Make Your Writing Sparkle by Mixing Your
Concrete
by Beth Ann
Erickson
This lesson is a companion
to yesterday’s assignment about passive
verbs. But
we’re not talking about verbs today. We’re talking about
abstract words.
What’s an abstract word? An abstract word
describes something that is not tangible or
touchable.
Affection is an emotion. You can’t touch an
emotion.
Justice is a concept. You can’t touch a
concept.
“Affection” and “Justice” are abstract words.
Concrete words are action words that you can
“see.” You
can see a kiss. You can watch someone
in court.
Because the notions of affection and justice can
vary so much from person to person, it’s often very
helpful to mix concrete action words in amongst your
abstract terms.
So if you’re writing about
one character’s affection for another, mix a kiss in
there.
Describe it in concrete terms and SHOW your reader their
affection.
Whether the kiss is a peck or one of those long drawn out
Hollywood suck-fests (how’s that for a concrete description?)
your description will tell you reader in no uncertain terms the
true definition of “affection.”
Suppose a father stalked his child’s killer in
search of “justice.” Instead of telling me
he’d achieved “justice,” show me how he raises his gun,
takes aim, and shoots the killer in the kneecap
effectively crippling him for life. Now that may be a
different notion of justice than you had in mind, but the
vivid description puts us all on the same page regarding
the character’s intent – and notion of
justice.
Write something today. Write about an abstract
term like hate, violence, love, or fear. Make it
concrete.
Give yourself some shivers.
~~~
Beth Ann Erickson is Queen Bee of Filbert Publishing
and the only writing ezine that'll make your writing sparkle,
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