This is a term much heard in connection with movies, but literary agents also use it: I love high-concept books. A lot of the books I read and represent are high concept and get a lot of film interest. I define high concept as a premise that can be boiled down into one sentence and … Read more
Henry Preston writes: Please, please, help nip this malapropism in the bud: “Pre-Madonna.” I’m not kidding, I’ve seen this twice in the past few weeks on comment boards. prima donna [prē’mə dŏn’ə] (“pree muh don uh”) is an Italian term translated literally as “first lady.” In the music world, a prima donna is the best … Read more
The first time I heard the expression “al-Qaeda franchise,” I ran to the dictionary. Surely, I thought, that can’t be a correct use of the word franchise. The word franchise can be used with more than one meaning, of course. When we say that American women obtained the franchise in 1920, we mean that they … Read more
Greg Landretti asks: How about “inhibit” versus “prohibit”? The first definition of inhibit in the OED gives “prohibit” as a synonym: inhibit: trans. To forbid, prohibit, interdict (a person) Several of the illustrations show inhibit being used where a modern writer would probably use prohibit. Here’s one: By expresse words he was inhibited to beare … Read more
My ears pricked up when I heard the local weatherman say that rain was expected to “invade into the River Valley.” Why, I wondered, hadn’t he said that rain was expected to “invade the River Valley? The verb invade includes the sense of “into.” invade: transitive verb. to enter in a hostile manner, or with … Read more
The term log line (also spelled log-line and logline) is usually associated with movies, but the wise novelist will learn how to write one. In the context of writing (as opposed to measuring a ship’s rate of speed), a log line is the succinct summary of a story. According to the Wikipedia article, The log … Read more
In response to a recent post, several readers commented that the word sin has some connection to an archery term for “missing the mark.” The connection is a tenuous one. The Greek word hamartia can mean “missing the mark” in the sense that an arrow misses its target. Aristotle used the word in Poetics to … Read more
A novelist of my acquaintance insists that the only way to estimate the number of words in a book is to multiply the number of pages by 250. That was the formula in the good old days when Courier was the only typeface and typewriters were King. Now we have computers and word processing software. … Read more
A reader says I get blatantly and patently confused, always thinking that blatantly (obvious) is about the argument being very clear, however in the media I hear patently? The adverb patently [pāt’nt-lē] means “openly, obviously, clearly.” It derives from the noun patent [Br pāt’nt, US păt’nt], a term that originally referred to an “open” letter … Read more
The adjectives errant and arrant have been mixed up for centuries, but modern usage prefers to keep them apart. errant: itinerant, traveling This is the sense present in the term knight errant. The knight roams around looking for maidens to rescue, dragons to slay. Errant is often used to refer to something that has gone … Read more
memoir: Autobiographical observations; reminiscences. Anyone can write a memoir. From what I can tell, just about everyone is writing a memoir. ANGELINA Jolie is writing her memoirs. Denise Richards to Pen a Memoir The creative director of Vogue, Grace Coddington, is working on her memoirs Charlie’s Angels star Kate Jackson is writing her memoirs Justin … Read more
A reader asks for a definition of “besetting sin.” What … is a “besetting sin?” Are there different types of sin, or is sin an inclusive? What is sin anyway? Does it have anything to do with missing the bull’s eye? Theologically speaking, sin is a transgression of divine law and an offense against God. … Read more