Words do more than carry meaning; words have a physical aspect too.
Even for readers who no longer have to move their lips while they read, certain words carry with them the relish of being said aloud:
- Squirm
- Upchuck
- Sludge
- Blunder
- Squelch
- Lumpy
- Frisson
- Blubber
- Rumble
- Ooze
- Flow
These words are wonderful for showing, not telling: unusual combinations of consonants, words borrowed from other languages, words that make you pout or go ‘ew’ as you say them.
The prompt: write a story that uses descriptive words that make your mouth move.
(This prompt inspired by this excellent talk by Michel A. Arnzen at the Odyssey Workshop.)
Go!
So glad you stopped by! Thanks for the support.
WOW! Loved reading this prompt and all the cool comments. Hilariously cool response, Summer Ross.
After my speech at Odyssey, I developed the idea into a full-bore “how-to” essay that you can read in the just-released book, MANY GENRES, ONE CRAFT: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction (on amazon, or click thru my website to learn more). Visitors here might also like the ‘instigation’ writing prompts at http://gorelets.com
Keep writing, folks!
Blech! That list leaves me feeling all funny….
Just completed story number 8 using all of these words:
http://authorsummerross.weebly.com/blog.html
It’s kind of ironic that I just finished writing a story about a girl who is mute, and the title of this prompt is ‘Use Your Mouth’ Heheh 😉
LOL- That is funny.
Great words- I’ll see if I can use a couple in tonight’s story- hopefully my creativity is coming back- finals really drag it all out of me.