Onomatopoeia 02

Onomatopoeic words sound like their meanings. An example is the whooshing wind because the wind sometimes makes a sound like "whooooosh"!

Do you want to make your writing really atmospheric? Some well-chosen onomatopoeia might be just what your writing needs. Perhaps for suspense you need a little "crackle", or maybe for a bit of a shock, you might need a "shriek"! A "splat" is always good for comedy, a "dribble" for pathos or disgust, and an "ooze" can be downright horrifying.

Try not to always choose the well-worn words like "crash", "smash", "whistling" and "babbling". See if you can collect interesting examples of onomatopoeia to use in your writing and try to be aware of the different qualities each of these words has so that you can express exactly the sound you want in order to achieve the effect you're aiming for.

See if you can whoosh through this quiz all about onomatopoeia!