cj Sez: I rediscovered one of my archived posts about my
path to creative writing, and I’ve excerpted it here. Hope you can find a useful
nugget in here:
Readers have different expectations/wants
My first drafts are
crappy and sparse, mainly for two reasons: First, first drafts are supposed to
be crappy, and second. before a screenwriter course turned me on to creative
writing, I was once a corporate journalist/editor tasked with relating the gist
of a story in limited line space.
When I’m finished with the first draft, and the manuscript
has its usual dearth of details, I start work expanding details: The five
senses…hear, see, taste, smell, feel… and the who, what, when, where, why, and
how of the plot.
I incorporate some
action descriptors, but I consider too many of them stage directions. Some
writers use them much like adverbs to “tell” their readers what to think or as
a way to add words to a short manuscript.
Action needs to have
purpose. If describing an action doesn't contribute to the reader's knowledge
of the character, scene conflict, or mood, then it’s stage direction. I write
mostly suspense and thrillers and have a minimalist approach to action—using
few words speeds up the pace and heightens the tension. On the other hand,
readers of cozy mysteries or more narrative-based novels want, and expect, to
know every detail.
Adding or withholding detail is a good way to
control the pace of your novel. Even in suspense and thrillers, there are
places where the reader needs a breather from the action. These would be the
spots where I add more detail or beats. Places where I can reveal more of the
characters’ growth, i.e., transformation, as the plot progresses.
Hint: Adding detail
words slows the pace; being stingy speeds it up.
When action is
needed to set some mood for the scene, then yes, I detail the action. Sometimes
I add details to slow the action and increase the tension. If I want a
character to give the reader a sense of impending danger and fear, then I add
more description to the action. I tend to follow the lead of my favorite
authors—Robert Parker and James Lee Burke. Their succinct style of
writing is what I like to read, and it is their fans who are my target market.
§§
Author and Reader Notes
Be sure to stop by next week when Kathleen Kaska, author of
the award-winning Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series shares her path to securing a
publisher to reissue her books.
///
In a recent Jane
Friedman blog post, Susan
DeFreitas (@manzanitafire),
an award-winning author, editor, and book coach, says writers can make their
protagonist “too good.”
///
Author quote:
“All writing is
difficult. The most you can hope for is a day when it goes reasonably easily.
Plumbers don’t get plumber’s block, and doctors don’t get doctor’s block; why
should writers be the only profession that gives a special name to the
difficulty of working, and then expects sympathy for it?” —Philip Pullman
///
LOYALTY will launch August 27 and is currently available for preorder. Buy Loyalty Now
§§
Okay, that’s it for
today. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising
prayers for a happy and safe you and yours.
cj
Now some words from my sponsors:
THE DAWGSTAR and
DEATH ON THE YAMPA are available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and
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Nota bene: My local
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