There are only two types of stories: Stories about relationships and stories about power struggles.  Of course, there are relationship stories that contain power struggles, and there are power struggle stories that contain relationships.  For example, Henrik Ibsen’s, Doll House, is a relationship story, the relationship between husband and wife.  However, when Nora leaves her husband, Torvald, she leaves to end his dominance, a power struggle.  J.K. Rowlings’, Harry Potter, and George Lucas’ Star Wars, are examples of power struggle stories each of these has various relationships with their conflicts, obstacles and resolutions.   The power struggles, of course, in Harry Potter and Star Wars is the power struggle between good and evil.

            Let’s look at what drives a story.  A story can be character driven, such as in Stephen King’s Dolores Claiborne.  In this story, a mother, Dolores Claiborne, is accused of murdering two people, the first (Dolores’ husband) eighteen years preceding the present murder.  Police Detective, John Mackey, still bitter over not proving she killed the first victim, pulls out all the stops to prove she killed the latest victim, her employer.  Many stories are plot driven.  Oedipus Rex by Sophocles is an example of a plot driven story Oedipus has no control over the situation; the forces of fate, to kill his father and marry his mother, carry him forward.

            Some stories are driven by a particular concept.  H. G. Wells’, The Remarkable Case of Davidson’s Eyes, explores the concept of the out of body experience.  Wells story differs from modern stories on this concept by allowing his character to be cognitively and verbally attuned to his present surroundings (his laboratory, home in England) while his visual and tactile senses are experiencing a distant location (on a beach on an Antipodes Island, off New Zealand).

Then there is the environment driven story such as Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.  It is the various lands, and all that happens there, or environments that Gulliver encounters that keeps the readers turning pages.

Lastly, there is the event driven story; when the event ends, so does the story.  An example of the event driven story is Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution.  The event is a trial, and except for the denouement, the story ends with the trial’s outcome.

            What drives a story can usually be found in how a person describes it, for example, Inherit the Wind by Robert E. Lee, is based on the Scopes Trial; an event that actually took place.  In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince Hamlet tries to prove his father’s brother, Claudius, murdered his father.  Hamlet seeks to prove it was Claudius’ doing and takes his vengeance against Claudius.  This speaks to the character who drives the play forward. 

Six Days of the Condor by James Grady is an excellent example of a plot driven story.  Joe Turner is a researcher for the CIA, he is code-named "Condor." Turner reads books to uncover secret plots and dirty tricks, which may be encoded within the publications.  He goes out for lunch and returns to find all of his cohorts murdered.  He calls for help only to discover that all of his CIA contacts are trying to kill him.  Why were his cohorts murdered?  Why was the CIA trying to kill him?   Do the orders come from the top, or is this the work of a rogue organization within the CIA? – Yes, this is a plot driven story.  The protagonist is reacting to the devices created by the plot.

            Look at stories you have read, or have written and determine what part of the story’s structure drives it.  I hope that this will assist you in your writing by providing a variety of perspectives, thus spurring more creativity.

4.)                     Using Symbolism to highlight Your Theme

Before getting into symbolism, I would like to define theme: An idea, point of view, or perception embodied in a work of art. (Webster’s Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary).  In Star Wars, the theme is good versus evil.  Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot’s theme is, when people do not take responsibility for their own lives, they force themselves into a position where they must rely on others for their survival, and they live in misery because of their lack of mental and physical effort.  All of Beckett’s plays are heavy with symbolism.  For example in Waiting for Godot the play opens on a deserted road that gives one the impression that the road leads nowhere, symbolizing the futility of the lives lead by Estragon and Vladimir, the protagonist.  The road is a physical symbol.  Estragon worries about physical pain; his boots hurt his feet, while Vladimir suffers mental pain or anguish, because “nothing can be done,” a phrase that is repeated throughout the play.  The ‘hurt’ and ‘suffering’ are symbolic of the physical and mental misery of those who rely on others for their well being.  The pain and suffering are emotional symbols. 

Theme may also be symbolized through biblical references, which are spiritual symbols.

The title of your story is a great way to symbolize your story.  Molière’s The Misanthrope, the story of a man’s (Alceste) misanthropic life is the result of his excessive virtue and therefore scoffs at those who are less virtuous.

The names of your characters can symbolize their nature or symbolic of the context in which you employ the characters.  In the TV show Frazier, Daphne (Jane Leeves) was desired by Niles (David Hyde Pierce). Throughout the season, Niles’ desires remained unattainable.  In Greek mythology, Apollo desired the nymph Daphne, but Daphne remained unattainable.  In the following season, the producers had to satisfy the viewers and allow Daphne and Niles to become a couple.  What is called the obligatory scene. 

The setting a natural symbol is illustrated by Alfred Hitchcock’s

the wet street in the dark of night symbolized the danger and intrigue of the event that was about to unfold.

Objects and events can symbolize concepts portrayed in the story.  Director Mike Nichols uses the symbolization of drowning on several occasions.  In the movie The Graduate, Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) dreams he is drowning at the bottom of a swimming pool, symbolizing his drowning in frustration because he feels trapped in a world of middle-aged insecurity. In Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?, George (Richard Burton) and Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) are drowning themselves in alcohol.

A character’s professional status can symbolize power–the CEO of a corporation, security–a policeman, evil–the Borg, or whatever fills the need in your story.

Sometimes an author will refer to another work to symbolize a concept. How often have you heard titles used to express a concept, such as, it’s a Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, Director) to mean everything is wrong and you are totally frustrated, or this is a Catch 22  (Joseph Heller, Director) situation, meaning damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

Another symbolic devise is using the plot structure of a famous work, such as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, which was the plot of West Side Story, and thousands of other stories.  A theme based on the mythology is another symbolic devise.  For example, Pandora’s Box where evil is unleashed on the world through ignorance or carelessness.  The movie Backwater, directed by Jim Gillespie uses the Pandora plot.  A gateway to hell is accidentally opened and the fight to drive evil back into hell ensues.

Symbolism makes the concepts you present standout.   Just be sure the symbols are not too cryptic.  Be sure to use symbols your readers recognize.

5.)                                Why Was My Story Rejected?

             The best answer to this question, in my opinion, is Noah Lukeman’s The First Five Pages.   I will relate some of the problems Mr. Lukeman tells us to avoid.  When the editor receives your masterpiece, will your opening grab or bore the one person who will determine if your work goes into the trash or is passed on for a second review?  Do you have a hook to make the editor want to read further?  Grammar is important; if the editor finds two grammatical flaws in the first five pages, there will most likely be one hundred and twenty more by the time three hundred pages are conquered.

            Some of the problems encountered by editors are: Comma overuse, example - My brother, George, started his own business (No commas before and after George.) George, my brother, started his own business (Correct comma usage.).  Verb/subject agreement - an example - Neither Bill nor his friends knows why she left (incorrect). Neither Bill nor his friends know why she left.  This is correct because the plural, “friends” is closest to the verb. Neither his friends, nor Bill knows why she left (also correct).  The dangling participle, example - Screaming helplessly, the plane taxied away from the gate, unaware of my fate (The plane screamed?)  The plane taxied away from the gate as I screamed helplessly for it to wait.  Now it is clear who screamed.  Run-on sentences, example - I wanted to save him, he wanted to die.  There are actually two sentences spliced together with a comma.  I wanted to save him.  He wanted to die.  However, too many short sentences make your writing sound stilted or choppy.  A better solution would be: I wanted to save him, but he wanted to die.  The overuse of the modifiers, adverbs and adjectives is a common problem. For example - She softly rested her magnificently beautiful head against his muscular, tanned chest, her silky blond hair radiantly cascading down across her face, covering his perfectly chiseled abdomen.  The reader is looking ahead, skipping words, looking for the outcome.  Better = Her hair caressed his body as she rested her head against his bare chest.  The rest of the descriptive exposition can be metered out, describing your characters as you write further.  Don’t overload your reader with detail by throwing it all out there in one shot.

            We are also guilty of excessive wordage; example - He rose from where he was sitting and cheered for his team when they finally scored.  Better: He stood and cheered when his team scored.

Not considered so critical anymore is the proper usage of who and whom.  A rule of thumb: If it can be replaced with he or she use who. If it can be replace with him or her, use whom.  Then there is the I and me foible; Jerry and me went to the store. NO.   If you take out the other person and say or write the sentence which pronoun would you use?  Me went to the store. NO.  I went to the store.  YES.

            Sometimes we aren’t sure if we should use that or which when departing information to our readers.  So here is another rule of thumb.  If the clause refers to information crucial or pivotal use, that; example - Even though he was shot, it was poison that killed him.  The word which is used when the information in the clause is not critical or pivotal; example - The poison killed him, which is understandable.  In this case, which refers to the entire preceding clause and doesn’t refer to critical or pivotal information provided in the other clause?

            Another pair of troublesome words are insure and ensure.  You insure something for its monetary value.  You ensure that something or someone is safe from harm, or to make certain.  If you follow this rule, your success will be assured.

The list goes on and on; there are numerous other mistakes we can, and do make.  It is up to us to self-edit, or enlist someone else to edit our work.  The alternative is a cringing editor immediately tossing the manuscript in the garbage.

6.)                                                           Plot Development

The plot is what happened on your story.  It covers the tale you weave and the sequence in which it happens.  This is not necessarily the story you tell.  An example is the use of flashbacks.  When you incorporate flashbacks, the reader becomes privy to knowledge and circumstances when you are ready for them to have that information, not in the sequence in which the events took place.  When there are subplots, the readers are led from subplot to subplot and must organize the events in their minds for them to follow the plot in a logical manner.

                I should also define the storyline of through line.  This is a synopsis of the plot.  For example, John (protagonist) wants to marry Jane (antagonist) who hates him because she believes John is responsible for her father’s death.  John has to prove to Jane that he is not responsible for her father’s death.  In fact, he tried to prevent her father from being killed.  Jane has contacted the authorities, has a restraining order against him and has hired a private investigator to prove john’s involvement in her father’s death.  The through line or storyline gives us the detail of the WHO, WHAT AD WHY of the protagonist and antagonist.  It points out the protagonist’s goals and describes the central conflict.

                Writer’s opinions on how to set up and develop the plot fir a story varies according to what works best fir the particular writer.  Some writers have a story line in mind and start writing.  The plot, for the most part, develops itself as the story progresses.  The story develops to a point where the writer must stop and determine specifics for the plot to keep the through-line going in one direction.  In the John and Jane example above, the writer would have to make a determination as to whether the father’s death was accidental, murder, or suicide.  The reader would have to believe that John has good reason to believe his pursuit of marriage is based in logic, not the deranged desires and beliefs of a stalker, unless that was the author’s intention.

            Other writers create an outline of their plot with the use of the ‘arc’, defining the beginning, middle and end.  Some writers go to the extent of creating this arc for each chapter and creating an outline for the entire story.

The important thing is to remain flexible.  You created the plot; it is yours to change.  Plots or their outlines usually go through several changes during the writing process.  Recognize when something is not working and get rid of it, even if it is your best idea so far, or contains words and phrases that you just love to death.  Do not let these little jewels kill your story.

The setting for your story (Where it takes place) and the background (The events, or history that led up to the beginning of your story.), should be something with which you are familiar.

 Exotic settings and historical backgrounds only work if you have done ample research.  Your readers will let you know if you are faking it. Some writers spend years researching before putting finger to keyboard.

The easiest way, and usually the best way to develop a plot is to base the plot on what you know.  Use places with which you are familiar.  Develop characters based on people you know.  You may not know someone who was accused of being responsible for the death of someone else, but you probably know someone who pursued a love affair and possibly someone else who was vilified or at least whispered about as having been involved or responsible for someone else’s troubles.  Go to your quiet place and get inside these characters, feel what they must have felt, experience their joy and pain.  Live their worst and highest moments, then write it down.

Remember that time when your sibling, or the neighborhood bully knocked you off your bike, or the person where you work  plotted against you to further themselves?  We are talking about terrific angst, conflict, the beginnings of a great story.  The difference is that the bike incident becomes the protagonist or a victim being pushed in front of a car or train.  Did the bully or sibling get away with it?—Not this time!  The worker becomes a mole in your organization, trying to have you fired in order to take your place in a sensitive position.  The world balance of power may hang in the outcome.

Perhaps you or maybe a cousin suffered child abuse.  You have a protagonist and an antagonist, there is conflict; you have a plot.  This time the story unfolds the way you want it to unfold, not only that, it ends the way you want it to end.

You can also build your characters on people you know, or even people with whom you have had limited contact.

That guy you passed on the street with the quirky eye, or the aunt that has the habit of opening her mouth and looking at everyone before starting to speak.  What about the person you know that is always full of energy and is always upbeat?

The point is, you have so much going for you when it comes to the setting, background, characters and plot that you do not have to look outside your state, city, or neighborhood.

7.)                                        Hooks, forwards, and Foreshadowing

The American Heritage Dictionary defines a hook as “A means of attracting interest or attention; an enticement.  A catchy motif or refrain.”  It is the reason the perspective reader doesn’t put the book back on the shelf to choose another one; it is the reason the reader continues to the next chapter and the next, even though the last one wasn’t quite there for the reader.  For me, the most memorable hook was the opening line in Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged: “Who is John Galt?”  I immediately wanted to find out.  It was the opening line.  Why did she start with this question?  The next paragraph didn’t address the question.  I was hooked!  John Galt is not mentioned again until page 12.  The same sentence, “Who is John Galt?” This time, however, a character in the story uttered the sentence.  It seemed to be used as an expression to mean, who knows?  As the story continues, various characters supply the reader with a variety of myths concerning John Galt, clues to his identity, clues to the concept represented in the character, John Galt.  This was a powerful hook used skillfully throughout the book.

            The American Heritage Dictionary provides a couple other interesting definitions: foreshadow and forward.  Let’s first take a look at Foreshadow: “To present an indication of a suggestion beforehand; an indication or a warning of a future occurrence.”  In Daniel DeFoe’s Robinson Crusoe, Crusoe makes daily trips to the shore to look for ships; one day he finds footprints and markings made by boats pulled ashore and signs of cannibalism.  This is definitely a foreshadowing of something, most likely, foreboding to come.

            Forwards: “To help advance; promote.  To cause to move ahead, as toward a goal.” (American Heritage Dictionary)  A forward is more direct.  It can be meant to move you on to the next paragraph, chapter, or perhaps several chapters forward.  In Chris Van Allsburg’s The Polar Express, the boy is lying quietly in bed on Christmas Eve.  He is anticipating the arrival of Christmas.  A train pulls up in the street in front of his house, so he puts on his slippers and robe, and then goes out of his bedroom window. 

            The conductor says, “All aboard.”

            The boy runs up to him and asks, “Where are you going?”

            “Why to the North Pole of course.

            Then the boy tells us, his audience, “I took his outstretched hand and he pulled me aboard.” 

            Did I want to read further?  You bet it did.  That little paragraph advanced the story, moved it forward.  It took a little boy, laying quietly in bed and sent him on an adventure in the middle of the night.  I had to find out what happened after the child boarded the train. 

            So let’s hook our readers in the first paragraph, keep the story moving forward, and hold the reader’s interest through foreshadowing.

8.)                                                Developing Characters

Are your characters real people?  They should be.  They should be as real as your favorite uncle or that cousin you can’t stand.  Is your protagonist the idealized person; a non-erring, highly intelligent, physically perfect specimen?  If so get rid if the phony. 

People are complex and screwed up in one way or the other, and so should all of your characters, including your main protagonist and antagonist.  Your protagonist may be the perfect husband, but fall short as a parent.  Your heroine may be able to pull clues out of the air in a dark room while wearing a blindfold, but her love life is a continuously occurring disaster.

Some characters are only in one scene.  They are a vehicle for imparting information to the main character(s) or to the reader.  They help move the story forward, they are a vehicle for raising the stakes, etc.  These characters may not even earn a physical description.  (Some should, others not; it depends on what they bring to the story.)  The rest of the characters, however, should have a complete life.  You don’t have to relate their lives to the reader in their entirety, but you should know the entire life of each character.  If you create the life for each character from childhood to their role in your story you will know their flaws, strengths, desire, fears and everything that needs to be known about them so that they are not only real, but you know how to play them against themselves, against other characters, against the environment, against the events, and against whatever demons haunt them. Yes, conflicts, and unsettled issues, are the things that keep the reader turning the pages.

How complex should they be?  What do they want more than anything in this scene, in the overall story? Where is the line drawn in the sand, how far can they be pushed?  What great mistake(s) did they make in the past, in the present.  What mistake(s) will they make by the time the denouement arrives?  Why?  What is eating at them right now?  What is the occurrence and how will they react to this occurrence under pressure?  

I should also mention that the situations should be as real as the characters.  The situations should leave them with unanswered questions.  The characters should have unanswered questions about themselves.

Each character should be unique, just as real people are unique.  You can differentiate by attitude: A positive attitude for one, negative for another, one is laid back while another is intense, while another is cocky.  Know your characters values: One values the sanctity of the home, another, perhaps values material success, while another values spiritual enlightenment.  How do your characters relate to their environment?  Does one character speak in terms of how they feel? “I feel I’m right about this,” Does another character say, “I think I am right?” Does a particular character ‘hear what you are saying?’ while another ‘sees what and another says, “I know what you’re saying.” If your characters have such varied qualities then your readers can tell them apart and they can be viewed as real individuals with their individual quirks, strengths and weaknesses.

Another point of creating characters is identifying the central character.  The central character may or may not be the protagonist, or the antagonist for that matter.  The central character is the character the reader follows and cares for throughout the story.  In the movie Terminator 2 the cyborg played by Arnold Schwarzenegger is the protagonist, but John and Sarah Connor were the main characters.

Now we come to the dominant or persuasive character; this character influences the central character’s perspective.  This character knows the central character’s inner self.  They have emotional ties; there is a bond between them.  The persuasive character can inhibit the central character, causing the central character to fail or encourage the central character, causing the central character to succeed within the context of a particular scene, problem, or situation.  Luke Skywalker was a main character in Star Wars.  Obi Wan Kenobi was the persuasive or dominant character.   

In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, the persuasive character acts to inhibit the central character.  Nora is both the protagonist and the central character.  Her husband, Torvald, is the persuasive character.  The antagonist is the societal rules of the period.  The conflict is the inner struggle Nora has with herself to continue meeting the societal demands to remain the obedient and subservient wife, or to declare her right to independent thought and action.  Torvald tries to persuade Nora to remain the dutiful wife.  His tactics range from admonishment to the threat of banishment.  She would mean that Nora would never set foot in his house again, never seeing their two children again. In the end, Nora, trembling, but with head held high, walks out of the door.

When the protagonist, antagonist, central character, and persuasive or dominant character are comprised of four separate characters, you have the beginnings of a complex plot.

A point I would like to make here is on the physical aspects of your characters.  On this aspect of characterization I think minimal is best.  Physical aspects, if given, should serve a purpose in the story. Here is an example. She was seventy and bald.  Everyday she had to climb two flights of stairs, struggling on her wooden leg.  By the time she reached the top, she would be drenched in sweat and her wig would set cockeyed on her head. This description serves a purpose.  Otherwise let the reader have the pleasure of deciding what the character looks like.

9.)                                                   Character Personas and Conflict

            Before getting into clashing characters, I will point out a couple of characters who are sometimes found in stories.  One is the norm character.  This character is usually found in comedies.  This character is the everyday ‘normal’ person.  The role of this character is to establish a norm by which the reader can judge the degree of funny in the rest of the characters’ dialogue and actions.  It is a character the others can play off, to make a comedic point.  This character is sometimes found in other venues such as a story that takes place in an asylum.  The norm is usually the crazy person who seems most normal and acts as a barometer by which we judge the actions of the others. We evaluate the actions of the protagonist and antagonist by a character that gives us perspective.  The other character is the sidekick.  If you are old enough, the word sidekick will bring to mind such characters as Tonto, the Lone Ranger’s sidekick.

                The sidekick was the true friend of the protagonist.  The sidekick would pose questions that would give us a look into the soul of the protagonist and make us love the protagonist that much more.       The sidekick was also the one who garnered information to move the story forward and the sidekick was always the one who was beaten up or wounded.

            The sidekick died out (literally) in the sixties.  The Dirty Harry series is an example.  His sidekicks were dead by the third scene. Star Wars brought back the sidekick.  Chewbaka was a sidekick.  Skywalker had R2D2 and interestingly, R2D2 had 3CPO.  A more recent example of the sidekick scenario is Lethal Weapon.  Martin Riggs, played by Mel Gibson was the protagonist, and Roger Murtaugh, played by Danny Glover, was the sidekick. 

Detective Murtaugh was not only shot, and beaten up, to move the movie forward; he also asked penetrating questions of Riggs that led the audience to care about the wacky Detective Riggs.

            Now, let’s take a look at characters whose personalities conflict.  Characters must clash, or become embroiled in some form of conflict in order for the story to be interesting.  For instance in Lethal Weapon, Danny Glover portrayed a logical character and Mel Gibson played an irrational character.  These conflicting personalities created conflict between them and made it enjoyable for the audience.  In Marsha Norman’s Night Mother, the character, Mama, is an emotional wreck, but her daughter, Jessie, was matter-of-a-fact and showed no emotion as she explained why she was going to go in her room and commit suicide. Han Solo in Star Wars was the individualist and he was egotistical. His cohort, Luke Skywalker, was altruistic and somewhat shy. Princess Leia was logical and controlling.  The three protagonists created a rhythm and variance in pace that kept the audience leaning forward in their seats.

The varieties of personas available to you are as plentiful as the number of adjectives in the dictionary.  As you create your characters give each a persona that will clash with their main counterpart.  The naïve ― opposite the sophisticate, the curious ― opposite the indifferent, the apathetic ― opposite the passionate.  Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, was fast-paced and dynamic because of the physical and mental sparring matches between the hot-tempered and over emotional Kate and the level headed but unequivocal Petruchio.

10.)                                          Choosing Your Words Carefully

A word, while denoting one thing may connote another.  Your writing style, the type of story in which you use it, and the context within which you use the word, colors its meaning.  Then there are the readers’ cultural background, knowledge base, value system and everything else that makes each one a unique individual.  These characteristics affect the readers interpretation of your word.

The easy part is choosing your words based on your knowledge, writing style, type of story and context of usage.  For instance, suppose you are writing a comedic piece involving a character who makes light of the protagonist’s art collection citing trivial considerations.  The protagonist refers to the character as a pettifogger.  This is a funny sounding word and it denotes the character’s action.  The main definition of pettifogger is, “a petty, quibbling, unscrupulous lawyer.” (American Heritage Dictionary).  But the context within which the word is used, colors its meaning to the second definition offered by the dictionary: “one who quibbles over trivia.” (American Heritage Dictionary).  You could have used the term, “crass connoisseur,” but the hard consonants are more fitting of sarcasm, or of a more serious context, or setting.

In reference to the reader, the best you can do is to know your audience.  If you are writing about a legal situation, pettifogger, used to connote trivial quibbling may be seen as a sarcastic slam if your character is a lawyer.

Jargon can add authenticity to your work and dispel disbelief.  When your characters are in the legal profession, for example, a sprinkling of legal terminology adds credibility to your characters.  In my short story, The Ceremony, the justice of the piece uses the term, “en medias res,” showing he was knowledgeable to some degree in matters of law, though his rationale in allowing couples to marry was skewed.  The use of jargon not only gave the character a degree of credibility, it also allowed me to create an impression of the character that I wanted to convey to my readers: namely, he was a knowledgeable and fairly rational purveyor of the law.

A caution on using jargon.  Be sure to go lightly.  Don’t lose or confuse your audience through the overuse of jargon.  For instance when my character uses the phrase, en medias res, I follow it up with its meaning in English.  The character reiterates, “I am in the middle of the proceeding.”

Finding the right word can be crucial to getting your message across to your reader.  However, it is also crucial that your readers understand what you are trying to say.  For example, “The propositi of the cataclysmic event were those who were caught directly in hurricanes’ path.   The phrase, “The people who were directly affected,” takes up more type-space than “propositi,” but your readers don’t have to stop reading to look up the seldom used word.

Words with impact.

Our teachers taught us in composition and journalism courses to use the most dynamic words to express our selves.  We have been told to grab our readers by expressing our thoughts with action words of greater impetus, force and authority.  I remember on one occasion, raising my hand and asking, “There are only so many words, won’t we wind up reaching a limit on what is considered the most forceful word and everyone will be using it, thus losing  its impetus?” 

“No,” the professor stated. “that will never happen.  

Well, guess what?  For about the last twenty years, everything has been IMPACTED!  No longer is anything affected, effected, influenced, swayed, afflicted, moved, stirred, roused, fired up, excited, stimulated, caused, induced, exploited, brought to bear, completed, produced, invoked, put into action, put into force or set in motion.   When you pick up a newspaper, or magazine, listen to the radio or hear it or read it on any form of visual electronic media, you find that all of these great words have been replaced with the word, IMPACT. 

Please don’t follow this trend.  Use the word that best describes the action you are referencing.  If your subject was emotionally devastated by the results of the trial verdict, say so. 

Please don't do as many reporters have done: “You could tell that the defendant’s parents were impacted by the verdict.”  After twenty years of hearing that word’s overuse, I want to impact the reporter who mindlessly uses it because some professor said so, some twenty years ago.

My professors were right about words changing in usage.  Be aware of this fact in your writing. 

For example, if your story takes place in 1985, and your character admits to a mistake, he/she may say, “Oops, that was a brain fart.”  However, “My bad,” would be a timely error.

A word of caution.  Using the exact word to express action can be carried too far.  You want to give your readers enough information to allow their imagination to kick onto action, but not so much information as to rob them of a certain amount of their own mental embellishments.  For instance here is a scene  from my short story, An Affair of Honor: Margarita must confront her father, who has forbidden her to see Peter, again.  Peter, did not want to lose the woman he loved, and was worried about the outcome of a confrontation between his love and her father. “Trust me my love, your presence inside the walls of this hacienda, at this time, would be unwise and short lived.. 

 Peter, with a great dramatic flourish, and a broad smile quoted: “With love’s light

wings did I o’erperch these walls, For stony limits cannot hold love out, and what love can do, that dares love attempt.  Therefore thy kinsmen are no stop to me.”

Margarita, smiling back at him responded, “If he doth see thee, Romeo, he will fill thy butt with a 12 gauge load of rock salt!  I will call you after dinner.  Now go!”  She stood there with her hands on her hips, smiling but looking resolute.

Peter finally acquiesced.  He gave a long low bow, his left leg stretched back, and the sweeping flourish of his right hand almost touching the ground.  As he walked off toward home he continued to quote:  “Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,  that I shall say good night till it be morrow.”

Peter obviously did not want to leave, and at the same time, he didn’t want to turn the ‘amour’ of the exchange into an argument.  He had to console himself and not feel as though he was deserting her when she would need him the most.  I let the reader’s knowledge of the character complete the image.  Shakespeare, I believe, had a greater impact on the reader than any long, drawn-out narration I could devise.

            Note: this is also a strong symbolic reference.