Order and Command

Eight words for the work of running things: calling, forcing, organizing, and holding the line.

Meet each word one at a time, then take the quiz to lock them in.

1. 1 summary noun
2. 2 impose verb
3. 3 summon verb
4. 4 coordinate verb
5. 5 rigid adjective
6. 6 ample adjective
7. 7 systematically adverb
8. 8 reluctantly adverb

Nelson's word

noun

Summary. A noun, and one of my favorites to file, because a summary does my job for me. It is a short account that gives the main points and leaves the rest in the drawer. A whole hour of talking, and one clean paragraph holds it: that paragraph is the summary. When a report opens with in summary, it is about to hand you the center and skip the corners. Do not confuse it with the full record; a summary is the record trimmed to what matters. State the main points precisely, and you have written one.

The clerk read a brief summary of the meeting before the vote.

Vinny's word

verb

Impose! To take a rule, a fee, a burden, and press it down onto someone whether they like it or not! When the council imposes a curfew, they do not ask; they lay the rule down and expect it kept. That is the verb, and it carries weight, because you can impose a duty on a person the same way you impose a tax on a town. Watch the front of it, im-pose, which means to place upon; to impose is to place a demand right on top of somebody. Use it when the order comes from above and lands with a thump.

The council imposes a curfew on the town after the second warning.

Vinny's word

verb

Summon! To call, to send for, to make someone appear before you! When the judge summons the witness, it is not a friendly invitation; it is a command with a chair waiting. That is the verb, and it has real power, because you summon a witness to court, you summon help in a storm, and a knight of old could summon his whole army with one horn. Do not water it down to asked; to summon is to call with authority, and the person called is expected to come.

The judge summons the witness to the front of the room.

Vinny's word

verb

Coordinate! To take many separate parts, each doing its own thing, and organize them so they finally work together as one! When the captains coordinate their teams, the left hand learns what the right hand is doing, and the whole rescue runs like a single machine. That is the verb, and it is quiet heroism, the kind that keeps a big plan from falling into chaos. Pull it apart and you find co, which means together; to coordinate is to order many things into working together. Nothing great gets built without it.

The captains coordinate their teams so the rescue runs on time.

Jake's word

adjective

Rigid. An adjective, and mine, describing a thing so stiff it will not bend, and by that same picture a person or a rule that will not soften. A rigid steel beam holds firm; a rigid schedule leaves no room to move. Its Smile is stiff, and its Frown is flexible, the thing that bends and adjusts. Could we be more specific than saying a rule was strict? We could call it rigid, and let the reader feel there is no bending it at all. Same picture, sharper edges. Magnifique.

The rigid steel beam held the roof without the slightest sag.

Jake's word

adjective

Ample. Oh, this is a generous word, and it is mine. As an adjective, ample means more than enough, plenty and then some: ample room, ample time, ample food for every guest with second helpings to spare. Its Smile is plentiful, and its Frown is scarce, the thing there is barely any of. Could we be more specific than saying there was a lot of space? We could say there was ample space, which tells the reader there was room to spare and no worry of running short. A comfortable, roomy sort of word.

The pantry held ample supplies for the long, snowbound winter.

Benny's word

adverb

Systematically. An adverb, and a real workhorse, so let me coach you on it. It tells how an action is done: in an orderly, step-by-step way, with a plan and no skipping around. When the searchers work systematically, they check one row of shelves before the next, so nothing gets missed. I own the adverb the way Nelson owns the noun, and here is the coaching: when you want to show careful, methodical work, do not settle for carefully. Reach for systematically, and the reader sees the method itself. Its Frown is randomly, all over the place with no plan. Make it sharper, and this is how.

The searchers work systematically, checking one row of shelves before the next.

Benny's word

adverb

Reluctantly. Another adverb of mine, and a useful one, so let me coach you through it. It tells how someone does a thing they would rather not do: unwillingly, with a drag in the step and a wish to be somewhere else. When she reluctantly handed over the cookie, she did hand it over, but every part of her wanted to keep it. That gap between doing it and wanting to is the whole meaning. When your character obeys but hates it, do not just say slowly. Say reluctantly, and the reader feels the pull the other way. You can do better than plain, and this is how.

She reluctantly handed over the last cookie, wishing she had not been asked.