Euphonics For Writers: Professional Techniques for Fiction Authors

Writer's Craft #15

by Rayne Hall, Hanna-Riikka Kontinaho (Illustrator)

Learn how to touch your readers' subconscious with subtle tricks. Certain sounds have certain effects on the psyche. By using words which include those sounds, you influence how the reader feels. Euphonic techniques are popular in poetry, but seldom used in prose. This guide shows how you can apply them to make your prose fiction sparkle. For the purpose of this book, I define euphonics as the use of sound devices for prose writing. Poets, musicians and special effects engineers have their own definitions. I'll show you which sounds to apply to manipulate your reader's psyche the way you want. You'll learn how to impress your readers with power, how make their hearts race with urgency, how to creep them out and how let them linger in a sensual scene. Part 1 is a thesaurus of sound effects where you can look up the best sounds to enhance the mood of your scene. In Part 2, you'll learn how and when to apply the sounds and how to combine them with rhythm for best effect. This book isn't meant as a definitive scholarly tome for academics, but a practical kit for working authors who want to refine their voice. I'll avoid literary theory and grammatical jargon. Instead, I'll give you useful tools. Novice writers can have inspiring fun playing with euphonics. In the hands of skilled writers - for whom this guide is intended - euphonics are power tools. Euphonics can't replace basic fiction crafting skills, but they can add impact and polish to a well-written piece. In print, the effects are very subtle, serving only to enhance what’s already there, and need to be combined with other techniques. But if you plan to perform author readings or release an audiobook, the euphonics will hold listeners enthralled with poetic power. I'm writing in British English. Some spellings, grammatical rules and word choices differ from American English, but the euphonic effects are the same. Now open your manuscript draft to give it that special polish.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference, Crafts

116 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 24, 2015

About the author

Rayne Hall writes fantasy and horror fiction, some of it quirky, most of it dark. She is the author of over sixty books in different genres and under different pen names, published by twelve publishers in six countries, translated into several languages. Her short stories have been published in magazines, e-zines and anthologies.

After living in Germany, China, Mongolia and Nepal, she has settled in a small Victorian seaside town in southern England. Rayne holds a college degree in publishing management and a masters degree in creative writing. Over three decades, she has worked in the publishing industry as a trainee, investigative journalist, feature writer, magazine editor, production editor, page designer, concept editor for non-fiction book series, anthology editor, editorial consultant and more. Outside publishing, she worked as a museum guide, apple
picker, tarot reader, adult education teacher, trade fair hostess, translator and belly dancer.

Currently, Rayne Hall writes fantasy and horror fiction and tries to regain the rights to her out-of-print books so she can republish them as e-books.

Her books on the writing craft (Writing Fight Scenes, Writing Scary Scenes, The Word-Loss Diet, Writing Dark Stories, Writing About Villains, Writing Short Stories to Promote Your Novel, Writing About Magic, Twitter for Writers) are bestsellers.


Rayne Hall is the editor of the Ten Tales anthologies:
"Bites: Ten Tales of Vampires"
"Scared: Ten Tales of Horror"
"Haunted: Ten Tales of Ghosts"
"Cutlass: Ten Tales of Pirates"
"Beltane: Ten Tales of Witchcraft"
"Spells: Ten Tales of Magic"
"Undead: Ten Tales of Zombies"
"Seers: Ten Tales of Clairvoyance"
"Dragon: Ten Tales of Fiery Beasts"
"Cogwheels: Ten Tales of Steampunk"
with more titles coming soon.


The stories in her Six Scary Tales series and the Thirty Scary Tales collection are subtle horror: suspenseful, creepy atmospheric, unsettling. Although they contain little violence and gore, they may not be suitable for young readers. Many of these stories have been previously published in other books or magazines.

British English: All Rayne Hall's books use British words, spellings, grammar and punctuation. If you're allergic to British English, avoid them. ;-)

Mailing list:
http://eepurl.com/boqJzD

Website: http://sites.google.com/site/raynehal...

YouTube "Ten Random Facts about Rayne Hall" (2 minute video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXR4T...

Contact Rayne Hall on Twitter
@RayneHall follows back writers and readers. http://twitter.com/RayneHall

Reviews

[Don Gerstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Euphonics for Writers” is another solid writing guide from Rayne Hall. The book is a short, easy read filled with powerful information and guaranteed to put additional punch in your prose.

Part 1 examines the sounds of the English language, how a writer can affect the mood of a scene simply by being aware of the importance of those sounds. Ms. Hall offers plenty of examples, making each chapter easy to understand without becoming too clinical.

Part 2 addresses the issues that can negatively affect an author’s work, demonstrating tools like alliteration, backloading, and sentence length.

Part 3 is not officially in the Table of Contents, though it certainly would have been appropriate when Ms. Hall served up an opportunity to test our new skills. Immediately following the “test,” she shares two stories of her own to demonstrate the use of the tools explained in the book.

Unlike other Rayne Hall books, this should not end up on your reference shelf. Well, at least not immediately, not until it’s been properly dog-eared and the information a part of your everyday writer’s toolbox. Five stars.

[Rosie Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winning book from Rayne Hall's Writer's Craft series. As Rayne explains this book is about learning how to touch your reader's subconscious with subtle tricks. There are sounds which effect our psyche and choosing which words you write can influence how a reader feels. This can then enhance the reading experience and may lead to a positive review of your book.

Set in two parts, part 1 deals with the different feelings and sounds letters of the alphabet make to our subconscious. For instance words with "m" are warm and motherly and make us feel cosy, roll these words over in your head; Mother, warm, comfy, welcome, how did they make you feel?

Part 2 deals with sound placement and writing rhythm. Rayne discussed alliteration, consonance & assonance, sentence lengths, starter words, the use of repetition of words, asyndeton & polysyndeton (how to make a piece of writing fast or slow paced)

Even though I am not writing a book at the moment, I am excited to try out some of these techniques in simple everyday pieces I write.

[Akhil Jain · Rating 5 out of 5]

reco by https://thewritepractice.com/writing-...

My fav quotes (not a review):
- "'B' FOR BOLDNESS, BRUTALITY AND BULLYING- assertive, aggressive behaviour. Many English words with 'B' suggest a comedic element: bumble, stumble, bungle, slob, brag, jumble, fumble, embarrass, imbibe, blush, shambles, slobber, gobble, blob, burlesque, gambol, buffoon. 'B' also hints at round shapes, large objects and overweight bodies: ball, globe, barrel. Usage examples: the drinkers sit between the beer barrels rather than among the casks of ale. A plump woman may be big-bosomed rather than large-chested. Instead of devouring the steamed cauliflower, the characters gobble up the boiled broccoli."
- "'CH' AND 'J' FOR CHEER AND JOY: characters may enjoy a joint of beef, a jug of ale and a juggling display, rather than a rib of beef, a bottle of beer and a dance show. They may celebrate the jubilee in January rather than the anniversary in November."
- "The 'D' sound creates a dejected mood: down, dump, dejected, dead, damp. After the fight is lost, the surviving loser may not limp off the battlefield past corpses and collapse in a wet trench, but drag himself past dead bodies until he collapses in a damp ditch."
- "'EE' FOR CREEPINESS AND FEAR: your heroine drinks tea rather than hot chocolate in the castle's keep, and on the steep slopes graze sheep, not cows."
- "'F' FOR SUPERFICIAL FLOURISHES AND FRIVOLOUS FUN: flowery frock rather than a printed. She might even flutter her fan to seek a flirtation. At the church fête, you can find fast food stalls, a raffle, lots of flags and perhaps a children's fancy dress competition. The thief filches a flask rather than steals a bottle."
- "The 'G' sound adds a layer of unpleasantness and disgust: greasy, gloom, grime, glum, gloom, gall, guts, greed, there's a gurgle in the kitchen sink's downpipe, green goo oozes from the plughole... and a tentacle wriggles out. The prisoner gropes her way through the dark, touching soggy straw and a greasy pillow."
- "'H' FOR HIGH PLACES: the character hears heavenly tunes. Instead of wishing to go back, he hopes to go home.”
- "I: The short 'I' sound indicates something small: wisp, bikini, hint, whiff, little, belittle, thin, skinny, itsy-bitsy, mini”
- "The 'L' sound conveys idleness and slow relaxation: slow, idle, lazy, leisure, mellow, lie, linger, loll, relax, pleasant, pillow, laid-back. It also evokes erotic pleasures and desires: sensuality, lick, lap, tickle, leer, lecherous, lips, labia, lesbian, lust, lascivious. It may also suggest a passive, unresisting nature: pliant, flexible, yielding, comply. Linger on yellow pillows instead of red cushions,"
- "'K' FOR CUTS, CLAWS AND ATTACKS: under attack, the character doesn't hide behind the trailer, but ducks behind the cart. Instead of gripping the knife, he clutches it.”
- "'M' FOR MOTHER, MELANCHOLY, HOME AND COMFORTS: warm meal at home, rather than a hot supper in his house. He sits in the armchair with a mug of mulled wine, rather than on the couch with a cup of hot spiced wine."
- "'O/OH' evokes loyalty, nobility and heroism: honour, glory, noble, hero, throne: if there's music when the beloved heir to the throne dies, a lone oboe playing a slow melody works better than if a saxophone band plays the same tune. The hero may march through the snow-laden storm to meet his foe, rather than through the wet wind to face his enemy."
- "'OO' AND 'OW' FOR SPOOKS, FOREBODING, GLOOM AND DOOM: clouds waft past the moon, and an owl hoots. On the mound behind the school house"
- "'P' FOR MASCULINITY, POWER AND PRIDE: "The entrance to the court of law doesn't have columns on either side of the door, but pillars flanking the portal. The heroine doesn't pull herself from the villain's clasp and dash across the alley, but she tears herself from his grip and races across the road."
- "'R' sound emphasise the speed: hurry, rush, race, run, rapid, scurry, rip, flurry. the character may whisper secrets to his sibling, rather than confide them to his brother."
- "'SL' Sounds ● to hint at underhanded methods and unethical attitudes. Slivers of glass instead of glass shards, slinging a brick instead of throwing,"
- "'TR' AND 'T+R' FOR TRICKERY, BREWING TROUBLE AND TERRIBLE WEATHER: The characters trek along the trail in search of the treasure, rather than hike along the path seeking a hoard."
- "'W' OVERWHELMING FORCES, WILD WEATHER AND ANYTHING WET: The breeze doesn't lash the forest, it whips through the wood. He wakes with a woozy head, puzzled about how he came to be in this place."
- "For example, your scene about a heroic deed could have paragraphs ending with 'foe' "and 'blown', while paragraphs in a creepy scene might end in 'squeal' and 'scream'."
- "A leader rallying followers for a cause (consider layering with 'O' sounds). Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek”
- "Internalisations - the character plans or assesses the situation For internalisation, consider repeating the word 'if'. This is perfect when the PoV is plotting a hare-brained scheme, or is taking her chances against great odds, If the guard took his lunch-break early, and if he left his keys on the table, and if she could reach far enough through the bars to grab them, then she would escape."
- "Let's say the character is in a hurry. Instead of writing 'He did everything as fast as he could' or 'She was in a terrible rush', create a list—and leave out the word "'and'. Picture books, dolls, crayons, cuddly toys—she tossed everything into the trunk and slammed the lid."
- "The best place to insert a sentence about smells is immediately after the Point-of-View (PoV) character has arrived at a new location. The place reeked/stank of XX and YY. The odours of XX and YY mingled with the smells of CCC and DDD. Her nostrils detected a whiff of XX beneath the smells of YY and CCC. The smell of XX warred with the stronger odour of YY. The air was rich with the scents of XX and YY. The smell of XX failed to mask the stench of YY. The stench of XX hit him first, followed by the odour of YY. Beneath the scent of XX lay the more ominous odours of YY and CCC. The scents of XX and YY greeted her. The smells of XX and YY made his mouth water. He braced himself against the stink of XX and YY."

[C. Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are used to thinking about the subtle shades of meaning different words for the same thing possess. Could part of the difference between homonyms be the sounds that make up these words? The science of euphonics proposes that the sounds used to pronounce words create different emotional responses, and that these responses are predictable. This is one of the most subtle and subconscious ways to manipulate what your reader feels as they read.

As with all of Rayne Hall's writing books, the advice is easy, clear, and actionable. You can read this book in an afternoon and use the technique the next day.

[Juliet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though I taught writing at the college level for 35 years, including fiction writing, and published Novel Basics, an Illustrated Guide to Writing a Novel, I learned some very useful things about style from Rayne Hall's Euphonics for Writers. I especially enjoyed the thesaurus section which presents the effects of sounds like B for Boldness, Brutality and Bullying. Her examples of what you might want and not want to do in certain fictional situations are very well chosen. And I loved the pen and ink sketches of kitties. I highly recommend Euphonics for Writers to all fiction writers.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a writer this book does help out. I've taken out most of these books through this series so through the next couple of days/weeks these will be my reads. Which also helps considering it is nonfiction November.

[Sandra Fowlks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Euphonics For Writers was Euphoric !

Good book for exploring better words to use in your writing. I loved that the author included two examples from her personal writing to support the ways to tweak your writing.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This writing guide was so helpful and concise. Rayne Hall discusses techniques which are largely absent from other books on writing technique. I’ll definitely be looking into other books from the Writer’s Craft series!

[Holly Doherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every book in this series is a quick and easy read. It helped me while editing a few key scenes in my memoir. It's broken down by letter, which makes it easy to navigate, with cross references for adding two letter sounds together to amplify impact. I only wish there were more letters described.

[Preethi Venugopala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good tips.

[Debbie Lukas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rayne Hall's collection are a must for every genre of writer, clear, concise and to the point, I can see how my own writing has grown and improved.

[Zara West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another short, helpful Rayne Hall book.

[Jonathan Fesmire · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a writer, are you having difficulty getting your craft to a more advanced level? Most books for writers focus on the basics: story structure, character creation, and smooth prose. Many of us master those and crave further instruction to speed up our progress.

Enter Rayne Hall’s Writer’s Craft series, books for journeyman and master authors seeking advanced techniques.

Euphonics for Writers is as advanced as they come. People unconsciously draw meaning from the sounds of speech. A frightening graveyard versus a spooky cemetery. A goofy idiot versus a bumbling buffoon. By purposefully layering in euphonics, you can punch up your prose like a poet. The book goes into the implications of various phonemes, and while I’ve alluded to alliteration here, Euphonics for Writers covers many other ways to weave meaning-bearing sounds into your books.

Rayne Hall also covers how to do so with subtlety. Rhymes are inspiring in poetry, but sounds silly in prose, so you’ll learn how to create mood with sound without bringing on laughter, unless you want to.

I enjoyed this book very much and have been using its tips while editing the final draft of my current novel. To me, that’s really what Euphonics for Writers is about: putting the final shine on an already good story.

[J. d'Merricksson · Rating 5 out of 5]

***I purchased a copy of this book for my own enjoyment, and with no expectation of a review.***

Rayne Hall’s Euphonics for Writers, the fifteenth offering in her Writer’s Craft series, is a wonderful addition to any writer’s palette, be they beginners to the craft or well-established in it. I snagged this book because I am always on the lookout for new writingcraft books, and I found the topic interesting. I was aware of some of the topics covered, but didn't know there was a name for it!

The book starts with a sound thesaurus, offering certain sound categories, and the situations they are best used in. Later sections cover things such as alliteration, consonance, assonance, onomatopoeia, and when to use them, as well sentence/paragraph structuring, length, rhythm, pacing, repetition, and how to avoid dissonance. Clear examples are given for each topic, and, as a bonus, the book is littered with adorable cartoon kitties that help demonstrate certain tools, and bring a smile to the face.

If you want to add a top-notch resource to your writingcraft library, look no further. Hall’s Euphonics for Writers is sure to help make your writing sing with new life.

[Michele Cacano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's the thing: Short, simple, and useful lists of sound words and word sounds that subtly enhance your writing? Yes, please!

The way our brain processes certain repeated phrasing and alliteration can influence our opinions of what we're reading. This book is essentially a dictionary of what sounds evoke in readers, and how to implement these techniques.

Two creepy stories are added at the end, to illustrate the techniques presented.

I want to memorize this book!

[Janice Spina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful tips for authors!

Euphonics for Writers is a wonderful resource for writers of fiction. The author demonstrates her skills through words and examples of how to use these different words and/or sounds in each type of scene.

At the end of the book she has written short stories using her methods of word types and sounds to capture the attention of the reader.

[Jo Blackburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great help

So far all of of the books in this series have helped me improve my writing skills. The examples in this book got my creative juices flowing again. Thank you

[Amanda Woolard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains helpful techniques for writing. The author shares two short stories, and one is rather gory.