Don't tell me that your lady fair is pretty or beautiful. Let us see the russet
tresses flowing over bare shoulders, her green eyes, her wicked (or
demure) smile. Or her pink, fuzzy sweaters. You're already getting
visions, aren't you? And I'm just throwing out ideas.
Always
give the reader something to see, hear, taste, smell or feel, something
to remember. An old car is better if it's green and white, if its
fenders are a darker shade of green and its tires are shiny whitewalls.
Do you see?
Give your writing room to breathe. Don't have pages and pages of blah, blah, blah without switching paragraphs. It's hard to read, and you're not Shakespeare. In fact, Shakespeare wouldn't have been so unkind to his readers.
You don't
need attribution for every bit of dialogue, but occasionally help the
reader and say who's speaking. Remind your reader who Bessie Mae and Big
John Jones are. Be courteous.
Give us
drama. Don't give your hero a happy childhood, a happy tour of military
duty, a happy marriage and an even happier work life. Make him suffer or worry a bit. Let
your reader empathize with him. Give us a reason to read your writing.
Use
active verbs. Don't have your hero make his way here and there. Let him
amble, stroll, bumble or slither. And occasionally use an interesting
word like sumptuous or persnickety.
Be interesting.
And let your reader laugh occasionally. Wouldn't Stephen King see humor in horror or J.K. Rowling see something funny or frightening in magic?
Finally, when
you're done, quit writing. Edit your book, and when it's ready, find an
agent or a publisher. The world is awaiting your book with bated breath.
Or it should be.
Q: Any other bits of wisdom?
Contact: I can be reached at tgilli52@gmail.com or nc3022@yahoo.com. Also, my Twitter handle is EDITORatWORK.
More EDITOR@WORK blog entries
Entries from The Dog Blog
Blog entries from The Auto Racing Journal
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)
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