Advice on Writing
Sep. 23rd, 2011 12:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
writingopedI’ve read just about any and all advice I can find on writing. I’ve read humorous lists, autobiographical books, weblogs, magazine articles, and textbooks. Out of all of that, here are a few of the best bits of advice that I’ve stumbled upon.
1. Avoid adverbs. Stephen King once said, “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” Other writers agree – adverbs are to be avoided as much as possible and should never, ever be used in dialogue attribution.
2. Avoid passive voice. To do this, you must first know the difference between passive and active voice. A great article on the difference can be found here: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/active-voice-versus-passive-voice.aspx
3. If you wouldn’t read it, don’t write it. Or, as Elmore Leonard put it, “try to leave out the parts that readers tend to skip”. He went on to explain, “Think of what you skip reading a novel: thick paragraphs of prose you can see have too many words in them. What the writer is doing, he’s writing, perpetrating hooptedoodle, perhaps taking another shot at the weather, or has gone into the character’s head, and the reader either knows what the guy’s thinking or doesn’t care. I’ll bet you don’t skip dialogue.”
For me personally, this means leaving out longwinded descriptions. It also means leaving out graphic depictions of sex that are usually found in romance novels. I don’t read ‘em, so I don’t usually write ‘em.
4. Write. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a book, a blog post, or a grocery list, the very act of putting pen to paper (or fingers to keys) can unlock the creative part of your brain. By writing frequently, writing becomes a natural part of your life, as essential as breathing.
5. Read. Read everything. Good books encourage us, as writers, to strive to create something just as memorable and moving. Bad books make us say, “I can do better,” and then set out to prove that we can.
1. Avoid adverbs. Stephen King once said, “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” Other writers agree – adverbs are to be avoided as much as possible and should never, ever be used in dialogue attribution.
2. Avoid passive voice. To do this, you must first know the difference between passive and active voice. A great article on the difference can be found here: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/active-voice-versus-passive-voice.aspx
3. If you wouldn’t read it, don’t write it. Or, as Elmore Leonard put it, “try to leave out the parts that readers tend to skip”. He went on to explain, “Think of what you skip reading a novel: thick paragraphs of prose you can see have too many words in them. What the writer is doing, he’s writing, perpetrating hooptedoodle, perhaps taking another shot at the weather, or has gone into the character’s head, and the reader either knows what the guy’s thinking or doesn’t care. I’ll bet you don’t skip dialogue.”
For me personally, this means leaving out longwinded descriptions. It also means leaving out graphic depictions of sex that are usually found in romance novels. I don’t read ‘em, so I don’t usually write ‘em.
4. Write. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a book, a blog post, or a grocery list, the very act of putting pen to paper (or fingers to keys) can unlock the creative part of your brain. By writing frequently, writing becomes a natural part of your life, as essential as breathing.
5. Read. Read everything. Good books encourage us, as writers, to strive to create something just as memorable and moving. Bad books make us say, “I can do better,” and then set out to prove that we can.
