Young Writers Society

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Well, that’s all I have for now. So, what are you waiting for? Enjoy!

1. Adventures in Writing
2. Kanome's Rant of the Media
3. New Arrivals
4. This Weeks' Roundup - 4/19
5. Shameless Plugs
6. Subscribers

ADVENTURES IN WRITINGwritten by BlueAfrica < PM: >

Last week, we talked about how to choose the right words for your story by considering your characters, style, and setting. This week, I have some dos and don’ts to go along with last week’s tips. How can you avoid choosing the wrong words?

DON’T give into thesaurus overload. It can be tempting to throw complex words into your narration for the heck of it. Maybe you think such words will spice up your writing. Maybe you feel like you’ll sound smarter. The problem is, using a lot of multisyllable words just for the heck of it usually results in thesaurus overload. Readers are so overwhelmed by the unfamiliar words that they’re distracted from the story. This is because thesaurus overload results from choosing words that look impressive without having a good idea what they mean. And then you end up with this.



My husband is frequently guilty of this, in his speech as well as his writing. I was wearing a dress the other day, and he said he liked the dress because of its dark “plumage.” Oh, my. “Plumage” refers to a bird’s feathery coat, not...whatever he meant.

(Color? Fabric?)

I appreciate that he tries to expand his vocabulary--I really do--but sometimes I can’t help laughing when he uses a word wrong. Especially since I usually get the feeling he’s using these words just to impress me.

(Ah, well. At least he makes me laugh.)

I also had an example of this in a class the other week. We read sample writings to practice using rubrics, and one sample had serious thesaurus overload. The primary offense was taking “said is dead” too far. More on “said is dead” in a future article. For now, just know that the sample writing was filled with gems like this…






While it’s admirable that this writer tried to use higher-level diction, it’s obvious from these tidbits that s/he simply picked out impressive-sounding words from the thesaurus without making sure they really worked. Which brings us to our next point...

DON’T use new words without checking them first. Thesaurus overload isn’t a problem because people are using the thesaurus; using the thesaurus is good. It’s a problem because people pick unfamiliar words out of the thesaurus without fully understanding their meanings.

Let’s look back at the sample writing from above: “Our bus impelled into a nice looking hotel.”

That probably sounds kind of funny to you, but if you look up “impelled” in the thesaurus, one of the synonyms is “drive.” The writer most likely started with the word “drove” in this sentence, looked it up in the thesaurus, and chose the word “impelled” as a replacement.

But “impelled” doesn’t mean “drove” like “drove the bus.” “Impelled” means “drove” in the sense of motivation. For example: “Their cruel comments drove (impelled) him to play his best in the basketball game so he could prove them all wrong.”

Because the writer failed to check this word’s meaning in the dictionary, the sentence distracts the reader. Rather than comprehending the sentence and moving on with the story, the reader spends several minutes mulling it over, trying to figure out what the writer meant to say.

So when you reach for the thesaurus, reach for the dictionary! You’ll need both to make sure that your diction matches your meaning.

DO use the wrong words for the right reasons. Now that I’ve spent all this time explaining how to avoid choosing the wrong words for the story, I’m going to confuse you by explaining that the wrong words can sometimes be appropriate. As an example, let’s look at Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, The Poisonwood Bible. Ruth May, a five-year-old girl, sometimes uses the wrong words or phrases because she mishears or misunderstands the things adults say. She refers to the Jeune Mou-Pro, a militant group in the Belgian Congo, as the “Jimmy Crow,” a phrase she remembers from back home.

(The Price family, now situated in the Congo as missionaries, are from Georgia, and the book starts off in 1959.)

The second example comes from Rachel, the oldest, who resists education, doesn’t read widely, and is uninterested in deepening her understanding of, well, anything. Because of these qualities, she also mishears, misinterprets, and misunderstands words, phrases, and ideas. She refers to false idols as “false-eye dolls,” and then there’s this lovely moment:






(For those of you who haven’t gotten this far in history class yet, Karl Marx was an economist and philosopher and essentially the father of Communism. He was never in charge of Russia.)

Although the right words are important to your tone and style, the wrong words can characterize certain types of people: young children, the uneducated, the hard of hearing, or people who are simply in the habit of using words wrong. (Re: my husband.) You can also use the wrong words in the speech of foreigners who have not yet gotten the hang of a language, as when Jaime speaks Portuguese in this scene from “Love Actually” .

(Note: While “Love Actually” is rated R, the scene I’ve linked you to is appropriate for all audiences.)

In other words, the wrong words for the language could be the right words for the story! Totally confused yet? Fear not, friends. Next week’s article will give you three final tips on diction and ways to most effectively use a thesaurus to help your writing.

KANOME’S RANT OF MEDIA

Written by Kanome < PM: >

Hello, Kanome here with a review. Today, I am going to review a show that I have not seen before until this week. I don’t clearly understand the whole concept of the series right now, but I know I find the show pretty interesting.
From what I gathered from the show, it’s about a man who is a Timelord who travels through time in a blue police box called a Tardis. I am talking about one of the most popular shows out there, Doctor Who.


I personally liked the show because of the main character. I find him kind of hilarious in most parts of the show. I also love the concept of the title. Even though the main character’s name is Doctor, people question, Doctor Who? I totally got what the title meant when I started watching the show.

I shall continue watching the show and write article updates about it.

PM me if you have any recommendations.

Until next time, Squillians!

NEW ARRIVALS
written by BlueAfrica < PM: >

Take a moment to welcome this week’s newest members to the site!

@adrianne222 has earned his first review star! Head over to his wall to congratulate him .

@Shudder has posted an introductory thread in the Welcome Mat. Stop by to say hi !

@deathwave1 has posted a poem called “Spirit of Smiles.” Click here to read it and leave a review .

THIS WEEK'S ROUNDUP – 4/19written by megsug < PM: >

Four links! Hot and Ready! Get ‘em now!


@SilloriaD created a thread about clichés. The premise is a cliché is introduced, and the next poster comes up with a creative replacement and suggests a new cliché for the next poster to replace. @MaddieMouse013 suggested this for the cliché “There’s plenty of fish in the sea:”







Check the thread for the next cliché and come up with a great twist to make it unique!


@Dragongirl finished her first draft (congrats!) and wants to know what the next step she should take is. @Rosendorn answered with some great advice:







Rosey offers more insight as well, so if you’re closer to wrapping up a draft of your own, this thread would be a good one to check out.


@Snoink asks the important questions about Beauty and the Beast. She wants to know if Gaston and Prince Adam (better known as the Beast) really acted different enough for Beauty to treat them differently since they’re both selfish. @StellaThomas had a good answer:







What do you think makes Beast and Gaston different?


@FireBird99 is interested in knowing when people started writing. @ForgottenMemories has a great reason for writing:






I wanted to be on Reading Rainbow too! When and why did you start writing?

SHAMELESS PLUGS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

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SUBSCRIBERS

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