Are we not all envious of those who can make us smile and wonder at every word of their writing? Adept writers adopt charming twists and turns to hook readers’ attention. It is that perfect combination of meaty content and interesting presentation that wins you the million dollar heed of audiences.
Here we discuss a few handy techniques that can make one want to read more and more of what you write.
1. Humour
What intense knowledge can’t, probably the comic can. People love to be tickled with the witty, wacky, silly, satirical, ironical, amusing, hilarious, exaggerated and the like.
You can jostle the funny bone of your readers by writing something similar to the below examples:
‘Finally, the slaughterer took all his arms and ammunitions out, all ready-get-set-go to do the ACT!’ (Going to the dentist)
‘When the world can ban child labour, why can’t I be spared this menial work? After all, Tom bought me just a year back.’ (Story from the point of view of a school book bag)
2. Novel Figurative Expressions
No one appreciates the mundane and commonplace. Clichéd sentences may peeve your readers, driving them to distraction. ‘As green as emerald’, ‘as fast as light’, ‘the sun smiled’, ‘the wind howled’ etc. now seem time-worn and trite.
One may try a hand at innovative, outlandish figurative techniques – no matter the subject is animate or inanimate.
‘For all my power, I aimed being an omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient pair of eyes, like God’s, you know.’ (Story with the given title – A pair of binoculars)
‘Mr. Incredible for all his flaws and foibles was a man of marvels and miracles.’ (Story from the point of view of another character – Mr. Incredible or Elastigirl)
3. References to current affairs or relevant social events
A well-researched, factual write-up is grounded in its immediate social reality. Every writer belongs to a certain cultural, economic, political and social milieu which reflects through his writing.
Contemporary affairs make writing authentic and credible.
‘Education has always been all-important for children in our country. The Duchess of Cornwall’s recent article in the Sunday Express implores parents ahead of the World Book Day to ‘read to….children every day of the year.’ (A letter to your cousin about a child's life in England.)
‘We are aware of the University and College Union strikes making a great uproar out there. I hope the government intervenes to settle the agitation which is affecting student life in major ways.’ (Letter to elder sibling studying at a university, who can only visit home in school holidays.)
4. Punchy sentences
Never bombard the readers with hackneyed information. Even if you’ve thoroughly researched a topic, present the facts in a comprehensible manner. So is it with words. Fascinating vocabulary is desirable in writing; yet, remember never to overwhelm your sentences with unnecessary words. Sentences should be short, crisp and never draggy.
However, this is just the basic rule. The next step to cracking catchy sentences is to add the much wanted powerful punch. It could be your striking diction, sentence construction, literary technique, or a unique idea around which the whole sentence is framed.
‘This story is going to refute the time-honoured, established knowledge that camels got their humps due to laziness. The narration unfolds a giant camel, full of sloth, achieving the massive victory of being the most active creature on Earth.’ (Story that has in it: a giant, a sloth and a victory)
5. Expressive, candid narrator
To get the ball rolling in a write-up, you need a communicative, involved narrator. It could be a first or third person speaker, an animal, a bird or an object. The narrator must be so dynamic and animated that he enthuses your writing with a new found excitement for the readers.
His creative energies must flow unstoppably:
‘This Sleeping Beauty was no damsel in distress; she took charge and broke the enchantment all by herself.’ (Story with a given title – The Sleeping Beauty)
“Phew! How the library staff cruelly thrusts me on jam-packed shelves,” thought the book which had just been forcibly shoved on the shelf. (Describe a library)
Incorporate these five tactics in your writing and leave a lasting impression on your audience. You can explore more such possibilities for creative play.