Friday, March 18, 2011

"Where to Begin'

    One night, day or dawn you get this great idea to write a book about something that has made a difference or impact on your life. But, if you are like most people it just stops there. How do you carry on? -- you need to write down your idea right away on anything you can find - notebook, steno, used printer sheets, a chalkboard, dry erase board, whatever-- don't let a creative thought slip away. I carry a small notebook with me all the time to jot down creative ideas when they come to me. You have to capture them immediately or you won't remember them! Then copy it into a word document.
     You do not have to start your story at the beginning. You can start with an event that prompted the idea: A person who has that magnanimous personality that should be a literary figure: Write about it or them and there your are - you are started!
     You can build your story around that little morsel of meat.  Reflect on your life, listen to conversations of strangers; focus on how they express themselves when in a conversation with someone they are very comfortable with.  The most important bones to a good book - its skeleton - is that the story was meaningful enough to someone to write it down. It will not only make your soul grow, it will have a profound effect on many souls throughout the world!
    Listen to Kurt Vonnegut's letter of response New York Xavier High School in 2006:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/video/2014/apr/11/kurt-vonnegut-letter-students-make-your-soul-grow-new-york

The Starting Point

     Now that you have an idea for a story -- think of a way to begin it. My college professors always said the best way is to start the story already in progress, right in the middle of something going on.  Perhaps a party taking place or other event and then have your main character enter the scene as a participant or as the celebrant; I have found this approach to be the most popular.
     The beginning can always be reconstructed as the story progresses but it is good to have a good focus for where in the timeline of your story to start the plot. Is it going to start in the present and flashback to the past? Will it start with just one character doing something? Will it begin with an event? Will it be narrative describing the town from a distance and working the description into a room somewhere to begin the action? There are many questions to ask how to begin and which way to move toward the plot of your story idea.
     So, today get some paper and figure out where to begin. Draw a picture in your mind and write it down; do some historical research if necessary to make it time accurate and focus on where the action begins.
     I also suggest getting a shoebox (boot box is better) to store all the items that will be accumalated as you write and research the story. No need to be fancy about this; it is to keep it all together.

Irvington Press

The Ending

     Now that you have composed the beginning, it is now time to focus on an ending point in your story. This is not an easy task. But limit your story line right now and decide how this is going to wrap up.
     This is a good exercise - and it might change as you write - but every good tale has to stop somewhere. Think of the main idea and where you decided to begin your story and where it will lead. Maybe the end will be a lead into a sequel story. To focus on the point in time to stop will narrow down the timeline and help develop details to the other chapters.
     Make it a simple pargraph to pull the story together. This is a great exercise to complete the simple framework of your literary piece of writing.
     Take your time and focus on this today.

Getting Started Ideas

January 1, 2011

Gather your thoughts together. You have a main idea, a beginning point, an ending point so it is now time to use creative writing techniques that I have developed. These techniques are for short stories and for plays. Usually for those more interested in submitting writing for contests around the United States. I know there are deadlines for these writing contests. Tennesse Williams Literary Festival http://tennesseewilliams.net/ has a one-act play and short story contest deadline is in November. Ernest Hemingway Festival http://www.insideflorida.com/event/hemingway-days/ and http://www.sloppyjoes.com/lookalikes.htm Short Story contest deadline is March - so you still have time for that. Two local Indianapolis playwrighting events are the Diva Fest and the Fringe Festival - deadline is January 15, 2011 for the Fringe Theater - http://indyfringe.org/

Lesson 1 - Find a growth chart at least 6 feet long (preferably laminated) to hang on your wall. You can make your own or buy a fun one and have it laminated at a local teacher store. If laminated an erasable marker is great and you can use different colors for ideas. When something is definite it can be written in permanent marker on your growth chart. This is a really great way to outline and focus on the sequence of events in your story.

Write the Beginning (short idea version) and remember this will most likely change settings. Then fill in the Ending. Now let's divide the growth chart into five sections - we will use (Wikipedia) Freytag's Analysis:

Freytag's analysis

Freytag's pyramid.

According to Freytag, a drama is divided into five parts, or acts,which some refer to as a dramatic arc: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and dénouement.
Although Freytag's analysis of dramatic structure is based on five-act plays, it can be applied (sometimes in a modified manner) to short stories and novels as well.

Exposition

The exposition provides the background information needed to properly understand the story, such as the protagonist, the antagonist, the basic conflict, and the setting. It ends with the inciting moment, which is the incident without which there would be no story. The inciting moment sets the remainder of the story in motion beginning with the second act, the rising action. While the exposition may employ the rhetorical mode also known as exposition, the two are not perfectly synonymous.

Rising action

During rising action, the basic internal conflict is complicated by the introduction of related secondary conflicts, including various obstacles that frustrate the protagonist's attempt to reach his goal. Secondary conflicts can include adversaries of lesser importance than the story’s antagonist, who may work with the antagonist or separately, by and for themselves or actions unknown.

Climax

Main article: Climax (narrative)

The third act is that of the climax, or turning point, which marks a change, for the better or the worse, in the protagonist’s affairs. If the story is a comedy, things will have gone badly for the protagonist up to this point; now, the tide, so to speak, will turn, and things will begin to go well for him or her. If the story is a tragedy, the opposite state of affairs will ensue, with things going from good to bad for the protagonist.

Falling action

During the falling action, or resolution, which is the moment of reversal after the climax, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The falling action might contain a moment of final suspense, during which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt. Summary: The falling action is that part of the story in which the main part (the climax) has finished and you're heading to the conclusion.

Dénouement, resolution, or catastrophe

The dénouement (pronounced /deɪnuːˈmɑ̃ː/, /deɪnuːˈmɒn/) comprises events between the falling action and the actual end of the drama or narrative and thus serves as the conclusion of the story. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense of catharsis, or release of tension and anxiety, for the reader. Etymologically, the French word dénouement is derived from the Old French word denoer, "to untie", and from nodus, Latin for "knot." Simply put, dénouement is the unraveling or untying of the complexities of a plot.
The comedy ends with a dénouement (a conclusion) in which the protagonist is better off than at the story's outset. The tragedy ends with a catastrophe in which the protagonist is worse off than at the beginning of the narrative.

I think that this is a big chunk of information to analyze for today. So keep those creative thoughts flowing.

Creating the Conflict

CONFLICT:

Kurt Vonnegut on the shape of stories:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ#t=17

conflict--The primary ingredient that weaves all the other elements together. The situation that will keep your characters interesting to your reader. Cause and effect, action and reaction, play key roles in fostering change and facilitating conflict. Conflict creates tension within the plot. It is the one element that keeps the reader intrigued to your story.

Conflict is the fundamental element of fiction, fundamental because in literature only trouble is interesting. It takes trouble to turn the great themes of life into a story: birth, love, sex, work, and death. -Janet Burroway

I want to help you to focus on your main character today and to decide what type of conflict will build within the plot of your idea for a story. What type of obstacles your character will face and have to resolve as a basis for the resolution of your story. There are so many ways to creat conflict:

Yourke's Conflict Checklist:

Mystery. Explain just enough to tease readers. Never give everything away.
Empowerment. Give both sides options.
Progression. Keep intensifying the number and type of obstacles the protagonist faces.
Causality. Hold fictional characters more accountable than real people. Characters who make mistakes frequently pay, and, at least in fiction, commendable folks often reap rewards.
Surprise. Provide sufficient complexity to prevent readers predicting events too far in advance.
Empathy. Encourage reader identification with characters and scenarios that pleasantly or (unpleasantly) resonate with their own sweet dreams (or night sweats).
Insight. Reveal something about human nature.
Universality. Present a struggle that most readers find meaningful, even if the details of that struggle reflect a unique place and time.
High Stakes. Convince readers that the outcome matters because someone they care about could lose something precious. Trivial clashes often produce trivial fiction.

By balancing the opposing forces of the conflict, you keep readers glued to the pages wondering how the story will end. There are five main types of conflict in literature.Conflict is drama between two opposing forces: The protaganist; the main character--the story usually focuses on this characters experiences. The antagonist is usually prtrayed as the "bad" guy, or the person that goes against the protagonist and what he is trying to do. When you have sufficient conflict you will be able to move the plot forward and keep the attention of your reader. If your writing lacks conflict, it will lack tension and will fall flat.

The five most common types of conflict are:

1. Character struggling against anothe character: arguments, conflicting desires, opposing goals, physical confrontations or emotional dilemmas.

2. Character struggling internally with self: internal conflict struggles with moral dilemmas, emotional challenges or desires - the conflict is the character's own soul or conscience.

3. Character struggling against forces of nature: forces out of the characters control. The characters are the good guys and the conflict is a force out of their control.

4. Character struggling against society: repressed by society or exploited by society.

5. Character stuggling against fantasy/ supernatural/ technology: found in specfic genres such as, horror, science fiction, fantasy, supernatural, mystical books. The conflict is between aliens, poltergeists, robots, divine forces, or supernatural villains where characters call upon thier own strength to defeat the fantastic enemy confronting them.

After thorough analysis of the main idea and the main charcter - the conflict of the story can be intertwined into the first part of the story. The inciting moment where the real interest begins and the reader is engaged.

So write and start some trouble.

Let Creativity Take Course

Let's Write a bit together:

Write - now is the time to begin to start your first chapter or scene. Just let your creativity go and begin where you thought you would like to begin or make changes. Introduce your characters to us and let the action lead up that inciting moment where some tension is created to lure the reader's interest so they want to know how this is all going to develop.

Remember; try to keep the charaters mysterious - don't tell to much. The ending or other chapters should reveal some events that have been foreshadowed, but that can also catch the reader by surprise. Let your thoughts flow and try to write off and on whenever you can take an hour or 15-20 minute segments of your day to let your thoughts flow.

If you find yourself sitting and staring at the monitor instead of just letting your creative words flow from the keyboard you might want to try some activities to help get your mind open. Check out "The Writer's Block" at this link http://www.sff.net/people/LisaRC/ it is very interesting and will help if you have writer's block or if you just can't get started. There are exercises to do.

You can also research books or plays that have similar themes as your main idea and see if there are situations or ideas that will spark creative ideas for your story. This is really a good exercise - just skim through. You can also read critiques on books that are of the same theme as your story or play and learn the positives and negatives that were discussed.

Some people become afraid that they are revealing too much of themselves and shy away. Please don't do that-- the imagination is a real thing and is what makes reading so much fun for everyone. A good story stirs the imagination of the reader. If you enjoy writing, your imagination will help make your creativity less personal and seem more universal to the reader.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish"

Developing the Characters within a Story

Develop your characters:

Your job, as a writer of short fiction--whatever your beliefs--is to put complex personalities on stage and let them strut and fret their brief hour. Perhaps the sound and fury they make will signify something that has more than passing value--that will, in Chekhov's words, "make [man] see what he is like." -Rick Demarnus

Write meaningful Dialogue

Make your readers hear the pauses between the sentences. Let them see characters lean forward, fidget with their cuticles, avert their eyes, uncross their legs. -Jerome Stern

Tips on developing your characters:

Appearance. Gives your reader a visual understanding of the character.
Action. Show the reader what kind of person your character is, by describing actions rather than simply listing adjectives.
Speech. Develop the character as a person -- don't merely have your character announce important plot details.
Thought. Bring the reader into your character's mind, to show them your character's unexpressed memories, fears, and hopes.

Point of view is the narration of the story from the perspective of first, second, or third person. As a writer, you need to determine who is going to tell the story and how much information is available for the narrator to reveal in the short story. The narrator can be directly involved in the action subjectively, or the narrator might only report the action objectively.

Yourke on point of view:

First Person. "Unites narrator and reader through a series of secrets" when they enter one character's perceptions. However, it can "lead to telling" and limits readers connections to other characters in the short story.
Second Person. "Puts readers within the actual scene so that readers confront possibilities directly." However, it is important to place your characters "in a tangible environment" so you don't "omit the details readers need for clarity."
Third Person Omniscient. Allows you to explore all of the characters' thoughts and motivations. Transitions are extremely important as you move from character to character.
Third Person Limited. "Offers the intimacy of one character's perceptions." However, the writer must "deal with character absence from particular scenes."

On your growth chart help your story develop by adding the conflict from the first chapter that you have started writing and write some character characteristics. Like she cracks her knuckles when she is nervous, she likes espresso, she is fit and athletic...

Dialogue is what your characters say to each other (or to themselves).
Each speaker gets his/her own paragraph, and the paragraph includes whatever you wish to say about what the character is doing when speaking.

Write Meaningful Dialogue Labels
"John asked nervously" is an example of "telling." The author could write "John asked very nervously" or "John asked so nervously that his voice was shaking," and it still wouldn't make the story any more effective.
How can the author convey John's state of mind, without coming right out and tellinig the reader about it? By inference. That is, mention a detail that conjures up in the reader's mind the image of a nervous person.

John sat up. "Wh-- where are you going?"
"Where are you going?" John stammered, staring at his Keds.
Deep breath. Now or never. "Where are you going?"

Go back through your first chapter and edit any dialogue that explains too much and re-write it in a way that doesn't tell --but makes the reader feel the tension.

And contiue to wrtie your story because it will just keep getting better. Start on the second Chapeter where the rising action begins developing.

The following is a video by one of America's most prolific writer's on "Writing Characters"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgJ809QKmas

The Rising Action of the Story

THE RISING ACTION:

I want to give writing advice this evening that will help spark some creative and imaginative ideas. Because ideas generate action and build the rising action in the plot. The following exercises are for that purpose.

You will need a journal to write in for these tips. You can add it to your keepbox. Another item(s) is a small notebook that you can keep in your pocket so that you can collect ideas as they cross your mind - write them down. I would have 3-4 for the story so that as one is full you have another handy.

You will probably be surprised about the array of various creative writing activities that you can do. Many of them are explained in great depth on the web.

One example of this kind of an exercise is descriptive writing. Select a topic, whether it's a apple, a pet or perhaps the kitchen sink (just a couple suggestions), then make use of your descriptive powers to provide the reader an experience of the topic just as if they were interacting with it on their own. For instance, you do not just want to say a apple is red and sweet, you need to seize its very essence from skin to fruit. The texture, the smell, the look of the object needs to be described completely without boring your reader with a listing of particulars.

Rewriting a bit of your work from an additional viewpoint can be quite a difficult exercise. Should you have a book or short story, take a part of it and alter the viewpoint. As an example if you're writing in first person (i.e. I, me) change to the third person (she, he) and tell your story. You will notice the distinctions between the two points of view, observe which best matches your work and expand your writing muscles with a demanding activity.

All writers have a need to write, but it is not so easy to translate this need into actual stories, poems or novels. Part of the reason why this is so, is because it is all too often thought that to write (or to write well) one needs to wait to be inspired to do so. But if you do that, as you’re most likely aware by now, you will not get much writing done. In other words, you must write even when you are not inspired to do so! That’s all there is to it and below is a simple, barebones list of 5 steps to take to get writing.

So think of these as writing commandments and just do it:

Make a decision to write everyday and stick to it.
Set aside at least 15 minutes of pure writing time everyday.
When you are not inspired, make use of writing exercises and prompts to get the writing done.
Set writing goals for yourself, like, for example, writing one story a month.
Finish all first drafts.

See, nothing hard, but if you stick to these five rules your writing will get better and you will find it easier to get even more writing done.

Picture prompts that help with creative writing are also helpful. Find pictures that pertain to your story. Use them to generate dialogue and action ideas within your plot. A great picture prompt can really be inspriational.

Some other picture writing prompts you might enjoy:
The Door To Somewhere
The World Beyond the Edge
Something’s in the Air
The Big House
The Wooden Bridge

There’s something mysterious and magical about dreams. In the dreamworld, anything is possible. Our deepest desires and greatest fears come to life. Whether they haunt or beguile, our dreams represent the far reaches of our imaginations. Journals can have similar qualities of mystery and intrigue. If your journal is full of freewrites, doodles, cryptic notes, and random ideas, then it might read like a road map through your imagination, or it may feel like a crash course through your subconscious.
Journal writing is a great tool for dream exploration. You can tap into your daydreams or your sleeping dreams as a source of inspiration

Record your dreams so you can better understand them.
Capture the images in your dreams and turn them into poems and song lyrics.
Transform the monsters from your nightmares into the creepy villain in your short story or novel. Dreams are an excellent source of insight and ideas http://www.dreammoods.com/

Dreams are a succession of images, sounds or emotions that pass through the mind during sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not fully understood, though they have been a topic of speculation and interest throughout recorded history. The scientific study of dreams is known as oneirology.(from Wikapedia)

The people with whom we have relationships affect us emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. Whether it’s a lover, child, friend, stranger, or enemy, people can provide compelling and meaningful inspiration for our writing. Think about the people who have impacted your life. You can Write a poem, a story, an essay, or a private journal entry. Let the words flow, and try to connect emotionally with whatever you’re writing.

They say it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. Who have you loved and lost?
Too often, writers are more motivated by heartache than by joy (all those broken-hearted poems and love songs!). Write about a love that is not stained by pain, betrayal, or heartbreak — one that is happy and healthy.
Then again, heartbreak is part of life and often full of many lessons. It is worth writing about.
Some relationships aren’t simple enough to be classified as painful or joyous. Writing about a complex relationship is… well, complex. Give it a shot.
It’s possible to have a relationship with someone you’ve never met — a historical figure or hero. Many people these days also have relationships (of sorts) with celebrities they admire (political, entertainment, charitable, or otherwise).
Most of us have had an enemy of some kind, whether it was a bully on the playground, a nasty co-worker, or someone who caused us or our loved ones great harm. These people are great sources of inspiration for villains.
Have you ever encountered a stranger who roused your curiosity? Not someone you found attractive, just a person who drew your attention. If you never had the chance to get to know that stranger, you’ll have to use your imagination.

These are tips that I have found to be most helpful for writing inspiration exercises. I hope they help you to focus and build your story.

Organize Ideas

Today the lesson is short!

Use your growth chart and Freytag's Analysis to fill in your ideas for all the parts of the story and then try to complete the basic rough draft so that the first draft will be complete by the end of the next 9 lessons.

Get an idea for where the story is leading - the climax - the denoument...

Get a file for each part and put helpful ideas, pictures, history information, or whatever you have in the file for each part, or chapter, or scene.

Show Yourself Compassion

Today is almost to the halfway point of writing your story or play.

While the rough draft is being completed there are some important things to remember:

Be good to your mind and get out there and move or walk briskly for 30 minutes a day. It not only strengthens the heart, it also gives the mind a boost of oxygen and generates creativity. It helps you focus! There are many ways to let go of inhibitions --using alcohol and drugs will not generate longevity to your writing. Exercise the body and you exercise the mind.

Relaxation techniques are also beneficial. I recently started exercising the mind through meditation and it really works - it gets rid of the clutter and the racing thoughts. There are some good leaders in this field and I found one in my yoga training. http://www.spiritube.com/jack-kornfield/meditation-for-beginners-video_257d59205.html He is worth listening to --a great leader.

Also in my Yoga Journal this month was a wonderful article titled "Nuture the New You" it is about showing yourself kindness, compassion, and patience -- let your inner light shine. As a writer it is important to cultivate a love for self! Let your self shine. http://www.yogajournal.com/

You can be a great writer when you embrace your originality!

Climax & Denoument

THE CLIMAX AND DENOUMENT OF YOUR STORY...

I am combining these two elements of a good plot together because they are reactive - meaning you have to have the basic conflict build up in the story action in order reach the most intense moment in the action to have it fall and return to the end of the plot. So to have a great ending - you have to build your story with action and dialogue that keep creating reactions from the characters. Here is an interesting video on creating an interesting plot and some excellent advice from Laura Turner: http://www.ehow.com/video_4989322_write-good-plot.html

For a list of literary terms go to: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/7019263/Literary-Terms

There is an abundance of writing information online - many different ways of saying the same thing in different ways. Thumbing through websites especially to hunt for writing examples can help you with creative ideas.

I have limited my use of examples in the first 9 lessons because of the abundance of information on the internet. However, I will begin to use examples from well known literature to discuss elements more in depth in the remaining 6 lessons.

The two URL's above have some great information and definitions of literary terms that writers need to know to improve their writing expertise

Writing Styles

One of the best ways to create your own writing style is to start analyzing the style of great authors.

I like to call the style the writer's voice. It dominates the whole story.

Key Aspects in Analyzing an Author's Style: Think about the following concepts about writing style:

Analyzing author's style involves understanding the particular way a piece is written.
Style in writing is not what is said but how it is said.
Analyzing author's style involves analyzing the writer's unique way of communicating ideas.
Styles in writing are created deliberately by the author to convey a specific mood or effect.
Key aspects in styles of writing include:
1. sentence length, structure, variation, and position
2. the use of sensory details, figurative language, and other literary devices
3. the use of sound devices--alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, repetition
4. the use of dialogue
5. word choice
6. tone
7. the use of local color
8. the use of irony

(a good editor never takes away the voice of the writer!)

Think about how culture affects style... Read culturally distinctive authors--Alice Walker, Amy Tan, Mark Twain, Langston Hughes, for example.

Writing Style

Writing Style

At its most basic, "style' in writing means two things: 1) the machinery of writing 2) the writer's voice. The nuts and bolts of sentence structure, for instance, are part of the grammar boilerplate we all agree to work with (#1). But beyond that how each of us uses the hardware is what personalizes the writing (#2), or what E.B. White described as that which is "distinguished and distinguishing."

Number 1 has clear guidelines, which means we can all learn what constitutes clear, effective writing "style." Number 2 is a matter of putting the rules of #1 to more specialized, appropriate uses--depending on the purpose of the particular writing and the audience for whom it is intended. The guidelines for #2 evolve with our daily language and the society it reflects, but they are also the function of the personality of the writer.

So, what "style" means to most writers is learning the conventions--the wiring diagrams of writing--and using them as effectively as possible. Certain other people, of course, have what we today call an 'attitude': for them the conventions are only a starting place. To make a current analogy: both Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana had splendid tailors and substantial clothing allowances--but Diana had 'style.'

While the intricacies of style can be intimidating, at first, the essential working rules need not be. What follows is a list of basic writerly conventions, introduced with some guiding principles to the conventions that can then inform your experiments with a more personal style.

Here is what some well-known people have said about style:

"A man's style in any art should be like his dress—it should attract as little attention as possible." -Samuel Butler

"Style is a matter of coming to terms with language. . . .in our individual writings we have the same aims—clearness, truth, evocation, some touch of grace." -Elizabeth Bowen

"I never study style; all that I do is try to get the subject as clear as I can in my head, and express it in the commonest language which occurs to me. But I generally have to think a good deal before the simplest arrangement occurs to me." -Charles Darwin

"Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret of life." -Matthew Arnold

How You Get Style (and Why Bother, Anyway)?

When you write your first draft your writing doesn't magically appear on paper--with style. Most often style comes from revision, which is where the craft of writing comes in. The content of your first draft might be the gift of inspiration, but the style of your final version is the result of perspiration: working hard to write clearly, with a particular voice, with a particular audience in mind.

"Essentially style resembles good manners. It comes of endeavoring to understand others, of thinking for them rather than yourself—or thinking, that is, with heart as well as the head." -Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch

"I find that three or four readings are required to comb out the clichés, line up pronouns with their antecedents, and insure agreement in number between subjects and verbs. It is, however, this hard work that produces style. You write the first draft really to see how it's going to come out. My connectives, my clauses, my subsidiary phrases don't come naturally to me and I'm very prone to repetition of words; so I never even write an important letter in the first draft. I can never recall anything of mine that's ever been printed in less than three drafts." -James A. Michner

"There is the first satisfaction of arranging it on a bit of paper; after many, many false tries, false moves, finally you have the sentence you recognize as the one you are looking for. . . ." -Vladimir Nabokov

"A good style in literature, if closely examined, will be seen to consist in a constant succession of tiny surprises." -Ford Maddox Ford

Style Through Words

"Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. Never use a long word when a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. Never use the passive when you can use the active. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent." -George Orwell

Concrete, Specific Words

"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts." -Strunk and White

"Good writers are those who keep the language efficient. That is to say, keep it accurate, keep it clear." -Ezra Pound

--Begin by avoiding adjectives and adverbs. Only use them when the noun or verb can't do the job alone. Used sparingly, adjectives or adverbs can have a powerful impact.

--Use specific nouns whenever possible:

Instead of: I would like to bestow this great honor.
Try: I am honoring Mr. Smith with the Emerson Lifetime Achievement Award.

Instead of: Expensive cars were parked in front of the funeral home.
Try: The Cadillac, Lamborghini and Mercedes were idling in front of the funeral home.

Think of words as cells. The stronger the individual cells, the stronger your piece of writing will be. So you want to use concrete, specific words—because such words create pictures in your reader's head, which makes your meaning clearer—your reader can literally "see" in her imagination what you're saying. The words that you are going to want to rely on most are strong verbs and nouns, not adjectives, to make your writing rich and powerful.

Omit Unnecessary Words...Weeding

"Never use two words when one word will serve better." (Essential Feature Writing)
" My own old fashioned belief is that every Presidential message should be a model of grace, lucidity and taste in expression. At the very least, each message should be (a) in English, (b) clear and trenchant in its style, (c) logical in its structure and (d) devoid of gobbledygook." -John F. Kennedy

"In composing, as a general rule, run your pen through every other word you have written; you have no idea what vigor it will give your style." -Sydney Smith

Unclutter your sentences. Write clearly and directly by making every word in a sentence count. Remove empty words and phrases. Here are some specific ways to prune your sentences of useless words:

--Cut redundant or irrelevant words:

Instead of: I personally think that absolute perfection is called for in the coming future.
Try: I recommend perfection in the future.

--Weed out qualifiers that describe how you feel or think: kind of, really, very, extremely, personally

--If there is a simpler way to say something, do so.

--Avoid vague words like: thing, idea, situation, impact, nice

--Use shorter words that get your meaning across instead of longer words that mean the same thing: instead of utilize, use; instead of disclose, show; instead of endeavor, try; instead of inquire, ask. Typically the most memorable pieces of writing demonstrate conciseness.

--Cut adjectives and adverbs, especially those that generally weaken writing: really, perhaps, very, somewhat, quite, rather, a lot, a bit, partly, actually, generally, basically, virtually.

--Look for a verb that will incorporate the meaning of the adjective or adverb: instead of 'he talked slowly:' 'he drawled.'

Note: conciseness doesn't mean that you write short, choppy sentences, or that you cut out detail; it means that you simply take out empty words and phrases. But when you're stuck trying to fix a wordy phrase or sentence, step back and see if you need it at all. Sometimes you can simply omit the whole thing.

"I see but one rule: to be clear." -Stendahl

Powerful Verbs and Nouns

"Write with verbs and nouns. The adverb signifies the failure to find the right verb; the adjective, failure to find the right noun." - Donald Murray

"Whatever the thing you wish to say, there is but one word to express it, but one verb to give it movement, but one adjective to qualify it; you must seek until you find this noun, this verb, this adjective." -Gustav Flaubert

"Cut these words and they would bleed." - Emerson

"To write simply is as difficult as to be good." - W. Somerset Maugham

Use words with muscles: action verbs and concrete nouns.

Verbs: Verbs will be your most useful writing tools. They give a sentence energy and move it forward. Active verbs push hard; passive verbs are whimpy.

Avoid verb phrases. Substitute a succinct single verb:

Instead of:

Try:

make adjustments

give instructions

make mention of

in order to

in the majority of cases

is reflective of

can be compared to

is capable of

adjust

instruct

mention

usually

reflect

resembles

can

--Use specific verbs and avoid vague ones. Use action verbs instead of verbs of being (is, are, was, were, be, being , been).

Instead of: I was happy.
Try: I danced with delight, or I cavorted with joy.

Nouns: Avoid using two or three nouns in a row:

Instead of: winter storm warning situation:
Try: it's going to snow
Instead of: hostage standoff situation:
Try: people taken hostage

Avoid these kinds of vague nouns: area, things, ideas, activity , aspect, nature, case, field

Avoid Clichés, Jargon, Euphemism, Inflated Language

"If we don't quit utilizing the English language, we are going to finalize it." -Don Ranley

Clichés: words or phrases that have been used so often they have lost their freshness and meaning. Relying on clichés is a sure way to make your writing predictable and boring. Strike them from your writing and choose fresh language and images—it's the difference between heating up a TV dinner and levitating your pasta with magic mushrooms.

A sample gallimaufry of overworked clichés:

bewildering array	bitter end
burning (desire, issue, question)	facts and figures
meet head-on	children of all ages
cutting edge	engage in conversation
checkered (career, path)	heart of the matter
infinite capacity	goes without saying

Jargon: shoptalk words that have no general clear meaning, used by writers to suggest they are in the know (or to cover what they don't know).

Jargon words epidemic this era: prioritize, access, interface, ongoing, input, user-friendly, interpersonal.

Be especially suspicious of words that end in '-ize' or '-ate.' Nouns and adjectives used as verbs are usually jargon: to author; to parent; to network; to impact, to maximize, utilization, to originate, to facilitate, to collatoralize

Instead of:	Try:
Finalize	end
Personalize	make personal
prioritize	rank

Avoid verbs that people turn into nouns: impact, interface.

Euphemism: language used to elude or overstate the raw reality of an idea. Often euphemisms are polite versions of the truth: he passed on rather than he died. Words that soften or camouflage, euphemisms rob your writing of vividness and honesty.

The reason to avoid euphemisms is that it makes the writer sound either mealy-mouthed or pretentious at best and dishonest at worst. Euphemisms run the gamut from relatively harmless language like 'landfill' for 'dump' to murderous camouflage such as 'ethnic cleansing' for 'genocide.'

Denotation and Connotation

"All our work, our whole life is a matter of semantics, because words are the tools with which we work, the material out of which laws are made, out of which the Constitution was written. Everything depends on our understanding of them." - Felix Frankfurter

Denotation is the dictionary definition of a word.
Connotation is the emotional charge of a word.

For instance, house and home have similar denotations, but quite different connotations. A house is a structure one lives in, but a home carries all the emotional energy of comfort, security and perhaps family.

As writers, we need to be sensitive to the constantly evolving emotional voltage of language. For example, the preferred word to describe people who live in the Far East is today 'Asian,' no longer 'Oriental.'

You can no longer use the word 'gay' to simply describe someone who is upbeat and happy. Denotation and connotation both evolve, and the accurate writer needs to monitor that process.

Inflated Language

Inflated language consists of words that are not your own, language meant more to impress than to convey meaning. Only you can be the judge, but if you find yourself replacing simple words with longer ones, that may be a clue: do you inaugurate things or start them? Do you exhibit things or show them? Do you dwell at home or live there? Do you purchase or buy? Do you drive a vehicle or a car ? Do you possess or own? Do you interface or talk?

If you set out to decorate your writing, you'll probably obscure your voice and maybe the meaning of what you have to say. Your writing will sound phony and readers hate that. As in life, in your writing be yourself.

There are also inflated phrases that generally you should avoid:

in the final analysis
it would appear that
fullest, possible extent
to summarize the above

Usually one word will do.

Style Through Sentences

"No dependent clauses, no dangling things, no flashbacks, and keeping the subject near the predicate. We throw in as many fresh words as we can get away with. Simple, short sentences don't always work. You have to do tricks with pacing, alternate long sentences with short, to keep it vital and alive. Virtually every page is a cliffhanger—you've got to force them to turn it." - Theodore Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)

Passive Voice

"Choose the passive when you don't know who did it, your readers don't care who did it, or you don't want them to know who did it." - Joseph M. Williams

How would you rather be characterized—as a passive or an active partner?
Would you like to be described as dull or exciting?

Passive sentences are dull, usually, because the verbs are not active. Sometimes this is done purposely. Think of politicians, masters of passive language: < font color=blue>A number of people were killed today. As opposed to: We killed a number of people.

Passive language helps the writer avoid showing responsibility, and so it is often used to make the writing impersonal. Granted, this is sometimes useful, but generally the passive voice makes for boring writing and should only be used deliberately. [Passive Voice]

Rule of thumb: be active in your choice of passive and passive in your choice of active.

Variety, Coordination, Parallelism, Subordination, Emphasis

Writers usually work to create a smooth, clear writing style. This is only achieved after thoughtful, informed revision. The way to achieve this is by experimenting with sentence structure until you achieve the kind of sentence variety, emphasis--and clarity-- you're after.

Variety

Variety in the length and structure of sentences is the way writers create interesting and textured prose.

Length: If your sentences are almost all very long or almost all very short, your writing is probably monotonous. Either way, your readers may have difficulty understanding what you're trying to say and the relationship between your thoughts and ideas. If your sentences are excessively long then you may need to make some shorter, more succinct sentences. If your sentences tend to be very short, you may need to add details or combine them in compound sentences or by using Subordination.

Structure: Watch how you begin sentences. If you only begin sentences only with the subject, for instance, you may lull your readers to sleep. Some experts suggest, too, that you never begin any sentence with there is or there are. Just excising those empty building blocks can radically restructure any sentence.

Instead of: There are dangers here.
Try: Help! Danger!

Details: Adding details will make your writing livelier and give it texture. Details support, explain, illustrate, describe, clarify, develop--give life-- to your ideas. Details make the idea real and meaningful to the reader. Often details call on our senses. Here is a paragraph from Tinker at Pilgrim Creek by Annie Dillard that shows how vital details can be:

The landscape of earth is dotted and smeared with masses of apparently identical individual animals, from the great Pleistocene herds that blanketed grasslands to the gluey globs of bacteria that clog the lobes of lungs. The oceanic breeding grounds of pelagic birds are as teeming and cluttered as any human Calcutta. Lemmings blacken the earth and locusts the air. Grunion run thick in the oceans, corals pile on pile, and protozoans explode in a red tide stain. Ants take to the skies in swarms, mayflies hatch by the millions, and molting cicadas coat the trunks of trees. Have you seen the rivers run red and lumpy with salmon?

Coordination

Combining two complete thoughts, or two sentences, into one equally balanced, compound sentence signals a significant relationship between them. Best done by making the two parts of the new sentence grammatically alike, and connecting them with a coordinator:

Instead of:Dark leafy vegetables contain high amounts of calcium. Milk is a good source of calcium.
Try: Dark leafy vegetables and milk are good sources of calcium.

Instead of: Herbs are easy to grow and are often attractive plants. They also are a source of home remedies for minor illnesses.
Try: Herbs are not only easy to grow and attractive in your garden, but they are also a source of home remedies for minor illnesses.

By indicating relationship you achieve coherence in your writing. Your writing also sounds smoother and your thinking sounds less simplistic.

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." -Oscar Wilde

Instead of: My relaxed-fit shorts are looking dated this spring. I went shopping for slim- fit shorts.
Try: Because my relaxed-fit shorts look dorky this spring, I raced out to buy slim-fit ones.

Parallelism

If you have two sentences with parallel meanings, then coordinate them through parallel sentence construction. Parallelism allows form to echo function.

Parallelism in your sentences will help make writing satisfying to the reader as does applesauce with pork ( for example). Famous sayings are remembered not only for their content, but for their symmetry. Parallel construction is pleasing to the ear's palate:

"We must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." -Ben Franklin

"Outside noisy, inside empty." -Chinese proverb

"A living dog is better than a dead lion." -Ecclesiastics

"Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." -Lincoln

"Whether the knife falls on the melon or the melon on the knife, the melon suffers." -African proverb

Subordination

Subordination in a sentence can make your main idea stand out. By putting the less important information in subordinate phrases the writer alerts the reader to what is most important.

Sentences with subordinate phrases are more sophisticated than simple sentences, and they are referred to as complex sentences. Sophistication in writing means being able to deal with complex thoughts or the interrelationships of things in one thought, which is why you need subordination. Subordination displays the relationship between the ideas and details in a sentence.

Those spring shorts, the orange plaid ones with huge pleats-- which I also like for their flare and roominess--are looking dated (not to mention dorky) this spring.

If you find yourself stringing facts together with so, and, or but you are probably giving equal weight in your sentence both to the main idea and to the supporting details. You need to use subordination to make your priorities and emphasis clear.

You want your description to contain the following points:

My neighbor plays the tuba.
He practices late at night.
He's also in a marching band.
To warm up for parades he walks around and around his house, playing his tuba.
He does his warm up early in the morning, before it's hot.
Because of my neighbor, I get little sleep.

In order to put all these facts in one sentence, you have to decide what information is equally important to convey considering the point you want to make:

My neighbor, who plays the tuba in a marching band, either practices late at night or early in the morning when it's cooler outside, marching around and around his house rattling windows with his bass notes and robbing me of sleep.

My shorts are comfortable and I like them because they are roomy, have big pleats and are orange plaid, but they look dorky compared to what the models are wearing in magazines.

Using words like which, because, when, and although, called subordinators will help you rank the details by importance and clarify their relationship to the main idea of your sentence.

Relations Signaled by Subordinators

Time

after, as long as, as soon as, before, ever since, until, when, whenever, while

Condition

as if, as though, if, provided that, unless

Casuality

because, since

Concession and Contrast

although, even though, though, whereas, while

Purpose

in order that, lest, so that

Range of Responsibilities

however, whatever, whichever, whoever

Place

whence, where wherever

Result

so that, that

Comparison

than

Literary Technique

Literary technique

Techniques are best defined by basic definition - so here is a public domain explanation that I could not have presented any better.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A literary technique, literary method, literary device, or literary motif is an identifiable rule of thumb, convention or structure that is employed in literature and storytelling.^{[citation needed]} setting and theme. "Literary techniques" is a catch-all term that may be distinguished from the term "Devices".

[show]

[edit] Definition

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The term "literary techniques" refers to specific aspects of literature, in the sense of its universal function as an art form that expresses ideas through language, which we can recognize, identify, interpret and analyze. Literary techniques collectively comprise the art form’s components - the means authors use to create meaning through language, and that readers use to understand and appreciate their works. They also provide a conceptual framework for comparing individual literary works to others, within and across genres.
"Literary techniques" is a catch-all term that may be distinguished from the term "devices". Literary techniques are literary moves a writer might make that are defined not so much by functional or descriptive actions as by imitation and repeated use by many authors at times. Instances of literary techniques tend to be harder to identify than instances of devices, and identification of techniques tends to be more dependent upon citing literary precedent; nevertheless, there is considerable overlap between the territory of devices and techniques. Irony, for example, challenges the distinction between a device and a technique because it refers to a handful of more-or-less easily identifiable literary actions, but also describes a recognizable but elusively complex attitude toward the subject of a whole or a part of a work of literature. It is debatable whether literary techniques or literary devices is the larger category.
The term "literary elements" is partly analogous to these two terms; but it tends to be invoked to describe the most universal literary techniques or devices—those that least mark out the work as an example of a particular, recognizable tradition or literary lineage. Genres are defined by literary elements, schools of literature are defined by literary techniques. Literary devices are not determinate of either of these categories, although certain devices predominate traditionally in, e.g., tragedy vs. comedy. Noted works of literature often result when an author successfully takes on the challenge of using a specific literary device or technique in a type of work where, historically, it has been uncommon.

[edit] Annotated list of literary techniques

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Name	Type	Notes
Alliteration	Poetic	Repeating the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words
Anthropomorphism	Personification	Form of personification that applies human-like characteristics to animals or objects
Aphorism		Concise statement that contains a cleverly stated subjective truth or observation—aphorisms typically use alliteration, anaphora, and rhyme. The aphorism is considered a compressed poetic genre in itself.
Author surrogate	Character	Character who speaks for the author—sometimes an intentionally or unintentionally idealized version of the author. A well known variation is the Mary Sue or Gary Stu (self-insertion).
Back-story	Background exposure	Story that precedes events in the story being told—past events or background that add meaning to current circumstances
Bathos		Mood that overstates its own pathos or drama.
Bildungsroman		A type of novel concerned with education, development, and maturation of a young protagonist. Essentially, a bildungsroman traces the formation of a protagonist's maturity (the passage from childhood to adulthood) by following the development of his/her mind and character.
Breaking the fourth wall		An author or character addresses the audience directly (also known as direct address). This may acknowledge to the reader or audience that what is being presented is fiction, or may seek to extend the world of the story to provide the illusion that they are included in it.
Chekhov's gun	Plot	Insertion of an apparently irrelevant object early in a narrative for a purpose only revealed later. See foreshadowing and repetitive designation.
Cliffhanger	Plot	The narrative ends unresolved, to draw the audience back to a future episode for the resolution.
Conceit		An extended metaphor associated with metaphysical poetry that pushes the imagination's limits to portray something indescribable.
Cut-up technique		The cut-up technique is an aleatory literary technique in which a text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text. Most commonly, cut-ups are used to offer a non-linear alternative to traditional reading and writing.
Defamiliarization		Forcing the reader to recognize common things in an unfamiliar or strange way, to enhance perception of the familiar
Deleted affair		A romantic relationship not referred to in the current story.
Deus ex machina (a machination, or act of god)	Plot	Resolving the primary conflict by a means unrelated to the story (e.g., a god appears and solves everything). This device dates back to ancient Greek theater, but can be a clumsy method that frustrates the audience.
Dionysian imitatio		The literary method of copying and improving other writers. In Ancient Greece was first formulated by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and the subsequent Latin rhetoricians adopted this literary method instead of Aristotle's mere imitation of nature.
Dramatic visualization	Descriptive	Representing an object or character with abundant descriptive detail, or mimetically rendering gestures and dialogue to make a scene more visual or imaginatively present to an audience. This technique appears at least as far back as the Arabian Nights.^[1]
Epiphany		A sudden revelation or insight—usually with a symbolic role in the narrative—in a literary work.
Epistolary novel	Literary genre	Novel in the form of a series of documents (letters, e-mails, etc.) exchanged between characters. Classic examples include Pamela by Samuel Richardson (1740), The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by Tobias Smollett (1771), Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (1782) and Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897).
False documents	Literary genre	Fiction in the form of, or about, apparently real, but actually fake documents. Examples include Robert Graves's I, Claudius, a fictional autobiography of the Roman emperor, H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon, and the Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser. The short stories of Jorge Luis Borges are often written as summaries or criticisms of imaginary books.
Fictional fictional character	Character, Framing	Character whose fictional existence appears in a larger work of fiction, or a character in a story within a story. Early examples include Panchatantra and Arabian Nights. See frame story.
First Person Narration		A text presented from the point of view of a character (esp. the protagonist) and written in the first person.
Flashback (or analeptic reference)		General term for altering time sequences, taking characters back to the beginning of the tale, for instance
A Flashforward		Also called prolepsis, an interjected scene that temporarily jumps the narrative forward in time. Flashforwards often represent events expected, projected, or imagined to occur in the future. They may also reveal significant parts of the story that have not yet occurred, but soon will in greater detail. This has been highly popularized by the television series Lost.
Foreshadowing	Plot	Hinting at events to occur later. See also formal patterning, repetitive designation, and Chekhov's gun.
Formal patterning		Rigorously organizing events, actions, and gestures that constitute a narrative and shape a story. When done well, formal patterning helps the audience discern and anticipate the plot structure as it unfolds. This technique dates back at least to Arabian Nights,^[1] and is also used in Romeo and Juliet. See also foreshadowing.
Frame story, or a story within a story	Framing	A main story that organizes a series of shorter stories. Early examples include Panchatantra, Arabian Nights and The Decameron. A more modern example is Brian Jacques The Legend of Luke.
Framing device	Framing	A single action, scene, event, setting, or any element of significance at the beginning and end of a work.
Hamartia		The character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall
Imagery		Forming mental images of a scene using descriptive words, especially making use of the human senses
Incluing	Setting::Background exposure	Gradually exposing the reader to background information about the story's world—to subtly clue the readers into the world the author is building—such in as Brave New World. It's the opposite of Infodumping.
Infodumping (also, plot dump)	Setting::Background exposure	The author puts a concentrated amount of background material, all at once, into the story, often in the form of a conversation between two characters, both of whom should already know the material under discussion. (The so-called "As you know, Bob" conversation) This is the opposite of Incluing.
In medias res	Narrative hook	Beginning the story in the middle of a sequence of events. The Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer, are prime examples. The latter work begins with the return of Odysseus to his home of Ithaka and then in flashbacks tells of his ten years of wandering following the Trojan War.
Irony	Contextual	This discrepancy between expectation and reality occurs in three forms: situational irony, where a situation features a discrepancy between what is expected and what is actualized; dramatic irony, where a character is unaware of pivotal information already revealed to the audience (the discrepancy here lies in the two levels of awareness between the character and the audience); and verbal irony, where one states one thing while meaning another. The difference between verbal irony and sarcasm is exquisitely subtle and often contested. The concept of irony is too often misunderstood in popular usage. Unfortunate circumstances and coincidences do not constitute irony (nor do they qualify as being tragic). See the Usage controversy section under irony, and the term tragedy.
Juxtaposition	Contextual	Using two themes, characters, phrases, words, or situations together for comparison, contrast, or rhetoric
Leitwortstil	Poetic	Purposefully repeating words that usually express a motif or theme important to the story. This dates back at least to the Arabian Nights.^[1]
Magical realism	Literary genre	Describing events realistically, but in a magical haze of strange local customs and beliefs—particularly popular with Latin American authors like Gabriel García Márquez. Elsewhere, Salman Rushdie's work provides good examples.
Metonym		Word or phrase in a figure of speech in which an attribute of something stands for the thing itself, (e.g., "hand" replaces "worker")
Narrative hook	Narrative hook	Story opening that "hooks" readers' attention so they will keep reading
Overstatement		Exaggerating something, often for emphasis (also known as hyperbole)
Onomatopoeia	Poetic	Word that sounds the same as, or similar to what the word means, e.g., "boom" or "squish"
Oxymoron	Contextual	A term made of two words that deliberately or coincidentally imply each other's opposite, e.g. "terrible beauty"
Paradox	Contextual	A phrase that describes an idea composed of concepts that conflict, e.g., "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." (A Tale of Two Cities)
Parody	Genre, Contextual	Ridicule by overstated imitation, usually humorous, as in MAD Magazine
Pastiche	Genre	Using forms and styles from another author, generally as an affectionate tribute, such as the many stories featuring Sherlock Holmes not written by Arthur Conan Doyle, or much of the Cthulhu Mythos.
Pathetic fallacy		Reflecting a character's (usually the protagonist) mood in the atmosphere or inanimate objects—for example, the storm in William Shakespeare's King Lear, which mirrors Lear's mental deterioration.
Pathos		Emotional appeal, one of the three modes of persuasion in rhetoric that the author uses to inspire pity or sorrow towards a character—typically does not counterbalance the target character's suffering with a positive outcome, as in Tragedy.
Personification	Personification	Using comparative metaphors and similes to give living characteristics to non-living objects.
Plot device	Plot	Object or character whose sole purpose is to advance the plot—often a sign of poor writing.
Plot twist	Plot	Unexpected change ("twist") in the direction or expected outcome of the plot. See also twist ending.
Poetic justice	Plot	Virtue ultimately rewarded, or vice punished, by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own conduct
Predestination paradox	Plot	Time travel paradox where a time traveler is caught in a loop of events that "predestines" them to travel back in time
Quibble	Plot device	Plot device based on an argument that an agreement's intended meaning holds no legal value, and that only the exact, literal words agreed on apply. For example, William Shakespeare used a quibble in The Merchant of Venice: Portia saves Antonio in a court of law by pointing out that the agreement called for a pound of flesh, but no blood, so Shylock can collect only if he sheds no blood.
Red herring	Plot device	A rhetorical tactic of diverting attention away from an item of significance. For example, in mystery fiction, an innocent party may be purposefully cast as highly suspicious through emphasis or descriptive techniques to divert attention from the true guilty party.
Repetitive designation	Plot device	Repeated references to a character or object that appears insignificant at first, but later suddenly intrudes in the narrative, a technique that dates back, at least, to Arabian Nights.^[2] See also foreshadowing and Chekhov's gun.
Self-fulfilling prophecy		Prediction that, by being made, makes itself come true. Early examples include the legend of Oedipus, and the story of Krishna in the Mahabharata. There is also an example of this in Harry Potter.
Sensory detail	Descriptive	Imagery, sight, sound, taste, touch, smell
Side story		Background narrative that explains the world of the main story. Examples include Mahabharata, Ramayana, Gundam, Doctor Who and The Matrix
Story within a story	Framing	A story told within another story. See also frame story.
Stream of consciousness	Literary genre	Technique where the author writes down their thoughts as fast as they come, typically to create an interior monologue characterized by leaps in syntax and punctuation that trace a character's fragmentary thoughts and sensory feelings.
Symbolism		Applied use of symbols: iconic representations that carry particular conventional meanings.
Thematic patterning		Distributing recurrent thematic concepts and moralistic motifs among various incidents and frames of a story. In a skillfully crafted tale, thematic patterning may emphasize the unifying argument or salient idea disparate events and disparate frames have in common.
Ticking clock scenario		Threat of impending disaster—often used in thrillers where salvation and escape are essential elements
Tone		Overall attitude an author appears to hold toward key elements of the work—the novel Candide makes fun of its characters' suffering, while The Sorrows of Young Werther takes its protagonist's suffering very seriously. Strictly speaking, tone is generally an effect of literary techniques, on the level of a work's overall meaning or effect. The tone of a whole work is not itself a literary technique. However, the tone of a work, especially in a discrete section, may help create the overall tone, effect, or meaning of the work.
Understatement	Contextual	A diminishing or softening of a theme or effect. Examples include The Informers and Norweigan Wood.
Unreliable narrator	Plot device	The narrator of the story is not sincere, or introduces a bias in his narration and possibly misleads the reader, hiding or minimizing events, characters, or motivations.
Verfremdungseffekt	Literary technique	Alienating or distancing the audience from a play's emotional content—popularized by 20th century playwright Bertolt Brecht.
Word play		Sounds of words used as an aspect of the work.
Writer's voice		Combination of the various structural aspects of an author's writing style.

{Note: In the context of a play, literary devices are referred to as dramatic devices.}

{Read Faulkner for great examples of "Stream of consciousness"}

Guide to Figurative Language

Becoming an expert in reading and writing requires becoming an expert in understanding and using figurative language. Insights on how to accomplish the four levels of mastering figurative language include:

Knowing the definition of and individual examples of figurative language--metaphor, simile, personification, and more.
Identifying examples in poems, short stories, novels, and speeches.
Explaining the author's purpose in using figurative language and showing how its use contributes to the overall theme of a work.
Using figurative language with a purpose in your own work.

The example lines included are excerpts or lines from classic pieces of literature and poems. The literary works used are part of the public domain.
Alliteration: is the repetition of consonants in the first letter of words
Example: "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe
The shepherd swains shall dance and sing
Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds in words
Example line: "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Emily Dickenson
He kindly stopped for me;
Hyperbole: is an exaggeration
Example lines: "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe
And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies;
Idiom: sayings or expressions that have figurative meaning
Example lines: The Jungle Book: “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” by Rudyard Kipling
It is the hardest thing in the world to frighten a mongoose, because he is eaten up from nose to tail with curiosity.
Imagery: using one or more of the five senses (sight, touch, taste, hearing, and smell) to describe characters, places or things in literature or poems
Example lines: "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming
Metaphor: Comparison of two unlike things
Example line: Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
Your eyes are lode-stars
Onomatopoeia: words that mimic or imitate sounds
Example lines: The Jungle Book: “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” by Rudyard Kipling
Darzee and his wife only cowered down in the nest without answering, for from the thick grass at the foot of the bush there came a low hiss–a horrid cold sound that made Rikki-tikki jump back two clear feet.
Personification: giving human qualities or characteristics to an animal, an object or an idea
Example line: "Casey at the Bat" by Ernest Lawrence Thayer
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt
Simile: a comparison of two unlike things using like or as
Example lines: Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
No, no, I am as ugly as a bear
or
And then the moon, like to a silver bow
New-bent in heaven

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