Lesson 25 — Activity 1: The Author's Language
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Lesson 15 — Activity 1: The Author's Language
An author’s choice of language plays a major role in drawing readers into a novel. Specific language choices can create mood and atmosphere, heighten interest, develop suspense, and bring characters to life so that a reader becomes absorbed in the story.
The reader may even feel like a part of the action.
Let’s look at some of the tools an author will use to achieve this goal.
1. Authors use vivid or interesting verbs to heighten action and make their stories more exciting. Compare the following pairs of sentences to see how the more vivid underlined verbs in the second column present a stronger image than do the general underlined verbs in the first column:
Let’s look at some of the tools an author will use to achieve this goal.
1. Authors use vivid or interesting verbs to heighten action and make their stories more exciting. Compare the following pairs of sentences to see how the more vivid underlined verbs in the second column present a stronger image than do the general underlined verbs in the first column:
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The snake moved across the floor.
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The snake slithered across the floor.
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The child cried when she burnt herself.
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The child screamed when she burnt herself.
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The hawk flew high in the air.
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The hawk soared high in the air.
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The wind blew the trees all night.
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The wind whipped the trees all night.
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The squirrel ran across the power lines.
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The squirrel scampered across the power lines.
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Courtesy of Pixabay
Courtesy of Pixabay
2. Words are chosen very carefully to reinforce the atmosphere that an author is trying to create.
Consider the different atmosphere that is presented in the following pairs of sentences:
The wind blew through the trees.
The breeze caressed the trees.
The wind blew through the trees.
The breeze caressed the trees.
Look at what happens when some descriptive words are added:
The slight wind blew through the new foliage on the trees.
The gentle breeze caressed the springtime leaves on the trees.
The slight wind blew through the new foliage on the trees.
The gentle breeze caressed the springtime leaves on the trees.
3. Changing the
verb
tense to use an "ing" ending further reinforces the atmosphere.
In each of the above pairs of sentences, the mood is calmer in the second sentence than it is in the first sentence.
The slight wind was blowing through the new foliage on the trees.
The gentle breeze was caressing the springtime leaves on the trees.
The gentle breeze was caressing the springtime leaves on the trees.
In each of the above pairs of sentences, the mood is calmer in the second sentence than it is in the first sentence.
Courtesy of Pixabay
4. The same techniques can be used to create a tense atmosphere in a story as is shown in the two sentences below.
The small child was scared by the loud plane as it flew overhead.
The small child trembled, terrified by the thunderous roar of the plane overhead.
The small child trembled, terrified by the thunderous roar of the plane overhead.
The first sentence simply tells the reader about the event, while the second sentence recreates the situation.
Even the sounds of the letters in the words play a role in creating atmosphere. Soft sounds such as in breeze and caressing have a soothing effect; harsh sounds such as in trembled and terrified reinforce the image of the child’s terror.
Authors often vary the length of their sentences.
Courtesy of Pixabay
5. There are also other techniques that an author will use.
- One is to manipulate the length of the sentences. Longer sentences slow down the action while short, quick sentences speed things up and add to the urgency or fear of a situation.
- Punctuation and grammar rules are often followed throughout a novel, but an author may break a rule to create a specific effect. This explains why you may sometimes see a one-word sentence in a novel, even though your teacher won’t allow this.
- The final consideration is that any dialogue used should reflect the character who is speaking. Imagine how artificial it would sound to you if a member of a street gang was to speak politely to a police officer who was about to arrest him.
So you can see that an author has a lot to think about when writing a novel.