Write Something New Today: A Matter of Emphasis
That's what SHE said
Ok, quick one today (that’s what she said) because my last post was a big boi (that’s what she said) and I’m not sure how long I can sustain this (that’s what she said) stupid line of jokes and, y’know, sometimes fast ‘n’ dirty does the trick (that’s what she said).
I’m talking about writing exercises here. Get your mind out of the gutter.
I’m also talking about emphasis.
On both a syntax level and on a deeper, meaningful level.
Because the way we say things matters. The weight we give certain words can change the impact of a whole sentence. And that’s a useful thing to be aware of as a writer. It’s also fun to play with.
So, I was listening to the song Fall by Lisa Hannigan the other day:
First of all, it’s a fucking beautiful piece of music, but this song also contains some intricately descriptive lyrics that conjure up all sorts of characters and scenarios that makes it feel like a tiny musical story (but more on the narrative theory of songwriting in another post) — this one line kept echoing around my brain:
“Oh, the devil won’t have me.”
An intriguing statement on its own, right?
But my linguistic brain got all caught up on how the way in which this line was sung is potentially very different to how a person might speak it — and how the meaning of that sentence changes depending on the emphasis.
This is by no means an original thought — there are tonnes of examples of shifting emphasis to create different tones and intention, from improv to grammar to literary criticism — but what if we made a writing exercise out of it?
For example:
OH, the devil won’t have me.
Oh, THE devil won’t have me.
Oh, the DEVIL won’t have me.
Oh, the devil WON’T have me.
Oh, the devil won’t HAVE me.
Oh, the devil won’t have ME.
Some of them require a bit of finagling, sure, but we can quickly craft some potential situations or feelings to connect to each of these emphases.
Shock is the main focus here, starting with a big loud OH! Or perhaps it’s one of those dismissive “ohhhh, nevermind” ohs. As if it’s no big deal.
THE devil? As opposed to all those other minor devils? Guess we gotta settle, then.
The DEVIL? This one feels disbelieving. Like, does it even exist, babe?
An emphatic WON’T. Shan’t. Couldn’t possibly. This person either reached the pinnacle of goodness or the depths of debauchery that the devil itself refuses to even entertain the thought of ‘having’ them.
Define ‘HAVE’ in this version... For tea? For… other things? Whatever that may be, the devil is having none of it.
So the devil might have someone. Just not ME. Wow. Rude.
Ok, so this is all very silly and pedantic, but look at all these story seeds, just waiting to grow into something more interesting. Look at all these roughly-drawn characters and their reactions. Look at all the simmering conflict locked within each version.
Wanna write something new today?
Try bashing out a paragraph for each iteration above.
OR pick one of the sentences below and put it through the same treatment to see what options you get:
I never said I was sorry
We thought we were welcome here
She couldn’t tell me why
OR grab a lyric from a song or a line from a book or a sentence from a news article or steal the words right out of someone’s mouth if you like.
Play with emphasis, see how it changes the meaning, make up little hypothetical dioramas for each one, or insert them into your WIP (that’s what… she said?!).
Whatever you do, happy writing.
:)
Click HERE for more writing exercises (ooh, look at that emphasis)
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