Friday, December 30, 2011

Keeping It Real in Fiction

I love words. Printed words. Cursive ones. Spoken words. Whispered ones. The different heights and shapes of their letters. The things words get your mouth and tongue to do. The way words can make someone feel powerful, or peaceful, or loved.

One of my favorite words I learned in college was verisimilitude. We were talking about ROBINSON CRUSOE at the time. Verisimilitude is when a character or event in a story seems real because of the details given. These can be obvious details, like when you open the refrigerator door you feel a cool burst of air as the light turns on.

But with characters, I think they sometimes become more real when the details are unexpected. Like when the southern mom makes lousy sweet tea or the boxer is terrified of butterflies and views them as flying worms.

This doesn't mean writers should be inconsistant with their characters' characteristics. If your main character is a vegetarian, they shouldn't eat steak. But throwing in a few quirky details breathes life into characters and keeps them from seeming too flat or cliché.

Even if I didn't love the meaning of verisimilitude (which I do), I like the way it feels to say it. It makes your mouth do that thing it does when you silently mock someone who is lecturing you. You do that too, right?

So what words do you love? It doesn't have to be a literary word-- just any old word that makes your heart happy. Please share a favorite in the comment section.

15 comments:

  1. Gourmandise. It just feels nice and with the right touch of fancy.

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  2. Great word! Perfect for what it means. :)

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  3. I love the word "whismy." I love how it kind of splashes off the tongue, and I love all that whimsy represents: creativity, a free spirit, fun.

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  4. Good one, Barbara! Thanks for sharing.

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  5. Oh I couldn't possibly pick just one. I'm a sucker for an Onomatopoeia or any really good, descriptive kidlit verb. Like wollop or plunk - I love plunk:)
    And on the noun side of things - nemesis - I know what you mean completely about how words feel in your mouth and when I say nemesis, it makes me feel the dislike:)

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  6. Good words, Marilee. I love all of those! Have you seen the Phineas and Ferb Nemesis song? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9faYaGdLS4

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  7. visceral -- I like to say it! I don't know why. But I do.

    Clandestine - I like that one, too !

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  8. Serendipity. As in noticing your funny tweet, retweeting it, following you, then finding out that you and your daughters enjoy my books. I enjoy your writing! So happy to "meet" you :-)

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  9. Hey Laura! The kids in my third grade class are looking at your blog this morning! Some of the words that the kids have mentioned loving this morning are precipitation, sarcastic, atrocious, salutations,and bizarre.

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  10. Iza Trapani-- Thank you! We do LOVE your beautiful picture books at my house. I'm so glad you found me. :)

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  11. Mrs. Taylor-- I love the words your class brainstormed! Let me know when I can come visit them and talk to them about writing. :)

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  12. Our class would love for you to visit us soon. We are also willing to Skype with you, if that is an option. I will be in touch through email. Also, we must get together at our favorite restaurant soon! We ate at Apollo Flame last week!

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  13. Amy-- Great! Looking forward to dinner & visiting your class. :)

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  14. Laura,
    I love your blog, and I've awarded it a Liebster! The Liebster is an award for fabulous blogs with less than 200 followers, and the recipient passes it on to 5 more deserving bloggers to raise awareness for their sites. Check it out here: http://beinglauraboffa.wordpress.com

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  15. Thank you, Laura, for the Liebster! I'm so glad you enjoy my blog and thought of me for this honor.

    The tough thing about passing the Liebster to others is that many bloggers have removed their follower count from their blog page, so it's hard to tell who qualifies. I do believe in promoting great blogs of all sizes. If you follow me on Twitter (@LauraRenegar), you will find me linking to my favorites.

    Thanks again for thinking of me. :)

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