“She is going, you know, to…” 

by Jill Amadio

“He fell down, you know, on that.. blah, blah blah…”

Bombarded with the words “you know” in person, on Zoom, on TV, and on the radio, I have this hollow feeling that if I do not know what I am supposed to know when someone says the phrase, what am I missing? How do we “get the drift” of what the speaker means, if we are told we already know it? What is the significance of their words if taken literally? I already know what I am being told?

In other words, how am I to know what the person talking means when it is assumed I know precisely what they mean? By slipping in those two words, often twice in a short sentence and more frequently in long ones, I am left feeling like an idiot because, like many writers, I take words not only seriously but by their true intent.

I am tempted to tell the next person who uses it out of context that, No, I do not know, or I shall ask them why they think I know what they assume I know. I shall also ask them what their intention is in telling me something they think I already know. If I already know it, why waste their time in re-telling it?

What is this innocuous but irritating manner of speaking doing to our psyche? Will our personalities change, or our memories be challenged? Will what we already need be thrown out with the bathwater? A dilemma indeed.

I have yet to read “you-know” used in any newly-published books, thank goodness, but there’s always tomorrow for the opportunity to chance upon this ultimate word-mystery.

I have not yet thrown my buttered scone at the television set as I assume, you know, that the pundit cannot hear me, but, you know, what do I know? With all this high-tech stuff circling the globe, maybe I am wrong, you know. Could I, you know, be behind the times?

Perhaps “you-know” is used to give the speaker a moment to collect their thoughts, to come up with a different statement they intended, or to end a sentence with a lilt of the voice to indicate a question.

There are, of course, plenty of ways to ask  the you-know question, such as, “Do you know that…” or “You do know, of course, that he murdered her?” This dialogue sits so much more easily upon a writer’s shoulder, placing the you-know bit within its proper grammatical intention (I think).

Then there’s my gracious understanding of why people use it: to give themselves a break to think up their next statement, to find their place on the teleprompter, to allow them to sound “with-it.”

Intonation, when using “you-know,” is also important, I have observed. There is rarely a tonal upswing indicating it is a question.

If “you-know” is spoken to a young child, do we expect a cogent answer? Children tend to take what we say as dogma. We do not want to saddle kids with untruths.

Can we pronounce “you-know” as y’all know, or y’know? Perhaps this slide into dialect can remove some of its insidious, unnecessary sentiment. Or maybe to give it an inflection it does not deserve.  Should we replace “you-know” with a different phrase? I’ve heard people slip in a “my dear” and “indeed, but “you-know” rules the roost – at present.

I have come to regard “you-know” as a target and have to constrain myself from counting how many times it is spoken and in what context. Frankly, I cannot think of any unless “you-know” is posed in a readable sentence such as, “Do you know that…” or “You do know, of course, he is…”

When used in this context, it is obvious that an answer is required, whereas thrown in higglety-pigglety, the phrase has no meaning, but at least it does not put the listener on the spot. However, who knows? I sure don’t.

A Life of Their Own

by Gayle Bartos-Pool

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Not every writer does this but let me just say this…my characters made me do it.

I have written a couple dozen books, mostly fiction, with a few books on how to write thrown in because I wanted to help other writers get their ideas on paper and into print. I write mostly detective novels because my wonderful husband, Richard, said something that changed my life when I couldn’t get my spy novels published early on in my writing journey. He said: “You used to be a private detective, so why don’t you write a detective novel?”

Words of wisdom from a smart man. So, I wrote that first detective novel, got it published and wrote a dozen or so more books as well as several short story collections featuring a detective or two.

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But something happened while writing those books. When I was working on the second detective series featuring a guy named Johnny Casino, I did something my old acting teacher taught me. I didn’t want to be an actor, but I thought that class was a good way to learn how to write dialogue for the movies or television. What Rudy Solari taught us was to write a short biography of the character we were playing so we knew who that character was when we walked onto the stage.

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I used that method to get an idea who the main characters were in the books I was writing. While I was writing about Johnny Casino, I let him “talk” and tell me who he was. What I learned was that he had been trained by the first detective I had written, Ginger Caulfield. Who knew?  I guess those two characters knew it.

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When I started the third detective series about a cool guy named Chance McCoy, lo and behold, he knew Johnny and had been trained by Gin, too. But the coincidence didn’t end there. One of the characters in the three spy novels I penned is a friend of Gin Caulfield. And Gin’s uncle is the main character in those spy novels.

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So, after writing three different detective series, I have three detectives who all know each other. But it didn’t end there. These private eyes know this other guy from a stand alone novel I wrote years earlier. The character, Jason Kincaid, has recently retired from the police force at this point in time. There’s a reason he retired, but that’s another story.

Now I have these four characters who all know each other. What do I do with them? Why not have them start a new detective agency and see what happens. So Four Detectives was written. It consists of four stories from each member’s past and four new stories after they start working together.

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But there is something else about these people. They have something in common that started in their respective pasts which is the real reason they know each other now and are working together. When they realize this, everything changes.

Hey, this wasn’t my idea. They told me their story and I just wrote it down…

I wonder how many other writers have this happen.

Research Can Be Dangerous: A Cautionary Tale

By Maggie King

The Confederate statues on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia came tumbling down. For this author, that meant a scene rewrite and a research trip. I didn’t expect the trip to end in the ER.

In my recently released story, Laughing Can Kill You, Hazel Rose investigates the murder of an obnoxious writer given to laughing at others’ expense. In one scene, Hazel and her cousin Lucy attend the victim’s memorial service, hoping to ferret out who killed the man. The service is held in one of the stately homes on Richmond’s Monument Avenue.

Here’s my thumbnail description of the area:

Statues memorializing notable players in the Confederacy punctuated Richmond’s Monument Avenue. The statue paying homage to African-American tennis star Arthur Ashe lent an incongruous note to the lineup of Civil War monuments. Various groups clamored for the removal of the monuments that they considered reminders of slavery and racism; other groups believed removing them was tantamount to erasing history. A grassy mall divided the wide avenue, lined with trees and architecturally-significant houses.

If you’ve kept up with events of recent years, you know that the statues (except for the Arthur Ashe one) were taken down in 2020 and 2021, amid a flurry of protests, acts of vandalism, and government orders. But Laughing Can Kill You is set in 2018, when the statues were still in place. So I was okay? Right?

Maybe not. Would my readers be aware it was 2018? While it was clear to me, it may not be to them. Plus, the statues were still a hot-button topic, regardless of one’s position. I’m not looking to get readers riled, I simply want to give them an enjoyable story.

Monument Avenue was not important to the plot, but I could hardly feature it in a scene without mentioning the famous statues that give it its name. Talk about the proverbial elephant in the room. Street, rather. So I needed a different, but similar, location. It didn’t take long to come up with a Plan B: Richmond’s Northside, just ten minutes from Monument Avenue.

Here’s the description that replaced the Monument Avenue one:

The Hermitage Road Historic District on Richmond’s Northside started life as a streetcar suburb in the late 19th century. Developing the area north of the city to solve the housing problems caused by a rapidly growing city population became possible with the invention of the electric streetcar. The trolley line ran down the middle of Hermitage Road. At some point, a wide, grassy median replaced the line.

As I drove along the historic stretch lined with trees and architecturally significant houses …

It was a beautiful Saturday in May of 2021 when I drove to the Northside to scope out the area for sights, sounds, traffic patterns, etc. to add authentic detail to my story. I had a house in mind, a Colonial Revival I’d visited on a long-ago walking tour of the area. It was similar to the Monument Avenue house and I could use the same interior details.

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I walked down Hermitage Road and what did I see in front of the house? A “For Sale” sign!

I started to cross the street, thinking I’d get a better picture of the place from a distance. I hesitate to take pictures of people’s houses, feeling I’m invading their privacy. If challenged, I could say I knew a prospective buyer. Or I could offer a copy of Laughing Can Kill You when it came out. That should certainly appease them.

I looked around at the other houses, at the trees, flowers, taking in the scene, framing photo shots.

No photos were taken. With all my looking around, I didn’t look where I was walking. In an instant, I fell off the curb, landing splat on my shoulder.

When I picked myself up, my arm felt fairly useless. Thinking, hoping, that I’d only suffered a bruise, I decided to go home and ice my arm. But some persistent voice buzzing in my ear said “Go to the ER.” My guardian angel? Where had she been a moment before? Why hadn’t she grabbed me by the hair and pulled me back from that nasty asphalt? Oh well, God and angels work in mysterious ways.

At St. Mary’s Hospital (incidentally, it’s on Monument Avenue), I learned that I had a fractured shoulder. I went home with a spiffy sling that accessorized my wardrobe for six weeks. Luckily, it was my right shoulder and I’m left-handed.

Back to my rudely interrupted research trip. As the Colonial Revival was on the market, there were plenty of pictures of it online. The owners were asking a cool million. I bet you know what I’m going to say next—-that I purchased the place! Um, no, but I did find lots of beautiful interior and exterior pictures.

Shortly before this unfortunate incident, I’d written a scene where Hazel trips over a crack in a sidewalk and uses balance skills she didn’t know she had, avoiding a spill. Hazel is like me in some ways (except I don’t investigate murders) but apparently I’ve given her better balance and coordination skills.

My original plan was to end the research trip with a latte at Crossroads, a fun and funky coffeehouse on Richmond’s Southside. Hazel and Lucy got to enjoy that treat after the memorial service (although I named the place The Beanery in the story). They needed to compare notes on what was becoming an intriguing investigation.

By the end of a summer spent in PT, my shoulder was declared healed.

Laughing Can Kill You was published just after Thanksgiving of 2021.

There you have it: my cautionary tale on the perils of research.

Originally published in Kings River Life Magazine, January 5, 2022

Seven Story Plots

By Jackie Houchin

I recently talked to a young man involved in theatre at his university. He longs to write a play or musical and has all kinds of ideas about special effects, music, and costumes. He has even imagined a few characters. But he has no story. No plot, only a few imaginative scenes.

I told him there are just a few basic plots in the world from which all books and plays originate.  I told him there were five, but on researching them, I found it is seven. (Christopher Booker’s 2004 book The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories.)

Here they are.

  1. Overcoming The Monster.

Christopher Booker suggests Dracula by Bram Stoker, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (the White Witch), or The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  In the “monster” story, you need a chilling threat (human or not) and a brutal contest that will probably require a significant sacrifice.

  1. Voyage and Return.

The Odyssey in Greek myth and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien are examples. Your protagonist will need a dangerous journey or impossible quest with an uncertain outcome. He needs opportunities to turn back but to show heroism, he will continue and return with new strength.

  1. Rags to Riches.

Cinderella, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden are all examples. Your protagonist should grow in character, strength, and understanding, helping them to be empowered. This sometimes involves romance.

  1. The Quest.

The protagonist sets out to find someone or some object, like buried treasure. At each step the stakes need to be raised, making it harder and harder to achieve. The hero emerges stronger or more mature.  J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows are examples.

  1. The Comedy

The idea of Comedy is to create many misunderstandings for the protagonist to get involved in. The plot continues to muddle events, feelings, and perceptions until the end when all will be “miraculously transformed.” The action moves from dark to light. The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse and Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding are examples.

  1. The Tragedy

Tragedy is the opposite of Comedy and goes from light to dark. The protagonist has a deep flaw or makes a horrible mistake, causing his undoing and failure. Think of all the “if onlys” that could have happened. Give him ways “out,” which he won’t take, then close off any exit options. Classic examples are Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth by Shakespeare, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.

  1. The Rebirth

Rebirth is like a tragedy but with a hopeful outcome. The protagonist’s journey has a redemptive arc and sometimes includes romance. The “happy ending” should depend on that arc. Fairy tales are good examples, as are The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Emma by Jane Austen, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

Of course, you can combine multiple plots and add subplots, too. These seven plots are a guide to building your story.  You can elaborate as your fancy suits you.

Now, give it a go!

Where Fact and Fiction Meet…or Collide

by Gayle Bartos-Pool

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There was a saying once upon a time that newspapers were only good to wrap fish or garbage in or perhaps line a bird cage. Now that we have TV News and the Internet, most people don’t even get a newspaper, so the acquiring of news today is a different animal. The quality of that news remains the same: Questionable.

But ripping a story from the headlines in order to write something comes with baggage. The baggage is the “truth” of that story. Is it true? Is it hype? Is it garbage? As for me, I prefer stories that create their own world. Maybe a dollop of flavor from the headlines, but I want my stories to have a life of their own. I want the reader to see something new, not something they are bombarded with on TV, Facebook, Instagram or X.

The old movie The Three Faces of Eve was supposed to be a true story about a gal with multiple personalities. Years later it turned out the patient lied. I wonder what else I read or hear is a lie.

If I take a story from the headlines, I use the “What If?” approach and see what would happen IF that headline was turned inside out and upside down and I created something totally new. I might follow a paved road for a while, but before long I take that detour to something entirely different.

A fellow writer, friend, and someone we lost several years ago, Paul D. Marks, wrote an article on this topic on a website called Criminal Element back on October 19, 2018.  The title of his article was Fiction Is The Lie Through Which We Tell The Truth. The title itself has been attributed to Albert Camus, but if you look it up, people aren’t sure Camus even wrote it. Fact or fiction strikes again.

My comments at the beginning of this blog are more or less what I wrote in response to Paul’s very good article. The pull quote from Paul’s piece was this:

“The best writing makes you think, but it doesn’t tell you what to think. A crime writer can illuminate aspects of society, good and bad, without being preachy or moralistic.” Paul D. Marks

I responded to a comment Paul made on his post by pointing out: “Your White Heat novel did just that, Paul. You took a real time in history, but wrote totally your own story around it. It’s that world I like to read about, not one that’s on TV 24/7. Truth might be stranger than fiction, but fiction, if it’s done right, is far more entertaining. And it doesn’t leave a bad taste in your mouth. It is exactly what you said about Sullivan’s Travels. Sometimes people just want to be entertained.”

After re-reading Paul’s post recently, I wondered had anything changed. After all, that was over five years ago. What has changed? The news on all the available media sources have gotten stranger, more dire, sometimes just plain scary. In fact, some are so odd I have to laugh. Then there are those news stories that change from day to day. Not a different subject, just the “facts” in the first version we heard wasn’t exactly accurate, so they had to retell the story. You could conceivably call the first story a lie, so maybe we can just call it “fiction,” even if it was on a news channel. We all know when something earth-shattering happens the facts aren’t really known right away, and the story has to be verified by several sources until the actual facts are known. We just hope those “facts” are really true.

That’s why I prefer a good book or an old movie. That’s also why I write fiction to tell a story with a point and good characters to entertain the reader, not indoctrinate the reading public with something I saw on the Internet or heard on the news that might turn out to be even stranger fiction than Abbott and Costello Go To Mars. That’s a movie about a couple of guys who accidentally launch a spaceship and think they are heading to Mars, only to land in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. They think they are really on Mars since everybody is in costume. Two bad guys chase them back to the spaceship and they head off again only to land on Venus that’s populated entirely by women who hate men. (That sounds as goofy as news reports today, doesn’t it?) Well, the guys are sent back to earth, but frankly, the 1953 movie isn’t any odder than some reports saying American astronauts didn’t really land on the moon. (Scotty, Beam me up!) Or how about the one about life on earth will end in ten years? They’ve been saying that for fifty years. Can anybody trust the news?

Fiction is more fun, and I can write my own ending. I like my characters better than some of the real people I see on the news, and I can render a fitting end to the bad guys I write into my stories. So what if I live in a fictional world… Wouldn’t it be nice if the real world was like some of the books we read?

And remember, some people are rewriting the actual history we have lived through…Sound familiar? George Orwell wrote that story in his book, 1984 back in 1948. His book was fiction…or was it a blueprint for what lies ahead in today’s world? Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, and Animal Farm have some thought-provoking themes as well. Maybe we should write books that show how we want the world to be in the future…Hope they have a happy ending. At least my books have the main characters fighting for that better world. How about you?

Write On!

Choosing a Theme

by Linda O Johnston

Every writer writes what they know and what they love—at least, hopefully. Sometimes, it’s also a specific genre or genres.

Of course we can go all sorts of directions in our writing as well as in our lives.

But me? It’ll come as no surprise to those of you who know me or read my stuff that I love dogs. And they’re not only important in my life. They’re important in my writing. And they’re the general theme of my writing.

I have had sixty-two novels published so far, with the sixty-second, my fourth Shelter of Secrets story for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, available starting now. It’s CANINE PROTECTION. Yes, canine. And number sixty-three, the fifth in my Shelter of Secrets series, CANINE REFUGE, will be published next year. I can’t tell you offhand how many of my books have featured dogs, but the great majority of them have.

Why? Well, they always say to write what you know, and I know dogs, and yes, I love them. My first mystery series, the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter Mysteries, featured a tricolor Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Lexie—the same name as one of the Cavaliers I owned when I wrote those stories. And Kendra was a lawyer who lived in the Hollywood Hills with Lexie. Yes, I was a practicing lawyer then, living in the Hollywood Hills, writing what I knew, kind of.

And right now, my first ruby Cavalier, Roxie, is staring at me as I write this. Her tricolor sister Cari is sleeping somewhere else, but she very often snoozes under my computer desk as I write.

 Yes, I’m hooked on Cavaliers, but I don’t write much about them since I don’t want to overdo it with my readers. But other dogs, including service dogs, K-9s, and even pets—yes!

And including shelter dogs, like those in my Shelter of Secrets series which is ending next year. I’ve started writing the first book in a new series. And surprise, it also features dogs!

I’m always fascinated to learn why other writers write what they do—and if they also have ongoing themes in what they write.

So please comment here, you writers who are reading this. Do your stories contain any ongoing themes, and if so, what—and how did you decide to feature them?

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Image by Ermir Kolonja from Pixabay

DANCING IN THE RAIN….   

By ROSEMARY LORD

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“Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain…” Vivian Greene’s quote has been oft repeated.

Well, I think I’ve been waiting for the storm to pass for a long time now. Too long.

And the storms kept coming. It seems the clouds would part briefly and the sun shone brilliantly again. But then those dreaded clouds crept back across my horizon…

I’m poised in the wings of Life. Waiting. Now? I ask. Is it my turn NOW?

Oops. No. Someone else’s drama needs attention. And I step back into the shadows, ready to help.

I’d been writing articles about Hollywood for all my adult life. I came to Hollywood and met and interviewed the real movie stars. I’d been a Senior Unit Publicist at Columbia Studios. Then I was asked to write two books on Hollywood history, complete with authentic archive photos. After the success of those two non-fiction books, Hollywood Then and Now and Los Angeles Then and Now I ventured into the world of fiction. Mystery fiction. 

I had met Maisie Dobbs author Jacquie Winspear when we were both honored by the Southern California Independent Book Sellers. We would meet up in Westwood where she was doing a writers’ course at UCLA, encouraging me to do the same. I did. As I waxed lyrical about Hollywood’s rich history, Jacquie encouraged me to write a mystery story set in Old Hollywood. Maisie Dobbs was her first mystery novel. She said that if she can do it, so can I!

I was scared. Me, a mystery writer – you mean like Aggie Christie? Me? But after completing novel and mystery writing courses at UCLA, I was invited to join Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime and attended their workshops and conferences. I LOVED this new world of mystery writers. They’re the best! I thoroughly enjoyed the gruesome forensic workshops and was enthralled listening to the successful novelists share their wisdom and encouragement.

And so I learned – and I wrote. 

I met Gayle Bartos-Pool, Jackie Houchin and Miko Johnson at those conferences. Now lifelong friends, we started our own writers’ group, Writers-In-Residence and met at the Burbank library to share pages of our writing projects, critiquing, discussing and encouraging each other. This Blog came later.

In the midst of all this, I was taking care of my ailing mother-in-law until she passed, and a domestically-hopeless-but-wonderful, hard-working husband, Rick.

I had completed my first mystery novel and was gathering notes for the second and third in the series “Lottie Topaz Hollywood Mysteries.” I had my list of potential literary agents ready. I started sending my submissions out to the most obvious agents, then was working my way down the list. I had sort of designed my new website for the launch of my first mystery novel. I had mock-ups of cover designs. My new brief bio was written. I was ready.

But then, without warning, my darling husband Rick died of a heart attack. I was at my desk, sending another ten pages to an agent when he cried out and collapsed.

Obviously, my world stopped. I was shattered. I had no idea who I was any longer. I loved being Rick’s wife. Now I wasn’t. What was I? Who was I?

That storm lingered a lot longer than I ever could have imagined.

It was shortly after that that the Woman’s Club of Hollywood asked for my help. Numb, I said yes. I buried myself in saving that historic club as I worked through my grief. And, boy, was that a never-ending can of worms at the Woman’s Club! There’s a whole book in all the shenanigans that can go on in those historic buildings. Don’t get me started on the ghosts that linger from the days when Jean Harlow (as Harlean Carpenter) attended school there with Douglas Fairbanks Junior. Although, having grown up in England, lots of places have ghosts, so I’m used to them. But that’s a whole other tale…

For the longest time I could not even look at my Lottie Topaz manuscript. It’s what I was doing when Rick died. I made every excuse under the sun. But, like the mustard seed that needs watering in order to grow into a huge tree, we have to feed our writer’s mind, that writer’s soul.

I neglected my writing brain for too long. But this Writers’ Blog helped me work my way back as a writer. Word by word, blog by blog.

The encouragement from Gayle, Jackie, Miko and all of you really helped me tiptoe out from under that dark storm cloud. I began working on another story I had started ages ago.

Step by step, I got my writing legs back. I found the music in my life again.

And now I am on Lottie’s case once more. Her Book Two is under way. And Book Three is forming in my head. I have copious notes and old news clippings to peruse. I will find a home for Lottie’s debut novel. It took longer than I thought, but – hey – I’m not afraid of those storms. I’ve learned to dance in the rain and love it!

………………………….

A New & Short Mystery!

by Guest Writer Alice Zogg

Hello friends, readers, and fellow authors,

I penned another stand-alone mystery.   A DOOMED REUNION is fresh off the press and available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book editions.

This one is short (170 pages).  Either I have learned to get my point across with fewer words or have become lazy. (haha)

As to the location, I invented a fictional town called Seabreeze and placed it along the California coastline between Del Mar and La Jolla.

People with old school ties attend a 30th high school reunion and are shocked to hear one of the attendees say he knows who murdered a classmate years earlier. That knowledge gets him killed.

Can Detective Scharfkopf with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department piece together what happened back then to catch the person who has lived with this secret all these years… before another body is added to the list?

Happy reading,

www.alicezogg.com

A Doomed Reunion on Amazon

Alice Zogg was born and raised in Switzerland. She met her husband, a fellow Swiss, in New York City, and the two made their home in the United States. The family relocated to Southern California in 1967, where they have resided. She is an avid traveler and plays racquetball and golf. She has written over 20 books. 

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BOOK REVIEW – I read Alice Zogg’s new book. Yes, it is short, but the crime, plotting, and investigation are complete.  You don’t feel cheated at all.  The murder happens after a high school class reunion when one person blatantly claims to know the murderer of an unpopular student 30 years previously.  Does he?  Someone believes him and, in unusual circumstances “offs” the guy.  The detective is charged with solving not one but two murders.  The questioning, deduction, and final moments of revelation are well-plotted and written. I enjoyed reading it!  ~~~ Jackie Houchin

 

A TRIBUTE TO WORDS AND WRITING

By Miko Johnston

My late father co-founded a non-profit organization dedicated to Scandinavian philately. In addition to translating and publishing educational books on the subject, the group held monthly meetings as well as annual exhibitions where members could present their best work. Dad served as their president for many years; his name and phone number appeared on all contact sources.

He wasn’t home the day a young man called for more information about the organization. I offered to answer as much as I could. His first question: “Can you join if you’re under eighteen?” Yes, I told him, there is no age limit. “Can I bring another guy to the meetings?” Sure, I said, but something told me he had something, um, different in mind. I then said, “You do realize that philately is stamp collecting.”

“Oh.” He promptly hung up.

We spend a great deal of time writing about words on this blog. If you hunt through our archives, you’ll find many posts on the topic, which should come as no surprise. Words are the most important tool in a writer’s toolbox. We think about them, which one to use in any situation, whether a particular word or one of its cousins (aka synonyms) would be more precise, more distinctive. Can we convert that verb/adverb pairing into one verb? How many descriptives can we edit out without losing the image, the rhythm, or the voice of a character?

Words convey and put into context images, thoughts and ideas, especially when they’re carefully selected. We have non-verbal ways of communicating as well, but unless there’s some established pattern to it, such as sign language or Morse code, their subtlety makes them less effective for interpretation – is she slouching because she’s humiliated, or her back hurts?

Whether spoken or written, signed or signaled, we rely on words as the basis of communication. Misinterpretations may cause embarrassment, as my earlier story shows, but in the right hands they surprise in an entertaining way. Writers can inform the reader without the character’s knowledge, a technique I relied upon in my first novel, when my protagonist was a child. Or they can make the reader wait – ideally with keen anticipation – for information the character already knows.

We can use words to assure clarity of thought, or to deliberately deceive. Red herrings in mysteries fall into the latter category, as do ambiguous phrases meant to mislead the reader into thinking something the author intends to prove wrong later. I’ve done this so often in my writing it might be a hallmark of my style.

Words have the power to calm and reassure, to encourage and inspire, or to agitate and inflame. Think of all the influential speeches you’ve heard or read, or the memorable phrases culled from them. Whether by actors reading from a script, politicians addressing their constituents, or activists crusading for their cause, their words, carefully chosen with deliberation, hold the power to move people. To bolster their spirits, or shock them. Convince them they’re right, or maybe, just maybe, they’re not.

All have one thing in common: Someone, or some ones, wrote those words.

Not to equate a frothy page-turner with The Gettysburg Address, but I celebrate writers who celebrate the written word. I commiserate with writers who agonize over the best way to express their or their characters’, thoughts. I respect writers for what they try to accomplish whenever they put pen to paper or fingers on the keyboard.

That’s why we deserve a formal representation for what we do.

The practice of medicine has a symbol – a caduceus with two snakes coiled around it. The symbol of law is the scales of justice. No formal symbol of writing exists, although if you Google it you’ll find cartoons of a hand holding a pencil or pen.

What do you think would make an apt symbol for writers?

Miko Johnston, a founding member of The Writers in Residence, is the author of the historical fiction series, “A Petal in the Wind”, as well as a contributor to several anthologies including the recently released “Whidbey Island: An Insider’s Guide”. Miko lives in Washington (the big one) with her rocket scientist husband. Contact her at mikojohnstonauthor@gmail.com