Southern belle with a story to tell. Refreshing iced tea served after literary punches thrown.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Catch Phrases Define Great Moments!

As an Author, Have You Coined A Catch Phrase?

Local rapper Lil' Jon has his down perfectly, although I loved Dave Chappelle's imitation.


Recently in my manuscript, THE DEATH BROKERS,  I revised two rather dangerous scenes where the m.c. and two of her relatives are fighting for their lives.

Granted it's my story world and I create endings where two things happen:

  • The ending is a happy one,  for the most part, with the good characters strolling into the sunset.
  • Yet despite the seemingly happy ending, a few pesky plot elements are left untied, like the shoestrings on your tennis shoes, which will cause trouble in the future.
That's how I roll.

But in the genesis of these scenes, I wrote quotes which define two characters at a particular moment in time, where rage is entangled with defiance.  After I wrote the words I almost gasped in shock, but moments later I relaxed, for I had shed my normally decent demeanor and become the character struggling to overcome my adversary using whatever weapon at my disposal.

They wanted blood, but the only red liquid spilled would be theirs, and not that of my characters.  At the end of this post I'll share my newly-minted catch phrases,  but first here are a few which define iconic moments in film.

Who can forget this scene?  Al Pacino (Tony Montana) blasts through the door and creates history as this phrase caught on and has survived for almost two decades.

How about this moment in "Gone With the Wind"?  We can't possibly blame Rhett for leaving Scarlett, but we wonder if the sentimental gentleman will ever tip his hat to her again.  Moviegoers for over fifty years pondered the fate of their doomed marriage, and today when somebody makes us angry enough to stir that kind of passion inside of us we tell them, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

Sometimes our manuscripts have us wondering if we can ever cross the goal line, thus scoring a literary touchdown for our readers, so we need a cheerleader to inspire us onward. Here's Bluto from "Animal House" with a few interesting words. His unique analogy using World War II has been shared with thousands of downtrodden folks who needed that extra push for whatever reason.



He's intense, tough, and wants to get his fraternity back from the evil clutches of the Dean. 

Do mine have a spot in literary (or possibly film) history?  What do you think?  I won't exactly reveal the context of the quotes, but trust me (wink) they are delivered at the height of two intense and blood-soaked moments.

Imagine these pictures with these words.  

One:  "Say hello to Stalin, dahlin." (bam!)


Two:  "Hotty toddy, mutha f_ _ ka!"

Talk among yourselves and have a glass of tea.