Worderella Writes

Tell Me, Don’t Show Me

Here is a conversation I hope I never see in your work, ever.

“Hi Belinda.”

“Hey Marcie. What’s up?”

“Nothing much.” Marcie sighs into the phone. “Making dinner. Hubby’s coming home soon and he gets grumpy if I don’t have it ready.”

“Oh man,” Belinda murmurs. “What’re you making? Spaghetti? Gotta love spaghetti.”

Snore, snore, snore, right? How many of you have heard a conversation like this while walking around a store? A conversation about nothing that annoys everyone else who has to hear it? Don’t force it on your readers or they’ll throw your book against the wall.

As important as showing is, telling is equally important when used at the right time

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Show Me, Don’t Tell Me

“Don’t talk of stars, burning above! If you’re in love, show me!
Tell me no dreams filled with desire, if you’re on fire, show me!
Here we are together in the middle of the night. Don’t talk of spring, just hold me tight!”
Show Me from My Fair Lady

Think of your book as a court case. Would you, as the jury, believe the prosecutor if s/he screamed, “The defendant is guilty!!! …And I rest my case.”

No. You want proof so you believe beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty.

Apply the same idea to your writing. What proof do you have to convince your reader that your character is bored, that her hero is unhappy, that his antagonist is delighted?

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Be Brutally Honest

Today we are going to work on being honest when editing. I always like to think of editing as having three major factors: being honest with yourself, with your writing, and with your audience.

First: Be honest with yourself

There are times when all you want to do it edit, and other times when you dread the idea. Whatever the case, ask yourself these questions before you begin.

• Are you tired? Take a nap before you edit so you are alert enough to notice mistakes.
• Have you had a bad day? Just come out of an argument? I suggest not editing then, because you’re upset. Everything is going to look bad to you, and that’s not constructive.
• Have you had the most wonderful day of your life? Don’t look at your WIP with rose-colored glasses. Realize that your good mood might make you think your writing is better than it is, which is also not constructive.

In other words, realize that your mood will change how good you think your writing is. Train yourself to be objective no matter your mood.

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Put that Shitty First Draft Away

I once read somewhere that there are three phases a writer will go through before a work is ready for consumption:

1. You write the first draft for yourself.
2. You write the second draft for your audience.
3. You write the third and last draft for publication.

So take heart, dear one, though you’ve only finished draft numero uno. It may seem like a gargantuan task now, but you’ll be at the third draft in no time at all.

First thing’s first: put that shitty first draft away, you’re gonna hurt somebody.

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Stumbling Blocks, Workshops, and a Contest

“Nobody’s perfect, I gotta work it again and again ’til I get it right…”
Nobody’s Perfect sung by Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus

Well, Hannah Montana’s right on the money with this one. This song should be the theme for all writers in the editing phase.

I’m holding an online editing workshop next week to contribute to Lynn Viehl’s Left Behind & Loving It (LB&LI) convention. I’ll tackle a different facet of editing each day. At the end of the week, I’ll give a free critique of the first three chapters (or the first 50 pages, whichever is shorter) of one commenter whose name I will pull from a hat.

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Inspiration from Clever Television

I’m an information junkie, and I blame that on my belief that everything has an influence on my writing. Because of this, I choose my television and movie choices carefully (most of the time). If I listed my favorite tv series, a pattern of character-driven plots will emerge (The Office, Gilmore Girls, 30 Rock…), which makes sense because my fiction is character-driven. Maybe I should watch shows that are more about the plot, so I don’t have blindspots? In any case, today I’m writing about one show and one movie that inspire my creative juices, and I hope you’ll share yours!

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Urgent Update: Free Writer’s Word Processor Giveaway

For all of you writers looking for a word processor that caters to you as a writer (i.e. something that isn’t Microsoft Word), you NEED to get over to Giveaway of the Day. For today only they are releasing the Liquid Story Binder, a program made specifically for writers.

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Share and Share Alike

Writers are sharing a lot with each other this week. There are great things happening and I want you to be a part of it. In this post I’ll talk about J.A. Konrath’s free e-book that guides newbie authors on publishing, remind you about a great forum to reference when looking for agents and publishers, and advertise Lynn Viehl’s workshop where fellow authors and writers offer their knowledge in a week-long online convention.

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Personal Themes Shining Through

Cynthia from Creative Writing Corner wrote an interesting post about how her life and history shapes the themes in her writing. It’s an interesting exercise, looking at how your life defines your writing.

For instance, I’m sure many authors have written about the relationship between fathers and daughters. But I only realized last week that both of my books (Catching the Rose and the WIP, Trentwood’s Orphan), discuss the topic. What happens when a daughter loses her father? How does that influence her and her decisions for the rest of her life? And what about the characters who haven’t lost their fathers… what am I saying about their relationships? A doubly interesting question, as I haven’t lost my father. What does this say about me?

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Book: The Honorable Marksley

When the prodigal heir to the family, Reggie, compromises a young woman under his cousin Richard’s name, the family puts pressure on Richard to follow through with what ought to have been Reggie’s responsiblity in marrying the girl. And, being the only responsible one in the family, Richard agrees, not realizing there is more to this girl than meets the eye…

Due to the length requirements placed on Avon authors, almost everything must be scrimped. Setting and location is spare, character descriptions tend to be arechetypal, plots are a collection of historical fiction cliches and misunderstandings. In other words, these books introduce you to the bare bones minimum of historical fiction/romance.

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