Some Thoughts On Microstyle

Awhile back I got an email from Steve Colca, the Manager of Internet Marketing at W. W. Norton, asking me if I'd like a copy of one of their upcoming books. As you can imagine, my answer was simple but direct: Yes! So a few days later an advanced reading copy of Microstyle by Christopher Johnson arrived in my mailbox.

Now I'll be honest -- I'm mostly a fiction reader. I can put up with some nonfiction, but it's fiction that I almost always crave. Still, the idea behind Microstyle is intriguing, and I'm not just saying that because I'm the Hint Fiction guy. The truth is, microstyle is all around us, each and every day. It's so common we as a society have become pretty numb to the fact it's even there -- which makes truly effective microstyle even more impressive.

Anyway, from the book's introduction:

This is the age of the Incredible Shrinking Message. Some of the most important verbal messages we encounter are also the shortest. Headlines, titles, brand names, domain names, sound bites, slogans, taglines, catchphrases, email subject lines, text messages, elevator pitches, bullet points, tweets, and Facebook status updates are a few examples. While there are plenty of style guides to consult for writing advice, from old fogies like Strunk and White's Elements of Style to young hipsters like Constance Hale's Sin & Syntax, they don't help much with little messages like these.

Messages of just a word, a phrase, or a short sentence or two -- micromessages -- lean heavily on every word and live or die by the tiniest stylistic choices. Micromessages depend not on the elements of style but on the atoms of style. They require microstyle.

A little background on Christopher Johnson, who also goes by the moniker The Name Inspector. You see, Mr. Johnson is a independent verbal branding consultant. He has also worked for Lexicon, which is one of the top naming firms in the country. Come on, you don't think that product names like BlackBerry, Febreze, and Dasani just appear out of thin air, do you? Teams of people are assigned to different products, tasked with coming up with the perfect name. Mind you, the perfect name. It's fascinating, really, when you think about all the different products that have become synonyms with the product it's naming. Kleenex is the first to come to mind. It could be Puffs or Scotties or some other kind of facial tissue, but oftentimes if you sneeze, you might just ask for a Kleenex.

Anyway, Mad Men is mentioned briefly in the introduction, too, which is appropriate because the idea behind Microstyle is to make Don Drapers out of all of us -- of course, Don Draper also makes it look easy, which it is not.

Any writer knows the struggle with coming up with just the right words. It could be a short story or novel title -- because, let's face it, a novel title has to grab a potential reader's attention instantly -- but it also comes down to the words of the story itself.

Microstyle is broken up into four parts: Meaning, Sound, Structure, and Social Context. One of the things I found most interesting about the book was how Johnson takes ads and slogans we see every day and breaks them down and shows how and why they're effective ... and how and why some are not.

One example focuses on the idea of metonymy, which describes the real-world relations that allow for inferential and referential connections between concepts:

In 2010, I saw a billboard for 7-Eleven with the following slogan:

STUFF YOUR FACE WITH VALUE

Pictured on the billboard were two pale, unappealing lumps that I believe were microwavable burritos. That was the "value" you were supposed to stuff in your face. This ad might appeal to people who enjoy taking their meals at 7-Eleven, but it certainly doesn't appeal to me. Part of the reason stems from its peculiar use of metonymy. The word value refers to the food items that can be had at 7-Eleven. Tangible food is represented by the concept of the economic value you enjoy when you purchase it. But value, while desirable, lacks both specific sensory associations and emotional appeal.

Usually we use metonymy to make something easier to picture or to understand with our other senses. Representing the concrete in terms of the abstract works only when the abstract concept is especially interesting or emotionally powerful. A slogan like "have a bite of love" might work, because love is, metaphorically speaking, delicious. Value isn't. Taking something that really isn't delicious to begin with, and representing it with a dry, abstract concept like "value," manages to make those burritos look worse, especially since the abstract concept focuses on how little you pay for them.

Then of course there's the expression "stuff your face." It implies getting an excess of food into your stomach as quickly as possible without enjoying it. Overall, this slogan says, "Don't concern yourself with actual pleasure. Just eat some cheap crap and get it over with." Maybe this ad acknowledges the fact that people usually don't eat at 7-Eleven because they want to.

Another chapter I found quite fascinating was about making the sound fit, whereas some words have a kind of relation between sound and meaning by iconicity. Take the word whoosh for instance. It sounds just like it means. An example:

Iconicity can also be based more on the way it feels to say sounds than on what it's like to hear them. Try saying the name Mounds, for the Hershey's candy bar. You might notice that your mouth pantomimes taking a bite of something: your lips part, reach out and pull back in, and your front teeth start to come together.

There are so many other great examples to share, but you really should check out the book for yourself. It's definitely a must-read for anyone who cares anything at all for the English language. And, of course, much of the idea is the same as it is with Hint Fiction -- doing a lot with very little. I've seen countless Hint Fiction stories, and some had the potential to be great but were almost always lacking because of a misplaced word or two. That's all it takes.

Microstyle is now available in hardcover and digital from W. W. Norton.

P.S. The book got me thinking about this program my company has partnered with called CafeWell, which is "the social network to get well and stay well." Personally, I think the name is pretty bad. Because when I think of "Cafe," I think of coffee and pastries and hipsters sitting around reading pretentious poetry. So combining it with the word "Well" ... well, it just doesn't work for me.

Every Shallow Cut By Tom Piccirilli

Every hear of auteur theory? It's a film term that basically says a director's films are so unique in the way they're shot and edited and the themes they hold that anyone viewing the film without knowing who the director is beforehand will instantly know. Or something along those lines. The directors are auteurs, the authors of the work. Of course, while there are many fine directors out there, few actually have a distinct style that stand out by themselves.

The same goes for authors. There are many fine ones out there who write great books, but few have a distinct style and voice. Authors that come to mind include Elmore Leonard, T.C. Boyle, Cormac McCarthy, and Charlie Huston. And, of course, Tom Piccirilli.

I've been a fan of Tom's work for some time now. Ever since I read his novel A Lower Deep years and years and years ago. Since then he's moved away from horror and into crime with knockouts like The Dead Letters and The Midnight Road and The Cold Spot. So when I had the chance to read an early copy of his latest, Every Shallow Cut, I was thrilled.

Every Shallow Cut is a novella-length work that Tom refers to as a noirella, or noir novella, a niche he's really managed to carve for himself. I read somewhere that Tom actually prefers writing the novella (or noirella) form over others, and it shows. This noirella is about a writer who literally has nothing left to live for except maybe his companion, a dog named Churchill, as they take a road trip across the country to New York. Along the way the reader learns more about how the writer has come to this sorry and disturbing state. The story is more about self-discovery than violence, though don't worry, there is some good violence included, as evidenced by the opening when the narrator gets jumped by three methheads:

I was three days into my life as a homeless loser drifter when they broke my nose and dropped me on the street in front of a nameless pawn shop. I hit like two hundred pounds of failed dreams.

My gold band wedding ring was still on my finger, covered in spit, because I'd been trying to work it out of a ten-year groove in my flesh. My mother's beloved nineteenth-century art prints and my father's prized coin collection scattered across the cement. It's all I had left of my parents and all I had left of any value. Churchill barked like a state ward maniac, trying to work his snout through the three-inch space of open car window. He hadn't eaten today and sounded a little raw and weak.

It's in this first scene where the narrator becomes aware of the kind of violence he's capable of, and I'm not giving anything away when I tell you he kicks the shit out of the three punks. From there, he enters the pawnshop, sells everything has has, starts to leave but then goes back and buys a gun.

The rest of the noirella is a downward spiral into the narrator's despair, but what makes it great is just how raw and emotional it reads. Piccirilli writes clean and crisp sentences, not a word out of place. His style, as I mentioned above, is distinct and it clearly shows in this latest work. It's worth savoring, every word a cut into your soul.

Every Shallow Cut will be released by ChiZine Publications at the end of the month. Do yourself a favor and pre-order it now.

Mad To Live By Randall Brown

In 2008, Flume Press released a limited edition chapbook by Randall Brown called Mad To Live. It sold out almost immediately. Through the last few years I had always heard about the collection but never had a chance to read it because copies were almost impossible to come by. But everyone I talked to who had read it said it was amazing.

Before working with Randall on the Hint Fiction anthology -- his story the brilliant "Therapy Dog" -- I had only known him through the many rejections that was sent my way from SmokeLong. I think I may have read some of his work online at various places, but never had a chance to read his work together as a whole because, again, his collection had sold out. Fortunately, PS Books (a division of Philadelphia Stories) has recently rereleased the collection as a deluxe edition with "bonus tracks."

The other week at the Hint Fiction reading at the KGB Bar, Randall kindly gave me a copy of the new edition and I finally had a chance to read it over the weekend. And I'll tell you, dear blog readers, those people I talked to before? They weren't lying about how amazing it is. I knew from the very first story that this collection was going to be a keeper. How couldn't you with an opening like the one from "Little Magpie":

I find Maggie squatting on the kitchen floor beside the door to the garage. My eyes always go to her belly first, as if she swallowed a globe. There've been two miscarriages, both early. Never have we gotten so far. Then I notice she's picking something off the floor, putting it in her mouth. Get closer. They surround her. Hundreds of them. Ants. Maggie is eating ants.

A lifetime of sitcoms has prepared me for cravings -- pickles, hamburgers. Running out in the middle of the night for a pint of Haagen Daz Vanilla Swiss Almond. Strawberry Frosted Pop Tarts. But insects?

Maggie looks up. She removes the finger from her mouth. "Must be the baby," she says. Her hand follows the curve of her belly. "She wants bugs."

With the "bonus tracks," the new deluxe edition includes 22 flash fiction pieces that demand to be read again and again. I'm not joking. I've read some really great story collections in the past, and they're collections that I recommend, but very few do I feel I'll actually read through again. I immediately had this feeling with Mad to Live. Each story is so expertly crafted, characters becoming fully realized in only a page or two. Having read this book, it's no wonder that Randall is so well known for writing flash fiction. Not to sound overly cheesy, but Randall Brown was born to write flash fiction. And flash fiction, if it knows what's good for it, should be thankful.

P.S. Randall is the founder of Matter Press, which has recently published some great flash fiction and will open to submissions in the not-so-distant future.

No Shelter By Z. Constance Frost

If you write and publish a book and no one reads it, does it exist? It's a scary thought to consider but one that must be considered. But before I get into that, I wanted to say that tonight I finally watched The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I didn't care much for the book -- while I found the overall storyline really interesting, the writing was longwinded and boring -- but I really enjoyed the movie. As it's a foreign film, it was pretty explicit in parts, and I'm curious to see how much they clean it up in the American version. Everyone talks about how Lisbeth Salander is one bad ass chick, and while she certainly is, I recently read about another bad ass chick I wanted to tell you about.

Here's the description of No Shelter by Z. Constance Frost from Amazon:

Holly Lin is living two lives. To her friends and family, she's a pleasant, hardworking nanny. To her boss and colleagues, she's one of the best non-sanctioned government assassins in the world.

But when a recent mission goes wrong causing one of her team members to die, she realizes she might no longer be cut out for the work — except the mission, as it turns out, is only half over, and to complete it will take her halfway across the world and bring her face to face with a ghost from her past.

Things are about to get personal. And as Holly Lin's enemies are about to find out, she is not a nanny they want to piss off.

Not bad, right? Well what really sold me was the cover, as seen above. Apparently my friend Wyatt Perko did it. In an e-mail Z. Constance Frost told me she loved what he had done with The Silver Ring, checked out his website, and ended up contacting him about doing a cover for her book. And Wyatt, as always, came up with something really awesome. So then obviously, I told myself, I had to check out the book. I'm very glad I did.

Initially (and sheepishly) I intended on No Shelter being a "Kindle phone book." My "Kindle phone books" are the ones I read whenever I have a few spare minutes and can pull out my phone and open my Kindle app and read a chapter or two. Only sometimes I become really engrossed in the story and it takes priority over the "main book" I'm currently reading (the ones I feature on this website's sidebar). I started No Shelter last Wednesday and finished it Friday. It was fast-paced and well written with a style that reminded me of Charlie Huston with just a touch of Duane Swierczynski. Here's a part from the beginning, when the protagonist Holly Lin goes into a Las Vegas hotel for a hit:

I turn back and jump for a place just beside the door. I flick the switch for the lights just as the knob turns and the door is pushed open. I realize my heels are going to be a burden and pull them off, place the one on the floor, keep the other in my hand. I hold it with the toe pointed toward my wrist, the heel pointed out.

The door opens wider, yellow light suffusing the plush expensive carpet. The man’s silhouette holds a gun at his side.

“Jerold?” he says, caution now in his voice as he takes a step forward.

I wait for him to take another step before I lean out and swing the heel. I aim for his face but luck out and strike him in the throat. His mouth opens and his eyes go wide and his free hand goes to his neck like it will do any good, which it won’t, because I’ve driven the heel right into his larynx.

He tries raising the gun with his other hand but I grab it, turn it around so it’s aimed at his chest. I place one bullet there and push past him into the main room, see that with the four girls two men in suits have been lounging on the couches. The men are already scrambling to their feet, already reaching for their guns. I put two bullets in the one guy’s head, two bullets in the other guy’s, and then I’m running forward, the gun aimed at the guy behind the wet bar.

He ducks behind the glass, comes back up with a TEC-9, sets it on automatic and lets it rip.

I dive behind one of the couches for cover. I’m barely aware of the girls screaming and the rap music blaring and the deafening blasts of the gunfire. I eject the clip, see how many rounds I have left, pop the clip back in, rack the slide and wait a moment, a half second, before I make my move.

The guy behind the wet bar’s an idiot—he exhausts the entire clip, which gives me the chance to pop back up from behind the couch, aim and fire toward the wet bar. He sees me and ducks but I plan for that and aim low, striking him in the chest.

Two of the girls have been caught in the crossfire, their dead bodies spread out like rag dolls on the floor. The other two girls keep low with their hands on their ears, crying and screaming.

The foyer door opens and the gunfire starts up again, the guy who’d frisked me charging in with his finger pressing the trigger of his nine. I put it down to a rookie mistake—you never charge into a gunfight, not if you don’t know what’s what first—and I shoot him in the left leg twice, the guy crying out, falling, dropping his weapon.

I reach him a second later as he tries to stand back up, tries to reach for the gun. I bend down and pick his gun up, knowing he has more rounds in his piece than in mine.

His face is red. It looks like he’s hyperventilating. I should tell him to take it easy, just breathe, but instead I point his own gun at his face.

I was so impressed with this book I wondered why the author had decided to self-publish it instead of trying to go the traditional route. So I e-mailed her with this question, and after some back and forth in which I learned hardly anyone knew about the existence of this book (let alone its author), I wanted to include her answers here.

RS: As I noted, I enjoyed your book a lot. Is it really your first novel, and why did you decide to go the self-publishing route instead of going through a traditional publisher?

ZCF: Thanks again, Robert! I'm so happy you liked No Shelter. And to answer your question, no, this is not really my "first novel." I've written three other novels before this one, all which I guess would be considered "chick lit." But one day I was reading a Lee Child novel and thought it would be cool to make a female character as tough and smart as Jack Reacher. And so Holly Lin was born. It took me about six months to write it, then another six months before I managed to sign with an agent. I was thrilled but then the rejections started coming in. Basically a few editors liked it but didn't like it enough, or they liked it but didn't know how they could properly market the book. Long story short, my agent decided it was time to put the book away. And that was really disheartening, because I wrote it as the first book in a series. It wasn't like I could write the second book and try to sell that. So I decided it wouldn't hurt to self-publish it as an e-book. :-)

RS: From what you've told me, you're new to the whole social networking game, right?

ZCF: Yes, that's true. Between work and taking care of my children, I barely have enough time to write let alone try to promote myself online. But I realized that if I did self-publish this book as an e-book, I would have to make some kind of online presence. So I created a blog and got onto Facebook and that's about it. It's probably not enough but for now it's all the time I have to spare.

RS: Where does the book's title come from?

ZCF: The title is taken from a Rage Against the Machine song. If I do continue with the series (I guess it depends on how well this first book does), then I plan on titling all the books after songs. I even have the next book's title in mind, "Down in a Hole" by Alice in Chains.

RS: Final question: what does the "Z" stand for?

ZCF: Sorry, it's an old family name, and my lips are sealed. :-)

If you like fast-paced thrillers (or books with a female lead that kicks a lot of ass), I encourage you to check out No Shelter. Visit Z. Constance Frost's website for details on how you can get a free copy and a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.

P.S. On a completely different note, Ricky Gervais is awesome!

This Blog Is Not Yet Rated

The other night I had a chance to watch the documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated, which takes a very close and scrutinizing look at the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and its rating system. Basically, the system was set up so films would no longer have to be censored, only, in a way, films are being censored as a rating such as PG-13 or R or NC-17 can make or break a movie. There are no guidelines for what ratings movies get; an anonymous group of people (supposedly average American parents) watch movies and base their decisions on nothing more than their feelings. The film examines the inconsistencies displayed by the MPAA and does some investigating to find out who these anonymous people are.

Anyway, if you're a moviegoer, it's definitely worth checking out. And, of course, it made me wonder what would happen if there was such an anonymous group who rated books. Just imagine: on the back of every book, there is some kind of rating, maybe a quick description of whether or not there is foul language, nudity (?), violence, drug use, etc. (Yes, yes, children's and YA books do sometimes have suggested reader ages on the back, or at least so did some of the books I've seen.)

Except, oftentimes, it is the publishers who do the censoring. Or rather, the editors decide what needs to be taken out of a book, what might make it too racy (though there have been occurrences where booksellers, like Wal-Mart, will refuse to carry a title based on the content and sometimes even the cover, and that forces publishers to be even more hesitant about what they publish).

Then again, what does censor even mean?

Many years ago, I sold a story to an upcoming horror magazine. The pay wasn't bad (three cents per word) and I was really happy to be in the magazine to begin with. But the editor, he wanted me to change the story up a bit. Basically, despite the fact it was a horror magazine, he wanted to keep it clean in terms of language. So there had been a few F words in my story that I changed around. No big deal. I didn't feel like I was making a big sacrifice by nixing those swear words. The editor also wanted me to change a very small part, where the main character becomes aroused. I think the original wording was something like "he felt his dick hardening" and the editor wanted me to tone that down, so we went with something like "he felt himself becoming aroused." Again, no big deal. The editor wanted to publish my story. He was paying me. If he wanted me to change around a few things, no big deal. It was his magazine, after all, and truthfully, I preferred that he worked with me on changing the story around instead of just doing it himself (which some editors are known to do).

Was I being censored? No. I was being edited. The changes didn't greatly alter the story in any way. It wasn't like he wanted me to rewrite the ending and fill it with rainbows and unicorns (though that may have been interesting, now that I think about it).

Some writers in my position may have refused. It's their story, and they want it published as is. Which, obviously, is very hard-headed thinking. At a certain point, a writer has to let go of his or her work.

Of course, there is a line between editing and censoring. And trying to point out the differences between the two could open a can of worms, so I'm not even going to try. Because my interpretation of editing and censoring would no doubt differ from many others' interpretations. Like I said, some would think the editor was trying to censor me by getting rid of those F words and changing around that one sentence. I didn't see it that way. So far I don't believe I have ever been censored (well, except one time in high school, but that's a story for another time), but when the time comes, I'm confident I'll know it.

Now I leave you with a shaky video of Matt Stone explaining how they added to the sex scene in Team America knowing that the MPAA would want them to cut stuff out. Just watch, you'll see what I mean:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHHHHozaAWQ