Fiction is really my one last comfort. It gives me such creative freedom and this thrill when I come up with a new idea or story line, I can hardly contain it. When I write fiction, computer keys become so much more than just letters to me, every little click-click is the sound of a new world being created.
I'm sure many of you take solace when you write, too, whether it's nonfiction, poetry, or a even my beloved fiction. For those who truly love writing are always looking for ways to get better and learn more. That, my friends is where I hope to help today. Although these tips help mainly when you are writing fiction, they can be incorporated in any writing you do in the future.
Starting out, I just want to give a warning: Any Harry Potter fans, the next paragraph will probably ruin the books for you. If you wish to carry on with that knowledge, then please continue.
Adverbs and adjectives. We learned them way back in Elementary School. We were taught that they make our sentences and paragraphs more interesting and to use them often. I am here to tell you all that work you did with adverbs and adjectives was useless. Why? Because you don't need them in your writing.
Let's start out with adverbs. Usually you can spot them because they end with "-ly", words like flatly, stubbornly, coldly, and quickly or angrily, sweetly. They appear a lot after a person speaks, such as "She had no right to do that!" Marco said angrily. Grammar lesson over, adverbs really are unnecessary after a character speaks. The words should speak for themselves instead of having to add adverbs everywhere. You see this even with very famous authors, especially J.K. Rowling. Every time a person speaks, it's an adverb. Ron said quickly, Hermione motioned hurriedly. If the words Hermione said showed she was impatient or in a hurry, you wouldn't need that adverb.
I knows its hard to give up adverbs. When of the professors I send my writing to told me this a few years ago, and I was very slow to stop using them. We get very attached, but the truth is they just take up room and interrupt the flow of your writing. Using 'said' is just fine! Even tough you might be worried repeating words, our brain doesn't really stop and acknowledge every time you say 'said'. It's better then huge long adverbs. One or two adverbs a page are fine, but you don't need to rush to the thesaurus every couple sentences.
Of "Mice and Men" is a famous book by John Steinbeck, and it's the perfect example. If your parents own this book, or your library has it, check it out. Even if it's just the first few pages, which is what we are going to be talking about in a little bit.
One of the most important things in writing is action. It doesn't need to be car flipping, guns and exploding buildings action, it just needs to be action. A person saying something. A rustle in the leaves. Something happening. If there is anything you take away from this article, please let it be this: Many of us, when writing a story get on these HUGE descriptive binges, a huge blob of description. "What?" You say. Here, let's define it a bit. Take this paragraph I wrote for example:
"Marie stood with her two sons at the gate in the JFK airport. The plane was just pulling into the hangar, and her heart pounded thinking of the precious cargo on board . . . Now, Marie was a very petite woman with sleek brown hair and a smooth, pearly face that withstood time. She dressed neat and practical, but everyone could see how pretty a woman she was. Standing 5'8 tall, many expected her to become a model . . ."
Wait. Whoah. Description blob alert. We were just learning about who was about to step off the plane when it went into a rambling off the main character, Marie. Do you see what I mean? Description blobs can go on for pages at a time. I usually just skip over them. Why? Because they have no action.
The beginning of the acclaimed book "Of Mice and Men" is a description blob. It's true. This book is a amazing classic, and it starts with the description blob of a setting. It takes almost three and a half pages before an action happens. Always rememebr to have action.
If you are writing a longer story or a novel, remember that your readers don't need to know everything about the character right away. How do I put this . . . ? Okay. Say you are sitting in your living room, and your older brother walks in with a new kid you don't know. He inrtoduces himself as Nick. That's it. He is a boy, older than you and named Nick. When you meet someone, they don't rattle of a resume like, "I'm Nick. I was born in Seaside, Oregon, and my family lives back there, all except my Dad. I'm 5'9 and I love lacrosse. People think my hair is brown, but it's actually sandy . . . " No. No, no, no. Nobody does that in real life, so why should that happen in your story?
Even with all of these tips, always remember to have fun with it. Don't worry about any of the stuff I just said. Have fun. Write your heart out. You can get back to th editing later.
Create your own world. Then in a few weeks, go back and edit all of your adverbs out of that world.
Glitsygrl
