SMILEY-FACE TRICKS
TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITING
Smiley-Face Tricks are a great way to think and write more creatively! Use these examples as tools to enhance your writing!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
1. Hyphenated Adjectives
Use hyphenated adjectives to surprise your readers by turning boring adjectives into unique ones. These are groups of words that are hyphenated because the string of words functions as one adjective modifying the noun that follows (Note: Don’t use a hyphen between the last word of the adjective and the noun being modified).
Before:
She wanted to look like a celebrity.
After:
She wanted to look chic in a celebrity-diva-way-wearing-oversized-sunglasses-while-carrying-a-Chanel-quilted-bag kind of way.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Humor
It turns boring writing into writing with pizzazz. It adds voice to your writing when you make your readers laugh.
• Hyperbole is exaggeration for effect. Hyperbole does not have to be funny, although it is often used in a humorous way.
Humorous:
Before:
Chinese food seems to last forever in the refrigerator.
After:
I believe the only food that should be kept around is take-out Chinese, which contains a powerful preservative chemical called “kung-pao” that enables it to remain edible for several football seasons.
Non-Humorous:
Before:
Christina Aguilera has long eyelashes.
After:
When Christina Aguilera walked into the room, her eyelashes cast shadows on the wall.
• Pun: A joke that comes from a play on words. It can make use of (1) a word’s multiple meanings or (2) a word’s homonym or (3) a word’s rhymes.
Before:
Sir Lancelot told us the bad dream he had about his horse.
After:
Sir Lancelot told us the bad dream he had about his horse; it was a real knight mare.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Magic 3
Three examples in a series can create support for a point. A magic 3 is more than listing 3 nouns or 3 verbs or 3 adjectives. It should be 3 full examples, such as phrases or clauses. Three words alone do not make a magic 3.
Before:
Cooking requires chopping, seasoning, and sautéing.
After:
Chopping vegetables into bite-sized pieces, adding herbs and spices to “kick it up a notch”, and sautéing until the tidbits are juicy, make cooking an enjoyable pastime for me.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Figurative Language
Non-literal comparisons add “spice” to writing and paint more vivid pictures for your readers and surprise them with unique comparisons. Remember to brainstorm the easiest comparisons first. (She was as beautiful as a rose. She was as beautiful as a freshly bloomed flower. She was as beautiful as a model on the cover of a magazine. She was as beautiful as a star in the sky.) Then throw those clichés away and use something fresh and original.
• Simile is a comparison between two unlike things using “like” or “as”.
Before:
It is a simple plan.
After:
The plan is simple, like my brother-in-law Phil, but unlike Phil, this plan
just might work. (Notice this use of the word “simple” also creates a pun).
• Personification gives a non-human thing, human characteristics or human actions.
Before:
I scratched my arm on the twig.
After:
Racing toward the house as the storm approached, I was delayed as the trees reached for me. They began to wrap their twisted arms and gnarled hands around me. I fought back, but they didn’t lessen their grip; instead, they began to screech at me as they pulled me into their grove.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Imagery/Specific Details for Effect/Zooming In
Instead of using general, vague descriptions or “telling” instead of “showing”, specific sensory details help your readers visualize the person, place, thing, or idea you’re writing about. You must appeal to at least 3 of the 5 senses.
Before:
My house in Florida is nice. (“Is nice” tells the reader about the house but doesn’t show the reader why it’s nice.)
After:
I am sitting out on the porch of my beautiful Victorian-style house in Anna-Maria Florida. I am gazing out at the ocean waves crashing into the sand. Gulls swoop right in front of me, searching for a bit of nourishment. I can smell the saltiness of the ocean water, and feel the cool breeze from the Gulf of Mexico blowing inland. The miraculous sunset looks like a photograph that should be hanging on a doctor’s office wall. On this porch, the world, as well as myself, is at peace.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Repetition for Effect
You can repeat specially chosen words or phrases to make a point or to stress certain ideas for your readers. This focuses your readers’ attention on the point you are trying to make. Decide on your purpose before you begin writing.
Before:
My mother doesn’t seem to understand me.
After:
She said it as if she knew nothing about me, her own daughter! She knew that every Tuesday after school I have practice. She knew that I had to go over to Riley’s house after practice to work on my AP English project! She knew that I would be home late on a school night! How could she possibly be mad at me when I told her all of this yesterday? Why am I grounded when she knew what I had to do?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Exploded Moment
Instead of speeding past a moment in the story, slow down and emphasize it by exploding the action so that readers clearly see what’s happening. The key here is strong/muscle verbs. (Simile: An exploded moment is like slow motion in an action movie; you suddenly see every little movement as it unfolds before you.)
Before:
I am planting some flowers that will bloom in the spring.
After:
Placing my foot on the edge of the shovel, I push down with my arms and leg. My muscles strain as the blade breaks through the soil. Once it’s in, I tilt the handle back toward the ground and push until the earth is loosened. I dump the pile of soil onto the ground. Bending down I grab clumps of earth and begin shaking away the loose dirt and returning stray worms to their underground homes. The unneeded grass is deposited in my garbage sack. The ground is tilled to break up the clumps of sod and to smooth the dirt. Using my hand spade, I dig small holes in which to plant my future flowers. I
then tuck my tulip and daffodil bulbs into their new beds so they can sleep warmly through the winter.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8. Full-Circle Ending
Sometimes writers need a special ending that effectively wraps up the piece. One “trick” is to repeat a phrase (from the first paragraph) at the very end to create a full-circle ending. This is especially potent when used with a quotation or a piece of dialogue.
Example:
Do I seem mad to you? I’m not mad! I’m furious! Does my face seem as red as an apple? It’s not! My face is on fire! The break-up was taking my heart and crushing it into oblivion. My tears were like a flowing stream, my brain an exploding bomb. He told me we would be together forever! He told me that he cared! But where is he now? Who knows? But do I seem mad to you? I am not mad! I am beyond mad! I am furious!
