Author Liesel K. Hill's Musings on Fantasia...
Showing posts with label Writer's Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writer's Life. Show all posts
Monday, January 15, 2018
Ax Those Crutch Words: BUT
Picture Source
Good morning, lovely readers! Welcome to my series on crutch words and passive voice, as I know this is something we all struggle with.
If you've ever read your writing and thought it sounded sub-par or unprofessional, but just didn't know how to fix it, chances are you're leaning on crutch words or using passive voice. I'll show you how to fix that.
The truth is that writers don't have enough of a science behind fixing this sort of thing. Sure, most of the really great writers out there stay away from crutch words and passive voice, but most of that is instinctual for them, after a lot of hours of writing and learning and honing.
Even most other authors you'll find may be able to tell you that something is lacking in your writing, but even they may not know exactly what it is or how to fix it. Or even if they can pinpoint it, it's hard for them (for any of us) to give actual, definable steps toward fixing our weak writing.
Saying, "Do it better," really doesn't help much. Especially newbie writers who really want to write better, but simply don't know how.
Here's where I'll start giving tips to help you out with this. Because there are many MANY offenders when it comes to crutch words, and they nearly always lead to passive voice. So if you cut out your crutch words, 99% of the passive voice in your writing automatically goes away. Isn't that amazing? And you get the added benefit of tighter, more grounded writing. The kind readers love to read and publishers love to publish.
Today's offender: BUT
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| Picture Source |
Good morning, lovely readers! Welcome to my series on crutch words and passive voice, as I know this is something we all struggle with.
"She wanted to help, but didn't know how."
I use this format in my writing a lot. I compare two things and separate the clauses with the word
"but." It's certainly not a bad thing. Especially if you don't do it
and need a way to change up your sentence structure, try it. But (hehe) I do it
too much. I also start too many
sentences with the word "But."
So for this, I go through and read each "but." If
I can separate the two clauses into two sentences without changing the meaning,
I do. If the "but" must be there, and I can't find any other way to say what I
want, then I leave it. Again, I find I can always get rid of most instances of
this without changing the story at all. At least, I can easily get down to the
1% rule.
Example 1: It felt cowardly, but confronting him would have
to wait.
The Fix: It felt cowardly. Yet
confronting him would have to wait.
Example 2: He needed to
get in line, but tied his shoe first.
The Fix: He needed to
get in line. He tied his shoe first.
(Of course, you should change up your sentence structure
here as well, so it doesn’t feel so repetitive. You get my drift, though.)
Last Resort Synonyms:
1. And - "But" should
only be used if differentiating something. Showing how something is different
than what you said in the first clause. Often it's interchangeable with
"and."
Example 1: He went to
the store but couldn't find what he needed.
The Fix: He went to the
store and couldn't find what he needed.
2. Except - This works in a case where
"but" is being used to show a remnant of something.
Example 2: He took all
the cookies but one.
The Fix: He took all the
cookies except one.
Again, these are "last resort" because you're
substituting one filler word for another, even if the one you swap for isn't a
crutch for you. Use with caution.
Check out Ax Those Crutch Words: Part 1: Was and Part 2: Had.
Also, check out my other books at: www.authorlkhill.com.
How about you? Is HAD a culprit in your writing?
Monday, February 8, 2016
Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling
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| Gif Source |
This is going up a bit late today, but what can I say? Super Bowl Sunday means that, naturally, I'm gonna get less done than usual. :D (How did everyone like the game, btw?)
So I cam across these rules a while ago, courtesy of Pinterest, and I thought they had a lot of depth and value to them, so I thought I'd share them. And actually I'd say they're less rules and more like 22 pieces of writing advice from a very successful story-telling company. Keep in mind these are applied to mostly children's cartoons, but each and every one can be adapted for writing novels or any other kind of story you may be working on. My commentary is in the blue font. (Obviously, as they're from Pixar, I didn't make them up myself. Just for the record.)
1. Admire characters for attempting more than what their successes have been. Push them. Give them challenges.
2. Keep in mind what's interesting to you as an audience, not what's fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.
3. Trying for theme is important, however you won't see what the story is about until you're at the end of the story. Got it? Now rewrite. I personally don't think there's anything wrong with trying for a particular theme, but don't force it. If you let the story and characters take you where they want to go, the theme will emerge naturally. And it may not be the theme you were originally trying for, which is often kinda cool.
4. Once upon a time there was ___. Every day___. One day__.Because of that___. Because of that___. Until finally___.
5. Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You'll feel like you're losing valuable stuff, but it sets you free. In other words, tighten, tighten, tighten.
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
7 Tips for Making a Living With Your Writing
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| Dean Wesley Smith (Picture Source) |
As it turns out, Mr. Smith has been a working freelance writer since the seventies. He told us he has dozens of pen names, and most people who have read things he's written have no idea that he's the authors. But the world is changing and he had lots of great insights and tips.
Here are some of the things he had to say.
If you want to make a living on your writing:
- Keep your expenses low and have as few as possible.
- Productivity - defined as increasing the amount of product you put out over a given time. The more productive you are, the easier it is to make a living. This is definitely true. Though I'm not as productive as I'd like to be, I know the authors who make the most money are the ones who churn out ebooks every month or two.
- Write to your passion. Don't chase trends. By the time you do, they'll be over.
- Be a hybrid author. (Yea! Great to know I'm doing something right.) He said that the authors who are still here, writing and producing in twenty years will be the hybrid authors.
- Learn Business. I think this is a major problem for lots of authors today. They want to write, but don't want to learn how to market their books. Unfortunately, if you want to move books, you've got to be an enterpreneur today. Smith suggests we all learn cash flow (where the money comes from, where it goes, and how to cover expenses), cash streams (have multiple streams on each book/product and never look down your nose at even small ones), returns on investment (think long-term), and stay away from exclusivity (Exclusivity used to be big in the writing industry, but if you're thinking of your writing in the long term, exclusivity can work against you. Make sure you always maintain at least some rights to your books.).
- Everything is changing. We must keep up. It's part of the job!
- Continue to learn your craft. Always keep learning and become a better writer. The instant you say, I know everything about writing," you've just stunted your own career and your own potential. Entertainment has VALUE in our society. Take advantage of that, but never take it for granted.
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| Picture Source |
He also said he thought people like editors and formatters, etc. are superfluous. Kind of like agents, now. It's just something else to pay for that you don't need. I thought that was interesting. I kind of liked it as I do a lot of that stuff myself. (I format my own ebooks and have a writing group that does the majority of my editing for me.) To be fair, he did say copy-editing and proofreading for errors is a necessity, but he was talking about having editors for story, character, plot, etc. Just thought it was kind of interesting. But as I don't actually (and never have) paid for that type of editing, I do kind of agree. :D Of course I don't do my own cover art and we all know that you need an awesome cover, but that's something you an hire out on a case-by-case basis. And if I really wanted to be independent, it wouldn't be hard to learn to do digital cover art so I could do my own. (Honestly, I probably won't do that. It would just take too much time and I have too much on my plate right now, but I'm open to it for the future.) The point is, in this new world of digital publishing, it's possible to learn to do everything for yourself. As long as the finished product is high quality, your book will sell. Just something to keep in mind.
Some other great nuggets he had that I wrote down:
"Act like a writer, think like a publisher."
"Luck is not a business plan."
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| Picture Source |
He was also very knowledgeable about the history of publishing. He talked about how everyone is so scared about the upheaval in the industry right now, but it's really not any different than what's happened in the past. He told stories about when printing first came about, when novels first were mass-produced, how back in the day, every author by definition was self-published. Our big publishing house model is actually a relatively recent (last 50-80 years, depending on how you look at it) thing. And this is just the cycle repeating itself again. I thought his stories were fascinating.
I talked to him afterword and told him he should write a history of publishing. He seemed to consider it but said it would take a hella lot of work. I said I was sure it would, but I would totally read it. He kind of got this smile on his face and thanked me for the suggestion.
I don't know if he will, but I hope he does. Maybe only nerdy authors like me would be interested in reading that, but I'd totally be the first in line. He's the kind of guy that's a wealth of knowledge, only a portion of which has ever been written down.
So if you ever get the chance to meet or listen to Dean Wesley Smith, totally do it. He's a fascinating guy and very knowledgeable about the industry.
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