#2

So, I just got home from work. It was a horribly busy day, so I got no writing done whatsoever. I did manage to read a bit though. I'm currently reading Stephen King's Lisey's Story. I am enjoying it very much.
One thing that I've noticed while reading King, is the way that each of his books has its own language, its own slang, that the reader must be introduced to as he goes along. It's like being let in on, or spying on, a marriage or a group of friends, or whoever the characters may be. Its their own little set of strange words that they use only with each other. It would be gibberish to anyone else.
Example: The husband and wife in Lisey's story say smuck instead of f**k. They also say things like strap it on, a phrase with special meaning just to them.
Why does he do it?
Well, to be honest, it's a device.
He uses it to pull you in close, allowing you in on a secret. It's to show the little things that people in relationships share with each other. The things nobody else knows. It makes things personal.
It can also make things very amusing. And humor is good, always.
No matter what genre I'm writing, making the reader smile (or laugh, which is much harder) can turn a dry page into a favorite scene.
Provoking emotion from the reader is what it's all about. It's what I strive for with every word.
Make them grin. Piss them off. Fill them with dread. Make them care. As long as they feel something, they'll keep reading. Unless the thing they feel is (oh god, please not that) bored.
Anyways, I'm thinking of trying King's secret language device in one of my books. It likely won't have the same magic as when he does it, but who knows? His writing is not some divine voice from the gods. He uses the same 26 letters of the alphabet that the rest of us use. He just arranges them a hell of a lot better than I do.
Oh, well.
I'll keep reading. And writing. Cuz that's what writers do.