Revisions and Writing “Rules”
As I near “the End” of my book, revisions cast their dark shadow over my future. *cue menacing music* dun dun dahhhhh .
While I’ve been writing, I’ve stopped and made comments on a page in my journal called the “To Be Revised” page. I decided that instead of stopping constantly to fix the things I was sure would need to be fixed later I would write them down so I could remember them when I trotted back through.
Though many of my “To Be Revised” notes are specific and of no use to you (and of questionable use to me), there are some that seem general and perhaps applicable to everyone. Here are a few snippets:
- Check for any adverbs I can avoid
- Plot out motivation to make certain it is consistent throughout
- Check for plot holes
- Strengthen verbs
As I read back through these notes, I started surfing around online to find other writing rules that might help direct me through my revising. Here are some fun ones:
Kurt Vonnegut’s eight rules for writing fiction:
1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.
-- Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons 1999), 9-10.
Sort of an interesting take, huh? I particularly like the cockroaches bit.
Here’s George Orwell’s list, though it’s more grammar driven than fiction driven:
1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything barbarous.
George Orwell, Politics and the English Language (Horizon, 1946)
That last one is the greatest reminder to me not to get carried away trying to follow "the rules."
In the end, there are always exceptions to every rule.
What writing rule do you have the most trouble with? What writing rule do you think is complete bunk? What writing rule do you think is vital to good fiction (my personal favorite being show, don't tell)?
Books by the Crew
46 comments:
Marnee,
I remember at school we had a very talented batsman (talking cricket here) who played for the 1st eleven while still in his first year. He would regularly make large scores. The PE teacher then decided that his technique was all wrong and set about correcting it. He then ceased to make large scores and was eventually dropped!
The moral here is to ignore the rules if you are a natural. Just let it flow and you will make large scores.If someone can only write by the rules, I reckon they might be in the wrong profession.
I should say that all of the pirates are pretty high on my batting list! :D
and others, as in, George and Kurt... :)
Marn, love the suggestions by others.
I sometimes have trouble with this one: Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
I want to please everyone, and sometimes I end up holding back on the story. I'm learning to let go of that part of the inner critic--the one that says, you can't say that people were freak out or they'll think this when I mean this...
I hope to totally destroy that little voice that sometimes makes my writing flat. Because in doing so, you are not staying true to you characters and story as a whole.
Very pithy points. I think most books take place now in a very short time span, which starts them close to the end. Sometimes they feel rushed.
I have trouble staying focused on the h/h. The secondary characters are such buttinskies.I read somewhere the perfect # of characters in a book, but I forgot it, LOL.
I'm such a rule follower that I don't even want to go there. It would be a total mess - I'd be so set on following the rules I would get nothing done. I think that's where I would rely on critique partners or editors to show me the error of my ways, so to speak. I'm very good at taking constructive criticism and making changes, but following rules would stop me before I ever got started!
The one rule I'm not too fond of is the head hopping one everyone is always talking about. I tend to like knowing what more than one character is thinking. I mean 15 would probably be overboard, but more than one POV is not a big no-no, IMHO.
I'm a rule breaker, plain and simple. I think all rules are bunk and unless you plan to break them, you'll never know what your potential really is.
Personally, I like to write for myself. This is the only guideline I follow. We all see how well it works too. Haven't finished anything. Yet. LOL
Q - I think your cricket player story is so apt. Sometimes if you mess too much with something, it loses that special something that makes it special.
Tiff - That Inner Critic is a total buzz kill. I hate it when it kicks in and tells me someone won't like my stuff or someone will think that isn't the right action then. Annoying. It is hard to tune it out. Good luck!
Maggie - I have only read bits and pieces of your stuff but I love the details and the breadth of everything you write. I wouldn't worry too much about your buttinskies. I have a feeling they'll be worth spending time with. :)
Irish - that head hopping one was a tough habit to break for me. During fanlit that was one of my big complaints. I adjusted, I think I'm better now. But I like to know what's going on everywhere too! :) I'm nosy like that.
Sin - I believe the key to that statement was YET. You haven't finished YET. Once you do, it's going to be dazzling.
My nature is to follow rules. Which is why learning the writing *rules* is the worst thing that could happen to me. Luckily, I also have a rebellious streak. It's smaller than it once was, but not totally gone.
For me, it's mind over matter. Not easy when you're mind isn't what it used to be either. I love the idea of writing down revision notes for later. And the bottom line is, we're never going to be able to step back and see the entire story as a whole. That's why sealing up all those wholes and keeping the continuity is so dang hard.
Ter - writing down revision notes has to be the best thing I did while I was writing. A lot of my notes are like, "revisit the scene where X happens after I'm done." It let me move forward, assuming I wouldn't forget to come back.
Orson's lack of metaphors could be the reason why I've not read a single book of his, but I've read all of JK Rowling's and Marsha Moyer's. Fascist.
But I love Kurt's rules! *LOL* Esp #3 and #8. Next time I get hung up about what my characters should be wanting, I'll make them hanker for something to drink. And I so agree with #8: I don't believe fiction is about tricking the reader and making them feel stupid at the end. The facts and clues should have been there the whole time, so even if they're still surprised at the end, they go, "OH, YEAH...the author did hint in that direction..."
Marn, best part was, I didn't realize that inner critic was a problem until someone I trust implicitly rad my work. It all kinda clicked, you know? And I was like, WTH is wrong with me? I need to give my characters free range and not be afraid of the outcome... I'm embracing the moment...
Love the list of rules.
Of course, I've broken every single one of them and then some. *g*
I agree with Sin... you can't play it safe. Not in writing.
Tiff, you know how much I love JINAN. Others will, too. And if not, screw them.
That's what I say. Take the love you get and don't worry about the haters. LOL
Cut out those dialogue tags whenever possible!
Definitely, Sin, Tiff and everyone else who said it...take chances. Don't write safe. Break rules. That's what makes your writing fresh, different, daring and memorable...if it's done in a way that shows you know what the rules are and are breaking them anyway! Be a rebel!
That no dialogue tag but "said" or "asked" bothers me. Characters can whisper, yell, scream, growl, purr out what they say. I read it all the time and it works. Like anything, it shouldn't be overused, but damn it if my character growls our her name, then he growls.
I agree with Sin. Break the rules. I'm such a non-conformist. But again, I haven't sold anything yet. LOL.
Which reminds me of a college course I took. Interior Design. We had a project to do, create a living room by designing everything from the ground up. When I turned my project in, I was told plaids don't go with florals and to do it over. I quit the class! Not 10 years later what did you see everywhere? Plaids and florals on furniture, you name it.
So, write what you want. Say what you wanna say. Be a pirate, wenches!! I learned that long ago.
Uhh… what writing rule do I have the most trouble with? Something besides my obvious obsession with “….’s” ? Umm… well… that would have to be the same rule that I have a hard time not breaking when I’m writing… or talking… or thinking… or sleeping… Look. I’ll admit it. I have a hard time not breaking this rule. The rule that says Don’t be Facetious. When I was a child, someone was always telling me not be facetious. One of my earliest childhood memories is of my Grandmother saying “Julie, don’t be facetious”. My comment to her was “Who Is this Facetious person and why can’t I be like them?”
Facetious, in case you didn’t know, means “Playfully jocular; humorous… It implies a desire to be amusing…”. Which isn’t a bad thing to be, right? Except after the “desire to be amusing” comes the words “often intrusive or ill-timed.” Ouch.
My writing advice to you is: have fun with your writing. But be sensitive to your reader’s sensibilities. Watch your timing. And don’t be intrusive. Not that I know anything about writing.
I do however, according to my family, know a few things about intrusive, ill-timed, facetiousness.
Julie - I got that same comment as a child! Only it was more like, "Don't be a smart ass." LOL!
Funny, I still get that today...
Heck Terrio, not only do I get it from my family… well… check out my horoscope/taro reading for today. This is a direct quote:
“… hey, Julie, you need to be realistic and understand that there are limits that you cannot cross. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that you are invincible. After all, there is a hierarchy in place, and you don’t want to get into trouble. You might shoot yourself in the foot. “
Or in the ass? Jeez, I CAN take a hint. I’m just …. Gonna be Quiet…
I got the facetious complaint on all my English papers. Followed with "Stop being so colloquial" which was basically the same thing.
We facetious people have to stick together. The world needs us, even if they don't know it.
I'm thinking pirate may be another word for facetious. LOL!
So happy to be in good company.
Julie - Never let the horoscope win!
Hellion - I love Rowling's use of metaphor. Oh, and she's got flying body parts everywhere (in case that doesn't make sense to anyone, there's a rule somewhere about how you shouldn't have body parts do things they can't do). I just read Deathly Hallows this weekend and Ginny's hair flew. That's right. There goes that rule.
Tiff - let those characters roam!! LOL!!
Ely - I love the take it or leave it attitude! I know that helps you write honest stuff. I love that about your voice.
JK and Ter - dialogue tags. Oye. In the beginning I tagged everything, but now I pretty much just leave out. I'm with you, though, Ter. I don't mind the occasional growl and purr. Too much, like too much of anything, can be a little overwhelming.
Kathy and all you other rule breakers (giant lot o pirates, all) - Write what you want! What a good battle cry!
Julie, Ter, and Fran - I'm joining the facetious club! I've definitely heard that once or twice. LOL!! Is it a bad thing that I'm proud of it?
My novel on rules:
Sometimes the most useful rules are ones based on your own work, like you've mentioned, Marn. After reading through an old draft of my current WIP (13k words left AND I upped my goal!), I made a list of words I used too much (realize is often on this list!), especially adverbs (probably, finally, apparently, suddenly, slowly, softly).
Other things I look at in revision is to be verbs, "sounded"/"looked"/"felt," (showing vs. telling—but telling has a place. Why spend half a page describing someone's expression in the middle of a tense conversation, stopping the action, when stating what his expression was would work?), there is/are, it is/was, overusing semi-colons and dashes and too many dialogue tags.
I think the dialogue tag rule is rather stupid. Like showing vs. telling, it's so overquoted as a caution to beginning writers that it limits them in some ways once they've "mastered" the rule.
Sometimes they're just necessary: to identify a new speaker, to identify who's speaking when it's ambiguous (I used to write five person conversations without dialogue tags. Is that "good" writing?) and to show, WHEN IMPORTANT, how something was said.
The same people who say that you should never, EVER use anything other than said or asked will also tell you you should never, EVER put adverbs with either of those, either. So no one says most of the dialogue, and when the speaker is identified, his delivery is so unexpressive that only "said" works? Riveting.
(One of my college professors used a similar example to attack Noam Chomsky's work on grammar, saying that his notion of grammar is based on the Utterly Boring World, where farmers can bite sandwiches but never vice versa.)
And if you point to examples in print, that's just too bad because that person is in print and can do whatever you want, but you, you unpublished wretch, MUST SLAVISHLY adhere to these invented rules (and don't split infinitives, either, because LATIN IS PERFECT. Oh dear, my linguistics degree is showing again....)
Here's what a real agent said on dialogue tags recently: http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2008/07/writing-dialogue.html
"I think dialogue tags could actually add a lot to the story if used carefully and properly."
She explains what carefully and properly mean and I totally agree with her. The reason beginning writers are told not to use dialogue tags is because they use them as a crutch, or overuse them and distract from the dialogue.
But as with many "rules" in writing, mastery and artistry mean that you have to do what you feel. A reasonably experience writer knows better than to tag every line of dialogue (which apparently we also are so stupid that we need a rule against) and knows to use actions to show who's speaking and how a lot of the time. And a reasonably experienced writer can figure out how to balance these.
Jordan says: "But as with many “rules” in writing, mastery and artistry mean that you have to do what you feel." This says everything to me. Sometimes breaking these rules are what makes our work stand out as extraordinary as opposed to mediocre.
Jordan - I read Jessica's blog on that. I just lurk over there, but I love to get her take on things.
And I love that "but so and so did it, well you're not so and so." That one is so annoying. Because I'm guessing so and so did it BEFORE she was so and so. LOL!
Know what I mean?
Ter - exactly!! Why is it that some can do it and some can't? I think it's a matter of figuring out how to do it effectively.
Terrio--totally!
Marn--by "effectively" do you mean "get away with it"? ;)
Of course, she means "get away with it"! Marnee seems like the shy pirate of the bunch, but really she's the most devious. Which is good because one of us needs to be cleverer than us to NOT get caught and be clapped in jail, if only to bail the rest of us out...
Oh, you were talking about writing. Same thing.
"cleverer than us"? I think that breaks a rule.
What about having too many POVs in a book. I like to get into secondary characters' minds. And there are many authors who do this *effectively*. Even newer ones. So sticking to the POV of only the hero or heroine (and maybe the crazy bad guy) is an annoying rule to me.
"but you, you unpublished wretch, MUST SLAVISHLY adhere to these invented rules..."
Them's fightin' words. Aye, I hate this! Hate, hate, hate rules. Rules are defeating. I say draw yer cutlass, wenches! Cut those rules to shreds, flay them out and leave 'em to rot. Write what comes from the gut and be done with it, ye scabberous dogs, as Captain Jack would say. Give me that horizon! A book well-written. A book with heart.
Jordan - Of course I don't mean, "get away with it"... at least not necessarily... *angelic grin reminiscent of DS after he spills the cat water* I'm sure it's more like, "artistically with the best reader experience in mind."
Or something like that.
And Captain, you're high opinion of me causes my chest to swell with pride. :) LOL!!
Ter - I like the crazy bad guy perspective. I haven't written one yet, but maybe the next book. It looks like good fun. Ask Jordan about her creepy bad guy. *shivers* Ex-boyfriend turned con-artist. Good fun.
Kathy - hear hear!! *Lifting my rum bottle in salute.*
Marn--Aw, he's not creepy. He's just misunderstood. (Don't anyone let my dad know, but when I was writing his character bio and I needed some detail or something, I just put in something from my dad's life. But my dad's not creepy or as screwed up as my bad guy!)
Maybe what creeps you out is the fact that the MC is living with him (platonically, of course) and you have NO idea what he's capable of until... DUN DUN DUNNNN!
Meh, I don't really care what freaks you out about him, I just like that he creeps you out! ;)
I was watching a religious movie last night and every time Lucifer (you know, Satan) was on screen I was like "Lucifer? Don't you mean . . . Christopher?! [my character's suddenly very ironic name]"
Jordan - Did you know Hellion wrote a book with Lucifer as the hero? LOL!!
Jordan, I like the way you think! :-) And I'm curious about... DUN DUN DUNNNN, Christopher.
I love that we keep breaking into DUN DUN DUNNNNN on the blog today. LOL! That means we've had music all week. Mission Impossible theme Monday. South Pacific on Tuesday. And now DUN DUN DUNNNNN. That's fun. LOL!
Oh, and Sin's writing is like music to your soul so don't think I left her out.
Now, I'm curious about this Christopher too. And I pinky swear I won't tell your dad. :)
Marn - Hellion = Milton? I thought he was dead . . . and y'know a man....
Ter - 'Preciate the pinky swear! Actually, there's nothing to tell, really, since exactly 1% of that part of his back story is ever told.
Ter & Kathy - What do you want to know? Christopher's just . . . let me go grab a line from the WIP. "Christopher had the winning smile and blond All-American good looks that instantly inspired trust in men and lust in women." What's not to love? (Insert appropriate musical swell.)
Oh, those are the ones you have to watch. And she lives with him? And he's the creepy guy? That sounds like an edge-of-your-seat read. Reminds me of the bad guy in Jennifer Crusie's Crazy For You. Let's just say the crazy part refers to her ex-bf.
Oh, and the heroine's first husband in Blue Eyed Devil by Kleypas. I so didn't see that coming.
Creepy he is. In the way of spooky guys in the bar that seem a little too slick for the own good.
Oh shudder. Now you're making ME creeped out by him!
Good looking guys that seem too good to be true. So creepy!
Suspect, I say.
I read heard about the blog in your newsletter and figured I'd pop by and say Hi. I'm more of a lurker than a chatter and love to read about everything. Thanks for putting me in the drawing.
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