Hey gamers! I'm gonna give you an entire lesson on hyphens, Em dashes and En dashes via tumblr, right now.
Lets preface with this: Grammar has two modes of use.
Prescriptive: A set of rules that dictate how a language "should" be used.
Descriptive: How grammar/language is ACTUALLY used.
This is an important distinction for this lesson because I am going to start with a powerpoint that explains the rules/uses of hyphens and dashes. THEN after, we will talk about the rhetorical effects dashes have on readers and how authors can use them to their advantage.
COOL lets begin.
The first thing you all need to know about hyphens and dashes is what they look like.
Please note how the EM dash is the longest, the EN is next, then the minus, and the hyphen. The sizing and name of these dashes was historically decided because Em dashes were the size of an M and an En was the size of an N.
This is wonky now considering typing and fonts and all that jazz, but the size still matters (haha).
These are how you type them! I am a google docs user, and the short cuts in docs are weird. You will want to go into Insert then go down to special characters. Type in the dash you need, and click it to insert.
Hyphens so these things!
What is a modifier? It's a word that MODIFIES the noun. like a light rain, or a long drive. these are adjectives/adverbs (depending)
Hyphens can link two modifiers. They can also link compound nouns.
These are the things Em dashes do!
If you take a gander through Margin of Error (Chapter 4 would be best because that's where I learned the special character function) you'll see all of these examples in action!
En dashes aren't as common as EM dashes or hyphens. These are used strictly in a prescriptive sense. From my knowledge there is no way to use these rhetorically. only for clarity and these are the three times you'll see them.
COOL! Now lets talk about how Em dashes are used rhetorically. What does an Em dash do to your writing? How does it effect a reader?
Emphasis Em dashes create pauses in speech. If I were talking to you and I wanted to pause--
or cut myself off, I could use either an elipses or an Em dash. Where an elipses is more of a trail off... the Em dash draws the readers eye. It makes the reader stop and look at what is around them.
THATS IT! Thats what it does! It's more emphasis than a comma or a parenthetical. You could in theory use a comma, but think of how much stress you want on something.
FOR EXAMPLE, in this line from Margin of Error.
With no Puncuation:
“Ah well Grian and I weren’t really getting along at the time…” He trails off in a way that screams I’m done talking about this something he does a lot when talking about his family so Tango moves the conversation in a different direction.
With Commas:
“Ah, well, Grian and I weren’t really getting along at the time…” He trails off in a way that screams I’m done talking about this, something he does a lot when talking about his family, so Tango moves the conversation in a different direction.
With Em dashes:
“Ah—well, Grian and I weren’t really getting along at the time…” He trails off in a way that screams I’m done talking about this—something he does a lot when talking about his family—so Tango moves the conversation in a different direction.
Notice how it's different? The commas certainly do their job at making the reader pause. They help insert the phrase, but its not the same as the dashes. The dashes make the reader LOOK at what is between them. it becomes the focus of the sentence. We are no longer worries about what Jimmy's tone is, but that he uses it often when talkin about his family.
Look at this example with parenthesis too, and see how those change the effect.
With parenthesis:
“Ah—well, Grian and I weren’t really getting along at the time…” He trails off in a way that screams I’m done talking about this (something he does a lot when talking about his family) so Tango moves the conversation in a different direction.
Seeeee? it makes a difference! The parenthesis make it more of a passive thought. Something for the reader to consider, but is overall not important to the story.
This is why us authors sometimes hem and haw over grammar! I certainly think that Em dashes can be used based off vibes (I do this all the time) but now you know what its really doing for your reader!
I want to look at one more example of this before we wrap up.
With no Puncuation:
“Your eyes are pretty.” Jimmy says wistfully suddenly like he can’t hold it in any longer
With Commas:
“Your eyes are pretty.” Jimmy says wistfully, suddenly, like he can’t hold it in any longer
With Em dashes:
“Your eyes are pretty.” Jimmy says wistfully—suddenly—like he can’t hold it in any longer
With Parenthesis:
“Your eyes are pretty.” Jimmy says wistfully (suddenly) like he can’t hold it in any longer.
TADA! You can now use hyphens, em dashes and en dashes!!! Thank you for coming to class. Your homework is to play around with these in your writing. I will accpet questions via the Ask box or the comments of this post. Happy writing nerds, go use your new toy.
Once again I'm doing my shitty writing advice / tips, instead of working on my project lol
So, this is for the people with a creativity block. Do you have a vague world with vague characters and a plot, but don't know how to refine it? Or do you have Point A and Point B but don't actually know how to bridge the gap? Me too. These are just some tips and tricks I have and they might help you too.
First off:
Let's talk about our drafts.
You've probably heard this millions of times, but the first thing you need to do when you're blocked is let go of your initial ideas. You have a cool project but it feels hollow, and every idea you come up with seems crappy and boring, right? Because you're 'perfecting' it. I want to remind you that outside of storyboards and concrete organizing is subtext and play - writing is play - you've made the process a chore by grounding it too much. Let go of your original ideas and let them morph, don't bin ideas because they won't fit with your original structure - let the story morph and grow, remember, writing is fully in your control and drafts can ALWAYS be re-written, open up a separate document and try that silly improv chapter, or that alternate ending that will create 5 plot holes, just do it, PLAY with your characters, world and plot, make the process fun and a journey, stop being rigid with your planning and open yourself up to new ideas, don't hold too tightly onto one certain idea.
2. Now with that out of the way - You're struggling with your characters and scenes. It feels kind of like they have no direction or the characters feel hollow and no matter how many questionnaires you answer about their childhood trauma and favorite ice cream flavors, you still can't figure out how to structure that one scene without it being awkward and lacking something.
What you want to do is figure out your character's thematic beliefs. You can have a full character built up, but until they're forced to make a choice based on their belief system, they are only a placeholder. When you can't figure out what your character would do despite spending so much time on them - that's because you've created a concept of a person, not a storyline.
A thematic belief is a personal belief / core value which is held by a person or group of people, e.g:
'If you sin you go to hell', 'Breaking the law is always bad', 'Murder is always bad no matter the situation', 'Karma doesn't exist.'
Think about what your story's overarching theme is, now think about what your MC's and even Antagonists views are on that theme. If you have no clue, then we have located the problem.
Now don't try perfect this, it can be changed, just give your character a belief, and better, give your characters conflicting beliefs that comment on theme.
So your theme, let's say, is self-love. The story comments on the topic of self-love and hate. It seems obvious - you have two characters, one loves themselves, one hates themselves.
But don't stop there. What is your character's belief on the theme?
Some examples:
'I'm not worthy of love'
'I'm loved by everyone.'
'I can't learn to love myself.'
'I think self-love is a waste of time.'
'Self-love is earned.' etc. etc.
Reading that you may already notice you may or may not agree with some of those statements, good, that's where the story comes in. These beliefs will be challenged at some point - and when they are, your character will be forced to make choices and grow. This creates interesting scenes for your audience to read.
Little writing excercise:
I urge you to write out your story's overarching theme, and then list each character's belief system. Your character starts with their belief system. Beliefs make choices.
I then want you to list 10 ways this belief can be challenged, don't think too hard, just write. Set a timer if you need to.
Pick one of those 10 at random when you're done and write it out as a scene.
What this does is help you figure out what choices need to be made, and how your character reacts in a given circumstance, especially when their core beliefs or values are challenged. Now you can use this knowledge throughout points in your story, have fun.
there's probably already a name for this but it's a trope i coined for a very specific type of dynamic that im consistently obsessed with. give me two people who grew up together and played together and were each other's best friend and then Something Happened and now everything's fucked up but they're still friends. or they want to be at least. you look so different now and everything is so much more complicated now than when we played in your backyard but literally who else knows me better than you. who else could i ever call my best friend
freak4freak is always so awesome but another character dynamic that i think is really great is freak vs freak. you're the only person who understands me and i'm the only person who understands you. unfortunately this also does not stop either of us from hating each other and in fact it might even make everything significantly worse for everyone involved
hi! carey means needs help still - he's the voice actor for frylock in aqua teen hunger force! adult swim screwed him badly and pays no residuals and barely paid him during the show's run. he has heart failure and survives on con earnings, plushie sales, and donations while waiting for disability to get back to him. posts used to make the rounds for him, but haven't in a while, so i wanted to make a new post!
if you'd rather buy a plushie - here's the shop he and his wife run!
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2087
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