PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

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"Oh dear!"  "Oh my!"  "Wow!" "OMG!" "Oops!"

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Interjections (exclamations) in literature are usually found inside quotation marks because someone is speaking out loud what they are feeling as they react to what has just happened. It's an intersting device to use in prose. In poetry, exclamations are ususally pretty cliched (suffer from extreme overuse and evolved with the langage from the "folk" and is therefore not unique or the idea of the writer).

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The challenge then is to create interjections that are unique and as fresh and new as possible. Example: "Oh dear dear dear!"   "Oh my diety!" or humorously, "A thousand yikes!" I am fond of "Get outta here!" but I don't use that in poetry either. It is a loud part of speech. It is direct address (speaking directly to the reader emotionally) and poetry does that as a part of the definition of poetry which is why I don't use them.

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"Oh my God!" (OMG) is blasphemous, another reason I don't use that one. I often wonder why religion scholars and text dismiss the secular version of such interjections - talk about an advertisement and conditioning technique for belief. Anyway, we are, warned, and publicly challenged if we say it out loud - so I try not to do that or write it. Interjections are very secular (not religious or philisophical) and have evolved from common speech patterns and uses. They are unique in that they do not fit into any other category or type of the PARTS OF SPEECH, so they have earned their place as one of the BIG EIGHT.  

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The tendency to adopt what has already been said repeatedly is also the reason I avoid them in poetry. In the search for something new or interestingly said, I avoid the common expressions unless using them creatively or for humor, often for sarcasm or mild criticism. I do not employ them by choice because yelling in surprise what you feel is an intersting way to express an emotional state. It affects my sense of what is good manners. Don't yell. Speak. Dramatic effect results and the more shocking the surprise (or humorous) the stronger response comes from the reader. I particularly liked the expression "Wow dow!" in the short story "Love Is A Fallacy". If you want interjections, that's the prose for you. It was a hoot!

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It is a valid part of speech and it has a name. Interjection. "Wow!"

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Lady A

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HERE ENDETH THE LESSON

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