God bless you with a wonderful year!!!
-Jan R
Thursday Thoughts
Month: December 2023
That Word Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Does
I spent the morning reviewing some of my older blogs and ran across this one. I still have problems with misused words and thought the reminder would be good for my readers too 🙂
There are so many misused words out there I couldn’t possibly list them all, so I concentrated on the ones that I have problems with.
I’m sure you have words that would make the list as well 🙂
a lot, alot, allot: There is no such word as alot. A great number is a lot. If you mean allocate, you use allot.
advice, advise: Advice is what you get, advise is what you do.
aggravate, annoy: If you mean pester or irritate, use annoy. Aggravate means to make worse.
all ready, already: If you mean all is ready, use all ready; if you mean in the past, use already. It already happened.
all right, alright: All right is always two words.
all together, altogether: All together means simultaneously. Altogether means entirely or wholly.
among, between: If only two people are dividing something use between. If more than two people are dividing something use among.
appraise, apprise: Appraise is to give value; apprise is to inform.
bazaar, bizarre: Bazaar is a marketplace; bizarre is strange, weird.
cavalry, Calvary: Cavalry are soldiers; Calvary is the place Christ was crucified.
can, may: Can-physically able to do something; may-you have permission.
climactic, climatic: Climactic refers to a climax; climatic is related to the weather.
council, counsel: Council is an official group or committee; counsel is to give advice.
elicit, illicit: Elicit something is to extract it, bring it out; illicit is illegal.
fewer, less: Fewer means not as many, it is used with countable nouns (cookies, gallons of gas, cars); less means not as much and is used with uncountable nouns (gasoline, money, cake).
forego, forgo: Forego is used for something that has gone before (a foregone conclusion); forgo to do without.
imply, infer: A speaker implies something; a listener infers.
lead, led: Led means in charge of or guided; otherwise use lead.
literally, figuratively: Literally means precisely as described; figuratively means in a symbolic or metaphoric way.
nauseated, nauseous: Nauseous means disgusting; nauseated means sick to your stomach.
set, sit: Set is to place something – there has to be an object; sit is going from standing to sitting in a chair.
Stationery, stationary: Stationery is paper you write on; stationary is something that lacks motion.
supposed to: I included this one because people incorrectly omit the d.
than, then: If you mean next, therefore, or at that time, use then; if you want the word that shows a comparison, use than.
that, which: For clauses that don’t need commas, use that. For nonrestrictive clauses, which need commas, use which.
your, you’re: Your means belonging to. You’re is short for you are.
What words do you misuse?
-Jan R
Merry Christmas!
God Bless You!
-Jan R
Remember – Your Mind Is a Battlefield
If you are constantly looking over your shoulder, you may not finish your novel. You will be too busy battling the thoughts of it not being good enough. No one wants to be humiliated or rejected. Your inner critic will paralyze you by telling you just how bad it really is (even if it’s not). This is an obstacle that I have had to overcome. It hasn’t gone away, I’ve just learned to deal with it.
I remember doing a Bible study on the battlefield of the mind. Though it’s primary purpose was dealing with spiritual warfare, it also related to many of the issues that we deal with in our everyday lives. Our mind is a battlefield. In writing, for example, all of us worry about looking dumb and never getting published. Fiction writers make a business out of being scared, and not just looking dumb.
It took me six months from the time I started writing my first novel, to tell my husband what I was doing. When I finally told him, I was a mess. I knew he would be excited for me and encourage me in my endeavor, and I didn’t want to let him down.
For the longest time, I treated my novel as a hobby. That’s not a mindset that will get you published. When I finished and sent it out to the first few agents, I was more than a little anxious. The first few rejections confirmed my beliefs. I just wasn’t good enough.
Note that I said, “I wasn’t good enough.” Well, that’s not exactly true. The truth is the novel wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t ready. The fact is, it was filled with grammatical and structural errors, there was some serious head hopping going on, and my on-the-nose writing was all but bringing the story to a complete halt. If you are not familiar with these terms you should be. Go back and read the posts I have written or surf the web.
I don’t know that the inner critic will ever go away. So how do you combat it? You keep moving forward and growing in your craft. Don’t stop writing.
Remember all professions require training and experience. A brain surgeon didn’t just wake up one day and start operating on patients, nor did a successful author sit down and start producing best sellers.
I still question my work at times, but I know, that I know, that I know, that it’s a lot better than it was when I first started on this journey.
-Jan R
Thursday Thoughts
Something to think about!
-Jan R
Friends Don’t Let Friends Use Filler Words – Revisited
I’ve been a little busy the last few months and have revisited some of my favorite posts. I hope you enjoy this one. Most of the concepts I write about are simple. I just never really gave them a lot of thought before I started writing novels.
When writing, remember less is more. Stay away from qualifiers. They weaken your prose, and the result is the exact opposite of what your were trying to achieve. I know why you use them. I’m hooked on ‘very’. Other people are hooked on the word ‘too’. If you are resorting to qualifiers for emphasis, odds are, you are using the wrong word in the first place.
These qualifiers are the words your English teacher dreaded seeing, such as very, too, really, and sort of. When you overuse these words, your writing will seem lazy, as if you haven’t taken the time to look for the right word.
This pasta dish is very good.
This pasta dish is superb. (Better)
I’m feeling sort of sick.
I’m feeling nauseous. (Better)
You look really nice!
You look radiant. (Better)
Since ‘very’ is my nemesis, I thought I would provide a list of more powerful words to use to replace ‘very’ ___________.
- very fast quick
- very dry parched
- very dirty squalid
- very afraid terrified
- very angry furious
- very hot scolding
- very hungry ravenous
- very large colossal
- very clean spotless
- very clever brilliant
- very beautiful exquisite
- very ugly hideous
- very pretty beautiful
- very thin gaunt
- very tired exhausted
I think you get the picture. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope this got you thinking.
-Jan R
Thursday Thoughts
Something to think about!
-Jan R
195 Powerful Verbs That Will Spice Up Your Writing
I wish I could take credit for this blog, but it was written by Jerry Jenkins. He is probably my favorite blogger and one of my favorite authors. You can find him at jerryjenkins.com
I share this blog every year to catch my new subscribers and remind myself and my older subscribers of the importance of powerful verbs.
He gave permission to share his work with any writer who needed to read it. He wanted to get the word out. I thought about you, my followers.
Jerry Jenkins ….
Do you ever wonder why a grammatically correct sentence you’ve written just lies there like a dead fish? I sure have.
Your sentence might even be full of those adjectives and adverbs your teachers and loved ones so admired in your writing when you were a kid.
But still the sentence doesn’t work.
Something simple I learned from The Elements of Style years ago changed the way I write and added verve to my prose. The authors of that little bible of style said: “Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs.”
Even Mark Twain was quoted, regarding adjectives: “When in doubt, strike it out.”
That’s not to say there’s no place for adjectives. I used three in the title and first paragraph of this post alone.
The point is that good writing is more about well-chosen nouns and powerful verbs than it is about adjectives and adverbs, regardless of what you were told as a kid.
There’s no quicker win for you and your manuscript than ferreting out and eliminating flabby verbs and replacing them with vibrant ones.
How To Know Which Verbs Need Replacing
Your first hint is your own discomfort with a sentence. Odds are it features a snooze-inducing verb.
As you hone your ferocious self-editing skills, train yourself to exploit opportunities to replace a weak verb for a strong one.
At the end of this post I suggest a list of 195 powerful verbs you can experiment with to replace tired ones.
What constitutes a tired verb? Here’s what to look for:
3 Types of Verbs to Beware of in Your Prose
1. State-of-being verbs
These are passive as opposed to powerful:
- Is
- Am
- Are
- Was
- Were
- Be
- Being
- Been
- Have
- Has
- Had
- Do
- Does
- Did
- Shall
- Will
- Should
- Would
- May
- Might
- Must
- Can
- Could
Am I saying these should never appear in your writing? Of course not. You’ll find them in this piece. But when a sentence lies limp, you can bet it contains at least one of these. Determining when a state-of-being verb is the culprit creates a problem—and finding a better, more powerful verb to replace it—is what makes us writers. [Note how I replaced the state-of-being verbs in this paragraph.]
Resist the urge to consult a thesaurus for the most exotic verb you can find. I consult such references only for the normal word that carries power but refuses to come to mind.
I would suggest even that you consult my list of powerful verbs only after you have exhausted all efforts to come up with one on your own. You want Make your prose any your own creation, not yours plus Roget or Webster or Jenkins. [See how easy they are to spot and fix?]
Examples
Impotent: The man was walking on the platform.
Powerful: The man strode along the platform.
Impotent: Jim is a lover of country living.
Powerful: Jim treasures country living.
Impotent: There are three things that make me feel the way I do…
Powerful: Three things convince me…
2. Verbs that rely on adverbs
Powerful verbs are strong enough to stand alone.
Examples
The fox ran quickly dashed through the forest.
She menacingly looked glared at her rival.
He secretly listened eavesdropped while they discussed their plans.
3. Verbs with -ing suffixes
Examples
Before: He was walking…
After: He walked…
Before: She was loving the idea of…
After: She loved the idea of…
Before: The family was starting to gather…
After: The family started to gather…
The List of 195 Powerful Verbs
- Advance
- Advise
- Alter
- Amend
- Amplify
- Attack
- Balloon
- Bash
- Batter
- Beam
- Beef
- Blab
- Blast
- Bolt
- Boost
- Brief
- Burst
- Bus
- Bust
- Capture
- Catch
- Charge
- Chap
- Chip
- Clasp
- Climb
- Clutch
- Collide
- Command
- Crackle
- Crash
- Crush
- Dash
- Demolish
- Depart
- Deposit
- Detect
- Deviate
- Devour
- Direct
- Discern
- Discover
- Drain
- Drip
- Drop
- Eavesdrop
- Engulf
- Enlarge
- Ensnare
- Erase
- Escort
- Expand
- Explode
- Explore
- Expose
- Extend
- Extract
- Eyeball
- Fish
- Frown
- Gaze
- Glare
- Glisten
- Glitter
- Gobble
- Govern
- Grasp
- Grip
- Groan
- Growl
- Guide
- Hail
- Heighten
- Hurry
- Ignite
- Illuminate
- Inspect
- Instruct
- Intensify
- Intertwine
- Impart
- Journey
- Lash
- Lead
- Leap
- Locate
- Magnify
- Moan
- Modify
- Multiply
- Mushroom
- Mystify
- Notice
- Notify
- Obtain
- Oppress
- Order
- Paint
- Park
- Peck
- Peek
- Peer
- Perceive
- Picture
- Pilot
- Pinpoint
- Place
- Plant
- Plop
- Poison
- Pop
- Position
- Power
- Prickle
- Probe
- Prune
- Realize
- Recite
- Recoil
- Refashion
- Refine
- Remove
- Report
- Retreat
- Reveal
- Revolutionize
- Revolve
- Rip
- Rise
- Ruin
- Rush
- Rust
- Scan
- Scrape
- Scratch
- Scrawl
- Seize
- Serve
- Shatter
- Shepherd
- Shimmer
- Shine
- Shock
- Shrivel
- Sizzle
- Skip
- Slash
- Slide
- Slip
- Slurp
- Smash
- Snag
- Snarl
- Snowball
- Soar
- Sparkle
- Sport
- Stare
- Steal
- Steer
- Storm
- Strain
- Stretch
- Strip
- Stroll
- Struggle
- Stumble
- Supercharge
- Supersize
- Surge
- Survey
- Swell
- Swipe
- Swoon
- Tail
- Tattle
- Transfigure
- Transform
- Travel
- Treat
- Trim
- Uncover
- Unearth
- Untangle
- Unveil
- Usher
- Veil
- Weave
- Wind
- Withdraw
- Wreck
- Wrench
- Wrest
- Wrestle
- Wring
Of course there are many more. Jerry Jenkins just provided a list of examples to get you thinking 🙂
-Jan R
Writing your first novel-Things you should know 