Wordplay (and Its Secret Talent!)

Moving beyond dictionary definitions to dynamic interpretation

Welcome to Slant Letter’s spring seasonal intensive! Become a paid subscriber to join our close reading of Maggie Smith’s You Could Make This Place Beautiful for an editor’s annotated insights on an extraordinary memoir that all writers can learn from. Here’s what we’ve covered so far and what’s next. Join us!

1. The Art of the Caveat

2 . Details that Tell, Details that Move

3. Writing about Writing: The Thrills and the Trade-offs

4. Metaphor: What Makes It Work

5. Wordplay (and Its Secret Talent!)

6. “Stetting the Tears”: Writing About Pain

7. “The Flickering Is Yours”: Final Thoughts

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Defining your key terms as a writer can be trickier than you might think.

I know an author who wrote an entire nonfiction book about his central title concept without once defining what it was, only to realize this years after publication. What it meant was implicit and intuited, but never openly defined. Sometimes we’re just too close to things to realize the glaring omissions. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, another habit I observe frequently is defining one’s key terms by calling upon Webster’s or Dictionary.com. While defining key terms is essential, dictionary definitions are predictable and can feel patronizing, when what we’re aiming for is a fresh spark. The reader doesn’t learn anything new from these. There is no discovery, only a dry report. Much better for the writer to cast their own vision—their own slant—of their key terms than to regurgitate what the reader already knows and doesn’t need to be told.

Wordplay is here to help in this process, and the creative canon of possibilities within wordplay is endless. Exploring etymology, crafting rhyme or rhythm, or using the techniques of alliteration, puns, double entendre, juxtaposition, or metaphor are all expressions of wordplay. Ultimately, wordplay is about getting curious and finding connections. Good wordplay has layers. It must bring new dimension and fresh discovery. It must not report what is self-evident.

So today we’re turning to Maggie Smith’s You Could Make This Place Beautiful to see how to move beyond dictionary definitions to dynamic interpretation. Plus: the secret talent of wordplay that ever writer needs to know!