Writing Tips (Comments and Questions Welcome!)

[Xanaphia]

Since I have decided to publish my first novel, one question has haunted me: can I really consider myself a serious author if I don’t pontificate upon the act of writing? Clearly not, so I bring you, good writers of BMR, my own curated list of writing tips. Because, as it turns out, writing about writing is a delightfully meta way of procrastinating from actually finishing my novel.

Now, I am certainly no expert. Clearly, I can barely differentiate between form and from*, so feel to disregard my advice as it suits you.

First things first. There is only one hard and fast rule when it comes to writing: Anything is allowed, so long as it works.

Now, does this mean that everything works in writing? Nope! How can a writer know if a technique worked? Well, this is subjective, but the best metric is whether or not the meaning is conveyed. If readers aren't coming to the meaning the author intended, then the technique didn't work.

The sad truth is well written and engaging are not always one and the same. Some critically celebrated novels have incorrect grammar (Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men, James Joyce's Ulysses, William Faulkner's Sound and Fury). Some extremely popular novels are beloved by fans, even though they have technical and structural errors in the narrative.

Once you understand how and why the rules work, you can use them to your advantage, to craft the story that is buzzing around your head. And you can even learn when to break them.

Everything in this thread should be taken as suggestion. There is no one right way to write. If you are willing to listen to advice and experiment with new techniques, you will grow as a writer.

I welcome any questions and comments in this thread, as well as suggestions for future topics.

*I honestly do know the difference, but my fingers are quite fond of typing form when I mean from, so it might seem to some that I don't.

 

[Xanaphia]

Show, don’t Tell
This is some of the most basic advice new writers receive, and there is good reason for that. Using writing to show details to one’s readers, instead of merely telling them those details is one of the greatest feats in literature. Showing, or using strong, vivid descriptions, turns dry, mediocre prose into living, breathing narratives.

How is showing different from telling?

Consider the following two sentences:

She was happy.

She smiled.

Now, the reader can infer from the second sentences that the character is happy. Still, lets see how we can take it further.

She closed her eyes and a smile spread over her face.

This sentence not only shows happiness, but shows a overcome with joy. Small details like bring stories to life.


How to turn telling into showing?

There are many techniques, but my favorite is to break down a larger action into smaller parts. Consider again the above example. Now, “She smiled,” is a way to show that a character is happy, but we can get into even greater depth. Break down the smile into even smaller parts.

Lips curled and opened, revealing a row of perfect white teeth. A few short laughs escaped her mouth and her warm eyes didn’t leave mine.

How does this sentence show happiness? The smile, big enough to show teeth, the laugh, and the warm eyes. All of these images come together to create a scene that shows a character’s happiness, rather than just tell it.


So, do I have to show everything?

Nope! See, here is the thing about words. At some point, to some degree, all words tell. If we want to communicate purely by showing, well, we’d use pictures.

Now, is it possible to use a great degree of detail in every aspect of writing a story? It is! But is it advisable? Probably not. Description is great, paints a picture for the reader, but too much description can slow your pacing down.

There isn’t a hard and fast rule for how much description is too much or just right, but a good way to think about it is to imagine description like a spotlight. The more you describe something, whether it’s a person, a place, an object, a fight, a conversation, anything really, the more attention you bring to it. Saving your beautiful descriptive language for important things will make them stand out in the reader’s mind.



When is showing important?

Characterization is one of the places where the effective use of showing versus tell will shine. Don’t tell a reader that a character is a good fighter, show that the character is a good fighter. Show them winning their fights. Show them overcoming difficult odds. Don’t tell me two characters are good friends, show me how they share inside jokes or how they support one another.

 

[Drunkle Qrow]

Monika's writing tip for the day:

 

[Xanaphia]

@Drunkle Qrow Heh, I've certainly never spent an entire weekend moping over a fictional couple. Nope.

~*~

Adverbs
What are adverbs?

Adverbs are a part of speech that modify either a verb, an adjective or another adverb, commonly denoted by their “-ly” suffix. Contrast them with adjectives, which modify nouns alone.

Why should adverbs be avoided?

Adverbs are often a sign of telling when you should be showing. Consider the following sentence:

They kissed passionately.

You are telling the reader the kiss is passionate when you should be showing them the kiss is passionate instead. Compare it to this:

Closing the distance between them, she kissed him. Hungry lips pressed against his and encouraged him to open his mouth to her tongue. Hands slid up his back, over his neck and gripped his head.

Now, maybe you already built up the scene to be passionate, so there is no need to go into great detail about how the kiss is passionate. So why not use the adverb there? Because it’s superfluous. The reader already knows the kiss is passionate, because you’ve written a passionate scene.

Now, how about when the verb and the adverb are at odds? Consider this:

She kissed him tepidly.

Now, that is an interesting example. A reader doesn’t expect a kiss to be tepid. Now, in this case, it still might be more interesting to show how the kiss is tepid (their lips barely touched, she pulled away quickly, her mouth didn’t open for his), but the pace of the scene will dictate how much detail you should go into.

Adverbs aren’t terrible, but don’t use them as an excuse not to elaborate. And if you are elaborating sufficiently, then you might not need them at all.

Personally, I believe adverbs are more a second draft issue. I actually think writers should use them as much as they want in the first draft, because when editing, one of three things will happen:

• Either the writer will see that they are using the adverb to tell, instead of show, and rewrite the scene to illustrate their point, using the adverb as a guide.
• The writer will see that they already built up the scene, and will be able to delete the adverb, without losing any meaning.
• The adverb is doing something interesting that can’t be easily translated otherwise, and then the writer will keep it.

 

[Xanaphia]

Filter Words
Continuing on the discussion of “Show, don’t Tell”, today I will discuss filter words, and why you shouldn’t use them. This is actually one of my favorite writing/ editing tricks, and even since I’ve learned this technique, I personally feel like my writing has reached another level.

What are filter words?
Filter words are words that filter experiences through a character. Most of the sensory verbs are filter words, so see, hear, taste, smell, feel, and think are the big ones.

Wait, I thought I was supposed to use sensory details in my writing?
Yeah, you do want to use sensory details in your writing, but you want to avoid using sensory verbs. Confused yet? The problem is, when you filter the sensory details through the characters, you take the immediacy out of the scene, and detach the reader from experiencing the story alongside the characters. The important thing to remember is that you don’t have to explicitly start that the character is experiencing a sensation. Just state that the experience is occurring. For example:

She smelled his body odor.

In this situation, the sensation of body odor is filtered through the character, instead of presented directly. Now, while it might be nice to avoid the sensation of someone’s sweaty stank, this sentence doesn’t immerse the reader in the character’s experience. Contrast it with this:

His pungent body odor made Amy crinkle her nose.

Now the reader is in Amy’s shoes, sharing in her experience. Many sentences with filter words can be rewritten to be more vibrant and immediate. Plus, I find they tend to be more interesting to write. Take this example.

He heard her coming down the hall.

Boring. Let’s spice it up:

The clicking of heels on wood flooring announced her arrival.

Look at that! Not only did I make the sensation more dynamic, I was able to fill in details about the setting and characters. I didn’t have to tell you the character is wearing heels or the floors are wood, instead I wove the details into the narration.

 

[Xanaphia]

Connotation/ Denotation​

What are connotation and denotation?

To start, let’s define denotation, with is essentially the dictionary definition of a word. The literal meaning. Simple right?

So, what’s connotation? Connotation is the associations a word carries. These can change over time, and vary from place to place. The best way to explain it is through examples.

He shrieked
He bellowed

Now, looking at the denotation of these words, they are synonyms, and mean essentially the same thing, “He yelled.” However, by analyzing the connotation, we can read between the lines and learn more about the subject. The verb used in each case tells us something about the man.

In the case, “shrieked”, we get the image of a small man, lacking in power or strength. He comes off whiny, meek, pathetic. Without further description, we might imagine that he is slight, lacking the physicality to project with his voice.

Compare this to the second example, bellow. This verb carries more weight, more strength. It conjures images of power, authority, and anger. Our minds may fill in a large imposing man.

This is why you can’t just blindly open a thesaurus and select synonyms at random. Even if two words mean the same thing, they can carry different connotations. “She murmured” is more intimate than “She muttered”. “She giggled” is more playful than “she sniggered.”

Another example:

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned.
Sorry Daddy, I’ve been naughty.

Going on denotation alone, the sentences are practically identical, but using connotation, we know one is a (more or less) sincere expression of religious piety, and the other is sexually suggestive.

So, how can I use this in my writing?
Overtime, using careful diction (word choice) you can create impressions in your writing. It adds to the exposition to create tone, demonstrate characterization, develop the setting and theme. Done well, and the reader will be enraptured. Done poorly, and the reader is taken out of the story, left befuddled.

Honestly, this is one of the things that makes writing so difficult. Once you learn this technique, you begin the journey for the perfect word. You want the exact world that precisely encapsulated the mood you are trying to create, both in the definition and in connotation. Sometimes, you’ll find it, and life is wonderful. Often, it will elude you, and writing becomes a matter of settling.

Try not to get hung up on the perfect word. Instead, this is the best place to bust out your clever metaphors and figurative language. If a single word doesn’t fit, string together several, and illustrate your point, instead of merely telling it.

 

[Xanaphia]

Syntax
Syntax is another word for sentence structure, or the way sentences are constructed. Let’s talk briefly about different kinds of sentences:

• Sentence: A sentence (or independent clause) has a subject and a predicate (verb phrase), and encompasses a complete thought. If you don’t have all three elements, you have a sentence fragment, or a dependent clause.
• Complex sentence: A sentence with both a dependent clause and an independent clause.
• Compound Sentence: A sentence with two or more independent clauses, joined by a conjunction, or a semicolon. (If you only use a comma, this is an error known as “comma splice”.)
• Complex-Compound Sentence: A sentence with at least two independent clauses and a dependent clause.

Vary your syntax!

Too many short, simple sentences makes your writing sound juvenile. Too many long makes your write difficult to parse or follow. Too many sentences of the same format, or too many sentences starting with the same word (usually a pronoun) become dull and monotonous.

Anaphora Is actually a figurative device that describes repeating the same sentences beginning over several sentences. Usually done to connect the ideas or draw the readers attention to a certain point. Anaphora works best when the prose doesn’t already have a habit of repetitive sentences starters.​

Simplify your Syntax!

Consider the following sentences:

Thing grew tense as the sun began to set, and there was no hint of losing their hunters. Worse still, distant howling and barking could be heard, giving the group an idea what might be hounding them.

Wow, those are a mouthful! What am I even trying to say with all that mess? If I can’t figure it out, what makes me think a reader is going to bother to? Let’s simplify these sentences.

The sun set, yet tensions grew. Predators stalked from the growing shadows, unseen howls drawing closer. They weren’t alone.

How to simplify a sentence?

• Strong verbs: “Sun began to set” becomes “The sun set.”
• Precise nouns: “An idea what might be hunting them” becomes “Predators.”
• Straightforward construction: “There was no hint of losing their hunters” becomes “They weren’t alone.”

Basically, get to the point. Don’t write circles around your point, just get straight to it. Overly long sentences don’t make your writing sound sophisticated, they just confuse the reader and obscure your meaning.

~*~​

Hey BMR! I am running low on topics that I can pretend to be knowledgeable about. So, is there anything you want to see me discuss? Feel free to post suggestions here, or pm them to me.

 

[HeyThereLittleBear]

These are excellent things to include in writing. I'd love to see you tackle point of view in writing as well as flow of writing.