“Editing is like gardening, prune the branches, then the leaves.” I don’t remember who said it but it’s good advice. Think topiary.
Prune out the boring bits, the curly bits that go nowhere, the lovely words which don’t relate to the plot but sound wonderful. Copy and paste them into another file and find somewhere else to use them.
Ensure repetition is a rhetorical device for emphasis rather than redundancy.
Prune away the fluff and fuzz, anything which stands between the reader and your story.
A nice reminder for today. Sweet words are one thing. Sickly sweet sentimentality is quite another.
Who decides which is which? The person to whom you wish to direct your words. Personal taste is an important consideration when choosing your words. Unfortunately, what melts one person, can repulse another.
This is so true. If your story doesn’t move you, you cannot expect it to move your reader. Keep your reader in mind and what reaction you want to provoke.
Write and rewrite and edit until your words crush the heart in your own chest, tears stream down your cheeks, you can’t stop laughing, until you can’t believe you wrote that. Blow yourself out of the water.
Finding and developing your own original voice is important. There is nobody like you. Nobody has your unique point of view and outlook on life.
The only secret to finding your voice? There is no secret. Just be yourself. Sound like yourself. Put your words together as nobody else does. Make them sparkle and shine as only you can.
Why? Because fiction is just that. A product of the imagination of a writer. The result of careful crafting, not constrained by facts, reality or the world we live in.
Your definition of good fiction may be different at various times, depending on many things including your mood, what you want out of your book.
Why do you read whatever it is that you read? Can you add to this list? For enjoyment, procrastination, escape, fantasy, entertainment, mental stimulation, armchair travel. To find answers, learn the right questions to ask, how to make better decisions, educate yourself. To improve your life skills, capacity for understanding, empathy, vocabulary, memory, focus, concentration, communication, writing skills, creativity, motivation, physical and mental health, self-esteem, learn the lessons of history, learn how people think, why they act as they do, learn life skills, how to make better decisions, open your mind. To lose yourself in fantasy, explore the universe, other lands, people and cultures, your own choices, motivations and depths, to put yourself to sleep…
Zoetic Words 