And then I discovered the go to phrase that drives me crazy….

He/She sighed… (Used as action to show exasperation)

Now… (Used to show passion about something)

To name a few….

Writers…

Have you ever read back over your work and noticed your ‘go to’ or ‘catch’ phrase that is a part of your writing style? Did it sound good at the time, but now, years later when you read your past work, you find yourself cringing every time you run across it?

I have and it’s about to drive me insane!!!

I am currently working on, book five of The Butterfly Memoirs, Alone, and I am at the pre-editing stage. Pre-editing for me goes a bit like this…I’m an old school writer. I believe in handwriting the rough draft of my manuscripts before sitting down at my laptop. There’s something to be said about how much more you think about the words flowing from your brain, through your hand, and out onto paper that doesn’t quite match typing up that first draft. Believe me, I have tried writing two different novels using both techniques the first time around and trust me, I saw a HUGE difference in the way the story was told and the amount of scenes that needed to be added to tell the complete story when it came to editing the ‘typed rough draft’ vs. the ‘handwritten rough draft’. I will never go back to typing up the first draft again!

But as usual I digress just a bit…

Regardless of what stage of writing I’m at when working on my next book, I always take the time to revisit my previous works for several reasons.

I’m writing a series. Even though each book is about a different set of characters, occasionally previous characters will make an appearance in a scene so I must make sure their voice stays consistent.
Things that happened in previous novels may come to fruition in the new book, so of course, I have to make sure it fits the timeline.

And last but not least…

Sometimes you just gotta look back at what you did that got great reviews so that you can make sure your storytelling abilities keep a baseline of consistency as you evolve, because let’s face it….your writing can’t stay the same novel after novel after novel without having some time of change. If so, your readers will see it and get bored!

Yep, I said it. If we can’t find ways to keep new stories interesting then we run the risk of losing the audience it takes so long to build up!

Don’t believe me? Can you name the last book written by one of YOUR favorite writers that made you say, ‘okay, she/he could have done better than that! I’m done with them!”

Well, guess what…if you’ve said that about your favorite authors, believe me, someone has said that about you, too!

So, how do we, as writers, spice up our work to keep it going, flowing, and ever engaging to our readers?

I’ll tell you…

 

 

 

I honestly don’t know…..

LOL….

I have no clue what the magic formula is to write the perfect novel that will forever keep readers engaged. I’m not even sure there is one because there are a ton of genres that are liked and disliked by millions of readers, there’s absolutely NO way any author will ever be able to write THE perfect novel that EVERYONE one on earth will fall in love with, talk highly of, and sing never ending praises of…except the Bible.

And since none of us will be able to top that, here’s what I am doing…

I’m revisiting my work. I’m looking at it from a completely different prospective because it’s been between one to four years ago since I was stressed out from the editing process. My eyes are no longer crossed from staring at the same lines over and over again. The ‘what happens next’ is no longer glued to my brain because I’m working on a timeline and worrying whether I didn’t explain something or have the reasoning behind a characters actions make sense. I’ve stepped away from the story for so long and focused on another couples issues to the point that when I do re-read my work, other than the major scenes that are memorable, I’ve ran across scenes I forgot were even in the book!!!!

Talk about an eye-opening experience!

I’m also finding those pesky phrases, go to words, and basic phrases that are a part of my writing voice. Some cannot and will not be changed because it’s a part of my writing style. Others are just pain in the butt quirks that can be removed without damaging the story what so ever and will give me piece of mind if and when I ever have a chance to re-edit the novels for republication.

What’s that saying about authors and their published work? It doesn’t matter how many times it’s edited and how much readers love it, we’ll always find something that could have been written better? Yep. And in truth, it’s probably why some of the old school masters took years to write one book because it drove them crazy to find the perfect way to write just one line!

Which brings me to one of my favorite videos in regards to writing. I think you’ll agree with me that Val Kilmer manages to do it just ‘write’!

Where ever you are in your writing process, I wish you luck! Happy Writing!!!

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