During the entire month of April, I’m participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge. The alphabet will be my motivation, though the content of the posts will be very similar to what regular readers are used to. Check out the link for more amazing bloggers, and enjoy April!
In my research for today’s post, I stumbled on this. If you’re a corporate drone like me, or if you know one well, go check it out. Dilbert on buzzwords ^_^
I’ve worked in technology for…more years than I care to count this morning. And for a lot of that I’ve worked in marketing. Even though they change from month to month, buzzwords always exist. Teambuilding, rightsizing, talent pools, the list goes on and on.
Buzzwords are kind of like trends, but not quite. And they permeate other aspects of my life as well. Like..writing. Ever heard this before?:
- I love your voice/this needs more voice!
- This first page doesn’t quite hook me/This first page really has me hooked
- Vampires/Angels/Mermaids/Gods are really out/in right now. Be careful of the oversaturated market
- I don’t care about your MC yet. Make me care.
- This is so gritty and real/this just doesn’t feel real. Make me feel it.
Voice, hook, trends, caring, feeling, etc, etc, etc.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s all important to keep in mind. But out of context and/or given by itself, it doesn’t mean much. I know something like ‘voice’ is hard to define. Loving a writer’s voice is kind of like loving chocolate. Some people do and some people don’t.
I just think it’s important for us to know what buzzwords mean before tossing them around because we read them in a forum or on a blog somewhere.
Which buzzwords have you caught yourself using because they’ve become part of that month’s trend in online writing advice?
I like to make up my own buzzwords and say them with complete confidence so people think they’re real. It’s hilarious.
Happy A-Z blogging.
One that irks me is “feels told” or “show don’t tell.” It’s fine advice but sometimes it’s so vague that it’s not helpful. Especially “feels told.” It either is “telling” or it isn’t. what specifically “feels told?”
There’s a difference between infodump, describing a character’s actions passively when it could be more action oriented or livened up with dialoge. Saying “feels told” really says nothing.
I try to avoid them , but they creep into the language:(
There sure are a lot of buzzwords in the world of writers. :)great A-Z post!
Nutschell
http://www.thewritingnut.com
There are so many buzzwords in my business, I try not to use them outside the office. Invariably though, they creep in and I find myself referring to movies as ‘product’ in daily conversation….
There are so many buzzwords in my business, I try not to use them outside the office. Invariably though, they creep in and I find myself referring to movies as ‘product’ in daily conversation….
Character arc and resonate. I’ve used both of those constantly after hearing them from an agent. I’m so unoriginal.
Buzzwords are all up and through education (my career field). Mainly words like: standards, No Child Left Behind, Pass Proficient, etc. are the ones that get thrown around. In my “dream” career of writing, I agree with the voice and “show don’t tell” comments. These are the most common words that I come across.
Good luck A-Z blogging! It’s my first time, and so far it’s going well!
I think buzz words are sometimes needed as long as they don’t interfere with the plot too much or the reader’s understanding of the novel. Great post!
Ahh buzzwords. Never would have thought of this for a topic. Nice work!
I am sure I use plenty, though I’m tired from work and can’t think of them. Umm… something. *points to blog* They are there somewhere. lol
Great post! The show don’t tell one; pacing-I hear that one all the time! Oh and in my day job the word is “Unilateral”