Monday, June 17, 2013

Projectile Vomiting

Sometimes when I'm writing and trying to get a point across I tend to go on and on and on, to the point where subtlety is no longer an option, thus taking away the opportunity for the reader to figure out what I'm talking about on their own. I think of this as projectile vomiting, which shoots all over the place, is in your face, and really turns people off (oh, and smells awful). As writers we have to be careful with our words, we need to give our readers credit, and let them figure out what's happening on their own. I've read books where certain things, like themes, or foreshadowing are so in your face I kind of just roll my eyes and skip to the part where said things come to pass. And I know I'm not the only writer, or reader who has done this. Give your readers room, choose your words wisely, and sparingly. Don't regurgitate the same sentence or idea with new words all over your WIP, your readers aren't stupid, they will catch on, either to the fact that you're trying to tell them something or to the fact that you don't trust them to get it on their own. I know, as a writer, it can be hard to step away from your work and let the reader take over, but we have to let the writing speak for itself without us pushing it in other's faces. With that said, I will now be heading off to do some revisions since I'm sure there is LOTS of projectile vomit in Restoring Casey. Keeping your thoughts and words concise enough for the readers to get what you mean is an art form, and we need to perfect our art form. (I could have used an image for this post, but I think the only thing I'd find is a girl with her head spinning around while spitting out pea soup, and I doubt that would bring in more readership.)

5 comments:

  1. I'm at work and I read your title and burst into laughter!

    I know what you mean about this, though. I remember being very conscious of this when I rewrote my book because I had read too many stories that had done this and I got mad because the writer didn't trust me.

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  2. I do that when drafting. Thank heaven for CPs!

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  3. I tend to do the opposite sometimes, I don't give them enough. It's a great piece of advice...trust the reader!

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  4. In first drafts, I tend to circle around my point like a vulture over roadkill, but yeah, in revisions, I strip most of that out :)

    Good luck on your revisions!

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  5. I get to clean up the vomit during revisions and edits.

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