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Okay...What I am looking for are top ten things to look for when editing your own work.
This has some nice suggestions. I was wondering about the use of "was" and "were"...is it necessary to keep all of them out?
I spotted something to change:
"(Dialog) needs to move the story along and resemble...
The other times this word is used it is spelled "dialogue"
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Comment Written 28-Sep-2011 |
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reply by the author on 28-Sep-2011
Dialog is sort of an American spelling of dialogue. I should have been consistent, however.
Any form of the verb 'to be' needs close scrutiny when you edit, but no, they don't all have to go. You just have to be very critical. It's easy to say: The dog was thin. "Was" just sort of sits there. How much better to say: The starving dog's ribs showed beneath its mangy hide.The same with: He was running. Yeah? Was he jogging, sprinting, trotting or what? You could say: It was raining when she left the store, but again, your reader doesn't get a mental picture. Is the poor girl a mess, soaked to the skin because she forgot her umbrella? Or is it only sprinkling big drops on the sidewalk? Just be very critical about was/were/had been to be sure that's all you can do with the scene. I'll PM you with what I believe are the top 10 things to look for, and maybe I'll write it up and get credit for it later.
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reply by Osiek on 28-Sep-2011
I am looking forward to reading it. There are so many new writers that need this kind of assistance. I try to help, but I feel myself limited with the lack of full knowledge and understanding. A litle knowledge can get one into a lot of trouble...
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Comment by | | Ancient Writer | | | Reader | | | Author Rating For Short Works
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Comment by | | | | | Review Stars
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Hi Nor,
I read through this piece, and it was neat because I just finished reading through a book -- 38 common mistakes writers make, or something like that. I only remember the 38 because my brother made fun of the odd number... why not 40... or 35?
But anyway, so many of the topics brought up in your essay were in that book and reading them again, in a different voice, I was understanding them and appreciating the concepts all over again.
I recall the times its been pointed out to me... hey she can't flinch before something happens. Using the cliche... horse before the cart, really takes the complicated words... stimuli and response, to something ground level that people can grasp the image on. I liked the use.
Shesh. I should have read this before I fretted over if Janice had to turn a knob left or right! (Sometimes in some essays, they warn about too many generics... like She pulled out her gun and got in her car... versus, She pulled out her Gloc and hopped in her Suberu, or Ford Pinto.
A good essay here, with points that really connected, and had I only read it a few days sooner! Would have saved some brain cells.
The only thing I wondered was on the first sentence...
Some writers may hear '
Only because some writers may not have heard
The only thing I could find, this contained a good mix of information.
Turtle.
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Comment Written 26-Jan-2011 |
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reply by the author on 26-Jan-2011
Oh yes, Turtle. Jack Bickham's book, and Bickham was a teacher at the University of Oklahoma. He makes some good points. As for the specifics, I like them. About that left vs right thing, nah. That's not being specific, exactly, and it can start the reader wondering which way his or her valves turn and send them off to the tap to find out -- you want them to keep reading!
I'll have to look at that first sentence to see what you mean.
I never have a character react, because when I write, I AM the character. I'll react only when someone else does something to which I can react.
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