Imagine a ladder.
There.
This ladder represents language, and word choices. At the bottom, there are specific names — Rubbermaid bowl, Epson 3-way printer, Sony TV, James Harrison. One step up from that are “harsh” words — duck, chair, knife, and so forth. Tangible items. At the top of the ladder, there are loftier word choices — Heaven, freedom, distraction. There are rungs between these two extremes, becoming more concrete with each downward step. For example:
Heaven–>Sweet–>Candy–>Chocolate–>Chocolate bar–> Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups.
I moved from a lofty idea down to a specific.
This is called the Ladder of Abstraction. There are two ways to use this writer’s tool. When writing, especially in non-fiction formats, it is best to use as many specifics as possible. This gives your writing a very powerful feel. You are not a floppy writer. You know what you are talking about. Use that expertise, and let others know you have it. Which would you rather read?
The dog came to its owner.
The large black lab, Buddy, came rushing towards his surprised owner, tail wagging and mud flying.
See what I mean? The second option gives life and personality to what could have been a very boring read.
The second way to use the ladder of abstraction is to scale up and down the rungs throughout your writing. This can either happen gracefully:
Heaven, through its promises of eternity, has turned us all into backstabbing hypocrites. Knives, guns, and curses where we should see bibles and hymns.
Or not so gracefully:
Life is a series of twists and turns. He dreamed of peace and love, of freedom, but was faced with the cold reality of the smoking rubble where his city once stood. Torn and raveged bodies littered the streets.
These short passages both wander the ladder, making them more effective. If I had written them all on one level or the other, they would not be nearly as compelling. In the second passage, making the sudden transition between peace and love to death and bombed remnants will encourage the reader to take notice. They weren’t expecting that turn of events.
I challenge you to take a few extra minute today, or over the weekend, to experiment with this a bit. See how the ladder can improve your writing. Play for a while, and have some fun. Let me know how it goes. 