Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Writing tips

I read the "Broad Universe" mailing list. One of my author friends, Carol Berg, posted in a thread on mistakes to avoid. I haven't seen the exact same patterns she had, but they sound plausible as cliches, so I was sufficiently intrigued to ask her permission to share the message. Here it is, with her signature left intact so you can go read more of her writing:

Posted by: "Carol Berg" Thu Aug 30, 2007 2:37 pm (PST)

There's certainly nothing intrinsically wrong with opening a novel with a funeral. The problem being addressed is cliche. Funerals have been so overused as "dramatic openings" that editors and agents (and readers!) are tired of seeing it and may assume that the rest of the story is same old-same old as well. Best not to invite them to throw the manuscript aside.

Other overused openings? Births (I heard Anne Groell - senior editor at Bantam Spectra - say births are the single most overused opening.) And car accidents. And - omigosh - dreams!

I was judging a regional writers' group on-the-spot reading the other night. 25% of the readings began with a car accident or a dream.

Nothing wrong with any of these things. It is just better to come up with something more original to hook a reader.

As for "that," the first useful critique I ever got mentioned the very same thing, as well as my failure to allow my characters ever to use a contraction. I just had to laugh. It was SO true. I find that reading my work aloud helps me eliminate LOTS of things like this (plus helping me find many other problems.)

Carol
--
Author of FLESH AND SPIRIT, new from Roc Books in May 2007,
BREATH AND BONE, forthcoming in Jan 2008,
http://www.carolberg.com
Tags: fiction, science fiction, writing
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  • 5 comments

Sage Woman

Anonymous

September 2 2007, 04:33:32 UTC 13 years ago

Off topic, I know, but I finally picked up the last issue of Sage Woman in Borders today, and I just wanted to tell you that I really liked your poem. Well, I liked the whole issue, but (partially because you wrote it), your poem stood out.

Brianna
ysabetwordsmith

Re: Sage Woman

ysabetwordsmith

September 2 2007, 21:12:20 UTC 13 years ago

I'm glad to hear that you liked my poem!
ethesis

ethesis

September 3 2007, 01:03:14 UTC 13 years ago

That is a good point, and one I've not seen made before.
je_reviens

je_reviens

September 4 2007, 15:38:21 UTC 13 years ago

This is funny. I once again attempted to read a Laurel K. Hamilton book. I thought, maybe my not liking her vampire book was a fluke. So I got another one.

It starts with... a DREAM.

And a really long boring one.

And then it moves on to the main character interacting with people once she's woken up, in ways that resemble the dream.

SUCH a bore. I gave up on that book -- and that author.
ysabetwordsmith

ysabetwordsmith

September 4 2007, 18:06:52 UTC 13 years ago

Dream scenes are difficult to write well. However, they are essential for some stories.

Cliches are great for practice, because if you can learn to handle them well, you know you're doing a *fabulous* job of writing. Also they deal with many popular motifs. One reason it's important for writers to read widely is so that they will know when a story is leading them into heavily traveled territory. In my opinion -- as a writer, reader, and editor -- that's not necessarily a reason never to go there; it just means you need to be extra careful about justifying the trip and making it worth the reader's time.