Words
have so much power, not because of the words themselves but because we give
them power. They are a mode for emotion. Our emotions are extracted and placed
into words to give them the love, punch or anger we want to convey., so it’s
important for authors to choose the right words and link them together to evoke
some type of emotion from the reader. Sometimes an entire book can leave us
feeling angry, unsatisfied, happy or sad. It’s a huge achievement for a writer
to make a long-lasting impression.
Since
words have strength, there are some words we like and dislike more than others
(aside from insults and curse words). Here are a few of mine:
Make
me squirm: excretion, goiter, and scurvy.
Beautiful:
soliloquy, ivory, and ellipsis.
Sad:
pallid and ashen.
It’s
also important to make sure punctuation, along with the words, add to the
emotion. Sometimes we put in short sentences for emphasis, and sometimes we let
a sentence flow to describe a moment.
Below
are a few extracts from my current manuscript and working title, The Day I Found Me.
Opening Paragraph
“They all sat around, eyes on me, watching for
signs of ... what? I felt like a substance in a petri dish. I had to keep
looking down into my lap to avoid their stares. I opened my hand, my eyes
tracing the lines, a large M in the middle of my palm, lines trailing to my
wrist. Did the M stand for marriage? I couldn’t remember ... along with many
other things. I bit my lower lip, scrunched my eyebrows, and looked up to find
that nothing had changed. No one shifted or lost focus ... from me. I sighed
looking at each strained face as if they were constipated. A puff of air
escaped with a tiny laugh.”
Page 11 – Halfway down
“She left
the room but I remained where I was, thinking about my circumstances. Punch drunk indeed. My liver might not
appreciate the term, but my mind enjoyed the ride. I didn’t have to think of
the horrible things going on in my life. But there wasn’t enough alcohol in the
world to act as acid burn to smolder the heartbreaking memories. In a short
period of time, I lost my mother to the hunger of cancer, my home to an
unemployment sabbatical, and my boyfriend to a tall, skinny blond with long
legs. Well, the latter was a blessing. I should have known something was up
when he claimed ‘whiskey dick’ every time I made a sexual move. Someone forgot
to send me the memo that he lost interest months ago.”
Page 11 - Bottom
“I walked
into the washroom, turned on the faucet and threw cold water on my face. The
cold made me flinch, but I appreciated the wakeup slap. It took my mind off PIB
and my elbow. I placed my hands under the water, added soap, and rubbed them
together while staring at the soap bugger on the dispenser. That’s how I felt
... like a soap bugger ... leftover and hanging.”
What
do you think? What words do you like or dislike? Would you like to share a
paragraph from your current works?
Words
and Emotion,
Bea
