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To Verb
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John Caruso
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Apr 21, 2003 13:06 PDT
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TO VERB
This week I feel like getting a bit esoteric. When I’m feeling a bit
playful—or when I’m feeling stuck—I like to pull out my notebook and jot
down a dozen or so nouns. These have to be “hard” nouns, not words that
can work as nouns or verbs such as “paint,” “race,” “touch,” or “table.”
(This in itself is an interesting exercise because it’s not quite as
easy as it seems.) A sampling from a recent list included: pumpkin,
cabinet, purple, and thesaurus.
Now take your knowledge of the words’ “noun-ness” and heave it out the
window. For the rest of the exercise, you now have a list of VERBS. Use
them as such. Think about how your words can be used to express specific
actions, how they can shade a sentence with the perfect nuance of
meaning.
For example, using the list above, you might come up with the following:
--After the annual ritual of holiday overindulgence, Maxwell and I
pumpkined on the couch.
--The debate had splintered into three or four disparate arguments.
Through it all, Loraine remained quiet, plucking pertinent lies from the
cacophony and cabineting them away for future use.
--Picking blueberries roused Marie’s memories of childhood. The fruit
purpled her fingers, leaving her a physical reminder of less complicated
times.
This week, collect interesting nouns. During one of your writing
sessions, verb them and write sentences. Does it feel natural? Do your
sentences pop from the page? Do you feel uncomfortable? Can you see
specific instances in your work that may benefit from interesting verbs?
Of course, this nifty technique, like all things clever and crafty, can
be overused. I don’t believe our readers would be too keen on passage
after passage of smart alecks who “thesaurus” their way out of an
argument or existential whiners who “taffy” their emotions. But
“verbing” nouns can help us avoid the am-is-are-was-were-be-being-been
quagmires that cripple otherwise strong writing. By exploring
interesting, fresh ways to express our thoughts, we learn to stretch our
powers and have fun along the way.
John Caruso
jo-@coffeehouseforwriters.com
Copyright 2003, John Caruso
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