While I was reading Lesson 8 and some of the tips posted there, I came to realize that I commit many of these writing sins. So here are some things for me to keep in mind. I plan to go over some of my stories with a more critical eye as soon as I have some free time... sometime next decade maybe.
1. In dialogue, use the word said 95% of the time, as in, "Who me?" he said.
I have always avoided ‘said’ because it was such a wimpy verb. But if readers aren’t even stopping long enough to read the verb, then I have been wasting my time.
She recommends using body language and other techniques to show who is talking and to whom.
2. Write what a character is thinking.
Laurell K. Hamilton is very good at doing this. We know all the pros and cons as Anita or Merry think about them.
3. Avoid hedging words.
Mmm... I do this... a lot I think. Seem, apparently, think.
Get the conflict into your story in the first or second paragraph.
Start with the conflict, cut out back story. She doesn't say it but I do notice in some of the novels I am reading that the back story unfolds as I read. If it's done well, it fills in info at the point the reader needs it. If it's not done well, I feel like I am missing something and start looking for an earlier book in the series.
4. The more ornate and cliché-like emotions you describe, the less effective they will be.
I really try not to do this, but I will have to review to make sure.
5. Use dialogue that has a purpose or leave it out.
I think I am good about doing this but I will double check.
6. Check your facts.
Yes, I try to do this and sometimes my reader catches me in factual errors. Thank you, Amita!
7. Write in the active voice, not the passive voice.
"The problem here is that verb phrases using the -ing form (participial verb phrases) are often a poor way to start a sentence. The -ing verb form beginning often builds in bad logic and impossible time warps. The -ing implies that the action in the verb phrase is happening right now. When you combine it with the past tense of your story, it can leave your reader confused. Consider the following sentences:
1. In dialogue, use the word said 95% of the time, as in, "Who me?" he said.
I have always avoided ‘said’ because it was such a wimpy verb. But if readers aren’t even stopping long enough to read the verb, then I have been wasting my time.
She recommends using body language and other techniques to show who is talking and to whom.
2. Write what a character is thinking.
Laurell K. Hamilton is very good at doing this. We know all the pros and cons as Anita or Merry think about them.
3. Avoid hedging words.
Mmm... I do this... a lot I think. Seem, apparently, think.
Get the conflict into your story in the first or second paragraph.
Start with the conflict, cut out back story. She doesn't say it but I do notice in some of the novels I am reading that the back story unfolds as I read. If it's done well, it fills in info at the point the reader needs it. If it's not done well, I feel like I am missing something and start looking for an earlier book in the series.
4. The more ornate and cliché-like emotions you describe, the less effective they will be.
I really try not to do this, but I will have to review to make sure.
5. Use dialogue that has a purpose or leave it out.
I think I am good about doing this but I will double check.
6. Check your facts.
Yes, I try to do this and sometimes my reader catches me in factual errors. Thank you, Amita!
7. Write in the active voice, not the passive voice.
"The problem here is that verb phrases using the -ing form (participial verb phrases) are often a poor way to start a sentence. The -ing verb form beginning often builds in bad logic and impossible time warps. The -ing implies that the action in the verb phrase is happening right now. When you combine it with the past tense of your story, it can leave your reader confused. Consider the following sentences:
Turning from the accident, Officer Tetterman gave slow and careful instructions.
Grabbing her purse and locking the door, Mrs. Montrose drove to town."
Oh yea. I do that. I will have to look more closely at my sentences. I don’t write passive sentences so much as start off with participial phrases.
So my score is like 5 out of 7. LOL. What's yours?
Things to work on in the future...
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ReplyDeletePrevious post deleted because in had too many typos. Hopefully this one is better...
ReplyDeleteI'm waffling on the 'said' part. I've heard that argument before and I'm still mulling it over. I agree 'said' is an innocuous word easily skimmed over, but it doesn't add anything either. And I agree it is far more effective to show instead of tell, but I think using other ways to say 'said' add to that... they compliment the action, add detail to the image being created. Saying 'when you write, limit yourself to 'said' most of the time' feels a little like saying 'when you cook, limit yourself to salt for seasoning most the time.' I'll have to think some more on it.
Now introducing the conflict early dovetails with what I was told at a writing conference. I was told by a novelist that you should start with a conflict (not necessarily THE conflict, but it should relate/ lead into it) - that you have to hook your reader by the end of the first page or lose them. Makes sense.
Regarding the others, I think, like you, I may do some of them some of the time (or maybe more than I realize). I'll need to pay attention and see. The exception to that is the last. According to MS Word, half of what I write is passive voice. That is one I know I need to work on. And participial phrases? Yeah, guilty, to the degree I'm comfortable with them. I'm having to stretch to see anything wrong with the first example. I think there will have to be some thought modification required to recognize those, but then I've been successfully trained (for the most part) to recognize I can't use 'then' as a conjunction (Thanks, Starnyx ;) so I think there's hope.