It’s pretty hard to include words that begin with Z in your writing. There really aren’t that many Z words to begin with, or not that many words that would make sense for most books.
Here are quotes from Seismic Crimes with the letter Z:
- He put his hand over hers and then pulled her in for a soft
kiss. When he inched back, he whispered in her ear, “This may sound crazy, but I love you.”
- Five officers stood near the entrance, guzzling water from bottles and
listening to the reports coming in on their radios.
- The lights in the women’s restroom buzzed to life, illuminating the
stretch of sinks and stalls.
- Beth groaned and knocked her head back onto his shoulder. “I’m
not a patient person.”
He nuzzled
her neck. “I can see that.”
- With a jerk back on the
wheel, he leveled the truck onto all fours and zeroed in on an obstacle ahead—a series of small mounds.
- He grinned in answer and lined the truck up with the biggest
ramp on the field. The truck zoomed
up it.
- She lifted the lid, and her nerves fizzled like stale soda.
- While listening to the hum of the subterranean cable and the
clang of the bells, Beth felt oddly zen-like.
- Buck may be happy now but he won’t be once Donovan zaps him in the ass with that
stun gun.
- She was cradling her arm to her chest and wailing as if she
wanted Zeus on Mount Olympus to hear
her.
- She stood a moment, paralyzed
by her mental and physical exhaustion and hypnotized by the rising smoke.
- Every bump in the road jarred him from his light slumber,
though, and sent electricity zigzagging along his rib cage.
To read more:
QUESTION: What Z words (or words with Z's in them) have you used in your writing?
Hi Chrys .. you must have needed a ZiZZ to think about this Z post ... well done ... cheerz (good with a Z?) Hilary
ReplyDeleteI did need a ZiZZ. lol
DeleteThe Z's are sure there, they can be hard to work in when it comes to Z. Zeus sure is the top Z though.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if another Z could possible top Zeus.
DeleteWhat a fabulous way to share excerpts! So fun! I love it. (And I love the excerpts too.)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Crystal!
DeleteFor A to Z in April, I've used zonked, and zoinks. And, of course, my shop. I do use the letter Z every day. My name is Liz...
ReplyDeleteHa! How lucky to have the letter Z in your name. ;)
DeleteYou certainly found some. I'm sure zero has shown up in mine. Maybe a herd of raging zombie zebras is needed?
ReplyDeleteZombie zebras would be epic!
DeleteIf your excerpts weren't so dazzling, I'd be catching some zees (sp) like a crazy old buzzard too lazy to zip up and buzz over to the zoo! I haven't officially crossed into the Zany zone, I just love word challenges:-) Fun post, Chrys!
ReplyDeleteI love your comment, Diedre! You're so creative. How long did it take you to come up with that? :)
DeleteSix minutes. Regrettably, it's all the time I had. You, my dear, are a veritable fountain of inspiration!
DeleteI think it would take me ten minutes to come up with something like that. ;) Thanks, Diedre!
DeleteZionism is a big one in my writing (and no, I've never believed that's a dirty word, just as I've never believed feminism, Marxism, Socialism, and Communism are dirty words either). Other Z words I've used include zoo, zoology (pronounced ZO-ology, not ZOO-ology, as my zoology professor impressed upon me), zipper, zip, zing, zither, and zealous.
ReplyDeleteThose are great Z words! I'm happy that you incorporate these into your writing. :)
DeleteI remember struggling with Z when I was highlighting bloggers on A - Z once. I think I used Zia Maria. But there's lots of Z words when you think about it.
ReplyDeleteHmm. I don't think I know Zia Maria...
DeleteYou did honour to the letter Z. Do you pronounce it as Z in Zed, or Z as in Z like sled? I like that if you put Z to bed it becomes N. How many other letters can say that?
ReplyDeleteHa! I love that. A N is a sleeping Z. :P
DeleteThat's an impressive amount of z-words. I don't think we even use half that many in our writing. Unless you count our zombie novel, but that's kind of cheating at that point.
ReplyDeleteI suppose repeating the word "zombie" throughout a work would be cheating. :P
DeleteTrying to think about words that start with Z without using Google and, my I do agree with you. It's a challenge.
ReplyDeleteIt is! It's hard to come up with one that's not common.
DeleteZoins...what a fun word. The first one to comes to mind is zombie, but we don't have any in your books. LOL
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental
I did start a zombie story but set it aside. ;)
DeleteThose are some interesting "z's". I can't think of any in my work. My brain is still asleep. Zzzzz that's snoring. Does it count? :)
ReplyDeleteSnoring counts to me. ;)
DeleteYou could stick in a character with a Z name... I have a book I am thinking about querying that has both a Zeke and a Zoe... I like z... it makes my mouth tingle.
ReplyDeleteThe MC in my current work in progress has a name that starts with Z. I couldn't resist. :)
DeleteBlitz. Fizz. Great examples from Seismic Crimes. Too bad it couldn't be 'Seizmic Crimes' :) I hadn't really thought about zed words so this is a cool post. Thanks, Chrys!
ReplyDeleteSeizmic Crimes would've driven up my "z" letter count a lot! ;)
DeleteI named one of my oazmir (hey look, a z!) Zinnia. So I guess I got to use it more often than not. :)
ReplyDeleteZinnia is a beautiful name!
DeleteThe zealous zebra loved playing her zither that was the colour of Zaffre:)
ReplyDeletePerfect!
DeleteGreat post and fun comments too.
ReplyDeleteJuneta @ Writer's Gambit
Thanks, Juneta!
DeleteFun post, Chrys! I've just done a quick search in my MS and I my z words seem to be horizon', 'frozen', 'freeze' and 'froze' (some of it is set in the mountains which makes sense I guess!). I'll have to try and include a few more!
ReplyDeleteIt seems that your story is a cold one. :) I'll be using those a lot in my next project.
DeleteThe only "Z" word I can think of right now is "zap," as in I wish I had a wand that could "zap" Trump back to the planet he came from and make Hillary Clinton the new President.
ReplyDeleteLOL! I think many wish they could do the same thing.
DeleteI'll bet you find more Z words than you originally thought you had. In the early stages of my WIP, one of the characters is named Zelda. Ultimately, I decided to change the character name Gretchen.
ReplyDeleteOther Z's
Gazed - She took his hand and both of their smiles immediately widened. They gazed into each other’s eyes.
Crazy - The truth was somewhat embarrassing to Erick, but he figured there would be no harm in letting her know. He hoped she would agree Jenni was crazy.
Buzzed, Snooze & Lazy - The alarm buzzed for the fifth time. Once again, Kenny hit the snooze button; once again, his mother called up the stairs for him to get his lazy butt out of bed.
I decided to stop there. ;)
Thanks for sharing examples from your story! I liked getting these little snippets. :D
DeleteCongrats on finishing your alphabet posts! Just for fun, I looked at my recent story to find words with z. I had: analyzed, breeze, unfazed, buzzing, frozen, zigzagged, dazed, and my name, of course :)
ReplyDeleteYou're the first to notice that is my last alphabet post! Thanks!!! :D
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