Monday, 29 April 2013

YELLING - A to Z CHALLENGED

Y is for YELLING,
and how to punctuated it.

Each post for the A to Z Challenge is the challenge I set for myself.  

I'd yell if someone
made me wear that hat.






















Y is for Yelling and how to punctuate it.

There are a variety of words to say someone shouted but if you have already put an exclamation mark (!) it is telling the reader the character shouted.

Most of the time, if the speaker is obvious, it is fine to omit the redundant word: screamed, shouted, bawled, bellowed, hollered, howled, roared, whooped, yelled etc.

These words are useful if the speaker is screaming a question.

“You want me to put your food on a silver plate?” shouted Hal. “If I find one, I’ll be happy to do that. And,  drop it on your head!”

The exclamation mark is not used for sarcasm. It is not used in the narrative either (eg All day, the wind had cut through the courtyard and bitten at Hal until hands were red and raw!) This is author intrusion. Yelling only takes place in dialogue.

Could YOU have been gifted with the ability to identify and eliminate weak and brittle phrases from your work? To the uninitiated, these interlopers look like quality imagery.

CLICHÉ RAIDERS: REWRITE!

•           year in, year out
•           you can bet your last penny
•           you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink
•           you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear
•           you can’t teach an old dog new tricks
•           you can’t win ‘em all
•           you could have knocked me down with a feather
•           you pays your money and takes your choice
•           your guess is as good as mine
•           you’re only young once

FOR Y, I CHOSE YELLING AND ITS RELATED PUNCTUATION. WHAT IS THE SUBJECT OF YOUR Y POST?

2 comments:

  1. I love you're post. Sometimes the exclamation mark is entirely over used.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Patti
      Exclaiming all over the place can be a character trait, but one you'd be hoping the character grew out of ;)

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