Make your writing sparkle

We all know the basic style, formatting, and grammar when it comes to writing, right? I sure hope you do, otherwise this post may be a waste of time. Surely, these things come easily when writing, wether it's the first, second, third, whatever-number-draft you are on. But, what about afterwards? When you're editing and polishing?

This week, I had finished my second draft of JUST FOR KICKS. For me, my first is long hand, written on legal pads, with fun colored paperclips. The second is typed up. Then, editing and polishing come into play. But, while I started to editing process, I felt daunted. This is where my first novel, ESSENCE, feel through the cracks. Sure, it was a good story, fun, pulled you right in. (Being a writer, you need to get past the self-loathing and learn to praise yourself. If ten people tell you it's a good story, it most likely is.)But, after learning some basic ways to help my story flow, I re-read ESSENCE and realized it could have been WAY better.

One of the things that helped me, was Stephen King's ON WRITING. It is the best book I have ever read on the subject of writing. Not only does King share a memoir of his life revolving aorund the written word, but he gives you the tools and tells you how to use them.

Here are two basic things that I took from this book that improved my novel by ten fold. But, honestly, you should really pick it up for yourself. There are many, MANY ways to improve your writing that he has provided.

1)Eliminate the Passive voice

Passive voice is very common in writing. It is NOT a grammatical error, but a stylistic one. A passive construction occurs when you make the object of an action into the subject of a sentence. That is, whoever or whatever is performing the action is not the grammatical subject of the sentence. You intend to make John the subject of the sentence. But, using the passive voice, you find his dog becomes the subject.

Here are examples:

Passive:

a) The meeting will be held at five. (Sounds like you are unsure. Will it? Won't it?)

b)As Fluffy peed on the wall, John grabbed a towel to clean it. (John is the intended subject, but Fluffy has taken his place.)

c)John made many changes to the office. A new filing cabinet was put in. (We are looking at the second sentence here. By who? Why is the cabinet the subject?)


A reason you want to avoid this is because it makes your writing sound weak. Also, it makes you sound timid (which, you probably are). And, if an agent sees passive voice, it's a no-go. Timid writer = no confidence.

So, how do you fix it? Make the subject clear, eliminate those pesky "will be", "To be", "as", and rewrite anything that make your subject, well, not the subject. Let's rewrite these and make them strong. Put your foot down and be confident.

a)The meeting is at five. (Confident and direct.)

b) John grabbed a towel and cleaned Fluffy's pee off the wall. (John is now the subject and in charge. No treat for Fluffy though.)

c)John made changes to the office. He installed new filing cabinets. (By saying HE put in the filing cabinets, we are conrinuing to make John the subject, and not the cabinets.)

Better, right?

Let's move on.

2) Eliminate adverbs

Adverbs somehow became glorified. While they help to give imagery to a dull scene, they can hurt you. Adverbs are not all they are cracked up to be. and if you use them too often, or worse - at every chance you get - you are damaging your goods and looking like a fool.

Actions are enough, they can give us a well enough picture, without the attached adverb. Examples:

a) Wilma set the cup down gently. (Why gently? When you set something down, isn't it gentle? You didn't slam it, right? This is, then, redundant.)

b) Greg closed the door firmly. (Again, redundant.)

c) She gave a shy smile. (Why not, she smiled? If we were already reading the dialogue or scene with this that led us to believe she was feeling shy, why would we need this? If we didn't know she was feeling shy, than the scene needs to be revised.)

Though these aren't even the worst I can think of, they're pretty bad (Like the adverb? Haha.) Though there is room fro adverbs, try to at least refrain from using the dreaded -ly ones. Really, they are the worst kind. Have no fear, these are an easy fix. Just hit that DELETE key and all is well again.

Well, there you have it. Two ways to improve your writing. Just try it, I bet you will smile by the end of a paragraph. And, really, you should read ON WRITING. It's a life changer.