4.3 Circus Writing

CIRCUS WRITING
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Some words or phrases are difficult to classify. I know, because I've tried. Slang, colloquialisms, and oxymorons are sometimes called "Figures of Speech," but that is too broad a term. So, I did what all great fiction writers do, I made one up. I call this kind of writing "Circus Writing" because a circus can both thrill you with amazing stunts of high-wire and trapeze artistry or, while entertaining, just be filled with silliness as the clown car rolls out. Writing too can likewise either be poignant or sound foolish depending on how certain figures of speech are crafted.


Slang

Slang includes words or phrases that are specific to only a certain group of people. Some examples are geographical, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and so on. They tend to be shortened words and phrases, or humorous ways of expression that indicate inflection and dialect.

Let's take a look at just one of these: geography. I researched some slang terms for the city closest to me, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here are just a few examples of slang from my area:

         Billy Penn—William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania.
         Conshy—Conshohocken, a nearby suburb.
         Leave-it-town—Derogatory name for Levittown, a nearby suburb.
         Delco—Next-door Delaware County.
         The El—The subway-elevated Market-Frankfort line.
         Iggles—The Eagles football team.
         Phils—The Phillies baseball team.
         Down the shore—Any one of the beaches of southern New Jersey.
         The Sure Kill—The Schuylkill Expressway.
         Merge or Die Ramps—Entrance ramps found on The Sure Kill.
         Penn—The University of Pennsylvania.
         Pittstown Apples—tomatoes.
         Wiz Witout—A cheesesteak with cheese whiz, without onions.
         Wak—Corney or lame.
         Youse guys—you people.

I'm sure you can quite easily make a list of similar slang terms in your area. Can you use such terms in writing? As with most of my answers when I pose this question: sometimes yes, sometimes no. They can be used in fiction, but carefully in the narrative portion of a story. One technique is to italicize the slang term, and include what it means, preferably in the same paragraph. Of course it's appropriate to have characters speak naturally—you should not censor what your characters say. But you must also be careful to not confuse the reader, and may need to slip in a definition reference in the narrative as well.

Example 1: Narrative

He found it easy to classify those that showed up on Saturday nights at Sonny's Cajun Bar and Grill. Their only similarity was a need to fill empty nights playing loud games, telling themselves they were living life to its fullest in Nawlins.

Notice there is no indication what Nawlins might mean.

He found it easy to classify those that showed up on Saturday nights at Sonny's Cajun Bar and Grill in New Orleans. Their only similarity was a need to fill empty nights playing loud games, telling themselves they were living life to its fullest in Nawlins.

The simple addition of the name of the city can make all the difference.

Example 2: Dialogue

If this were your dialogue ...

         "Where are you going?" asked Rick's mother.
         "Nawlins," Rick replied, in a hurry.

It could be rewritten ...

         "Where are you going?" asked Rick's mother.
         "Nawlins," Rick replied, in a hurry to get started on his trip to New Orleans.

While it may appear redundant, a little redundancy is okay if it improves clarity. Of course, the simplest thing to do is simply exclude slang, but that may stifle the depth of your characters. My best advice is to be careful of how and where you use slang. Think of your reader first. Don't be in a hurry to show off how much you know.


Colloquialisms

This is similar to slang, in that it's usually specific to a general community of individuals. But these are usually contractions, not found in the dictionary, that people often use in speech. It's appropriate in dialogue, but never, ever in narrative. Words like "gonna'" and "ain't nuthin'" are perfect examples. Some forms of improper English are also colloquialisms.

The following is an example of appropriate use of colloquialism in dialogue. The use of colloquialisms is an attempt by the author to portray a specific pattern of speech.

"Young fella'," he began. "Have you ever stood and faced down an angry mob? It don't matter how many bullets you got in your weapon or on your belt. When there's only 77 of you and your friends staring across at 2,000 folks who are mad as hell at you, then you got a serious problem. Them 2,000 kids made one helluva weapon, even if all they had was rocks and was mostly just millin' around. All we was tryin' to do was take the weapon of numbers out of their hands."

If you changed that to narrative, it would be inappropriate. If it's speech, you can use it. Never use it in fiction narrative because it makes the author sound too folksy to be taken seriously. Unless, of course, the narrator of your story is a central character.


Oxymorons

Oxymorons, or oxymora if you prefer, are one of the more interesting figures of speech. Their use can run the entire spectrum from ones that make us groan to those that enthrall us with literary beauty. Who can ever forget the girlie men epithet that former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger used to label his opponents. On the other hand, who can possibly fail to recognize the word artistry used by Shakespeare when he wrote "parting is such sweet sorrow." The contrast of opposites can certainly ring true.

Yet, that's like looking at both ends of our digestive system. It's easy to tell the good end from the bad end. What gets difficult is recognizing where good-tasting food turns to an awful mess. As authors, we need to be aware of which end we're dealing with.

Our language is actually full of oxymorons already. A person who is not a good steward of their money is a spendthrift. The man about to marry is called a bridegroom. A story can have a bittersweet ending. The President employs a speechwriter. A woman can be wholesome. The list goes on, and these are not necessarily bad terms. In fact, oxymorons can fit into a number of categories as described by Word Ways. (1)

Natural. These are the ones we just seem to throw out there without thinking. Only later do we realize they don't really make much sense and the use of other words would be better.

Examples: elevated subway, friendly fire, open secret, preliminary final, paper tablecloth, plastic silverware.

Puns: These are more deliberate, because one of the words usually has a double meaning. And while they aren't truly opposite in one sense, they are in another.

Examples: jumbo shrimp, baby grand, death benefit, press release, old news.

Adverbs. Somehow, the meaning of certain noun roots got translated into a different meaning when converted to adverbs.

Examples: barely clothed, terribly good, hardly easy, exactly wrong.

Doublespeak. These are some of the worst. They are crafted intentionally to confuse, cover up, mislead, or avoid responsibility. They are common in advertising.

Examples: standard option, new and improved, genuine imitation.

Opinion: These are not actual oxymorons, unless some personal opinion or bias is attached to them. Be very wary of attaching an oxymoron attribute to them, because if you do so a reader might find it offensive.

Examples: military intelligence, business ethics, criminal lawyer, moral majority.

Crafted. These are created deliberately to convey a specific meaning. The opposites are clearly understood and accepted as being meaningful. They begin to approach the artistry of literary oxymora.

Examples: global village, little giant, lead balloon, dull roar.

Literary. And finally, the kind of wording toward which authors strive.

Examples: poverty is hateful good (Chaucer)(2), damn with faint praise (Pope)(3), of melancholy merriment (Byron)(4), and faith unfaithful kept him falsely true (Tennyson)(5).

Use an oxymoron when you want to purposely convey a feeling or mood, but do it in such a way that it's finely crafted. Make it sound like Shakespeare. Otherwise it will just come across as senseless wordplay and will be viewed as buffoonery at best and childish at worst.


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FOOTNOTES

(1) Eckler, Ross, ed. "Oxymoronoly," Word Ways. 1990. http://www.fun-with-words.com/oxym_oxymoronology.html accessed December 2013.

(2) Chaucer, Geoffery. "The Wife of Bath's Tale," The Canterbury Tales.

(3) Pope, Alexander. "Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot," Poetical Works.

(4) Byron, George. "Canto the Eighth," Don Juan.

(5) Tennyson, Alfred Lord. "Lancelot and Elaine", Idylls of the King.