I enjoy reading Ray Rhamey’s articles over at “Flogging the Quill”:http://www.floggingthequill.com. He always has such great tips for creating a readable and satisfying story. His “article today”:http://www.floggingthequill.com/flogging_the_quill/2006/08/avoid_conclusio.html involves avoiding the use of “conclusion words.” These are essentially descriptive words that leave it up to the reader to the form a mental image – words like ‘magnificent’, ‘arrogant’, or ‘ghastly’. They tell you what the character’s opinion is but not the what or why of that opinion. And since the meanings of such words are subjective to each reader, the use of them in your writing without clarification may convey a very different picture to the reader than you intend. Ray uses the word “beautiful” as an example and really illustrates the value of substituting conclusion words for actual descriptions that allow you get into the mind of the character and understand why he sees someone or something as beautiful. Go give the article a read. Ray is also looking for emailed suggestions of other conclusion words, so if you can think of any others, drop him a line.
