 Drama: April 17, 2013 Issue [#5620] |
  Drama
This week: Stop Yelling at Me!! Edited by: NickiD89  
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| Like many of you, I've considered myself a writer my whole life. But in 2007, I shifted out of hobbyist mode, started writing for an audience, and embarked on the exciting journey towards publication. As I continue on that path and delve ever deeper into the craft, I feed an insatiable appetite for creative writing theory. I seek out how-to books and workshop experiences to augment and amplify whatever talent I possess. For those of you like me, here's a little theory to appease your hunger. |
| ASIN: B083RZJVJ8 |
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Stop Shouting at Me!!
I just finished judging a small, local short story contest for teen writers. The contest is designed as a platform for teens to showcase their work, and I offered in-depth critiques of every entry in the mentoring spirit of helping young writers hone their fledgling crafts.
The payoff was I developed a deeper sense of my own craft, as I included in my reviews discussions on basic elements of storytelling and grammar.
One thing I see time and again in teen writing is the overuse of the exclamation point. This powerful little punctuation mark raises the tension of a sentence and adds drama to the moment. Used too often though, and readers feel like they're shouting the story, or worse, that the story is shouting at them. Exclamation points are a lot like Habanero sauce: A couple drops can bring out the flavor of the food, too much will overpower the diner's palette and ruin the dish.
I advise writers of these do's and don'ts of exclamation point usage:
Do use an exclamation point in dialog, when the speaker is extremely angry, shocked, frightened, or joyful. Always use it with dialog tags like "he shouted" or "she shrieked." However, if the speaker hasn't raised his or her voice, don't use an exclamation point.
Do use an exclamation point in non-question sentences that begin with "What" or "How":
What an idiot I was!
How gorgeous was that wedding!
(Note: Not using an exclamation point in a sentence beginning with "What" or "How" is a clever technique to add snark or cynicism. For example: What an idiot I was.)
Do use an exclamation point, if you wish, after an onomatopoeia:
The sudden screech! of the back door hinges startled me from my reverie.
Don't use an exclamation point in any other situation in formal writing. (I always qualify to my teen contest entrants that this is my own personal rule. Some writers will argue that there must be other times an exclamatory sentence pops up in formal writing. My answer is sure, you could use them, but if you aren't picky and careful to use them sparingly, you risk giving your writing a parochial, unpolished sound.)
Don't use more than one exclamation point in a row. Seriously, don't do it. Not in dialog. Not if something totally freaky and heart-stopping happens in your novel. Don't.Use.More.Than.One. Ever!
Now, anyone who's received a comment by me on their blog or Facebook knows that I'm an exclamation point abuser in real life. Emails, blog comments, FaceBook and Twitter are perfect places to let loose your crazy, hilarious, fun-loving, over-the-top, exclamation-point-needing voice. Show the love! Shout out loud!! Go for it and express yourself! So that, when you sit down to write your novel, you have all those compulsions for exclamation points out of your system. Your prose will sound refined and dramatic without them because of the rhythm and tone you imbue in your scenes and through the creativity in your word choices.
Question For Next Time: What's your take on exclamation point usage? Do you agree? Have anything to add?
Thanks for reading!
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| |  | Tax Day (13+)
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Question For Next Time: What's your take on exclamation point usage? Do you agree? Have anything to add?
Last Month's Question: Do you blog regularly? Do you use your real name or are you anonymous, with an online persona? Here's what readers said:
BIG BAD WOLF is Howling  -- I write an entry every day.
Daily blogging practice -- that's great!
A*Monaing*Faith -- I began blogging on LiveJournal.com way before it became popular  I don't do it regularly anymore but I am so glad I did for a while. I plan on using those recorded memories to write some based-on-reality fiction/manga/biography one day, can't wait. Even though I cringe at some of my writing from my college years (back when I considered myself rather mature and well versed in ways of the world *scoff*), all of my entries are priceless. Ironically enough, my last post there was about WDC.
orionsfaith.livejournal.com
I smiled when I read you cringe at old writings -- don't we all! But you're right; it's such a gift to have evidence of your emerging craft at different stages of the journey. Thanks for the link!
Voxxylady -- Nicki, what a great newsletter! I have a professional blog under my writing name, but I also have one under a character name. I haven't done much with it yet and I should get back to that. I love the idea of anon blogging for emotional support.
And I love the idea of your blog under a character's name. Brilliant!!!
Jacqueline -- I have never blogged or read others' blogs, but I enjoy your newsletter. I am not very good with computers bye for now Jacqueline
Thank you so much, Jacqueline!
Linda  -- I have an anonymous blog that I use to write amusing things that happen to me, or vent my anger at stupidity, and sometimes throw in household hints that I think work well for me. I am also an avid personal journalist which I find very therapeutic. I like reading entries at this website because I learn from them. I am somewhat reticent about exposing myself, but the anonymity gives me confidence and feedback is helpful.
I feel the same way, and although I now include my real name on this site and others, there was a long period of time when I enjoyed the anonymity of my handle. I really like that people who don't feel comfortable using their real names have that option on WDC.
AngelFire -- Thanks for sharing this. I enjoyed reading the article; I gave me insight on different ways to get
the reader's attention for any given writing venue.
Thanks for reading!
See you all back here on May 15, 2012. Until then, have a great month!
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