In six seconds, you’ll hate me.
But in six months, you’ll be a better writer.
From this point forward—at least for the next half year—you may not use
“thought” verbs. These include: Thinks, Knows, Understands, Realizes, Believes,
Wants, Remembers, Imagines, Desires, and a hundred others you love to use.
The list should also include: Loves and Hates.
And it should include: Is and Has, but we’ll get to those later.
Until some time around Christmas, you can’t write: Kenny wondered if Monica
didn’t like him going out at night…”
Instead, you’ll have to Un-pack that to something like: “The
mornings after Kenny had stayed out, beyond the last bus, until he’d had to bum
a ride or pay for a cab and got home to find Monica faking sleep, faking
because she never slept that quiet, those mornings, she’d only put her own cup
of coffee in the microwave. Never his.”
Instead of characters knowing anything, you must now present the details that
allow the reader to know them. Instead of a character wanting something, you
must now describe the thing so that the reader wants it.
Instead of saying: “Adam knew Gwen liked him.” You’ll have to say: “Between
classes, Gwen had always leaned on his locker when he’d go to open it. She’s
roll her eyes and shove off with one foot, leaving a black-heel mark on the
painted metal, but she also left the smell of her perfume. The combination lock
would still be warm from her butt. And the next break, Gwen would be leaned
there, again.”
In short, no more short-cuts. Only specific sensory detail: action, smell, taste,
sound, and feeling.
Typically, writers use these “thought” verbs at the beginning of a paragraph
(In this form, you can call them “Thesis Statements” and I’ll rail against
those, later). In a way, they state the intention of the paragraph. And what
follows, illustrates them.
For example:<br />
“Brenda knew she’d never make the deadline. was backed up from the bridge, past
the first eight or nine exits. Her cell phone battery was dead. At home, the
dogs would need to go out, or there would be a mess to clean up. Plus, she’d
promised to water the plants for her neighbor…”
Do you see how the opening “thesis statement” steals the thunder of what
follows? Don’t do it.
If nothing else, cut the opening sentence and place it after all the others.
Better yet, transplant it and change it to: Brenda would never make the
deadline.
Thinking is abstract. Knowing and believing are intangible. Your story will
always be stronger if you just show the physical actions and details of your
characters and allow your reader to do the thinking and knowing. And loving and
hating.
Don’t tell your reader: “Lisa hated Tom.”
Instead, make your case like a lawyer in court, detail by detail.
Present each piece of evidence. For example: “During roll call, in the breath
after the teacher said Tom’s name, in that moment before he could answer, right
then, Lisa would whisper-shout ‘Butt Wipe,’ just as Tom was saying, ‘Here’.”
One of the most-common mistakes that beginning writers make is leaving their
characters alone. Writing, you may be alone. Reading, your audience may be
alone. But your character should spend very, very little time alone. Because a
solitary character starts thinking or worrying or wondering.
For example: Waiting for the bus, Mark started to worry about how long the trip
would take…”
A better break-down might be: “The schedule said the bus would come by at noon,
but Mark’s watch said it was already 11:57. You could see all the way down the
road, as far as the Mall, and not see a bus. No doubt, the driver was parked at
the turn-around, the far end of the line, taking a nap. The driver was kicked
back, asleep, and Mark was going to be late. Or worse, the driver was drinking,
and he’d pull up drunk and charge Mark seventy-five cents for death in a fiery
traffic accident…”
A character alone must lapse into fantasy or memory, but even then you can’t
use “thought” verbs or any of their abstract relatives.
Oh, and you can just forget about using the verbs forget and remember.
No more transitions such as: “Wanda remembered how Nelson used to brush her
hair.”
Instead: “Back in their sophomore year, Nelson used to brush her hair with
smooth, long strokes of his hand.”
Again, Un-pack. Don’t take short-cuts.
Better yet, get your character with another character, fast.
Get them together and get the action started. Let their actions and words show
their thoughts. You—stay out of their heads.
And while you’re avoiding “thought” verbs, be very wary about using the bland
verbs “is” and “have.”
For example:
“Ann’s eyes are blue.”
“Ann has blue eyes.”
Versus:
“Ann coughed and waved one hand past her face, clearing the cigarette smoke
from her eyes, blue eyes, before she smiled…”
Instead of bland “is” and “has” statements, try burying your details of what a
character has or is, in actions or gestures. At its most basic, this is showing
your story instead of telling it.
And forever after, once you’ve learned to Un-pack your characters, you’ll hate
the lazy writer who settles for: “Jim sat beside the telephone, wondering why
Amanda didn’t call.”
Please. For now, hate me all you want, but don’t use thought verbs. After
Christmas, go crazy, but I’d bet money you won’t.
(…)
For this month’s homework, pick through your writing and circle every “thought”
verb. Then, find some way to eliminate it. Kill it by Un-packing it.
Then, pick through some published fiction and do the same thing. Be ruthless.
“Marty imagined fish, jumping in the moonlight…”
“Nancy recalled the way the wine tasted…”
“Larry knew he was a dead man…”
Find them. After that, find a way to re-write them. Make them stronger.
-(via1000wordseveryday)
