Within most of my manuscripts, I incorporate the use of disfluencies. There are many reasons why I do so. Many purists will find this form of writing unprofessional and of a lower standard… which is fine by me. Some authors have distinctive writing styles, ‘prose.’ In writing, prose refers to any written work that follows a basic grammatical structure. Prose simply means language that follows the Natural Patterns found in everyday speech. It isn’t well known that disfluencies pop up in everyday speech or conversations in most languages on our planet. In conversations, it has been approximated that about every 4.6 seconds, a disfluency is used. I try and combine disfluencies to emphasize points or for the reader to slow down and reflect on what was just read. I have fun using disfluencies, and I use them to directly communicate concepts, ideas, and stories to my readers. If you were to really concentrate on a person’s speech or a friend’s conversation… uhm, or listen to an interview, you might find yourself amazed at how many of these ‘placeholder words, filler words you hear. Even some highly esteemed professionals use an abundance of disfluencies.
Please reference this great piece of work regarding disfluencies (‘Well, um, you know, you’re saying more than you think.) You can find this article in the November/December 2022 ‘Psychology Today,’ magazine.
To paraphrase, some of the substance in this awesome article is that most of us use disfluencies; for example, have you ever been conversing with someone and lost track of where you were going? You pause momentarily and think of your next words… using Ah, Uh, Umh, then pick up where you left off. Disfluencies can be used to emphasize your topic of choice, aligned with appropriate expressions, and you see this at comedy clubs and in everyday conversations. We roll our eyes and pause and use ‘Um’ 😊. Disfluencies are common in humorous or even serious discussions. Stop for a minute and truly listen to someone’s interview, either on TV or the Internet, Social media sites; you will hear an abundance of Disfluencies. We as a society have become immune to the dozens of common disfluencies many speakers use them for repeating a phrase or revising the sentence structure in midstream. I use disfluencies in my writing for emphasis, and because they’re fun for me, I hope they aren’t annoying to readers, umh, especially the purists. If so, I apologize, ugh, right up-front. Um, I don’t want any of you not to enjoy my books. I do believe that over usage of disfluencies can become a nuisance, Uh. ☹
Okay, umh, so here’s the rest of the info that I’ll share with you regarding disfluencies. Now I’m not defending my overuse of these words, or maybe I am? In many of my 13-plus written manuscripts, you’ll read and see or hear words such as… ‘um, uh, ugh, ah, umh, huh, so, uhm, ughhhh, ahhhh, and other variations like… oh, yep, yup, yay, yum, ahoh, lol, lmao, huh, and the list goes on…
The argument can be made; according to some Professors of Psychological Science, disfluencies help listeners and readers concentrate better on the narrative, and the use of a disfluency sometimes tells the audience there is likely new information about to be disseminated. Disfluencies seem to occur at discourse points or are used to indicate a Major plot change of direction. These educated professionals have said that disfluencies ‘focus listener’s attention’ and sometimes allow the listener to analyze what has been said, sort of like a pause for reflection. In testing theories regarding using Disfluencies… when appropriately placed in a narrative, they actually increase a person’s attention and memory of what they have heard or read. 😊
Disfluencies have been used to help emphasize the topic being discussed. They are proven to help the listener or reader to remember storylines or points of contention better than most other deliveries of verbiage.
To sum up, highly esteemed intellectuals use disfluencies, from our Presidents right down to street urchins. They have been proven to increase listeners’ attention. Please try and catch disfluencies either by yourself or others. You might be surprised at how many of them are used in a single day. Like… Well, heck, that said a lot, lol… Umh, okay. Yup! 😊
How I became an author after my arrest for growing and dispensing Marijuana.
I’m sure you’ve heard the term ‘to make a long story short,’ which indicates that the story will likely not be short and concise. Lol. I’ve penciled over a thousand pages in a book named Sacramento County Jail, a harrowing non-fiction venture. Below is a short passage into what caused my life changes and thus led to my creative writing hobby.
In the year 2012, suddenly, health issues befell… my body and mind. I was beyond listless, with no energy or motivation to do anything felt like a Slug. I was a regular at the gym and in the past was active… this all stopped. I sought out professional help. First things first, I had to donate blood for a wide variety of tests. A sex hormone panel, ‘SHBG’ amongst other tests, was ordered since I was approaching the age of male menopause. The endocrinologist called me in and informed me that I had several anomalies. One was that I had extremely low… deficient testosterone levels, but what bothered her more was that I’d had the highest Estrogen levels she’d ever seen in a man. In fact, her words were with a smirk, ‘Mr. Meyers, welcome to female menopause. Your levels are off the charts.’ Thirty-five years of being an endocrinologist, she had never seen these numbers before. After checking with her colleagues, it was decided that I needed another hormone test because there must have been a mistake! My test numbers were impossible to comprehend. Well,… what would you know? Two weeks later, I was called back into her office. This time I didn’t witness a smirk from her countenance, nope. She beckoned me to have a seat across from her magnificent mahogany desk. She folded her arms up elbows on the desk, clasped her fingers in a temple, and bent her head down. With her not saying a word, I’d automatically jumped to the conclusion, ‘I WAS DEAD,’ something terminal. I must be on my way out 😊.
Former Federal Inmate.
I am a former prisoner and felon sequestered by the IRS… Federal Government on Marijuana charges… was imprisoned and locked up in Terminal Island Prison for about Seven years. A short synopsis of the events that led to my writing career can be found on my website ‘Gembooksrock.com,’ please check out my homepage. You will find some interesting tidbits… along with links to my arrest. ☹.