It’s all about those Words.

The tune by Meghan Trainor sticks in my mind. Catchy, unique, with a definite hook. Kinda like a good novel.

This week, it’s all about those words. The ones that make up a good read. From B.I.C. to editing. And a challenge to any courageous enough to take me on.

Today, it’s about routines, Squirrels, and discussions.

Stephen King not only writes good books but also gives back to the writing community, a behavior common in our profession. On Writing and his top twenty rules for writers is the best example.

The first ten:

1. First write for yourself, and then worry about the audience. “When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story.”

2. Don’t use passive voice. “Timid writers like passive verbs for the same reason that timid lovers like passive partners. The passive voice is safe.”

3. Avoid adverbs. “The adverb is not your friend.”

4. Avoid adverbs, especially after “he said” and “she said.”

5. But don’t obsess over perfect grammar. “The object of fiction isn’t grammatical correctness but to make the reader welcome and then tell a story.”

6. The magic is in you. “I’m convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing.”

7. Read, read, read. ”If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.”

8. Don’t worry about making other people happy. “If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered, anyway.”

9. Turn off the TV. “TV—while working out or anywhere else—really is about the last thing an aspiring writer needs.”

10. You have three months. “The first draft of a book—even a long one—should take no more than three months, the length of a season.”

Note the last tip. Say you are shooting for a 90 K novel. That’s a thousand words every day. It’s possible.

It IS possible.

And now, my first challenge of the week. Pick a day. Tell me when you are starting and write a thousand words a day for ninety days. No excuses. Just do it.

I pick Saturday, June 27. I do declare that I will write at least one thousand words a day, thirty thousand in one month.

What about you? Are you ready to lift your chin, grit your teeth, and take this challenge? 
Well? Are you?

For the rest of the twenty tips,

Nuts and Bolts to Writing a Novel

First, comes conception and then the writing. *duh*

Next, the nuts and bolts. 

Editing. *shiver*

Bottom line, you do not have the necessary eye to judge your MS. You’ve lived the world you’ve created, every word burned into your consciousness. The path is too familiar.

Editing comes down to this:

Reading the words is different than Seeing the words.

You don’t notice the echoes or adverbs. You are blind to the use of your favorite words. Over-written? Phttttttttt.

Help is available, on this blog and other websites.

Creative writing software will catch some of the mistakes, highlighting overused words, dialogue attribution, and adverbs misuse.

Go to www.ravensheadservices.com for a free download of Write It Now.

Whether it helps you or not depends on where you are in this career; just learning the definition of ‘dialogue tag’ or agented and looking for a publisher.

Creative writing software is available. Go to www.dailywritingtips.com for a comparison. This website has priceless nuggets of writing advice.

Need help with facial expressions? Nearly every writer is aware of The Bookshelf Muse. This blog gives physical examples of anger, worry, confusion, and passion. The website’s authors also published a self-help guide, easy to thumb and find just the right open mouth, squinting eyes, sigh, and flipped fingers. The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi is available through Amazon or as an Ebook on their website.

Other books are available to parse the phrase and edit the annoying dangling participle. Books such as Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Brown and Dave King. Stephen King’s On Writing is a winner also.

And last Critique Groups like Unicorn Bell, Betas and Critique Partners. The road to Published must include these fueling stations.

Remember, you are not alone. We are traveling the same highway, learning, exploring, and aiding. Keep on Truckin’, folks.

Do you have a favorite site for writers? Please share.
 

Our Brains and First Drafts

Editing

First drafts are meant for no eyes but your own your eyes only. It shows your brain’s progress. It highlights a secret process;  It shows how your brain works.

I can’t know for sure know about you but I for darn sure don’t want anyone to see in that.  I prefer to keep this process to myself.

The My first draft is messy, full of redundancy, thinking out loud, and falling-down-two-flights-of-stairs onto a concrete floor awful. 

SPLAT.

Then along comes Second Draft.

I make deep cuts; edit out the shitty crappy poor grammar, the echoes, and all unnecessary words that do not contribute. Words that bubble out of my brainpan do not necessarily flow as well on the page.

Because my first drafts were so shitty crappy bad and the edits extensive, I wondered if I was alone wrestling the story my brain was putting out into a coherent tale.

Enter two books 

Writing Tools 

by Roy Peter Clark 

and 

On Writing by Stephen King.

Both show the authors' first drafts and then their edited versions with strikeouts and re-writes. One of Mr. King’s comments struck a chord. He said this process is true even for ‘professional writers’, following the roller coaster ride that is your brain.

Like life, it can get untidy, this editing process. Don’t get discouraged.

Birth can get is messy. Creating a story is no exception.