A Guide to Author Jargon for the Reader - 60

episodic novel structure

a loosely sewn series of events and scenes that need to coalesce into a whole in order to succeed. These are generally held together by a protagonist that holds the reader's sympathy throughout. Examples are Don Quixote, Candide and most traditional Chinese novels - Outlaws of the Marsh (The Water Margin).

Edward C. Patterson

A Guide to Author Jargon for Readers - 59

falling action, better known as the denouement

a point in the story where the protagonist manages the story action and the story's intricacies are resolved. Some authors leave us dangling without a denoument, but readers usually resolve it with their own denouement. They toss the book away (or delete it from their Kindles).

Edward C. Patterson

A Guide to Author Jargon for the Reader - 58

apotheosis scene

technically, raising a subject to devine status, but in writing, the construction of a scene so lofty that it becomes iconic and sacrosanct. Generally, it's left to the last scene and is an act hard to follow, unless you have a curtain call. A movie equivolent would be the last scene on StarWars in the great hall or the Hobbits being idolized at the coronation at Minas Tireth (a Jacksonian touch. However, Tolkien nears apotheosis with The Ride of the Rohirrim).

Edward C. Patterson

A Guide to Author Jargon for Readers - 57

parenthetical clause

sometimes known as tits on a bull. An interrupt phrase that acts as an aside to the main subject and is set off in parenthesis (). The same effect can be achieved by employing a typographical em-dash ( — ) which I've enclosed parenthetically. While the em-dash creates a pause, a breath and then a continuance, parathesis, although grammatically correct, generally disrupts the flow of a sentence for most readers.

Edward C. Patterson

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon 56

epiphany moment

the point where a character is turned by a sudden flash of development — like Saul becoming Paul. In character-driven novels, it is the turning point in the story. However, it doesn't need to come mid-point. It can be effective as a starting point, especially in short fiction.

Edward C. Patterson

A Reader's Guide to Authoir's Jargon 55

Interior monologue

the recorded thoughts of a character (and in this case, the POV character). These are sometimes in first person mode (stream-of-consciousness). Interior monologue in third person limited POV is general set off in italics and dialog tagged. If he gives me another piece of jargon to remember, she thought, I'll scream.

Edward C. Patterson

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon 54

Synoesthesia

a phrase that uses one sense to describe another. Sometimes it's ironic or even humorous. At other times it blend together in a duo-sense. Example: Hang them up and see what they say.

Edward C. Patterson

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon 53

litote

an understatement created by a double negative. IE. He was not unfriendly. Double negatives are Miss Precious Pipkin (the grammarian)'s nightmare and sure to get you a D on the anal-retentive scale. However, littes are often used by authors and by people that come from Brooklyn (like me, where it is officially grammatical). One might say, I'm pro-litote.

Edward C. Patterson

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon 52

chiamus

what I call Yoda speak. This is where two clauses are reversed for effect. So, You are a Jedi Knight, becomes A Jedi Knight, you are. It can be awkward in dialog if the character doesn't normally speak that way. How it can be very effective in narrative to raise tension. Like all things in writing, if overused, or misplaced, it feels odd to the reader, and anything that feels odd to the reader, throws them out of the story (that is, disengages them).

Edward C. Patterson

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon 51

alliterative phrase

from the poetic form alliteration, a sentence that incorporates the same initial consonent for the principle stress words. Sometimes the effect is comical (unitentionally), but sometimes memorable. We all know "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled-peppers," from our Mother Goose. Keen authors will use alliterative phrases to accent a mood, where hard consonents create friction and soft ones are melodious.

My favorite alliterative phrase is from W. S. Gilbert - The Yeomen of the Guard.

"Oh, weary wives who widowhood would win, rejoice that ye have time to weary in."

Edward C. Patterson

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon 50

material overshoot

Authors research, but when they insist on including their entire research in the work, instead of using it to support sound novel writing, it's called material overshoot. Details are important - gun callibers, how things work and desciptions of murder weapons, but some authors overload a work with these details so that the reader might as well have gone to the original source materials. Details engage readers, but too much detail, especailly when overpowering and forced can sink a novel fast.

Edward C. Patterson

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon 49

ghosting

a residue of cut phrases lingering after revision. Since good authoring means sculpting paragraphs so that sentences have a close interrelationship, when phrases, clauses and sentences are cut during revision, that relationship is broken and, in many cases, evidence of the cut remains. This is a wonderful side effect to revision work, because it adds accidental depth to the paragraph, which readers can sense as sub-text. Like ghosts, they are not actually there. Spooky, but true. It is unplanned, like that errant splash on a watercolor that makes the accidental difference between flat and exciting; boring and artistic.

Edward C. Patterson

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon 48

shared illumination

writing a scene employing minimal description of objects and persons, relying on the reader's experience to fill in the blanks. For example, if I have a dining room with a chandelier, just the mention of chandelier should tap into the reader's image archive. By describing it a single crystal and perhaps the number of tiers shapes it perfectly for the reader's mental eye. Of course, with just three elements, the author has created not one chandelier, but as many chandeliers as there are readers. Shared illumination engages a reader's mind and keeps them in the work. It also reminds authors that the reading experience is one on one. Now this is not an exoneration for eliminating detailed descriptions, which are often needed in sequences and in some genres more crucial and expected.

Edward C. Patterson

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon - 47

recto

right handed page (odd numbered page) - Titles, sections and chapters start recto. (Not to be confused with rectal).

verso

left handed page (even numbered page) - presented blank before an initial recto page.

Edward C. Patterson

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon 46

colori

words and phrases that are added to shade a scene to a particular setting, literally to add color. So if it's about to rain and the work is set in Palermo, the tour guide could look up and use the Scicilian expression for it's about to rain. Fra dopo poco gli santi pisceranno, thus adding local color to the scene. One does not even need to translate. Colori could also be touches in dress or aromas. The more sensual, the more effective.

Edward C. Patterson

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon 45

fabulous

the art of telling a fable or Ru Paul, whichever comes first.

Edward C. Patterson

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon 44

epistolary

a novel told entirely from letters. Recent examples are Alice Walker's The Color Purple and Stephen King's Dolores Claiborne.

Edward C. Patterson

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon 43

Metaphor medley - (also metaphor marathon)

two or more metaphors strung together in the same sentence. This is effective when the two metaphors are in contrast or a dichotomy. However, when they are similar, they give the reader a choice and they tend to slip off the path and the story. It also gives the appearance that the author can't make up their mind and is pushing a task off to the reader. Tsk Tsk. A metaphor medley can be effective, especially when expressing dichotomy, irony and comedy. It's also effective in dialog. However, authors should only use or retain when it works. If in doubt, cut one out and run.

Edward C. Patterson

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon 42

elegiac

a noble and pompous presentation or word order usually in the second person to give a ceremonial effect. Used in poetry, but in novels can reset or commence a section making the words more iconic than the subject matter. Authors should take care it its use or readers will either enshrine you or throw their Kindles against the wall. Example: the following set non-elegiacally: Most people would agree that wealthy men are in the market for a wife. Set elegiacal: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife — of course, the iconic opening of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Edward C. Patterson

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon 41

sequeling

a post action or event reacting by a single or multiple character, usually occuring in the next or subsequent chapter from the action. This is one of the key ingredients for testing an author's mettle. Any event not worth sequeling, should probably be jettisoned from the work. Sequeling develop characters and also underscores an events significance in the reader's mind, as well as summarizing what just happened by eliminating the less important details allowing the event to gel into a particular shape for future reference. A sequel is not a second book or film in a series, a misnomer for a follow-up piece.

Edward C. Patterson