where death is eminent, I feel their pain as though it is mine, I cry with them, I cry for them, I listen to their stories and their jokes. Their laughter is bright and I love it when I see them smile, I hate it when I see them frown, when they fall in love-I fall in love with them and they are really just an extension of me as a person. Take the time to really feel with your characters otherwise you and them will never be one.

You have to remember, your characters and your world are just an extension of yourself. Everything you know, you characters know. Your emotions should be tied to theirs if you're writing properly, if even for just a few seconds you have a twinge of pain which is only a part of your character is feeling, you have connected to them.

It's not unusual for writers to talk to themselves either, so if you don't, consider picking this hobby up. Set yourself down in one of your characters shoes and as you wander around doing whatever you normally do, picture people in front of you, preferably other characters you have created. Move around, talk to them out loud, reply to yourself out loud, switch who you are by suddenly standing in a different position and responding to where you were just standing moments before as though you are still standing there. If you act it out, you are more likely to portray your characters more realistically. Writers have multiple personalities, if they were tested most of them could probably be put in Insane Asylum's. Writers just tend to be less harmful or dangerous when they have multiple personalities.