Craft Lexicon

A curated list of craft terms we use in ENG 205. Each term includes: Definition → Why It Matters → Test → Use.

Voice & POV

Cadence Control

DEF Deliberate manipulation of sentence rhythm through length, punctuation, and syntax to match emotional temperature or pacing needs.

WHY Cadence is the invisible current beneath prose. Fast cadence (short sentences, hard stops) ratchets tension. Slow cadence (long, winding clauses) creates space for reflection or dread.

TEST Read a paragraph aloud. Does the rhythm match the emotional stakes? If a character is panicking, are the sentences short and sharp? If they're reflecting, do the sentences breathe?

USE In a high-tension scene, cut sentence length by 30%. In a reflective passage, stretch one sentence across 3-4 clauses to slow the reader down.

Filter-Verb Pruning

DEF Removing "filter verbs" (saw, felt, heard, thought, wondered, realized, noticed) that distance the reader from direct experience.

WHY Filter verbs put a screen between the reader and the character's experience. "She felt the cold" is weaker than "The cold bit her fingers." Close POV doesn't need these filters—we're already inside the character's head.

TEST Search your draft for "felt," "thought," "saw," "heard." Circle every instance. Can you cut the filter and show the experience directly?

USE Replace "She thought about leaving" with "She could leave. Right now. The door was ten feet away." Replace "He felt angry" with "His jaw tightened."

Focalization & Psychic Distance

DEF The degree of closeness between reader and character consciousness. Close distance = internal access (thoughts, feelings). Far distance = external observation (action, dialogue, gesture).

WHY Distance controls intimacy and tension. Too close, and the prose feels over-explained. Too far, and the reader loses emotional connection. The best writers shift distance deliberately.

TEST Pick a paragraph. Is it close (internal monologue, free indirect discourse) or far (camera-eye observation)? Does the distance match the scene's function?

USE Pull back to far distance during action scenes to keep pace fast. Move to close distance for moments of realization or emotional turning points—but don't stay there long.

Character

Talking-Past

DEF Dialogue where characters pursue different (often conflicting) goals in the same conversation, creating subtext and tension.

WHY Real conversations are sites of misaligned desire. One person wants reconciliation; the other wants to leave. One wants answers; the other wants to avoid. Talking-past creates micro-tension in every exchange.

TEST In a dialogue scene, ask: What does Character A want? What does Character B want? Are they different? If they're aligned, the scene is probably flat.

USE Character A asks, "Are you okay?" Character B answers, "Did you pay the electric bill?" They're talking past each other—A wants emotional connection, B wants to avoid it. The subtext is the real conversation.

Gesture-Against-Words

DEF Physical action that contradicts or complicates what a character says, revealing internal conflict or dishonesty.

WHY Bodies betray. A character can lie with words, but a gesture tells the truth. This creates dramatic irony and deepens characterization without exposition.

TEST Find a moment where a character says something important. What is their body doing? If the gesture matches the words, you're missing an opportunity for complication.

USE Character says, "I'm fine." But their hand is gripping the counter so hard their knuckles are white. The gesture contradicts the words—now the reader knows more than the other character does.

Plot & Scene/Pacing

Beat & Micro-Tension

DEF A "beat" is the smallest unit of scene (an action, line of dialogue, or image). Micro-tension is the presence of unresolved want or threat in each beat.

WHY Readers stay engaged when something is always at stake—even if it's small. Micro-tension doesn't require explosions; it requires unmet desire in every moment.

TEST Break a scene into beats (1-3 sentences each). Does each beat have a small obstacle, question, or unresolved want? If a beat feels inert, cut it or add pressure.

USE Character reaches for the door. The handle is locked. (Micro-tension: obstacle.) Character turns to ask for the key. Other character is gone. (New micro-tension: absence, mystery.)

Object Pressure

DEF Using a physical object to create tension or complicate a scene. The object demands attention, action, or decision while emotional stakes are also in play.

WHY Objects force characters to act, which is more engaging than pure dialogue or introspection. They also create subtext: what a character does with an object reveals internal state.

TEST Identify a talky or static scene. Can you add an object the character has to manage? (A crying baby, a broken lock, a pot boiling over, a phone that won't stop ringing.)

USE Two characters argue. Add object pressure: one is trying to pack a suitcase while the other is unpacking it. Now the argument has a physical dimension—action, stakes, gesture.

Setting & Specificity

Image System

DEF A pattern of recurring images or objects that accumulate meaning and reinforce theme across a piece.

WHY One image is decoration. Three is coincidence. Five is a system. Image systems create coherence and allow objects to do symbolic work without announcing themselves.

TEST List all concrete objects in your draft. Do any repeat? If not, pick one object and find 3-5 places to reintroduce it in different contexts. Does it start to carry weight?

USE A story about loss might return to images of thresholds: doors, windows, airport gates. Each appearance adds resonance without the writer saying "this is about leaving."

Specificity Ratio

DEF The percentage of concrete, proper-noun details (names, brands, places, times) versus vague or generic language.

WHY Specificity builds trust and texture. "She drove to the store" is forgettable. "She drove her dad's '98 Civic to the Hannaford on Stillwater Ave" is a world.

TEST Highlight all proper nouns in a paragraph. Aim for 40%+ specificity. If you're below that, replace vague nouns ("the restaurant," "the song") with proper nouns ("Applebee's," "'Wonderwall'").

USE Upgrade "He listened to music" → "He put on *Blonde* and skipped to 'Ivy.'" Upgrade "She wore a dress" → "She wore the black dress from Target, the one with the torn hem."

Theme

After-Image Ending

DEF An ending that leaves a single image, gesture, or line in the reader's mind without explanation, allowing the piece to resonate after the last word.

WHY The best endings don't resolve—they complicate. An after-image lingers because it doesn't tell the reader what to feel. It shows a moment and trusts the reader to sit with it.

TEST Read your last paragraph. Does it explain the story's meaning, or does it offer a final image/gesture that holds tension? If it explains, cut back to the last concrete moment.

USE Instead of "She finally understood what it meant to let go," end with: "She set the keys on the table. The house was quiet." The image does the work; no explanation needed.

Nonfiction Tools

Claim Ledger

DEF A running list of claims (explicit or implicit) an essay makes. Strong CNF builds a ledger of 5+ claims that complicate or contradict each other.

WHY Essays that make one claim are sermons. Essays that make multiple, conflicting claims are essays. A claim ledger forces you to think in layers.

TEST List every claim your essay makes (even subtle ones). Do you have at least 5? Do later claims complicate earlier ones, or do they just repeat the same idea?

USE Claim 1: "I didn't belong in that house." Claim 2: "But I stayed anyway." Claim 3: "Maybe belonging isn't the point." Each claim shifts the essay's meaning.

Domestic→Policy Pivot

DEF A move from personal/domestic experience to larger social, political, or systemic stakes. The pivot connects the "I" to the "we."

WHY Personal essays risk navel-gazing unless they gesture toward something larger. The pivot says: this isn't just about me—it's about how we live, how systems work, what's broken or beautiful in the world.

TEST Find a moment of personal reflection in your draft. Can you pivot outward? "This happened to me" → "This happens to people like me because [systemic reason]."

USE Domestic: "My mother never talked about money." Pivot: "In our town, no one did—silence was a class strategy, a way to pretend we were fine." Now the personal becomes cultural.

Proper-Noun Specificity (CNF)

DEF The use of real names, places, brands, dates, and titles to ground nonfiction in verifiable reality.

WHY Nonfiction lives or dies on trust. Proper nouns signal "this happened"—they're checkable, Google-able, real. Vague language ("a town in Maine," "some bar") erodes credibility.

TEST Count proper nouns per page. Aim for 8-12. If you're below that, you're writing in the abstract. Name the Dairy Queen, the FM station, the street, the teacher.

USE Weak: "We drove to a diner." Strong: "We drove to the Circle K on Route 2, the one with the busted neon sign that only lit up 'ircle.'" Now it's real.

Process Tools

Discovery→Shape Draft

DEF Two-draft method. Discovery draft = fast, messy, exploratory. Shape draft = structural, deliberate, cutting 40%+ to find the real story.

WHY You can't revise a blank page. The discovery draft gives you material. The shape draft gives you a story. Most writers try to do both at once and end up stuck.

TEST If you're stuck, ask: Am I discovering or shaping? If discovering, stop editing and write fast. If shaping, stop generating and cut ruthlessly.

USE Discovery draft: 3000 words in one sitting, no stopping. Shape draft: cut to 1500 words, kill the first 3 paragraphs, find where the story actually starts.

Trim Scaffolding

DEF Cutting explanatory passages, warm-up paragraphs, or connective tissue that helped you write the piece but doesn't help the reader read it.

WHY First drafts include scaffolding—sentences that explain why a scene matters, or how you got from A to B. Readers don't need that architecture. They need the building.

TEST Read your first 2 paragraphs. Are they warming up, or are they weight-bearing? If they're setup, cut them. Same test for the last 2 paragraphs—are they wrapping up, or adding meaning?

USE Cut: "I want to tell you about the summer I worked at the cannery because it taught me about class." Start with: "The cannery floor was always wet."

Ask-the-Scene

DEF When stuck, ask the scene itself what it needs. What's missing? What's the unspoken want? What object or gesture could add pressure?

WHY Writers get stuck when they're asking the wrong question. Instead of "What happens next?" ask "What does this scene want to do?" Scenes have jobs—revelation, escalation, complication.

TEST Pick a scene that feels inert. Ask: What does this scene accomplish? What's at stake? What's the smallest thing that could go wrong here? Answer those, and the scene will tell you what to add.

USE Scene feels flat. Ask: What does the character want right now? Answer: To leave the room. Add: The door is locked. Now the scene has a job.

📖 How to Use This Lexicon

Reference these terms in workshop letters and class discussion
Use them in your Process Notes when doing Dialectical Prompting
Return to them when revising—pick 2-3 terms per draft and apply them rigorously
These terms are your shared language for talking about craft