Making Word(s) Count #2: Playing the Trump Card

Action and suspense sequences and scenes with high emotional content are among the most easily sabotaged by excess verbal baggage and convoluted sentences. So, too are sentences that are intended as “trump cards” and which are played with a flourish at the end of a scene, chapter or story. They function like the punch line in a joke, and they work only when they are punchy (concise) enough to convey their full meaning in one or two bites.

I use these a lot in my short fiction especially. My la...