Words are fun and can be even more so when they sound like what they are. These words can brighten a sentence and give the reader a clear image of what they are hearing or would be hearing if they were in fact part of the story.
I’m talking about onomatopoeia. An odd sounding word on it’s own that’s for sure.
Onomatopoeia is defined as the formation of a word such as Woof, Bang, Buzz, Hiss or Pop that are written as they sound. Or, the word itself sounds like the action or sound it is associated with.
We use these words everyday and they are easily found if you do a simple google search(opinions can somewhat vary). Words such as Pow, bang, thunk and pop became popular with comics and are still used for them. Words like moo, baa, ding, honk, chirp ect are often found in childrens stories, rhymes, songs etc.
Let’s see if I can put some in a bit of my story.
Amber who stood outside the office lost in thought, in memory of Friday. So far today she’d managed to avoid Scott.
“Ahem.”
Amber looked up, frowned and reached out connecting her hand to Scott’s face with a smack.
His hand flew to his cheek as she took a step back. “I suppose I deserve that.”
“To say the least.”
“I’m an ass, I’m sorry Amber please talk to me. Don’t run.”
She crossed arms and let out a huff. “Why should I?”
Scott jerked his head. “Look I know I crossed the line. It was wrong; I was wrong.”
“You scared the crap out of me Scott! You do realize I’m an emotional basket case right now. I don’t need you tearing me down or freaking me out.”
Scott scratched at his throat. “I know, I know, again I’m sorry. Look I’ll make it up to you. I was wrong. You know we’re friends and I got a bit messed up about some stuff.”
“Dale explained. Still…Why? Why did you attack me? It was like you wanted to…”
“I wouldn’t have actually forced you. I was upset and drunk and I’m sorry.”
Amber stepped forward glancing down and grimacing at the crunch of a snail beneath her shoe. She looked back up and narrowed her eyes at him. “Swear to me you’ll stop being weird, that you’ll never, ever again accuse me of lying about the baby. Swear you’ll never threaten or try to touch me that way again.”
“I won’t.” Scott ran his hand over his mouth choosing his words carefully. “It was a mistake I swear.”
With a short sniff Amber nodded curtly. “Okay.” She gave him a pat on the arm and turned to go back inside missing the smirk on Scott’s face.
I don’t know if I’d normally use so many since they would likely end up as more of an action word like smacked or crunched or whatever. But for this they worked okay. onomatopoeic words seem to appear more commonly in comic books, children’s stories, songs, rhymes or poetry. I think I’ll take a closer look at my action/violent scenes and see if any made their way in. If not i might add one or two.
What’s your favorite onomatopoeia word?
My advice about onomatopoeia.
They are fun and can be fun to use. I recommend giving them a try. If you have them leave them don’t snip them out or whoosh them away.
-Sheryl
Other posts I wrote sort of like this one
Copyright © 2017 All rights reserved
Baby
Your post made my brain click and whiz like a machine after reading your post. It tried to pop out as many onomatopoeia words as I could. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yay I’m glad you enjoyed the post and I love the clever response 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lol, I liked junkytravel’s remarks, haha. Great write though. I will have to check what I’ve written for kicks, see if I use many. snickers
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks… FYI I was thinking about Jessop today…
LikeLike
And???
LikeLiked by 1 person
look forward to hearing your fyi re jessop…I’m at a loss at the moment how to tie this up…could go in a couple directions, neither appeals.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was wondering where he will go, he has them divided, he has opportunity he just needs to go for it on a dark and personal level IMO. how crazy could it get? I say go for super crazy. IMO divide the group further it’s easier to make things insane if you can focus on a smaller group. Knock them out, tie them up, lock them up… hostage/rescues always go well for tension. If you are brave you could have Jessop succeed by killing one and have that as the final drive to have Nathan go guns blazing fists flying to take Jessop down. Jessop is random so let him do something random just close your eyes and play it through… what would Jessop do? Back him into a corner and let him loose… Just my thoughts, by no means am I saying to do it. I love to speculate and love being surprised it’s what makes reading a good story fun.
LikeLike
That’s the direction I was leaning. I have to go back in time and find his cohort’s name which Ive forgotten (and didn’t think to write down) and then I can go on, and yes it will be something crazy cause he’s crazy, thank you so much love it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t wait. I’m in the process of creating a new world for yet a new book. I’ve had a particular character in my head for a while and was waiting for inspiration to strike and find her a story. It struck yesterday. I’m half in the process of researching to create the history and direction of the story… The further I dig the more excited I become.
LikeLike
I know own right? It suddenly comes together almost effortlessly at some point, it’s like being on a roll hehe. Congrats on the new book, exciting indeed
LikeLiked by 1 person
There is nothing better than coming from work and reading your blog!
LikeLike
Thanks I’m glad you like my posts.
LikeLike