I’m up to chapter 15 in my rewrite and if you consider that I have 35 chapters in total I think I’m chugging along nicely. And it’s supremely satisfying to tackle those sections that have been annoying me. You know, the bits where technically there’s nothing wrong with it but I just don’t like it (see point 5). It stops the flow, or makes the character look like a dork etc, etc. So I thought I’d put together a simple post on how to make easy improvements to your writing. These are all things I’m currently working on *grin*
- Go through and try to remove as many adverbs (specifically those ending in ly) as possible. This should make a noticeable difference to the clarity of your sentences. Adverbs are useful, you will need the occasional one. Just keep as few as possible. Your reader will thank you for it. Most first drafts have buckets of adverbs so an easy step for your first edit is to cross them out.
- Keep your sentences short. The comma is a grand thing but really – do you need it? Wouldn’t it make more sense if you split it in two? Consider all long sentences. Some may need to be that long, most won’t.
- Try cutting out as many ‘he said/she said’ as possible. Good dialogue shouldn’t require constant tagging. Except for an initial intro as to who is speaking, you shouldn’t require any more tags. As long as each characters dialogue is on a separate line, you’ll find it easy to read and believable.
- Try to avoid over using the word ‘suddenly’ and exclamation marks…hehe oops..
- If it sounds like writing, rewrite it. If the reader ‘wakes up’ while reading your MS and clicks that they’re reading and not ‘in’ the book, it means it doesn’t flow. Yes, all the information/details are there but they sound wrong. Rewrite the section.
great tips! after i write each section i do the adverb check. i'm getting better at not being so heavy handed with them.
FANTASTIC TIPS! I need these being so deep into revisions. The dialogue tags and long sentences are things I definitely need to work on. My crit partners always say I don't have enough tags and I have constant run-ons.
I also am terrible with the way my dialogue is set up, you'll read a sentence and then there will be three paragraphs before the continuation! Stupid right? While writing I thought it was genius, then re-reading I realized it sucked, thank goodness for honest husbands and revisions, lol.
Great advice! *gets axe to chop the adverbs*
Once upon a time, everything I wrote had a surplus of adverbs. It was a difficult habit to break, but I'm thankful I did. Now I always notice when there's an inordinate amount of them in the novels I read, and I wind up wanting to take a pen to them.
The only time I allow myself total adverb freedom is for the writing here, in my blog – adverbs away!!
Nicole,
Thank you for reading my blog. Also, thank you for the writing tips. I have a lot to learn.
Kathy
Great advice. I hope your revising continues to go well!
These are some really helpful tips, Nicole! I especially know the adverb one. I think it was Stephen King who once said in his book ON WRITING, "The road to hell is paved with adverbs."
As for the he said/she said thing, I don't use it much in my writing, but instead give the character some movement or action to do instead. "Show, do not tell," were the wise words of my teacher.
Lastly, I think I abuse the commas, but I guess I should start cutting them down in my pieces during rewrites.
Write on and good luck with everything!
elmore leonard sez he tries not to write anything the reader skips while reading 😉 lol
@ laughingwolf – ;p yeah I'm working on that
@ Kathy – no prob 🙂 I love visiting interesting sites. And we all have LOTS to learn *grin* it's what makes life so exciting ;p