Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2017 3:39 PM
While I’m mulling over my writing options, I’m taking a
refresher course from some experts. About six years ago, when I was just setting
out as a writer, I came across Elmore Leonard’s “Ten Rules for Writing.” The essay had
appeared in The New York Times, in a
series of articles called “Writers on Writing.”
The points he made have stuck with me ever since, although I re-read
them periodically. I thought you might
enjoy them, too.
Being A Good Author Is A Disappearing Act, Cont'. By ELMORE LEONARD
6. Never use the
words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.” This rule doesn’t
require an explanation. I have noticed that writers who use “suddenly” tend to
exercise less control in the application of exclamation points.
7. Use regional
dialect, patois, sparingly. Once you start
spelling words in dialogue phonetically and loading the page with apostrophes,
you won’t be able to stop. Notice the way Annie Proulx captures the flavor of
Wyoming voices in her book of short stories “Close Range.”
8. Avoid detailed
descriptions of characters. Which Steinbeck
covered. In Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” what do the
“American and the girl with him” look like? “She had taken off her hat and put
it on the table.” That’s the only reference to a physical description in the
story, and yet we see the couple and know them by their tones of voice, with
not one adverb in sight.
9. Don’t go into
great detail describing places and things. Unless you’re
Margaret Atwood and can paint scenes with language or write landscapes in the
style of Jim Harrison. But even if you’re good at it, you don’t want
descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill.
And finally: 10. Try to leave
out the part that readers tend to skip. A rule that came to
mind in 1983. 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.
My most important
rule is one that sums up the 10. If it sounds like
writing, I rewrite it.
Or, if proper usage
gets in the way, it may have to go. I can’t allow what we learned in English
composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative. It’s my attempt
to remain invisible, not distract the reader from the story with obvious
writing. (Joseph Conrad said something about words getting in the way of what
you want to say.) If I write in
scenes and always from the point of view of a particular character—the one
whose view best brings the scene to life—I’m able to concentrate on the voices
of the characters telling you who they are and how they feel about what they
see and what’s going on, and I’m nowhere in sight.
What Steinbeck did
in “Sweet Thursday” was title his chapters as an indication, though obscure, of
what they cover. “Whom the Gods Love They Drive Nuts” is one, “Lousy Wednesday”
another. The third chapter is titled “Hooptedoodle 1” and the 38th chapter
“Hooptedoodle 2” as warnings to the reader, as if Steinbeck is saying: “Here’s
where you’ll see me taking flights of fancy with my writing, and it won’t get
in the way of the story. Skip them if you want.”
“Sweet Thursday”
came out in 1954, when I was just beginning to be published, and I’ve never
forgotten that prologue.
Did I read the
hooptedoodle chapters? Every word.
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Posted on Saturday, October 31, 2015 4:06 PM
As I gear up for NaNoWriMo in the morning, I want to clarify
for myself (as well as for anyone who decides to keep tabs on me) exactly what
my purpose entails. I am aiming for a total of 50,000 words during the 30 days
of November, but I am not “writing a book,” nor will I have written a novel by
December 1.
1.
I’ve already expounded on my feeling that 50,000
words is much too short to be considered a novel. 2. All I hope to end up with are some pieces of a
story that can be expanded, elaborated upon, and stitched together with
eloquent transitions that turn them into parts of a novel. 3. As such, there will be days when I write part or
most of a distinct chapter. For example, the passage I plan to start with
tomorrow is part of the Prologue to the rest of my proposed book. 4. But there will also be times when I need to
write about the writing – to discuss the history behind an event, perhaps. That’s also going to happen tomorrow, I hope,
since the Prologue is based on a real natural disaster that turned the
Grenville legacy upside down. I’ll be
putting the story “behind this story” into the form of a blog post on my
Blogger account. 5. My ultimate word count for the day will include
both the words of the prologue and the words of the blog. 6. And what appears in the blog will inform and
enrich what appears in the prologue (I hope!)
I figure that how I count up my words is my choice. As long
as they are new, and creative, and not just blathering drivel, they count. And
since I’m accountable only to myself, there should be no accusations of “cheating”
the score.
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Posted on Sunday, August 10, 2014 11:31 AM
We're home after several hours of driving in blinding rainstorms, one good supper, a night in a so-so hotel, two so-so meetings, more driving rain, a great auction, a superb dinner, a night in a grand hotel (marshmallow beds), and an over-the-top buffet breakfast, featuring oat-nut french toast, sausage gravy and biscuits, bacon and eggs, and topped with fresh blackberries and blueberries. After all that, I feel surprisingly perky and ready to take on the world, particularly since my calendar is practically empty. (Don't expect the same report next Sunday, when I'll be looking ahead to a week of jury duty!)
I'm hoping to make a start this week on the next book, tentatively entitled "Yankee Reconstructed." As I started thinking about story arcs, I ran across this set of guidelines from a reviewer. Hope I can keep them firmly in mind for the next five days.
• Keep it simple. • Give me one character with a strong point of view. • Show me that character’s attitude about one thing. • Don’t give me blah. • Or ordinary. • Give me edge; risk. • Convince me that the story starts on this day. • Rivet me with a colorful detail. Or two. • Decide why I want to spend a few hundred pages with your main character and give me one reason to engage in the first few pages. • Help me see, taste, smell, touch. Make it sensory. • Avoid using dialogue that is only designed to fill readers in on the background lives of the characters. (Just don’t!) This is dialogue as “info dump.” It’s deadly. • But, mostly, keep it simple. • Really simple. • No, really.
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Posted on Sunday, May 19, 2013 11:44 AM
The internet is full of helpful articles recently, and many of them offer simple checklists to guide you.
*The Writing Game: A Collection of Advice and Clever Tips for Writers of all Genres
Every writer has a set of tricks to help navigate through thorny spots in the writing process. Maybe some of them will help you, too. Today's article deals with creating the back cover copy for your book. The back cover is what most readers see first, and sometimes they never look further. Here are seven secrets to doing it right.
Find it at: http://www.scoop.it/t/the-writing-game
*Self-Publisher: How To Be Your Own Publisher without Going Bankrupt
Current views and helpful tips from authors who have switched to self-publishing. Today I have fifteen questions to ask yourself if you are considering self-publishing. It's not for everyone, and certainly not for someone who just wants to do it cheaply and quickly.
Find it at: http://www.scoop.it/t/self-publisher
*The Historian's Point of View: The Experiences of the Past, Seen through Current Events
On
this site, I'll be gathering articles about the craft of history -- new
discoveries, new methods, new controversies. Today I posted a new use
of x-rays to penetrate ancient documents that are too fragile to open.
Great news for those whose evidence is recorded on papyrus.
Find it at: http://www.scoop.it/t/the-historian-s-point-of-view
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Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2013 2:23 PM
I've been noticing that some very new writers are posing some old questions on the various writer discussion venues. There's nothing wrong with that, understand. When each new batch of writers asks the same questions, I take it as a sign that these are important issues. So maybe it's time to re-circulate some of the answers.This checklist comes from Shelley Hitz at self-publishing-coach.com. She says:
"Self publishing
is a comprehensive task. Actually there are several steps involved:
writing, pre-publication tasks, formatting, publishing and book
marketing. To help you visualize the process, I've put together a "Self Publishing Checklist" report and mindmap. I'm a very visual person and a checklist like this really helps me wrap my mind around the process."
I'm
happy to pass it along. Later this week, I'll be posting a series of
comments on each of the sections for those of you who need more than a
mindmap. Stay tuned.
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