|
|
Post by Octagon on Jun 22, 2024 11:52:54 GMT -6
I seem to lack skill with wording things in a variety of ways. Whereas I can word things concisely with strong verbs, I lack the ability to word things in manifold ways, which is a necessary skill for achieving a variety of prose styles. In the past it seemed like I partially had this ability, although i could have produced a better style in the things I wrote with it.
I own a copy of De Copia, a book written by Erasmus hundreds of years ago. This book tells how to word things in a great variety of ways. Some people will say that it's is old advice. But things like substituting one part of speech for another, altering syntax, and using various rhetorical devices are hardly old concepts. I have not practiced the material in a long time, and I had never mastered it.
Nowadays, I seem to struggle with varying my expression. How do I do this? Simply by changing syntax and using synonyms, or is there more that needs to be done?
I would like to achieve a certain kind of poetic rhythm, for which this skill is necessary.
|
|
|
|
Post by RAVENEYE on Jun 22, 2024 12:08:22 GMT -6
Read De Copia, sure. But also grab a copy of "The Elements of Style" by Strunk & White. It's a modern classic. There is also a book called "The Basics of Clarity and Grace." And TONS of other recent texts on this topic. Modernize your reading repertoire. Read post-modern poetry if you want to achieve poetic rhythm without sounding ancient. Read and study Ursula K. Le Guin's fiction if you want to apply these skills to your fiction.
The broader you read, the broader you study, the wider and more varied your writing should become.
|
|
|
|
Post by Alatariel on Jun 22, 2024 13:17:25 GMT -6
I seem to lack skill with wording things in a variety of ways. Whereas I can word things concisely with strong verbs, I lack the ability to word things in manifold ways, which is a necessary skill for achieving a variety of prose styles. In the past it seemed like I partially had this ability, although i could have produced a better style in the things I wrote with it. I own a copy of De Copia, a book written by Erasmus hundreds of years ago. This book tells how to word things in a great variety of ways. Some people will say that it's is old advice. But things like substituting one part of speech for another, altering syntax, and using various rhetorical devices are hardly old concepts. I have not practiced the material in a long time, and I had never mastered it. Nowadays, I seem to struggle with varying my expression. How do I do this? Simply by changing syntax and using synonyms, or is there more that needs to be done? I would like to achieve a certain kind of poetic rhythm, for which this skill is necessary. Welcome to being a writer, this is a universal struggle for all of us. We tend to get stuck in our ways and recycle the same phrases, descriptors, and metaphors. I actually just messaged Raveneye about this, asking for suggestions on how to grow my descriptive skills past my current level. I highly recommend what she recommended. Read modern (and not so modern) poetry and authors who are considered to be great at imagery. Read a large variety of books in all genres, but especially the genre you're most interested in writing. Find the authors that speak to you and study them, but find your own voice. I love Laini Taylor, Cat Valente, Charlotte Bonte, Guy Gavriel Kay, Ursula LeGuin, Patricia McKillip, Rainbow Rowell, and N.K Jemison. They blow my mind with the way they phrase things and the metaphors they create and the emotion they can evoke with simple phrases. Try different writing exercises to expand your abilities without the pressure of writing a whole polished story. Focus on one skill at a time. Right now, I'm working on my metaphors. |
|
|
|
Post by saintofm on Jun 24, 2024 2:46:14 GMT -6
Thesaurus might be a good place. Unlike most none fiction, fiction gets to use the 10 dollar words more often. So finding something there. Once you have a list of ones you like, you can find something that fits the setting.
example: you want to use the word happy. I can go on dictionary.com, go to the thesourus part put in happy and I have a group of words that look good. Cheerful, delighted, ecstatic, elated, enraptured, glad, thrilled, upbeat and so on. I could pick the level of happy. Am I just satisfied levels, or glee. Or I could look at enraptured, a word I didn't know about until I did this thought experiment, look it up and see it mean bewitched, which could also mean charmed (as in I am very charmed by your presence).
|
|
You add them to your profile as you do them around the forum.
