Summary

Truman Capote's writing in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" exemplifies five unique stylistic techniques that professional writers use to captivate readers, focusing on innovative verb usage and vivid imagery.

Abstract

The article delves into the intricate writing style of Truman Capote, particularly in "Breakfast at Tiffany's," highlighting his mastery of language through the use of unconventional verbs and vivid descriptions. Capote's approach to crafting sentences involves creating new verbs without resorting to simplistic suffixes like "-ify," instead opting for subtle and elegant constructions that seamlessly blend the familiar with the novel. The author of the article extracts five key examples from Capote's work that demonstrate how he manipulates language to paint clear visual pictures, employs verbs in unexpected contexts, pairs "noun+ed" verbs with explanatory actions, replaces common verbs with more precise alternatives, and refers to actions and objects in unique ways that defy conventional descriptions. These techniques are not just for show; they are deliberate choices to focus the reader's attention on the most dramatic element of a scene, thereby enhancing the overall impact of the narrative.

Opinions

The author holds Truman Capote in high regard, considering him a master of writing style, particularly for his ability to create and use new verbs in a sophisticated manner.
Capote's writing is seen as professional and masterful, with his style serving to accentuate the total effect of his narratives rather than drawing attention to itself.
The article suggests that Capote's verb choices are deliberate and purposeful, designed to focus the reader's visualization and bring the greatest drama to a scene.
The author encourages readers to learn from Capote's techniques, advocating for the adoption and adaptation of his stylistic approaches to improve one's own writing.
There is a clear preference expressed for Capote's nuanced verb usage over the more simplistic and garish method of adding "-ify" to nouns to create verbs, which is likened to the demands of a child.

5 Ways Pro Writers Tango With Their Reader’s Attention

Take elegant tips from a master

Photo by Preillumination SeTh on Unsplash

Style matters. In some writing, especially fiction, style matters more than plot. Who cares about a riveting story when the storyteller muddles it?

There are a thousand masters of writing style, but the one I’m studying right now is Truman Capote. Ever read “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”? You should. It’s only two and a half hours long on Audible.

What rivets my attention is how he creates and uses new verbs. He doesn’t cheat and just add “-ify” to make new verbs. You can monster-ify any noun into a verb that way.

But it’s cheap. It’s clunky and garish and childishly demands attention, like a high-chair tyrant.

No, no, Capote’s a pro, not a one-trick pony. In deft ways, he elegantly slips the action past the reader’s notice and into their awareness.

You’ll find yourself smoothly reading along and then, like something’s not right in your house, you stop. Cautiously retracing the words, you find his craftsmanship tenoned into a sentence, joining the usual and unusual together.

Here are 5 examples of how he does it, all from his short opus, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.

1. Add the suffix “-ed” to nouns.

“He fingered a marigold.”

“The bottle flew out of her hands and smithereened on the floor.”

“She splashed into the room, a towel more or less wrapped around her, her wet feet dripping wet foot marks on the floor.”

It puts a visual picture in the reader’s mind. The verb is a literal example they can immediately see. They don’t have to mentally search for an example for more abstract verbs like fondled, broke or entered.

2. Use a verb in a way that’s not expected.

“Is that you? Hey, rattle on over, it’s important.”

Rattle usually pairs with cages or hum or other metal things, not as a mode of travel. But you know what? Taxi’s travel, and in big cities, the old ones do indeed rattle.

3. Use a “noun+ed” verb that’s mysterious, but explain it with another verb in the sentence.

“She fidgeted. She mooned over her fingernails as if longing for a file.”

What do people feel when they gaze at the moon? How do the gaze? With longing.

4. Replace a commonly-used verb (throw) with one closely related to it (aim).

“She aimed the rest of the apple out the window.”

Aiming is typically a part of throwing, but not always. Here, he extracts an action subsumed in another verb to focus the reader’s visualization. Whatever else she was doing with the apple, she wasn’t careless.

5. (Combo-trick) Refer to things without the usual references.

“He motioned his cigar toward the sound of water hissing in another room.”

Why didn’t he point his cigar? And how do you to point to a sound, exactly? Can you see it location precisely? Here he captures both movement and sounds without using common (i.e., boring) verbs or location.

How do you recognize the work of a professional, or even a master? Their style exists to accentuate the total effect, the overarching point, not to make a statement in and of itself.

Each of these examples is an exercise in both effect and concision. The effect he achieves is to focus attention on the one element, out of all possible elements, that brings the greatest drama to the scene, even if the scene is only one sentence long. He bullions it into the mix of his written stock.

Do you want to focus your reader’s energy like this? Command their attention like a maestro? Make your words live in their minds?

Copy these steps. Better, steal these tips.

Play around with them and make them your own, just as I’ve done here.