My Glossary of Craft Terms...explained
From "violin lines" to "seven dollar words," I explain the terms I've invented to help improve your writing in practical and achievable ways.
First things first, a major thank you! I hit a milestone this weekend: we’re over twenty-thousand subscribers strong here. Which is crazy, right? Crazy in a good way. I think we’re building something special, wholesome, and empowering in this corner of the Internet and I’m honored you’re a part of it. Thank you for your support of me and my mission to help writers understand what publishing is really like and to stay true to ourselves and our writing while we chase our dreams.
While reflecting on my last two years on Substack, I realized how many terms I’ve invented to help teach the craft of writing. I thought I would take this Wednesday to round them up and define them. I hope to keep adding to this list as new ideas and phrases come to me—if you’ve heard me say something that I neglected to include here, let me know what it is and I’ll add it to the list!
Courtney’s Glossary of Craft Terms
The seven-dollar word:
This is a word (or adjective) in your creative writing, query letter, artist statement or other public-facing copy that is doing so much heavy-lifting and multitasking you’d pay seven dollars to keep it. Whether it’s refining the word “mother” to “stepmother,” “apartment” to “affordable housing,” or “bird” to “seagull,” the seven-dollar word aids in our efforts to build worlds, develop character and highlight the stakes and socioeconomic considerations of our characters.
Low-calorie vs. protein-packed writing:
Low-calorie writing is prose that exists simply to move the plot along or get a character from one place to another, while protein-packed writing advances plot, moves characters through time and space while also developing the setting, texturizing characters, revealing the stakes, creating tension and/or a certain atmosphere, or using stunning imagery to create beauty on the page.
Here’s an example of protein-packed writing from the opening line to Brit Bennett’s blockbuster novel “The Vanishing Half”:
The morning one of the lost twins returned to Mallard, Lou LeBon ran to the diner to break the news, and even now, many years later, everyone remembers the shock of sweaty Lou pushing through the glass doors, chest heaving, neckline darkened with his own effort.
Here is that same opening line from a low-calorie approach:
Lou ran into the diner hot from the heat to tell everyone what he had learned.
Both these examples have a cliffhanger (what is the news Lou has to share?) but example one reveals the novel’s stakes (one of the lost twins has returned); names the setting (Mallard); builds up a Greek chorus that is a hallmark of Bennett’s writing (“many years later, everyone remembers”); and develops character (in this case, Lou).
That’s one novel opening that is PACKED with protein!1
The double timeline:
I use this term for memoir to help writers remember that in order to get the general public interested in their stories and for the project to have narrative momentum, there should be a double timeline that fits the following two approaches: