Hi,

Today I want to talk about definitions, and about that most dreaded and feared of dinosaurs: the thesaurus.  I have seen some prodigious vocabularies of late.  People are trying out a lot of new words.  Now generally I have no problem with using varied and large words, but there is something that everyone who writes needs to know.

You see, there are actually at least two meanings for every word.  The denotative meaning is the definition you find in your dictionary.  But words also have a connotative meaning.  Hulking and enormous both mean big.  But usually when somebody says ‘hulking’ they mean big in a bad way.  Enormous can go either way.  If you want big in a good way… well how about generous, or um… big.  Ooh, how about tremendous.  Let me give you another example.  Green generally means fresh.  Having green (fresh) lettuce is a great thing.  Having a green (fresh) pilot isn’t.  In this case, he’s inexperienced.

The point is, you can’t just pull a word out of the thesaurus and expect it to work in every sentence.  Your hero may have a grin, a smirk, or a leer.  All are smiles, but they aren’t all the same.  There’s a fine line between sexy intense and intense creepy, after all.

If you’re going to start using a word in your writing, try it out a few times in your spoken language.  See if you get punched in the face.  Once you feel comfortable, then you can use it in your writing.  Then your writing will be jake, sterling, superb, or at least satisfactory, acceptable, not bad.

The biggest problem that I’ve seen with some of the Indy books I’ve read lately has been with tense, and nothing takes me out of the story quicker than a sudden switch from past tense to present, or vise-versa.  No one should write a novel in the present tense, unless you’re James Joyce… no, not even then.

Stories should be told in the past tense.  The easiest way to remember how to stay in the proper tense?  Imagine the story you are telling is real and that it already happened.  Tell it like you would tell a friend how your last year was.  That way, you’ll never fall into the trap of using words like today, now, etc.  Also, watch out for your verb use.  If accidentally use a present tense verb, it can mess up the rest of your sentence, and you are suddenly off track.

Why not use present tense?  For the very reason stated above.  The reader wants to believe in your world and your story.  If you’ve written what happened in the past, it’s that much easier to suspend disbelief.  Who is going to believe that events are somehow happening as you read the story.

I’m sure that most writers will read what I’m saying and think, “well, duh.”  Well, good for you.  Keep up the good work.  Those who have trouble with tense?  Go back through your manuscript and make sure it reads like a something that has actually already happened.  Good luck.