{"id":1116,"date":"2018-10-22T19:02:13","date_gmt":"2018-10-22T23:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/dremadeoraich\/?p=1116"},"modified":"2018-10-22T19:02:13","modified_gmt":"2018-10-22T23:02:13","slug":"double-down-boost-your-impact-with-targeted-prose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/22\/double-down-boost-your-impact-with-targeted-prose\/","title":{"rendered":"Double-Down: Boost your Impact with Targeted Prose"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>Recently, I signed up to read at a local Hampton Roads Writers<\/a> \u201cShow and Grow\u201d event, where writers can read their work in front of an audience and receive brief critiques afterward from a 2-person panel of professionals. I\u2019d done it once before, years ago, and got a lot out of it. This time it was even better. The piece I read was my first-ever attempt at flash fiction and, according to one of the panelists, I\u2019d hit the mark overall. Still, they gifted me with a lot of good feedback, including one tip I want to share with you today.\n

$\"\"$ We\u2019ve talked before about making every word count. But in flash, where word count is strictly limited and often quite small, that rule is a must. In fact, one of my critiquers pointed out that I could\u2014and should\u2014take every opportunity to make my words do double-duty. Let me explain.<\/p>\n

My short piece (\u201cThat Shining Moment,\u201d 583 words) is about gun violence. How much more potent an impact might the story have if I used verbs that further that theme? For example, instead of<\/p>\n

\u201cLife\u2019s river carried me elsewhere, but a child\u2019s laugh brings me joy still\u201d<\/p>\n

the sentence could read:<\/p>\n

\u201cLife\u2019s trajectory carried me elsewhere, but a child\u2019s laugh still triggers joy in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other opportunities:<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201caimed\u201d instead of \u201cherded\u201d
\n\u2022 \u201cdownrange\u201d instead of \u201cgrowing faint\u201d
\n\u2022 \u201cbolt\u201d instead of \u201crun\u201d
\n\u2022 \u201cbarrel\u201d instead of \u201crace\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a lightbulb moment for me, that single suggestion in my critique. I don\u2019t know why I never thought of it before (duh), but now that I\u2019ve revised the story I can see the difference it makes. All my other unpublished short pieces are now on the to-do list: check verbs and any other opportunity to use words that drive the narrative toward the theme.<\/p>\n

Take a look at your own works in progress; where are your opportunities to assign double-duty to your prose? How can you tighten the link to your theme?<\/p>\n

See you next week!<\/p>\n

Bullseye image courtesy of pixabay<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently, I signed up to read at a local Hampton Roads Writers \u201cShow and Grow\u201d event, where writers can read their work in front of an audience and receive brief critiques afterward from a 2-person panel of professionals. I\u2019d done it once before, years ago, and got a lot out of it. This time it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-posts","category-on-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/target-1551492_1920.jpg?fit=1920%2C1440&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n0kX-i0","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1575,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/23\/all-work-and-no-play\/","url_meta":{"origin":1116,"position":0},"title":"All Work And No Play","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"November 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"It only just dawned on me in the last couple of days that I hadn\u2019t blogged in a couple of months. Holy Continuity, Batman! Where does the time go? In my defense, I\u2019ll say that this has been the busiest few months I\u2019ve had for quite some time! 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Yeah. I\u2019m familiar with that one, too. Unfortunately, it doesn\u2019t work that way, at least not for most of us. Even published writers have said to break-out sessions at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":548,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/01\/15\/living-our-stories\/","url_meta":{"origin":1116,"position":2},"title":"Living Our Stories","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"January 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In writing workshops, teachers and advisers (and agents\/publishers) all say that regardless of genre, a book's word count is limited. In science fiction, for example, the standard acceptable word count ranges between 90K and 120K. Given this restriction, it's important for the writer to confine herself to those words that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":678,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/09\/learning-from-burnout\/","url_meta":{"origin":1116,"position":3},"title":"Learning From Burnout","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"April 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in the early- to mid-90s, I and a few other volunteers began a small non-profit for the Mid-Atlantic earth-based spiritual community. In the beginning, its sole activity was to produce a regular publication, and a small one at that. Within a few years, the project had become my full-time,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1039,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/10\/empower-your-skill-online-community-with-big-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":1116,"position":4},"title":"Empower Your Skill: Online Community with Big Heart","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"September 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Looking for a critique group, but can\u2019t find one in your area? Try Critters Workshop. I found them online several years ago and became enamored of the concept. 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