Target Skills
Adding Creativity and
Personality to a Paper.
Strong Verbs
Strong Verbs are verbs (an action… what you
do) that add information and paint a
picture in the reader’s mind. Example….
WEAK…
STRONG!
The bunny went across the field.
The bunny scampered across the field.
Other Examples:
raced
crawled
danced
skipped
flew
bolted
zig-zagged
hopped
The Dog Ate the Bone
By Melissa Forney
The dog ATE the bone.
Don’t you think that’s kind of weak?
The verb here is “ate”
But it needs a little tweak.
The doge ATE the bone,
Let’s try another verb.
One that’s really fun to write,
One that’s quite superb.
The dog could DEVOUR the bone,
NIBBLE, GNAW, or MUNCH it.
The dog could SNARK-UP the bone,
GOBBLE, BITE, or CRUNCH it.
The dog could CONSUME the bone,
Oh yes, that dog could do it,
INHALE the bone, IMPALE the bone,
SWALLOW, GULP, or CHEW it.
So when you’re writing to impress,
Don’t use a verb that fizzles.
Think of every word you know,
And give me one that sizzles
Strong Verb Examples
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
anticipated
dreaded
drooped
manipulated
magnified
vindicated
twitched
meandered
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
karate-chopped
mystified
oozed
frolicked
evaporated
disciplined
blasted
Juicy Colors
• Juicy color words are names of
specific colors.
For example:
The pistachio green bug skidded
across the crystal clear water.
BUT WATCH OUT! Make sure they
sound natural. Don’t overuse them!
Example Juicy Colors
• cherry red
• robin’s egg
blue
• fluorescent
yellow
• pistachio
green
• eggplant
• marigold
• caution
orange
• coffee brown
• charcoal
• raven
• eggshell
• pearl
Example Super-Star
Colors
Super Star
• rainbow
• dalmation
• camouflage
• hologram
• tutti-fruiti
• Neapolitan
• iridescent
• Peppermint
• Chocolate chip
• Pimento cheese
• Plaid
• Polka dot
• calico
Metallic
• gold
• silver
• platinum
• bronze
• copper
• steel
Skin Tones
• ivory
• peaches n’cream
• bronze
• café-au-lait
• mahogany
• ebony
Jewel Tones
• diamond
• emerald
• sapphire
• topaz
• ruby
• citrine
Similes
•
Similes compare two or more
things using “like” or “as” in your
sentence.
For example:
1. “My little brother is as clumsy as a
bull in a china shop when he runs
through my room!”
2. “The sunset looks like a dazzling
watercolor painting.”
Onomatopoeia
• Onomatopoeia are sound
effects words. These are often
the favorites of students.
BANG!
RIIIINNNG!
WOW!
ZING!
CHOO-CHOO!
Onomatopoeia
By Melissa Forney
Onomatopoeia,
My, what a word!
It means every sound effect
You have ever heard.
Crash, crunch, zing, zip,
Meow, munch, roar, rip
Sizzle, crackle, splat, kerplunk
Bang, clank, woof, thunk
Hiss, whiz, oink, moo,
Sniff, snap, cough, achoo,
Dong, ding, pong, ping,
Bong, bing, zap, zing!
I think that when
You’ve read this list
You’ll get the main idea…
All these crazy sound effects
Are onomatopoeia!
Once you learn to say that word
You kind of want to yell it,
But even though you yell the word
But even though you yell the word
I bet you cannot spell it!
You can learn to spell this word
In just a single day…
O-N-O-M-A-T-O-P-O-E-I-A
Specific Emotion Words
• Specific emotion words are
words that tell the reader
exactly how someone feels.
Instead of I felt really
good…..say….
“I felt proud and helpful, like I had
contributed something.”
Specific Emotion Word
Examples
POSITIVE
• accepted
• affirmed
• cherished
• empowered
• praised
• sympathetic
• uplifted
• honored
NEGATIVE
• agitated
• bedraggled
• bewildered
• chastised
• disgusted
• hesitant
• humiliated
• rebellious
• perplexed
Sensory Words
Sensory words pinpoint the exact
sense, or sensation, you are
talking about.
• Instead of “I didn’t eat my
sandwich, because it tasted
bad”…. Say…
“I didn’t eat my sandwich,
because it tasted stale.”
Sensory Word Examples
SIGHT
• Crystal
clear
• Opaque
• Murky
• Psychedelic
• Stained
• transparent
SMELL
• antiseptic
• decayed
• earthy
• grassy
• mildewy
• pungent
• Salty
• smoky
SOUND
• clinking
• grating
• moaning
• revving
• rustling
• screeching
• sputtering
TOUCH
• bristly
• brittle
• pleated
• sandy
• starchy
• sticky
• velvety
TASTE
• burnt
• bubbly
• oily
• rancid
• Sour
• Sugary
• fresh
Metaphors
Super
Creativity
Alert!
Metaphors are tools authors use to make rich
comparisons between things that ordinarily
wouldn’t be connected.
“The tornado became a raging bull, smashing
everything in its path.”
“All animals fear the lion, the king of the jungle, who
stalks and kills at will.”
“Sky jewels twinkled overhead in the night sky with
elegant splendor.”
An easy way to create one is to start with a noun or
object and state that it became something else,
like in the first example.
Transitional Words
Transitional words and phrases keep
our thoughts from sounding choppy
or disjointed.
It’s like dominoes when they are
knocked down. They make the
whole story flow together one after
the other from beginning to end.
Paragraph with
Transitions
My brothers and sister and I have
certain jobs we do to help the rest of the
members of our family. For example, my
main job each week is keeping our van
clean. By the way, that’s a big job, let me
tell you you. To begin with, I have to clean
out all of the trash! Just think about it, I
have to touch the rotten, decaying food
while lugging it out to the street. You have
to admit, that’s a pretty nasty job.
Example Transitional
Words
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Afterward,
At the same time,
Consequently,
Gradually,
I’ll be the first to
admit,
Incidentally,
Naturally,
Simply stated,
In retrospect,
• To illustrate,
• There is no doubt
that…
• Since,
• Once again,
• Specifically,
• Suddenly
• Without warning,
• On the other hand,
Dialogue
• Writing down what people say is called dialogue. It
can be a complete sentence or a word or two.
• Dialogue is like jewelry or diamonds on someone at
church or some place formal. A little bit is just
enough. You don’t want to be the old lady wearing
gobs of jewelry… it’s overdone and gaudy!
• THE KEY is to sound NATURAL! It’s okay to not use
complete sentences or phrases if that’s the way
someone really speaks!
• Anytime a new person speaks, start a new
paragraph.
Example paragraph
Toni cradled the horse’s head in
her arms and whispered softly into
his ear. “Hey, Boy…hey. I love you.
Know that?” His wide, liquid eyes
never left hers. “And don’t worry,
cause I’m never going to sell you.
I’m never going to leave you. He
nuzzled her hand. “Yeah… You
understand, don’t you, Boy.”
Punctuating Dialogue
• Use quotation marks to surround spoken
words.
• Put all punctuation marks inside the quotation
marks.
• Indent each time someone new is speaking.
Example:
“I think it’s too cold to go skating on the
pond today.”
“Me, too! Let’s go get some hot
chocolate.”
“Maybe the weather will be warmer
tomorrow.”
Tagged Dialogue
• If an author wants you to know
who’s talking, they ‘tag’ the dialogue
with something like, he said or she
said or use a name like, Mike said.
Examples:
“I don’t know what to do about the
gorilla under my bed,” he said.
Stan asked, “Are you nagging me?”
Special Tags
• It’s boring to write ‘said’ all the
time. Special tags use strong
verbs instead.
Example:
• “I’m not going to eat the rest of
my dinner,” she whined.
Examples of Special
Tags
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Accused
Admitted
Answered
Begged
Babbled
Claimed
Commented
Congratulated
Declared
Cried
Echoed
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Expressed
Giggled
Implored
Lectured
Laughed
Objected
Pleaded
Proposed
Rambled
Raved
Sassed
snickered
Take-Away Endings
• Takeaway is one or two
sentences that tell the reader
what the main character
learned, or how his life has
changed.
Example: “I’ll never forget this
place as long a I live.”
Example Take-Aways
1. My close call with a giant alligator has
certainly taught me not to dangle my feed in
the water while canoeing.
2. Getting that little puppy for my birthday has
changed my life. I now have a lifelong friend
who loves me, just for being me.
3. You can be sure that I won’t be playing around
lawn mowers after my long day in the
Emergency room.
4. Now I know, even an alien from outer space
needs a friend.
5. In retrospect, cleaning my room wasn’t such a
bad idea after all.