Use the …phone

By Shirley Gould

In crafting Christian fiction, we, as writers, use twists and turns in our plots to grab the reader’s attention, plunging them into our fictional world. We spice our prose with interesting characters, places and themes carrying them on a roller coaster of emotions with our comedies, mysteries and tragedies. Most of our stories have misunderstandings that cause frustrations, hurt feelings and conflicts, giving us building blocks to use as we write toward resolution and our ‘Happily Ever After’ endings.

One of these illustrious tools available are homophones, words that sound the same as another but have a different meaning and spelling, such as bear and bare. Homophones can fuel the tangled webs we’re weaving while creating ups and downs, twists and turns and adding refreshing touches of humor to our manuscripts.

I’ve had some personal experiences using homophones. My late husband always said, “The safest place to be on Black Friday is in a deer stand.” He didn’t enjoy the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping. So, he would retreat to the deer lease. Four years ago on the biggest shopping day of the year, I stood in line in the wee hours of the day despite freezing temperatures to get some amazing deals. I was on a mission in order to stretch our money to bless our family on Christmas morning.

As the sun lit up the cerulean sky, my husband texted me concerning his hunting success…

“Got a doe…Missed a buck.”

I smiled, and text back…

“Spent dough…Need bucks.”

He thought I was funny…but, I got my point across. He enjoyed re-telling the story. Sharing the laugh.

When we would see a Hummer SUV on America’s highways, he’d say he wanted to buy one of those someday. I would tell him that I was the only hummer he would ever have. Then, I’d start humming a silly song. He would smile.

Homophones have served my purpose and I’m currently using this tool in manuscripts to entertain my readers and keep them turning pages. After all, that’s our goal. Right?

Shirley Gould is an inspirational speaker for churches, women’s conferences, an African missionary, and a freelance journalist. She is founder of Kenya’s Kids Home for Street Children in Kenya, East Africa. She makes her home in the Nashville, Tennessee area, enjoying her three daughters, three sons-in-law, two grandchildren, Madison and Jake, and new grand-daughter Finley Grace…and a really loud parrot.