POW

Posted: November 9, 2008 | Author: | Filed under: Humor | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

As authors, sometimes it seems as though we have our own language. We discuss items such as POV (point of view), show vs. tell, dialogue tags, hooks, and an endless list of writerly terms.

 

Sometimes, we even confuse ourselves. Here is a snippet of a conversation several of our authors recently had.

 

Writer A: It started with that “Pow” about three pages of “pow” at that, and then had 100 pages of drivel and boring characters.. .yeah, 100 pages before I gave up.

 

Writer B: That is to say that I’ve yet to start one with that “pow”. To me personally as a reader and writer that’s not that important to me, but I have found myself moving that “pow” forward in the story.

 

Writer A: And the “pow” doesn’t have to be a spectacular fight scene or sex on the beach or anything else that might be put in there for shock value so the reader will continue to read. Sometimes all it takes to wow
someone with a “pow” is a clever turn of phrase or a universal question to which they want the answer.

 

Writer C: Help me out here ladies.. I know POV but haven’t heard POW, well
prisoner of war, but I don’t think that applies here.

 

Writer D: Pow,, as in impact. momentum. It took me awhile too because it was capitalized lol!

 

Writer A: That’s why I put it in quotes and made the reference to the old Batman series. You know, when they flashed the words “pow” and such to convey impact, usually a fist to a face, as in a fight.

 

Writer D: You know we are all dropped into all of the jargon so much that it makes our heads spin. At times, we forget what normal words like POW really are!

 

Writer A: Sometimes I just forget myself. I never even thought that anyone would misinterpret the word “pow” for an acronym like POV. Must remember not to post these things so early in the morning before the brain is caffeine-induced. On further thought, I realize that I should’ve covered my blunder by making up an acronym. Maybe I should’ve said it stood for something like “Powerful Optical Writing.” Anyone else care to take a crack at it?

 

 

So we did, and this is the list we came up with:

 

Powerfully Observant Witticisms

Push Over Writers

Pull Out Whips

Prolifically Over Written

Please Offer Words

Praise Often Warranted

Promising Optimistic Wisdom

Potentially Oscar Worthy

Probably Often Wrong

Positively Outlaw Whining

 

Our male publisher spouted off with “Wait a minute–you mean is doesn’t stand for “Power of Women?”

 

To which the reply was… “… you come face to face with POW–the Power of Women and then go off in a corner no one cares about so long as it is no where near us and POW–Pout or Whine. We simply use POW, the Power of Wisdom, and close and lock the door…

 

So, what kind of POW can you come up with?