Denotative and Connotative and the difference between

Be aware of the difference between denotative words and connotative words. 

A  denotative  word  conveys  information:  "hat,"  "yellow, " "twenty-five, " "book," "cat," "big." Such words speak to the practicalist in us,  to the data bank and statistician. A connotative word, on the other hand, is calculated to arouse emotional  response,  to  give  a  fillip  to  imagination,  to project a mood in our hearts and/or on our senses. To denote a woman,  I can refer to her as  a "female," a "teacher,"  or  a  "customer."  I  can  also  speak  of her  as  a "bimbo," a "maiden," or a "luminous creature," all connotative.

The  distinction  between  denotative  and  connotative, then, is that connotative words express a writer's opinions and  personal  feelings  while  denotative  words  state  the facts.  As  a  careful  writer,  you  will  be  aware  of these subtle,  yet significant,  differences.

For example,  if you  refer  to a person as  being "tired" you  convey  a matter-of-fact,  denotative  message.  If you describe the person as being "weary," the image becomes more personalized, as it does with the terms "drained" or "burned-out."  These  words  are  all  synonyms,  perhaps. Yet each carries a different degree of emotional charge. Be aware of what these charges are and use them knowingly. The following verse provides an astutely whimsical example of just how much connotations count, in life as well as in literature:

Call a  woman a  kitten,  but never a  cat; 
You  can call her a  mouse,  cannot call her a  rat; 
Call a  woman a  chick,  but never a  hen; 
Or you surely will not be her caller again. 
You  can call her a  duck,  cannot call her a goose; 
You  can call her a  deer,  but never a  moose; 
You  can call her a lamb,  but never a sheep; 
Economic she likes,  but you can't call her cheap. 

If you can't find the precise word,  move on and come back to it later.

Most writers discover this trick on their own, especially if they write on deadlines.  Better just to put an  X  on  the problem word, keep writing, and come back later. You'll bring a fresh eye to the decision then, and probably a fine solution.

Which  brings  up  an  important  rule  of  thumb  for writing practice in general: When your writing is going well, don't let anything stop your flow.  Don't get hung up on the grammatical or factual details. Just leave them, get on  with  the  brainstorming,  finish  the  entire piece,  then return to fix  the fine points. 

Catch Glenn on Twitter Noir Writer

And Check out the new site for Noir Stories -- Noir Street -- Tales of Shadow and Lust

Sales vs Marketing

Sales and marketing are closely interlinked and are aimed at increasing revenue. As sales and marketing are closely intertwined, it becomes hard to realise the difference between the two. In small firms, one cannot come across much difference between sales and marketing. But bigger firms have made clear distinction between marketing and sales and they have specialised people handling them independently.

Do You Know Your Readership? Do You?

I'm moving back into a day job I had -- part time anyway. This means that I will be picking back up the pseudonyms that I had with the company. These personas havn't put out a new title in over six months. With my Fiction Writers Group I was going to put together a few posts on using Twitter for best effect. I noticed several of the members are on Twitter now fumbling about. In the past I didn't do any marketing for the pseudonyms at all, but the names are cold long enough for proof of concept now. I'm fairly good with Twitter and Social Media I can normally get 3k page views on any given day. In fact I did that on Friday -- again as a proof of concept.

Where you start with Twitter is the hashtags, but not necessarily in the "trending" ones.  What you are  looking for is a set of Hashtags that are frequented by people who would be your readers. Once found you get involved, post interesting news, facts, jokes, and help people with problems they might have. You make yourself a resource. But first, you need to find those tags, which means Demographics.

Writers on the Worst part about Writing

My personal is listening to non-writers tell me what I should never do.

Al Hunter Ashton	Being on your own. I’m a party animal.
Ali McNamara	Sitting still so much, definitely. I used to be a fitness instructor so I was very active all day. Writing involves too much sitting down at a desk – not good for the fitness levels or the figure!

Fake Twitter

You’re not as popular as you think you are. That’s the lesson that Twitter users are figuring out as news of how many fake Twitter followers celebrities like Lady Gaga, politicians like Mitt Romney, and companies like Twitter have. Yes, even Twitter is the victim of fake Twitter followers.

The problem is far-reaching and the business of buying Twitter followers has helped the fake Twitter followers problem grow very quickly. It’s estimated that the average cost to purchase 1,000 Twitter followers is $18, and it’s easy for people to purchase fake followers online. Ads for fake followers can be found on eBay, Google Shopping, and numerous other popular websites. The more the fake followers cost, the more real they seem. In fact, fake follower dealers are continually looking for new ways to make fake Twitter profiles harder to detect.

In The Beginning Starting with a Start

Where to begin with your writing. Some suggest outlines, or mind maps or stream of consciousness, or carrying a note book around to jot down ideas for several weeks. 

The Bible begins at the logical place-—the beginning. The very first verse starts:

Genesis 1:1. In the beginning . . .

The phrase “In the beginning" is a translation of the Hebrew word bereshith. In the case of several of the books of the Bible, the first word is taken as the title of the whole (much as Papal bulls are named for the two Latin words with which they begin.) The Hebrew name of the first book is, there, Bereshith.

The first book was named “Genesis,” which means, literally, “coming into being.” It implies a concem with births and beginnings which is appropriate for a book that begins with the creation of heaven and earth

Now, let's not jump to the conclusion that I'm a good and kind Christian, but the Bible does offer some keen ideas about the creative aspect of us humans. So, let's start there -- In the Beginning...

Forensic Blunders #001 The Bleeding Corpse

The Bleeding Corpse: Your MC comes down the wooden stairway, that was old when he was born, and into the cellar of the house. He descends into musty smells, feeling layers of dust and dank as he submerges into the thick air. A single naked, low watt light-bulb hangs over the laundry area to the right, On the smooth cement floor inside that lonely pool of light lays the body of Mrs. Katt. Blood is dripping out of her eyes like tears...

Your character better rush to the phone and call Emergency help. Now! Go! Because Mrs. Katt is still alive!

FramingA Useful Tool For Fiction Writers

The Meaning of an Event 
Is Based on Where
We Experienced The Event

Framing has become an In-Demand field of study since 2000. While it has enjoyed  steady level of interest from researchers since its conception, the field has a  stronger following now, as enough studies have been performed to develop practical applications in:

• Persuasion, 
• Marketing, and 
• Decision Making 

Academic fields interested includes Psychology, Sociology, Neurology, Neuro-Psychology, Leadership Theories and any Behavioral Study area you can think of.

The quick n dirty explanation of what Framing covers, is :
Meaning depends on Context. So -- Control the Context.

Sumptuary Laws

“sumptuary”
― Elizabeth Fremantle, Queen's Gambit Free 1st Chapter

The earliest sumptuary regulations in Christian Europe were church regulations of clergy, distinguishing what ranks could wear which items of vestments or (to a lesser extent) normal clothes on particular occasions; these were already very detailed by 1200, in early recessions of canon law. Next followed regulations, again flowing from the church (by far the largest bureaucracy in Medieval Europe), attempting to enforce the wearing of distinctive clothing or badges so that members of various groups could be readily identified, as branded criminals already could be.

The Stroop Effect

In psychology, the stroop effect is a demonstration of interference in the reaction time of a task. When the name of a color (e.g., "blue", "green", or "red") is printed in a color not denoted by the name (e.g., the word "red" printed in blue ink instead of red ink), naming the color of the word takes longer and is more prone to errors than when the color of the ink matches the name of the color. The effect is named after John Ridley Stroop, who first published the effect in English in 1935. The effect had previously been published in Germany in 1929. The original paper has been one of the most cited papers in the history of experimental psychology, leading to more than 701 replications. The effect has been used to create a psychological test (Stroop test) that is widely used in clinical practice and investigation.

The Ever Changing Zen of the Fiction Writer

Has Your Zen Changed without Your Permission? That happens with zen things. If you have discovered that your needs are changing and the style of your writing is also changing, such as – You started as a Pantser, and now you find you need Outlines and Research Notes -- Don't worry, you'll alter that perspective several times before you come to a "workable theory"  of how you work best as a writer. That is, if you ever do. Writers and other Artists use the mind in ways that other efforts do not. But that doesn't mean that this needs to cause strife.

Talking to People You Don't Know

Over the last few decades I have seen the results of Fear Poles. Enviably the Fear of Public Speaking would be in the top three on the lists. Often, Public Speaking would be listed higher than The Fear of Death. This makes sense because you only die once and no one really grasps that it is going to happen to them today -- but giving a talk at the office could happen any time, any day, on the whim of unpredictable people in positions of power.

Meeting new people at a business gathering or social event is not that much different -- at least in the Fear Factor area. Instead of being placed in front and lit up for ridicule. Social parties are more like "Snakes on a Plane". The whole thing feels stupid, but those are still snakes and you are still trapped on a plane.

Thoughts on Blame vs Fault

Does Blame and Fault mean the same thing?

 i.e.  "It's your fault",
"You are the one to blame."

Fault is a geological term we use to point out the error, crack, deficient area of skill -- "It's your fault" This is your mistake, your hole in the ground -- thus there is a specific error. You can point at it.

Blame is to accuse, or denounce but not with the specific reason as a requirement. Blame is a short word for Blaspheme as well.

They are synonymous certainly, but I don't feel they are the "same" in meaning.

Emotional Motivator Maslow wasn't Correct

What is an Emotional Motivator ? What good is it? 

Symbolism is a effective
method of  demonstrating
emotional turmoil by
implying rather than describing

On the Emotion Description pages for the Encyclopedia Project there is a section titled Motivator. This post is to give you an idea of what that section supplies and some possible uses for the information.

There are several studies which have suggested over the century that emotions, and not logic drive our actions. Those who develop and utilized Marketing and Sales techniques accepted this as far back as -- well let's just say that Aristotle talks at length about it in his book Rhetoric (both 1 & 2).

Maslow created a rational, brilliantly thought out hierarchy of needs...

Are You Legit? What makes you Qualified to Write?

"What Qualifies you to be a writer?" is likely the most negative question I've experienced since I began writing at 17.

I use to answer, "I passed 9th Grade English" or "Because English is my First Language"  In my 30s I was a little meaner -- "What qualifies you to breathe?"

Now that I'm 50 I don't answer at all.

Doubts plague every writer, as fierce as the Furies, as terrible as the Harpies. This particular doubt should never bother you.

Scene/Chapter Transitions(Bridging) Writer Tech

Ever feel the story is choppy, but can’t figure out why? The transitions between scenes or the chapters are a good place to begin. Transitions are words or phrases, which move the reader from one topic, idea or message, to the next in a sentence, but also this term describes the moving between scenes and chapters. The goal with these transitions

• covey why the next topic matters
• introduce an urgency
• create a tension for the scene ahead 
• if applicable, introduce characters 

So, a well composed transition reaches back, then forward, and gives a sense of interest, even urgency.

FrustrationEmotion Encyclopedia for Writers

FRUSTRATION 

TYPE: COMPLEX

DEFINITION: the feeling that accompanies an experience of being thwarted in attaining your goals

DESCRIPTION

In psychology, frustration is a common emotional response to opposition. Related to anger and disappointment, it arises from the perceived resistance to the fulfillment of individual will. The greater the obstruction, and the greater the will, the more the frustration is likely to be. Causes of frustration may be internal or external. In people, internal frustration may arise from challenges in

Writer Tips: Pain

Q: How would you describe in dialogue, someone talking while they'er in pain. Like, "My phone... arg... It's.. uh.. In my back.. pocket..." Or would you do it in dialogue tags. "My phone--" He gritted his teeth, his voice breaking as he groaned in pain. "It's.. uh.. in my back... pocket..."

Pain happens in novels. People get shot. People break things like bones, people get cut. There is also emotional pain. Pain of loss, pain of betrayal. Lots of pain.  So you might be surprised when you go looking for tips on conveying pain and find very little out there, or in books about fiction writing. There is a good reason for this.

Too Much Dialog?

"Too much dialog?"

"What?"

"She asked if there's a thing with too much dialog."

"Too much dialog? What's that? You mean like no description at all?"

"She didn't say that..."

"How can you write a story with no description?"

"She didn't say there wouldn't be any description. She just asked if there was a limit for how much dialog ...."

"How are  you going to know if it's raining or not?"

"That you could take care of  with dialog, no biggie, and if you didn't mention it then it probably isn't an issue."

"Like implied facts. If I walk from the front door to the the kitchen to get a beer, and I don't mention that a white ape flying a small plane crashed into the house, it probably didn't happen."

"Exactly."

"How you going to know if I'm at a door though? Do I have to mention everything I do?"

"You're back on the description thing again, and she didn't say anything about that."

"Well -- it's important."

"Right -- I'm getting the message. So, you agree that there is probably a limit."

"I would think so, yes"

"Since all things have a limit, I'll agree."

"We could figure out a percentage or a ratio, maybe."

"You got a D in math."

"Oh, right. Want a beer?"

"No, you already drank five for me. I think I'm good."

"Fine, I'll just get one for myself then."

"Watch out for white apes."

Something I would argue however is that the other side of that equation doesn't work out. I've read a few attempts at stories, even short stories, going for the "no dialog" goal, and imo each failed as a 'story'. To Build a Fire (London)i is the closest I've encountered, but even Jack breaks down and has the man talk to his dog. Without exchange of some kind involving the MC is nigh impossible to make a connection with the MC and therefore the story.

Sobering up Your Muse

Ever notice that being a writer is hell some days? Of course there is the daily doubt contest between your imagination, your internal critic, the internal editor and that bastard up in the seats. You get use to that -- learn to tune them out. But, then there are those special moments when you've been pushing a two ton rock up hill -- only to find that it is the wrong hill, and that's not the right rock.