SMILEY-FACE TRICKS
1. Hyphenated Adjectives
A hyphenated adjective can take the place of a boring
adjective. (Don’t use a hyphen between
the last word of the adjective and the noun being modified.)
To practice using hyphenated adjectives, try completing the
following:
a.
My
mom/dad gave me one of her/his ____________________________ lectures.
b.
I
was so angry that I had a(n) ____________________________________ expression on
my face.
c.
My
best friend gave me one of his/her __________________________ looks.
d.
My
coach gave me one of his/her
_____________________________ talks.
Examples:
a.
My
mom gave me one of her don’t-talk-I-am-on-a-roll lectures.
b.
I
was so angry that I had a
talk-to-me-and-I’ll-use-my-laser-vision-to-burn-you-to-a-crisp expression on my
face.
c.
My
best friend gave me one of her why-would-you-wear-those-shoes-with-that-outfit
looks.
d.
My
coach gave me one of her get-with-the-program-or-sit-on-the-bench talks.
2. Alliteration and Assonance
Writers use
alliteration (repetition of the same consonant sound near the beginning of
words) and assonance (repetition of vowel sounds in words) to make their
writing have poetic flow.
To practice,
search the newspaper or magazines and find 2 examples of alliteration or 2
examples of assonance or 1 example of each.
Examples:
Alliteration-
Storms sock state’s middle (“s” sound is repeated)
Fall full of feelings (“f” sound is repeated)
Assonance-
Rich diet may pave way for a bout with gout
(may/pave/way is the long “a” sound)
(bout/gout is the “ow” sound)
3. Magic 3
Three examples in a series can create support for a
point. Always try to use modifiers with
nouns or to use phrases so they are truly “magical” and not just a list of
three words. It is best to use the Magic
3 in the same sentence, but you can use three sentences in a row that create a
Magic 3.
To practice, write a paragraph about a favorite pastime. Use a Magic 3 to describe your pastime. For added skill, include a hyphenated adjective
and alliteration or assonance. Underline
the Magic 3 and number each one where it begins.
Example:
Chopping vegetables into bit-size pieces, adding herbs and
spices to “kick it up a notch”, and sautéing until the tidbits are juicy,
make cooking an enjoyable pastime for me.
Cooking provides me with relaxation and a sense of accomplishment. The reward of watching my daughter eat
something new and seeing her with that wow-what-is-this face pushes me to
experiment with epicurean edibles.
4. Figurative Language
Non-literal comparisons (similes, metaphors, and
personification) add “spice” to writing and paint more vivid pictures for
readers and surprise them with unique comparisons.
Simile-Compares two unlike things
using “like” or “as”.
Metaphor-States a comparison
between two unlike things
without using any special words.
Personification-Gives a non-human thing, human characteristics
or human
actions.
To practice,
try writing some similes of your own.
Using the sentence starters below, finish them with a unique
simile.
Remember to brainstorm the easiest comparisons (She was as
beautiful as a rose. She was as
beautiful as a freshly bloomed flower.
She was as beautiful as a model on the cover of a magazine. She was as beautiful as a star in the sky.),
then throw those clichés away and use something fresh for your simile.
1.
He
had been shot in the arm, and it hurt like . . .
2.
She
was so scared; it was like . . .
3.
She
was so beautiful; she looked like . . .
To practice personification, personify your favorite
season. Write about the season as if it
were a person so capitalize the name of the season just as you would a person’s
name. In your paragraph make sure you talk about what that season does to make
it different from the other three. Make
sure to include one original metaphor or one original simile in your paragraph.
Include a Magic 3, a hyphenated adjective, and alliteration or assonance.
Example:
Moving briskly, Autumn paints the green trees of summer
persimmon, burnt orange, and goldenrod.
His paint palette provides the tools that dot the countryside with plump
pumpkins, colorful Indian corn, and MacIntosh apples. Autumn breathes cool air to hasten the birds’
departure for the South. The cool air provides
respite from his brother Summer’s I’m-angry-and-I’m-going-to-make-you-sweat-and-suffer
persona. As Autumn sits back on a porch swing to admire his artistry, he
congratulates himself on yet another landscape masterpiece.
5. Specific Details for Effect – Imagery –
Zooming In
Instead of using general, vague descriptions or “telling”
instead of “showing”, specific sensory details help the reader visualize the
person, place, thing, or idea.
To practice, describe a place you’ve visited or a favorite
spot of yours. To be true imagery,
appeal to at least three of the five senses as you describe this place.
Example:
I am sitting out on an old Dixieland porch in
6. Repetition for Effect
Writers often repeat specially chosen words or phrases to make
a point or to stress certain ideas for their readers.
To practice, pick an emotion and describe it in action and repeat
the emotion throughout the paragraph to emphasize it. You might even want to personify the emotion
like the example and to include dialogue.
Example:
Envy is an ugly person.
Envy rears her head when I least expect it. Envy starts whispering in my ear telling me,
“Look at how beautiful those women are.
Did you see that convertible Corvette Stingray with the red leather
interior? Imagine how perfectly decorated
that Mediterranean villa is. Oh, but you’ll never be able to afford any of that
on your teacher’s salary.” Envy knows
how to take a pleasant day and turn it into an unfulfilling one, and Envy knows
how to leave me wishing about all of the handbags, bracelets, antique
furniture, artwork, and books I don’t own but wish I did.
7. Expanded/Exploded Moment
Instead of speeding past a moment in the story, slow down and
emphasize it by expanding or exploding the action so that readers clearly see
what’s happening.
To practice, pick a sport, a physical activity, or a videogame
to describe by expanding or exploding the action that takes place. The goal is to use strong action verbs.
The example below could have read:
I planted some flowers
that will bloom in the spring.
Instead, I exploded the moment of the planting to show my reader
exactly what I was doing.
Example:
Placing my foot on the
edge of the shovel, I push down with my arms and leg to get the blade to sink
into the soil. Once it’s in, I tilt the
handle back toward the ground and push until the earth is loosened. I dump the pile of soil onto the ground. When the digging is done, I bend down and
grab clumps of earth and begin shaking away the loose dirt and returning any
stray worms to their underground homes.
The unneeded grass is deposited in my garbage sack. Then I till the ground to break up the clumps
of sod and make the dirt smoother. Using
my hand spade, I dig small holes in which to plant my tulip and daffodil
bulbs. When all the bulbs are buried in
their new beds for winter, I scrape off the shovel blade with a rock to protect
it from rusting. Finally, I wait
patiently for spring and for my flowers to bloom yellow, peach, fuscia, lilac,
and orange.
8. Full-Circle Ending
Sometimes writers need a special ending that effectively wraps
up the piece. One “trick” is to repeat a
phrase (from the beginning of the piece) at the very end to create a
full-circle ending. This is especially
potent when used with a quotation or a piece of dialogue.
If you had an effective hook to your introduction, this would be
the best starting place when you are looking to connect to something from the
beginning of your writing. You may even
find that you want to go back and change/edit the hook you originally used so
that your conclusion becomes more powerful.
Remember, writing is a never-ending medium. Deadlines are the only things that keep an
author from improving his or her writing.
Your goal is to apply these skills so that you can get the best out of
your writing no matter what the deadline may be.