The first sentence of Alix E. Harrow's book, The Once and Future Witches, is: "There's no such thing as witches, but there used to be."
This sentence is an interesting case. All but one of the words are common, and have little emotional coloring. The single word that has a lot of associations is "witches" and it is a knockout. We have many strong images to go with the word "witches."
The sentence also naturally separates into two pieces: one which ends with the strongest word in the sentence, and one which comes after. The two sentences are "There's no such thing as witches," and "There used to be." The word "but" is a simple conjunction (joining word). When I hear "There's no such thing as witches," I think of an overconfident character in a horror film. It's too strong a denial. I start expecting whoever said it to discover their mistake in a dramatic fashion.
The second part of the sentence, "there used to be," softens the effect. "Witches" no longer gains the extra impact of being the last word in the sentence. "There used to be" means something is gone. It adds nuance and possibly grief to the foreshadowing of the first part of the sentence. Since we know witches used to exist, the full sentence doesn't deny any possibility of witches existing. Saying that witches no longer exist is much weaker than saying witches have never existed. What has happened once is much more likely to happen again than what has never happened.
Let's see what the sentence becomes with other words in the place of "witches." Here's one that's bureaucratic: "There's no such things as form 1384-C, but there used to be." That one is dull; very few people would care. Here's one with something almost everyone likes. "There's no such thing as dogs, but there used to be." That one is sad – we would miss dogs. Here's one that's true: "There's no such thing as dodos, but there used to be." That is a loss, but perhaps not as personal as losing dogs would be. Here's another true one: "There's no such thing as smallpox, but there used to be." We are relieved that there is no more smallpox.
What are witches in the world of the story? A menace, like smallpox? A valued part of the community? A persecuted minority? Witches have been all of these and more in different tales. They are usually female. They have some measure of power. They have been villains, scapegoats, and heroes, as complex as any humans, with more ability to act.
Perhaps the most common view of witches is that they are dangerous, magical women. Would it be good or bad if all the dangerous, magical women were gone?
One great word can make or break a sentence. The word "witches" is an excellent choice for the single strong word in a sentence. The words around "witches" create intrigue, as they open the question that what used to exist, but doesn't now, could exist again.
Photo by Liv Cashman on Unsplash
Graphic elements by Ken Silbert