Day 15: NaNoWriMo {Writing Tips}

Let’s take it to some basics on Day 15 of NaNoWriMo because I have learned a few legitimate tricks in my training.

Write what you need to say in as few words possible. Here’s another way to think about it: If each word cost you a dime, what words warrant the investment?
Filler words like just, very, so, quite, actual, even, really, that, only, and such usually need to go. I sweat these words when I write, which is why I keep a Post-It of this list in my writing desk drawer for slash-and-dash before I send my chapters to edit.
Use active voice. This means your sentences read subject-verb-object. For example, “Jesse threw the ball,” and not, “The ball was thrown by Jesse.” Do you see the difference in clarity about who is throwing what? Also, the first example propels the sentence forward while the second holds it back. The second also contains the unnecessary helper verb “was” and preposition “by.” That’s two extra words! That’s 20 cents! Slash-and-dash!
Fragments (incomplete sentences) are fine – if you use them sparingly. Use them too much and people will think you don’t know how to write. Same goes for beginning sentences with conjunctions (and, but, so, etc.)
Avoid superlatives. They go straight to your hips. I mean, does she really need to be the “most very magnificent of all super-duper supremest of beings” or could you just say “The shade of her blue sweater looks nice with her eyes?”
Cliches are a cop-out. By definition, every person in every time in every place has used them. They’re a dime a dozen (Cliche Joke #1). They rarely make rhyme or reason (Cliche Joke #2). Do you want to tell it like everyone else or like you? You can’t have your cake and eat it too (Cliche Joke #3) so take the bull by the horns (Cliche Joke #4) and get this party started (Cliche Joke #5) like it’s 1999 (Cliche Joke #6)!
Dialogue/quotes are like pictures. Use them to advance your stories in a snap.
Avoid the thesaurus and rely on your natural vocabulary. In a choice between the simpler and more complicated form of a word, go for simple. “Through” is better than “throughout.” “Use” is better than “utilize.” “Try” is better than “endeavor.”
Mix up your sentence structure. Follow a simple sentence (Jesse threw the ball) with a compound sentence (Tommy jumped for it, but Ezra caught it) and then a compound-complex sentence (Tommy, never one to move past a slight, tackled Ez to the ground, and Jesse jumped on both of them). Go back to a simple sentence (Mom reached for her beer). Risk a fragment (Her companion until Dad got home in an hour).
Don’t tell us twice. I love him. I mean, I really, really love him. Can’t you see that I love him? Yes. Please stop writing about it.
Repetition goes for phrases, too. It was an unexpected surprise when he reverted back to his frugal ways. I thought his budgeting was past history.
Never underestimate the impact of a semi-colon separating two independent clauses (read: simple sentences). Use sparingly, though.
Do you know what else to use sparingly? Adverbs, like sparingly. They’re a lazy way to tell how a verb went down.
Don’t trust a former English professor when she claims to have a “few” writing tricks to share. She could be on 100 and just be getting started.
Except if it’s Day 15 of NaNoWriMo, and she told herself she’d end there.