8 Onomatopoeias To Make Your Writing Sizzle!

In today’s show, Sandy shares some fun insights about onomatopoeia, which can be a writer’s best friend when you want to avoid using the same dull words repeatedly—especially in action scenes. Onomatopoeia is when a word is formed to imitate a sound, like “Boom!”, “Pow!”, or “Splat!”. If you're a screenwriter, it’s a handy trick to keep in your toolkit, especially when crafting exciting action moments. Using onomatopoeia can really bring your writing to life and make it more engaging for your readers, actors, or development executives reading your screenplay.

Executive Producer Kristin Overn

Creator/Executive Producer Sandy Adomaitis

Producer Terry Sampson

Music by Ethan Stoller

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Transcript

0:12

Hello. My name is Sandy Adamidas, the social media director for the Page International Screenwriting Awards, and your host for The Writers Hangout, a podcast that celebrates the many stages of writing, from inspiration to the first draft, revising, getting the project made, and everything in between. We'll talk to the best and the brightest in the entertainment industry and create a space where you can hang out, learn from the pros, and have fun. Hey, writers. It's Sandy. I'm coming to you from Studio City, California, the crown jewel of the San Fernando Valley, where I am on the third day in a row with a song stuck in my head. Does anybody wanna guess what the song is? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller? I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby. I, I, I don't even know any of the other words. Writers, I hope you're doing well. I want to talk to you today about onomatopoeias. Onomatopoeias can be a writer's best friend when you're trying not to use the same boring word over and over, especially in action scripts. Onomatopoeias describe the process of forming a word that imitates a sound. For example, boom, pow, splat. And for you screenwriters out there, it's great to have in your back pocket, especially when you're writing action scenes. Now, here are my eight top onomatopoeias to level up your action sequences. Number one, kaboom, K-A-B-O-O-M. The loud, sudden sound of an explosion crash or dramatic disruptive event. For when you really need to go big, use kaboom. Think of Michael Bay 1996 The Rock, Pure 90s blockbuster style. number two, clang. When you read the word clang, can't you just feel two blades hitting each other during medieval times? By the way, for me, armored up sword fighting, I can watch that. Up close and personal knife fights, ooh, I can't. Especially how advanced the slicing sounds are in film and television these days. it really creeps me out. So clang, it screams metallic. Great word if you're writing a sword fight, and it also helps you quickly describe something like, um, if you have pipes in a room, in a submarine or iron gates. Number three, vroom. V-R-O-O-O-M. It's an onomatopoeic word representing the loud roaring sound of a car accelerating at high speed, the revving up of an engine. I bet George Lucas's screenplay for American Graffiti used that word a lot. And if the screenplay for Steve McQueen's Le Mans existed, vroom would be have written all over it. And writers, I know what you're thinking, Way to go with those modern movie references. Number four, whack. W-H-A-C-K means to strike something with a hard resounding blow. Great word for any fight scene, especially if you are Negan, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan of The Walking Dead. So whack is not whack, and you can't beat it when you need the sharp sound of a baseball bat or when your hero headbutts the bad guy smack in the face. Number five, thud. A thud is a dull, low-pitched, heavy sound when a heavy object falls or hits a surface, like the sound of a body falling. It feels like the end, and it hurts. Thud works for any film genre, by the way. The heavy door closed with a thud. Think of feet walking, items falling, a strong, rapid heartbeat. Number six, this is one of my favorites, squelch. To make a wet sucking sound like walking in mud. The sound that makes a reader instinctively make a face and recoil and say,"Ew." If you're working on a horror story or a gritty thriller, squelch is your go-to choice. Mike grimaced as he felt the squelch of something soft and gooey on his bare foot in the dark. Other good ones are gurgle, glug, bubble. You know, liquid flowing, drinking rapidly. Number seven: whirl. A whirl is a continuous low-pitched humming, buzzing, or fluttering sound produced by something moving rapidly. I'm thinking if you are writing sci-fi or anything involving escalating machinery, m- maybe use it for a surveillance scene using drones. The sky is the limit. Writers, last but not least, number eight: rat-a-tat-tat Sounds like a really old-timey word. I agree. I agree, I agree. But if you want your reader to hear an automatic weapon fire, it's a workhorse of a word. I like it better than gunfire, exclamation point, but it is not a hill I would die on. here's a sentence: The silence was broken by the sudden rat-a-tat-tat of machine gun fire. Also, rat-a-tat-tat is good for knocking on doors. she knocked on the heavy wooden door with a loud rat-a-tat-tat. Writers, there are so many of these words out there. Go do a deep dive and make your own list. to spice it up for the reader, actor, or exec. Thank you for listening. I am so grateful I get to talk with you guys every week because if you weren't there, it would just be me talking to my cat, Sophie Joe, and to be honest, she's not a very good listener And that's a wrap for the Writers Hangout. Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoyed the show, please take a moment to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. Your positive feedback will help us keep the show going so we can continue bringing you more future episodes. Remember, keep writing. The world needs your stories. The Writer's Hangout is sponsored by the Page International Screenwriting Awards with executive producer, Kristen Overn, producer Sandy Animitis, and myself, Terry Sampson. And our music is composed by Ethan Stoler.