Words, words, words

Written words are merely shapes and scratches on a paper or black squiggles on a computer screen.

But they pack punch. They have power. Potential.

Words inspire, comfort, entertain, make the heart soar, cause laughter and tears. Words can change lives.

Words are a memoirist’s most important tools. We must learn to use them with excellence.

“Words—especially religious words, words that have to do with the depth of things—get tired and stale the way people do," writes Frederick Buechner. "Find new words or put old words together in combinations that make them heard as new, make you yourself new, and make you understand in new ways.” (From Now and Then; emphasis mine)

So, use crisp, bright, refreshing words—

but avoid ornamental words,

extravagant, snobbish words,

self-important words to impress readers,

elusive words that make your readers get up and find a dictionary.

A good thesaurus and dictionary can be a memoirist’s best friend. Computer programs usually have a thesaurus—a minimal one, but one that could help find a better word quickly.

“There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner,” writes Diane Setterfield. “Wind themselves around your limbs like spider silk, and when you are so enthralled you cannot move, they pierce your skin, enter your blood, numb your thoughts. Inside you they work their magic.”

 “I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions,” writes James Michener.

“…The right words in the right order might be worth a thousand pictures,” says Roy Peter Clark. 

“Words whispered, shouted, and sung.

Words that move, dance,

and change in size and color.

Words that say,

‘Taste me, smell me, eat me, drink me….’

[T]he word has the power to create.…

When God says,

‘Let there be light’ (Genesis 1:30),

light is.…

It is this creative power of the word

we need to reclaim.…

(Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey,

emphasis mine)

One of my favorite blog posts from the past is Gather “crackly”words for your memoir. Don’t miss it! (If you haven’t already started the practice of gathering “crackly” words, you’ll want to start right away.)

You’ll also enjoy reading another blog post from the past, The power and potential of words.

Take four minutes to read those two posts and then get out your manuscript and replace boring, tired words with words that have zing and melody and texture.

“Writing is the painting of the voice,” said Voltaire.

Have fun!

Strive to write “absolutely memorable” stories

Don’t generalize. Use specific images.

Avoid abstractions. Be concrete.

There is one thing

that makes [Sinclair Lewis’s] books classics,

makes them absolutely memorable.

It is his imagery—his very specific images.

It makes his writing readable

because you can feel the restaurant [Billie’s Lunch Counter]

with the sticky oilcloth on its tables.…

“Thick handleless cups

on the wet oilcloth-covered counter.

An odor of onions

and the smoke of hot lard.

In the doorway

a young man audibly sucking a toothpick.

An aluminum ashtray labeled,

‘Greetings from Gopher Prairie.’”

(Judy Delton)

This is your time to get out those “crackly words” you’ve been collecting, “the good words, the juicy words, the hot words.” (Priscilla Long, The Writer’s Portable Mentor)

Priscilla Long urges writers to avoid approaching language passively.

She encourages us to sidestep “using only words that come to mind, or words [we] grew up with, … general, conventional diction [word choice] that has little to offer in the way of echo, color, or texture.”

Not big, pompous, fancy, or decorative words.

Words that don’t require a dictionary.

Words that are not overused.

“Be specific. Not car, but Plymouth” says Laura Davis. “Not dog, but Yorkshire terrier. Not the flower in the window, but the geranium in the window.”

When you polish your memoir, replace common, generic words with precise words, descriptive words, nuanced words like “Chanel N^o 5” instead of “expensive perfume.”

If your favorite aunt had a red mailbox, call it a crimson mailbox.

If you’re writing about a hilarious moment, use words like chortle, snort, giggle, hoot, snicker, snigger, guffaw, cackle.

Are you writing a story about your Great-grandfather’s Model T Ford? Did you know it was also called The Tin Lizzie?

If you’re writing about a VIP, consider one of these words: a pooh-bah, big cheese, big shot, heavyweight, high muck-a-muck, bigwig.

If you’re writing about an insignificant person, try: a lightweight, a nobody, a nonentity, a whippersnapper.

Did your father wear jeans? How about Levis? Or were they called dungarees back then?

If your grandfather drove an old, cheap car, call it a jalopy, a rattle trap, a clunker, or a flivver.

Get out your rough drafts and work on generating excitement, energy, and curiosity.

For more ideas, look over Ted Lamphair’s Wild Words (he’s a veteran VOA reporter and essayist).

At the Daily Writing Tips blog you’ll find resources such as a list of three-letter words that pack a punch, 15 words for household rooms and their synonyms, and much more.

Go back to the Judy Delton quote above. Take it in. Savor it.

Then, using her quote for inspiration, revise your stories so they’ll be “absolutely memorable.”