Onomatopoeia

[David Evil Overlord]

From Wikipedia - An onomatopoeia...is a word that imitates or suggests the source of the sound that it describes.

Comic strips and comic books made extensive use of onomatopoeia....writer-artist Roy Crane (1901–1977)...pioneered the use of onomatopoeic sound effects in comics, adding "bam," "pow" and "wham" to what had previously been an almost entirely visual vocabulary. Crane had fun with this, tossing in an occasional "ker-splash" or "lickety-wop" along with what would become the more standard effects.

From Me - Just writing my first super hero fight scene for my novel, and I'm considering committing onomatopoeia. Any thoughts?

[HareBrain]

How about using onomatopoeic terms which are also brand names, the use of which to denote violence makes a satirical point about corporate responsibility?

The details I leave to you ...

[Boneman]

Nikes! He slammed into his opponent's gut.
Nestlé!! He screamed the martial arts challenge and hit back with the tinfoil-sharpened sword.

DEO: It would have to be good, not to descend into comic-book style heroics. Or is this what you intend? Using descriptive prose is hard enough, in fight scenes; can you give us an example?

[David Evil Overlord]

Alas, I have no examples...yet. A thought occured, and I wanted to run it past a quick-fire-questions-style jury of my peers to see what the verdict was. I'm trying for some humour, some drama, and not too much comic-bookness.

[Alex, The G and T]

Originally Posted by David Evil Overlord

Any thoughts?

"Sizafitz Shklortch OOT Greet. Ging Ging, Blort Whump.

Blorf Breedeeet Spaloosh. Tip-tippity tap, Stroinggoink thwak Spa-zunch."

Because no one ever did onomatopoeia quite so well as Don Martin.

[David Evil Overlord]

Too true, Alex.

[Abernovo]

One of my favourite words, and onomatopoeic, is graunch, sometimes pronounced and written scraunch - a grinding, crunching sound. If you've ever heard a rusted metal door being levered open, you'll know the sound. Onomatopoeic words are everywhere. Pop, for instance. Use them. You can always edit afterwards if you change your mind.

Aside: can't remember who came up with this definition, but -
Onomatopoeia - the sound of a cat relieving itself on a carpet.

Now you know why I don't tell jokes.

[springs]

Well I laughed.... (well, ok, sniggered....)

[Ursa major]

Ah, the sound of water hitting a sodden carpet....


(I knew there was a reason I don't keep a pet.)

[Glen]

Originally Posted by David Evil Overlord

I'm considering committing onomatopoeia. Any thoughts?

Go for it! It's a great way of getting sound into your text. I don't see enough of it. The best one I've seen recently was in Ursa Major's Tendulkar critique: "struck the ground with a great W-u-u-u-u-u-mph".

I really felt like that meteor had hit home.

[Ursa major]

Thanks, Glen.

With W-u-u-u-u-u-mph, I was also trying to capture the sound of the transition from the impact into the igniting of the landscape (by the spreading of a flammable liquid that's in the process of being ignited).

[Jake Reynolds]

Nobody has mentioned my favourite- the classic 'whoosh'.

Hmm, not sure, but I never really found most comic books onomatopeiac. In terms of 'old school' (and by this I mean the zap and kapow variety), they were used more to show impact or movement in the static context of a comic book. Has anyone ever heard anything go 'pow'?

There are others though, and modern comics (erm, sorry- graphic novels) use the device more effectively. 'Snikt' as a switchblade opens, and so on, and the lettering of the effect might be jagged, sloping left or right to denote action in that direction. I'd be careful using them in a narrative, non-visual format though, as anything uncommon will eject the reader from the story as he or she tries to work out what 'badoosh-ka thum thum thum thum ka-shnick!' sounds like, thereby ruining the flow of a fast paced, page turning action scene.

[alchemist]

Go for it, DEO. Given what we've seen of your WIP, it would seem to fit.

[Glen]

You got it! I thought that line opened up the whole scene, made it real in a direct way.

I love that with onomatooeia (took me like half a minute to type that word while I checked back with the post title for spelling) you get to make up words. It makes you work hard to think through what it sound you are trying to convey.

[David Evil Overlord]

"struck the ground with a great W-u-u-u-u-u-mph".

I do have something (okay, someone) strike the ground with a great w-u-u-u-u-umphing impact. I may have to steal that onomatopoeic word from you, Ursa.