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A review by jlennidorner
Word Magic for Writers: Your Source for Powerful Language That Enchants, Convinces and Wins Readers by Cindy Rogers
3.0
There is quite a bit of information in this book which I have previously used and been called out by editors for daring to put in a manuscript. On the other hand, this book defines what those methods and such are in a well-done way. Proceed with caution if you are above an eighth grade writing competency level.
Antimetabole, repetition of identical words, is often a frowned upon practice. Antiphrasis is used in every mob-fiction story I've ever encountered, as they all have a character named "Tiny" who... isn't. Chapter 11's ideas about writing colors, however, is useful and interesting. (Wine red and glittering gold instead of just red and gold.) The vivid verbs topic interests me, but the book made it dependent upon sports reporting, and was less helpful than I desired. However, a GREAT tip in the book: "The peppering of to be verbs, and of helping verbs such as do, have, can, may, might, must, ought, could, should, would deadens a paragraph or a scene faster than hail on a tin roof deadens the senses. Action verbs activate a scene every time." And there's a good review of show-don't-tell. There's a mention of embedding the setting into the action.
The section on titles and using key words is spot on. Then there's a tip which is contradictory to several other writing how-to reference guides: "Chapter endings cannot all end with a dangler or a lure into the next chapter."
For information and education theory, this is a 5-star book. It would be great for young writers or those interested in learning about the craft. For adult writing in the world of submitting to agents and publishers, it's a 3-star book.
Antimetabole, repetition of identical words, is often a frowned upon practice. Antiphrasis is used in every mob-fiction story I've ever encountered, as they all have a character named "Tiny" who... isn't. Chapter 11's ideas about writing colors, however, is useful and interesting. (Wine red and glittering gold instead of just red and gold.) The vivid verbs topic interests me, but the book made it dependent upon sports reporting, and was less helpful than I desired. However, a GREAT tip in the book: "The peppering of to be verbs, and of helping verbs such as do, have, can, may, might, must, ought, could, should, would deadens a paragraph or a scene faster than hail on a tin roof deadens the senses. Action verbs activate a scene every time." And there's a good review of show-don't-tell. There's a mention of embedding the setting into the action.
The section on titles and using key words is spot on. Then there's a tip which is contradictory to several other writing how-to reference guides: "Chapter endings cannot all end with a dangler or a lure into the next chapter."
For information and education theory, this is a 5-star book. It would be great for young writers or those interested in learning about the craft. For adult writing in the world of submitting to agents and publishers, it's a 3-star book.