Verbing Nouns

I've been blogging about writing in a literary fashion.  This one is more about how to write in a modern literary fashion.  Once upon a time, if a writer wanted to get expressive, they'd say it with adverbs.  "Adverbs!" said the character observantly.  That style doesn't work with modern literature.

Writing with passive tenses, spicing it up with adverbs, is now considered a sign of novice writing.  Editors advocate using "said," "asked," or "yelled" then a short dialogue tag, possibly including action since dialogue tags should practically disappear.  Interesting verbs should take the place of adverbs wherever possible--outside of dialogue tags--and adverbs should all but disappear.  "Adverbs are a no go," George said, stomping his foot.  Writing this way tends to be more punchy and powerful.

Many writers take potent, brief writing one step further by changing a noun into a verb to create something new.  This is a form of what's officially called "anthimeria."  If you googled for information, hashtagged a post, eBayed your old stuff, friended someone on FaceBook, or YouTubed your video, you're already verbing nouns.  Some of these usages, like the above, enter the language and become permanent.

This technique can be used in writing to make your voice unique. The comic Calvin and Hobbes says, "Verbing weirds language," thereby showing how this is done with not one but two words in a unique way.  But "weirding" language also freshens it.  This has been done over the years, such as when Jane Austen in Emma writes, "Let me not suppose that she dares go about, Emma Woodhouse-ing me!" A reader of the book knows this verbed noun references matchmaking.  Even Shakespeare occasionally did this such as in King Lear,  "The thunder would not peace at my bidding." This is not a new technique. 

However, verbing nouns has become more common in modern writing, and it makes writing sound fresh and unique.  Kate Daniels, for instance, used it in In the Marvelous Dimension with the line, "Until then, I'd never liked petunias, their heavy stems, the peculiar spittooning sound of their name."  The word "spittoon" has become a verb/adjective instead of a noun.  In The Lamorna Wink, Martha Grimes writes about a character who "was marmalading a scone."  Verbing nouns cuts out possibly unnecessary words and gets right to the point in a fresh way. 

Now read through your writing.  Where have you used adverbs?  Is there a noun or even a verbed noun you can use there instead to make your writing powerful and fresh?  Best of luck using this technique. 

Tighten your Writing

It's during the editing phase that you start to realize that you're a lot wordier than you thought.  At least that's been my experience.  And you, too, can do most of it without any help.

• You can catch your overwriting  and redundancies ["Hey, Grandma," I said to Grandma as I walked in the house.]  
• You can change those overly descriptive writing handles [she screamed angrily] into ones publishers will accept like said, shouted, asked, or whispered.  
• You can dump all amplifiers after you realize they amplify nothing [really hated doesn't convey nearly as much as loathed or even just hated all by itself.] 
• You can ferret out those pesky adjectives [beautiful woman] and turn them into vivid nouns [goddess].  
• Above all, you can hunt down those clunky adverbial phrases [stared stupidly] and swap them for strong verbs [gaped].  

Basically, you can take your gut draft, the draft you wrote just for you, straight from your heart, and turn it into something another human being will actually want to read.  You can change it from written vomit into a compelling story.

It helps to distance yourself from your writing, so you see it with newer eyes.  I went over an old short story recently I thought was so wonderful and found about half of it was filler.  It also helps to print out your writing because then you see it from another angle.  You can go at it with a pen.  It really helps to read it out loud to yourself, as well, because then you slow down your reading pace and see so many things you didn't see before.  You can also use the software's built-in spell/grammar check.

But there comes a moment when you realize you can do no more.  You need external eyes, someone outside your head, to which you can send it or read it.  That's when writers' groups online or in person come into play.  I've written about those recently.  That's when you can call in an editor like I did recently.  That's also when you can look into buying software like Grammerly or Autocrit, which help you do a lot of the things I've mentioned.  Most of editing can be done alone.  But almost everyone eventually needs help.  You are not alone.  If you're done with your heart draft [the rough draft], it's time to write the rest with your head.  It's time to tighten that writing.