Brevity is the Soul of Wit ... and Good Writing

In an March 20, 1880 letter to D.W. Bowser, Samuel Clemens (better known as Mark Twain) wrote:

"I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them - then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice."

One of the more common failings in most writing is the use of a much bigger word than you need. Case in point: in my day job I see a lot of press releases with the word "utilize" in place of the word "use," among many other instances of similar overwrought wording. My sole theory about this is that we've been conditioned as a culture to believe that using a big word means you're smarter than the average person. A bigger vocabulary = a smarter person, in other words.

Now, we writers know that's not necessarily true. The best writing sometimes uses the simplest words, rather than the biggest, and is the better for it. An object lesson:

"He walked down the street." vs. "He perambulated down the avenue."

Both sentences say exactly the same thing. The second one, however, uses words that are more complicated than they might need to be. Granted, "perambulate" could refer to a specific kind of walk, but if all you want to say is that the man walked down the street then the first sentence is all you need to use.

In writing, it's always better to say what you need to say without using overblown words. Today on Twitter, RantyEditor referenced someone saying "We need to dialogue about this" instead of "We need to talk." That's another classic example of someone trying to sound smarter. All it does is make said person seem pompous. Of course, if you want your character to seem pompous, then by all means go that direction.

My point is this: don't use big words when you don't have to. Sending your readers scurrying to the dictionary every page or two is not a way to gain their loyalty. It's a way to alienate them. For the most part, at least.

An Experiment

Matt, Stephanie, LT, and I are interested in running a bit of a social writing experiment. On occasion, we see agents discussing the difference between pubbed and unpubbed authors. And while our experiment may or may not fuel this debate, we'd like to do an anonymous comparison between the pubbles and the wannabes. But we need volunteers. This is what we'd like:

250 words from one of your pieces (preferably a chapter/section beginning, though not necessarily the first). Give us the genre (e.g., YA, Fantasy, etc.) and location within your manuscript (e.g., -- opening page, chapter 2, etc.)

This is what we plan on doing (on a weekly, biweekly basis - will depend on interest):

Paste a page of a published piece versus a page of an unpubbed - both anonymously and of similar genre - and see who can tell the difference. Obviously this won't take into account (too much) pacing, character and plot development, but it will allow for writing Xs and Os to come through to an extent.

If interested, please email me at BaneOfAnubis@gmail.com. Also, feel free to include another 250 words from a pubbed piece if you'd like us to compare yours to that (if you do this, give us the title of the pubble's book). We will change character/location names in both pieces to reduce chances of ID.

Well, I must be doing something right . . .

Remember my post about gardening? And how I didn't bring it all back around to writing at the end?

I wish I could say this one, a follow-up post, would be the same way. But the images-- they are aplenty in my head.

To catch everyone up, I am currently querying a commercial fiction novel. Well, mostly. I'm technically on query hiatus as of right now, only because I have so much else going on until my wedding in October. Once that's over with though, I intend to dive back in head first-- though that doesn't mean I won't cheat and send a few out in the meantime.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the pumpkins I'm attempting to grow in my backyard for said wedding, and my fears that previous planticides were indicative of my inability to take care of anything botanical. (Wow, did I used enough big words in that sentence?)

And I have to admit that I treat querying the same way. It frankly scares me to do it at times because I've failed before. What if this time isn't different? What if this time, they not only say no, but call me a silly hack who never has a hope of a writing career please stop now before you hurt someone?

Well, to all of that, I say this:

Cling to the small successes.

For my first concern, the pumpkin vines in my yard, I give you the following evidence. What was bare dirt and hard work a mere four weeks ago has turned into this:



For queries, I see the small successes as requests for partials and fulls. Sure, that in and of itself hasn't landed me an agent yet, but it means that something I'm doing is headed in the right direction. I can only hope that if I keep growing and learning, I will do more right and make it to my goal.

My plants are oddly demonstrative of this point right now. If you notice in the picture above, I have lots of little sprouts and that one random HUGE cluster. Here's a not-blurry close up of those guys for you:


Those leaves up there? They are as big as my HEAD. Yeah.

So not all of my pumpkin vines (all 38 that sprouted!) are growing into giant mutants (SEEEEEY-MOUR!), but they're there, and they're growing slowly but steadily. Once I figure out what I've done so correctly with this particular group, I can apply it to the rest (I have a feeling it's really mostly just sunshine, but that's a whole other metaphor/analogy). And you know what? I'm fine with the others not being so large and beautiful just yet. They'll get there, or, maybe they won't. Everyone has a weakness and a flaw.

I'm just happy that I have something I can point to and say, "Hey! Look! I did that, and I did it right." The rest will come with time and practice.

GUEST POST: READY, SET, WRITE!

Valerie Geary writes mainstream literary fiction and has published several short stories in various online journals. You can find links to those stories as well as regular book and writing related posts on her blog Something to Write About. (www.valeriegeary.blogspot.com). She is currently so focused on her most recent novel-in-progress, a tale filled with dark secrets and strange magic, she almost forgot to write this guest post.  

Each morning, when I wake up, I ask myself: “Self, will you write today? Or will you waste hours surfing blogs under the pretense that you’re doing research?”

I’ve discovered my most productive writing days are the ones in which I actually write. Those are the days my chest swells and I feel like flying. Those are the days I can stand up and say: “I am writer; hear me roar.” I try as often as possible to have days like that. Sometimes I succeed, other times… not so much. But always I like to give myself a solid push in the right direction.

I first heard of Timed Writing at a writer’s conference a few years ago, but didn’t try it until just recently. Mostly, because I don’t own a stopwatch. After I found this online version (http://www.online-stopwatch.com/large-stopwatch/), though, I really didn’t have much of an excuse.

The concept of Timed Writing is pretty simple:

1. Decide on a length of time you want to spend writing: 20 minutes, 45 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours.  
2. Open up whatever piece you’re working on.
3. Close all distractions… Solitaire. Email. Facebook. Twitter.
4. Start your time and start writing.

Simple as that. While the stop watch is running, don’t get up from your desk. Don’t check your email. Don’t sneak a peek at your Twitter updates. Sit. Think. Write. Think. Write some more. Focus on your story. Your fingers don’t necessarily have to be moving the entire time, but I can pretty much guarantee they will be… because they’ll have nothing else to do.

When the set time is over, feel free to get up, stretch your legs, use the bathroom, grab a snack, check your email, tweet your word count, whatever you want. Think of this in-between time as your mini-reward for getting in some quality writing. Then, if your family isn’t beating down your door and begging for dinner, if your dog isn’t tugging on your pant leg to go for a walk, set the timer and go again. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

If you feel antsy about trying this method or worry you won't have enough self-control, start off with short sets, then add time slowly until you’re writing in longer and longer stretches.

Writing for more than 2 hours straight without any kind of break can actually be somewhat anti-productive, at least for me. So if I have a long day set aside just for writing, I also set the timer during my breaks (usually 10-15 minutes). Then I can dive right back into things without too much time wasted.

I have found writing with a stop watch to be most effective during the first draft stage. It pushes me to write fast, effectively cutting off the voice of the Dreaded Inner Editor. I use it less during revision, but will fall back on it if I’m finding it difficult to keep my butt in the chair and my eyes on the page.

Timed Writing is not a magic wand. It's simply another great tool for your Writer's Box! 

Have you ever tried Timed Writing? If so, did you find it effective? Why or why not?

Summer, How I Love Thee

Today I sat outside, enjoying a BBQ in the sunshine. I love summer. There's nothing better than lazy days in my garden or fresh tomatoes from the greenhouse.

I also love summer because I'm out of school. That translates to more writing time. The rest of the year I'm typically exhausted and in the long, dark days of winter I really just want to hibernate and eat cookies. I have to force myself to write and keep my daily writing goals low: 250-500 words a day. I envy those of you who NaNoWriMo. I just don't have it in me that time of year.

But summer means I can stay up until midnight and it's still light out (I'm in Alaska). I don't get tired until it gets dark and have oodles of extra time to think about plots and research the nitty-gritty stuff I need to weave into my WIP. Suffice to say, I can get a lot done.

So I'm curious. Is this just a weird Alaska phenomenon? Or perhaps it's a teacher thing? You tell me: do you feel more productive in the summer? Or is there another time of year you get more writing done?

Soundtracks to Scenes

There are a lot of writers who need mood music to write a particular type of scene, or a particular story in the case of a short. I'm not one of them, unfortunately, seeing as my words tend to flow better when I'm in an oddly meditative state. I could into more detail, but a lot of it has to do with my mass amounts of independent reading into Buddhist/Christian spirituality and let's be honest that's not why you're reading this.

Anyway, one of the interesting things I've discovered about my process is that when I'm plotting out a scene in my head, I can sometimes imagine it set to a particular type of music or even a particular song. Sometimes I'll hear a song and imagine a scene not necessarily related to the story itself, but indicative of the characters.

An example: A previous version of CALLARION AT NIGHT opens with a bar fight. Those of you who've read the tale of my spunky superheroine Moriah Rowani, will of course believe that she in no way, shape, or form had anything to do with starting said fight. *pauses for snickering to stop*

Anyway, in writing this bar fight I imagined the song Black Betty (the Ram Jam version, not the Spiderbait one) playing over the scene. I've always been convinced that Black Betty is an absolutely perfect fight scene song for a number of reasons -- mostly because the rhythm is just right to mesh with the martial-arts-based fighting styles my characters almost always have.

A scene I don't have in any of my stories is set to Free Ride by the Edgar Winter Group. This one involves starting up a top-end sports car and zooming away on the highway. I always envision a man and a woman and the woman asking where they're headed. The guy responds with "I don't know yet." And then there's engine revving sounds and the song kicks up.

There's a whole bunch of other songs I've set imaginary scenes to -- a car chase to Fuel by Metallica, proposal scene to the Heaven remix by DJ Sammy, etc. There's a scene in my head for practically every song I hear. Some of them are sheer ridiculousness, and have no place in my writing, but are extremely funny to imagine anyway. The song I Can Do Anything Better Than You Can is the archetypal relationship song for the romantic pairing of Moriah with her ex-fiance Nicolai. A very interesting relationship, that.

What about you? Do you imagine scenes set to music?

Random Musings from the Dogpound

Happy Post Memorial Day Post.

- With this whole Twilight Saga and learning that a relatively unknown author got a 7 figure advance for Matched, I once again found myself wondering how soon it'll be before Mormons rule the world (assuming everything doesn't go all apocalypse on us). They've got exemplary missionary efforts, a strong breeding program, and are super nice (except when playing basketball). And due to their old-school family values, many LDS women tend to stay home to raise the brood, which allows for more writing time that more 'progressive' women might not be afforded... what's that phrase about the pen and the sword?

- This whole BP spill thing is terrible. I hope nobody disagrees with that. Two things that kind of confuse me:
    1.) why isn't the government intervening more (politics, legal issue?)?
    2.) whenever there's a disaster with multiple companies involved, some reporter digs up links between the companies (e.g., Exec at company B used to work at company A) and proceeds to chastise company A for hiring company B (for pseudo-nepotism, I guess). What's up with that? If I have cake, I sure as hell am gonna give it to the cubemate I know, not the one I don't. Kind of the inverse of that whole taking stranger candy point.

Sidepoint -- this isn't an easy fix. Know everyone's upset, and BP could have done more (more can always be done, just ask a perfectionist), but that's the danger w/ advanced technology... when shit goes wrong, worse shit happens (like that 'the taller they are...' line... this is one big chopped down beanstalk). Conspiracy theory #1: econuts destroyed the rig to engender further anger toward the big bad Oil Man. Conspiracy theory #2: Dolphins. Tired of getting caught up in fishnets, attacked en masse, bottle-noses at the ready.

- My wife got an iTouch recently and started farming (not farmville, but farmstory). I read that more than 1% of the world's population "farms." Like 80,000,000 people. Know I'm a bit late to the WTF crowd on this, but could someone explain the appeal?

Toodles.