by Damon Suede
nauseate, -negate, -neglect, nettle, neuter, neutralize, nibble, nick, nonplus, notch, -nullify, numb
obfuscate, obliterate, obscure, obstruct, occlude, occult, offend, -omit, oppose, oppress, orphan, outlaw, outrage, -overlook, overthrow, overturn
pall, panic, paralyze, parody, part, partition, peel, pen, penalize, perplex, persecute, pervert, petrify, pillory, pinion, plague, poison, pollute, profane, -prohibit, prosecute, protest, prune, pulp, pulverize, punish, purge, puzzle
quarantine, quash, quell
rankle, rape, ration, rattle, ravage, raze, razor, ream, rebuke, redact, reduce, -refuse, refute, -reject, rend, reprimand, reproach, reprove, -repudiate, repulse, -rescind, resent, resist, restrict, retrench, revenge, reverse, revile, ridicule, rile, rip, roast, roughen, rout, ruin, rumple, rupture
sabotage, sadden, satirize, savage, saw, scald, scalp, scandalize, scapegoat, scar, scare, scathe, scatter, scold, scorch, -scorn, scotch, scourge, screen, scruple, scupper, scuttle, sear, seclude, secrete, segregate, separate, sequester, sever, shackle, shame, sharpen, shatter, -shirk, short-circuit, shred, shrink, shrivel, shroud, shut, sicken, singe, sizzle, skew, skin, skip, skunk, slander, slash, slate, slaughter, slay, slice, -slight, slit, slur, smash, smear, smother, smudge, snap, sorrow, sour, splinter, split, spook, squander, stab, stagger, stain, starve, stifle, stigmatize, sting, straightjacket, straiten, stump, stun, stunt, stupefy, stymie, subjugate, subordinate, subtract, subvert, suffocate, sully, sunder, suppress, switch
taboo, taint, tarnish, tear, terminate, terrify, terrorize, thrash, threaten, throttle, tire, torment, torpedo, torpefy, torture, trammel, trample, trash, trash-talk, traumatize, trim, trivialize, trouble, trounce, truncate, tuck, twist, two-time, tyrannize
ulcerate, unbutton, undercut, underestimate, undermine, undo, unfasten, unhinge, unhorse, unnerve, unravel, unseat, unsettle, untidy, untie, upbraid, upset
vandalize, vaporize, veil, -veto, vex, victimize, vilify, villainize, violate, vitiate, vivisect, -void, vulgarize
waive, waste, weaken, wean, welt, whack, whip, whittle, winnow, wither, wizen, worry, wound, wrack, wreak, wreck, wrinkle, wrong
zap, zing, zone
BONUS EXERCISE: Reverberations
Characters are what characters do.
Every member of your story’s cast will affect and be affected by the action and tactics of your protagonist as they pursue their version of happiness. One of the easiest ways to start brainstorming, untangle story, and guarantee razzle-dazzle is to look at the way that central action reverberates throughout the narrative. Secondary characters reflect or reject the primary action and tactics, altering the emotional flow of the story in satisfying and transformative ways.
As an example, here’s a cast breakdown for Pride & Prejudice…starting from Lizzie (Provoke) and countered by Darcy (Preserve):
Notice that each secondary character in the cast is an antonym of one of Lizzie’s tactics, denoting her actions in a main scene involving them. Notice also that Darcy’s tactics are antonyms in turn, both of the other characters, creating friction with them, and with Lizzie’s individual tactics as well, maximizing his friction with her in particular.
Herein lies the inestimable power of artistic alignment. Once you establish your protagonist’s action, every other cast member and action in the story plugs directly into it, drawing power from it. Your own cast list can be built in the same way.
Based upon what you know about your protagonist, identify oppositional actions (reflection/rejection) for the rest of main cast. Seek fascinating collisions and friction between them.
• Identify your protagonist’s action and four to six synonymous tactics they might use in different pivotal moments.
• Identify a list of antonyms for the action. Choose the most interesting and emotionally resonant verb to serve as the action for your antagonist, love interest, or pivotal second role.
• Identify a list of antonyms for each of the protagonist’s tactics. Identify the most emotionally resonant antonym for each. These antonyms become the primary actions for the significant secondary characters with a transformative role to play.
Perhaps you don’t know your protagonist but you have a keen sense of the love interest. Maybe you can visualize a couple of minor characters but none of your leading roles—no prob! Every member of the cast connects to every other via their actions. Start with what you know; you just have to trace the dramatic friction to the various connected actions.
Any character’s action can (and does) lead you back to the other significant actions that drive the story. Because every characterization aligns with every other, you can start a project from ANY point; even a secondary character can lead you to your protagonist and antagonist. The energy of the story flows through those verbs.
Yay, alignment!
If you’d like to download a Reverberations worksheet, you can find it on my website here.
“Theatre is conflict, struggle, movement, transformation, not simply the exhibition of states of mind. It is a verb, not an adjective. To act is to produce an action, and every action produces a reaction—conflict.”
Augusto Boal, director & teacher10
About the Author
Thank you so much for purchasing and using Activate. I hope you’ve found it practical and useful to your writing process.
As a working author, you know how important reviews and word of mouth can be to a book’s success. When you have a moment, please leave a good word for this book online mentioning whatever specifics you found helpful, so writers who’d benefit from verbalizing their stories can find what you dug and why.
BIO:
Damon Suede grew up out-n-proud deep in the anus of right-wing America, and escaped as soon as it was legal. He has lived all over and along the way, he’s earned his crust as a model, a messenger, a promoter, a programmer, a sculptor, a singer, a stripper, a bookkeeper, a bartender, a techie, a teacher, a director…but writing has ever been his bread and butter. He has been happily partnered for over a decade with the most loving, handsome, shrewd, hilarious, noble man to walk this planet.
Damon is a proud member of the Romance Writers of America and currently serves on its national Board of Directors. He has been a full-time writer for print, stage, and screen for over two decades, which is both more and less glamorous than you might imagine. He’s won some awards, but counts his blessings more often: his amazing friends, his demented family, his beautiful husband, his loyal fans, and his silly, stern, seductive Muse who keeps whispering in his ear, year after year.
Damon also loves teaching workshops and seminars. If you’d like him to present to your group or conference hit him up via:
• DamonSuede.com
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Newsletter
Additionally, the @LiveWireGuides twitter account features a #DailyVerb hashtag as well as article links, updates, and more.
Notes
1. Constance Hale’s Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch, p. 276.
2. Scott McCloud, Making Comics, pp. 5-6.
3. Joseph Conrad, Preface to The Children of the Sea, p. 4.
4. cf. Michael Hauge, Writing Screenplays That Sell.
5. Judith Weston, Directing Actors, p. 36.
6. Dean Koontz, How to Write Best Selling Fiction.
7. Lev Grossman, “Literary Revolution in the Supermarket Aisle: Genre Fiction Is Disruptive Technology” in Time (23 May 2012).
8. From a 1924 interview Hammett did, quoted in Legends of Literature: The Best Articles, Interviews, and Essays from the Archives of Writer’s Digest Magazine by Phillip Sexton, p. 34.
9. Alexander Mackendrick, On Film-Making, p. 18.
10. Augusto Boal, Games for Actors and Non-Actors, p. 39.
Bibliography
Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus by David Auburn and Rae Armantrout
Actions: The Actors’ Thesaurus by Marina Caldarone and Maggie Lloyd-Williams
Chamber’s The
saurus, 12th Edition (2012)
The Slang of Sin by Tom Dalzell
Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch: Let Verbs Power Your Writing by Constance Hale
The Well-Spoken Thesaurus: The Most Powerful Ways to Say Everyday Words and Phrases by Tom Heehler
The Random House Thesaurus of Slang by Esther and Albert E. Lewin
Roget’s Super Thesaurus, 4th Edition by Marc McCutcheon (2010)
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms
The Merriam-Webster Thesaurus (2006)
Roget’s Cloud: The Ultimate Thesaurus by Lucas Nicolato
Roget’s Thesaurus of Words for Writers: Over 2,300 Emotive, Evocative, Descriptive Synonyms, Antonyms, and Related Terms Every Writer Should Know by David Olsen, Michelle Bevilacqua, Justin Cord Hayes, and Robert W Bly
The Synonym Finder by JJ Rodale
The Word Finder by JJ Rodale
Roget’s 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition (2005)
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (2007)
Verbalize: bring life to stories and stories to life by Damon Suede
Want to learn more about verbalizing your stories to improve drafting and crafting?
Verbalize: bring stories to life & life to stories
by Damon Suede
Fascinating fiction starts with characters who make readers care. This Live Wire Writer Guide presents a simple, effective technique to sharpen your hook, charge your scenes, and amplify your voice whether you’re a beginner or an expert.
Most writing manuals skirt craft questions with gimmicks and quick fixes rather than plugging directly into your story’s power source. Energize your fiction and boost your career with
• a new characterization method that jumpstarts drafting, crafting, revising, and pitching.
• skill-builders to intensify language, stakes, and emotion for your readers.
• battle-tested solutions for common traps, crutches, and habits.
• a dynamic story-planning strategy effective for plotters and pantsers.
• ample examples and exercises to help you upgrade fiction in any genre.
Blast past overused tics and types with storycraft that busts your ruts and awes your audience. Whether you like to wing it or bring it, Verbalize offers a fresh set of user-friendly, language-based tools to populate your pages and lay the foundations of unforgettable genre fiction.
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by Damon Suede & Heidi Cullinan
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