Posts Tagged craft

120 Ways to Get a Character Moving

By on April 18, 2016   /   For Teachers, For Writers, Writing  

Some writers write quickly, their keyboards rattling like machine guns. Others take a more plodding, deliberate approach, weighing each word before allowing it to ooze from their brains and crawl onto the page. Regardless, the objective for both types of writers remains the same—to move words beyond their minds and muses.

When I write, not only must my words move, but my characters have to get going, too. That’s what led me to create the “120 Ways to Get a Character Moving” list, which I keep close at hand when I’m searching for a just-right verb that will do more than simply take a character from one place to another.

No Running

Of course, as both a writer and a teacher, I have to keep in mind that a well-chosen verb can pull double-duty. It can move a character around while simultaneously showing other facets of the character’s personality or mood. So the sad character trudges while the happy character skips. The graceful character glides while the cocky one swaggers.

If you’re a writer in need of a little inspiration to get a character on the move, feel free to tap into the list below. Or if you’re a teacher, use the list to challenge your students to explore descriptive verb choices.

There’s only ONE rule:

No running or walking allowed.

  1. Ambled
  2. Approached
  3. Barged
  4. Barreled
  5. Blazed
  6. Bolted
  7. Bounced
  8. Bounded
  9. Breezed
  10. Burst
  11. Bustled
  12. Cantered
  13. Charged
  14. Chugged
  15. Climbed
  16. Coasted
  17. Crawled
  18. Crept
  19. Cruised
  20. Danced
  21. Darted
  22. Dashed
  23. Dove
  24. Dragged
  25. Drifted
  26. Eased
  27. Escaped
  28. Fell
  29. Flopped
  30. Fled
  31. Flew
  32. Flitted
  33. Floated
  34. Galloped
  35. Glided
  36. Hobbled
  37. Hopped
  38. Hurdled
  39. Hurried
  40. Hustled
  41. Inched
  42. Jogged
  43. Jumped
  44. Knifed
  45. Launched
  46. Leapt
  47. Limped
  48. Loped
  49. Lumbered
  50. Lunged
  51. Lurched
  52. Marched
  53. Meandered
  54. Moseyed
  55. Muscled
  56. Nosed
  57. Paced
  58. Paraded
  59. Pirouetted
  60. Plodded
  61. Pranced
  62. Pushed
  63. Raced
  64. Rambled
  65. Reeled
  66. Retreated
  67. Roamed
  68. Rocketed
  69. Rode
  70. Rolled
  71. Rumbled
  72. Rushed
  73. Sailed
  74. Scampered
  75. Scurried
  76. Scuttled
  77. Shifted
  78. Shimmied
  79. Shot
  80. Shuffled
  81. Sidled
  82. Skidded
  83. Skipped
  84. Skittered
  85. Slid
  86. Slipped
  87. Slithered
  88. Sped
  89. Sprang
  90. Sprinted
  91. Staggered
  92. Stalked
  93. Stepped
  94. Stomped
  95. Straggled
  96. Strayed
  97. Strode
  98. Strutted
  99. Stumbled
  100. Swaggered
  101. Swayed
  102. Swept
  103. Tiptoed
  104. Tottered
  105. Tramped
  106. Trampled
  107. Trekked
  108. Tripped
  109. Trotted
  110. Trudged
  111. Tumbled
  112. Vaulted
  113. Veered
  114. Waddled
  115. Waltzed
  116. Wandered
  117. Wobbled
  118. Wriggled
  119. Zipped
  120. Zoomed

Have another character-moving verb to add to the list? Wander, waltz, or wobble down to the comments . . . and share it!

T. P. Jagger The 3-Minute Writing TeacherAlong with his MUF posts, T. P. Jagger can be found at www.tpjagger.com, where he provides brief how-to writing-tip videos as The 3-Minute Writing Teacher plus original, free readers’ theater scripts for middle-grade teachers. He also has even more readers’ theater scripts available at Readers’ Theater Fast and Funny Fluency. For T. P.’s 10-lesson, video-based creative writing course, check him out on Curious.com.

 

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Finding Writing Inspiration through the Five Senses

By on January 20, 2016   /   Fiction, For Writers, Writing  

I’m starting to think about a new book. It’s hazy now, like shapes in the fog, but it’s getting closer. I am not an outliner, so I have to feel my way through that fog, stumbling in a direction that I hope is right. I find that the more I can immerse myself in the world of the story, the quicker it comes. Here are some of the tricks I’ve used; I would love to hear yours.

tree trunk

  1. Sight

Like many writers, I gather images to inspire me. I’ve got a framed photo of a giant tree on my writing desk, a remnant of my first book. I have pictures of people who look like the people in my books saved in my Scrivener files, as well as pictures of the settings, animals, even particular pieces of furniture. Pinterest is great for this. For those on Twitter, the hashtag #novelaesthetics is really fun.

rufus wainwright

  1. Sound

I know that a book is coming closer when I start gathering songs for a new playlist. Rufus Wainwright’s Hallelujah instantly transports me to the world of my first book. I don’t listen to the playlist when I’m actually writing (too distracting), but when I’m thinking about the book, on a run or on a drive, it helps me get in the zone.

big red

  1. Smell

Much of my first book takes place in the woods, so when I was hiking, I would try to note and hold onto the smells—the pine, the earth, the dew. I also, though, am an inveterate gum chewer, and I have assigned a different type of gum to my different works in progress. I’m chewing a lot of Big Red these days. If I open a pack anywhere in the world, I immediately think about my work in progress.

biscuit dough

  1. Taste

The taste of the gum also helps me. The fiery, cinnamon taste of Big Red puts me in the right frame of mind for the quick and snappy soccer players I’m writing. The inspiration goes the other way, too. I remember writing one biscuit-baking scene and getting so hungry that I had to go bake some myself. The kids were thrilled to wake up to fresh biscuits on a school day.

oysters

  1. Touch

Going to the woods also helped me get into the tactile nature of the woods. I would feel the bumpy bark, shuffle through the pine needles, note the hot sun on the back of my neck. For the book that is coming, I recently brought an oyster shell home from a canoeing trip. Something about the sleek, iridescent ridges spoke to me. It feels right in my hands, though I don’t know yet how it fits in with my forming story. I can’t wait to find out.

Katharine Manning is a middle grade writer. Her books are fueled by cherry blow pops, as well as Big Red. She had six cavities the first time she went to the dentist, but has since learned much better dental hygiene. You can find her online at www.katharinemanning.com or through her book blog, www.kidbooklist.com. On Twitter, she’s @SuperKate.

 

 

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In Praise of L–O–N–G Books

By on July 15, 2015   /   Book Lists, Writing  

QWERTY_keyboardWriters conferences, writing magazines, and literary blogs are long on advice for the aspiring writer, and one the things I hear fairly frequently is the admonition to remember that kids don’t have the attention span they used to what with the giddy spin of the internet forever at their finger tips. Kids want fast-paced, gobble them up reads! Or so we hear.

And yet, time and time again the market has proved them wrong. Some of the most popular books in recent memory have been long, including the last four tomes in the Harry Potter series, all the books in the Eragon series, the Wildwood series, the Game of Thrones juggernaut, and many of the Percy Jackson titles. Classics like The Lord of the Rings and the works of Jane Austin have held up rather well in spite of their length.

What’s up with that!? Here are five things that I think make long books particularly appealing to middle grade kids.

1. Middle grade readers have time. Too young to have a job and notBook Ends Beach allowed to roam the neighborhood alone while their folks are at work, the MG reader has hours of time, especially in the summer to dive into a book that really rewards a long stretch of attention.

2. Most long books are long because they carry a reader off into a richly detailed and lavishly described world whether it’s Harry Potter’s Hogwarts or the Hispanola of Treasure Island. Kids who can’t drive, didn’t pick their hometown, their house, or even the sibling they share a room with, love to be swept away.

3. Many long books are fantasy, science fiction, or magical realism, perennial favorites among MG readers.

4. There’s plenty of praise from grownups to be gained from reading a book of weight and substance and there’s plenty of pride in the accomplishment of reading a long story all the way through to the end.

WB Golden Compass5. Among traditionally published books there is pressure from editors to tighten up the story and tell it as economically and gracefully as possible. I tend to have confidence that a traditionally published book that goes on at some length has something worthwhile to say, something that could not be said in a more compact tale. There are masters of the short form who have made a career of writing lean and lovely tales like a long string of pearls, each one a tiny perfection. But many authors at the height of their powers, even if they have written other short books, write a marvelous long story and if they are lucky it stands the test of time.

IMG_1610-3-225x300[1]I am very much hoping Pam Muñoz Ryan’s new book Echo is one of these. I reviewed it on my website.

Here are a few other books kids have liked that approach Moby Dick in length.

Harry Potter and the Cauldron of Fire by JK Rowling

Brisigner by Christopher Paolini

The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman

Wildwood by Colin Meloy

and The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein

How about you? Do you have a favorite tome? Can you remember the feeling of accomplishment from the first long book you read? Please share in the comments.

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