Showing posts with label Common Writing Errors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Common Writing Errors. Show all posts
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Pet Peeves of a Professional Editor
Sometimes as I read other writers' blogs or email comments, the topic triggers an interest, and I sense it would be a great topic for Writing Fiction Right, but who better to write the article than the person who caught my interest. Linda Yezak has a critique service for writers and reads many manuscripts. As she studies them, she has identified numerous errors that writers make that she has identified as "pet peeves." I've asked her to share those with you. So here is my second guest blogger with her take on weak writing that catches an editor's eye.
Pet Peeves of a Professional Editor
Because of the three editorial positions I hold–content editor for a small press, editorial assistant for a popular agent, and freelance editor in a budding independent business–I get to see quite a few manuscripts in various phases of perfection. And because I love to study the writing styles and techniques of published authors, I read quite a few books. I’m not sure how unique all this makes me, but it does put me in a position to see things that drive me nuts as an editor.
Words and Cliche Phrases
Among these things are phrases–certain expressions–that didn’t appeal to me to begin with, but I’ve seen them so often they’re cliché. Sleep drool used to top the list of things that turned me off. I’ve seen it in several published and unpublished works, and I fail to see the charm. I understand the appeal of seeing your love sleepy-eyed and vulnerable in the morning, but drool fails as a turn-on point.
But as I said, drool used to top the list. I’ve also been seeing more references to “boogers,” “slipping in vomit,” and “throwing up in the mouth.” Ugh. Really? Granted, I’m old. I still don’t like reading about someone having to “pee,” much less “take a leak”–but vomit? Please.
There is one cliché that seems to make it into one out of every three works I read, including my own, I’m embarrassed to say: having a character speak with his or her mouth full. This doesn’t land as high as vomit on the “gross” spectrum, it’s just overused and illustrates bad manners.
I mentioned this to a writers’ group, and a lady responded that it’s okay as long as it’s part of the characterization. That’s like saying, “It was a dark and stormy night” is okay as long as it’s part of the setting description. The thing about a cliché is that, well, it’s cliché–it’s used too often, it loses it’s impact, it’s not fresh, and it’s a sign of laziness. Since I’ve used it myself, I can point the “you’re lazy” finger my way as well.
The “solitary tear” has lost its impact. “Bile rising” has too. So have physical reactions dealing with the heart and breath–not that these two are so bad, because sometimes it’s just difficult to get around them. But a wise author will do a search to see how often he or she uses these two words and try to cut about ninety percent of them out of the manuscript.
Punctuation
Words and phrases aren’t the only things that pop out at me as an editor, punctuation does too. I’m the world’s worst at remembering all the comma rules, which is why I keep the Chicago Manual of Style handy (which, unlike the AP manual, requires the serial comma. Keep that in mind). However, I am good at catching semicolons and colons.
The powers that be have deemed two little beasties to be too formal for fiction. I’m not entirely sure I agree, but I do agree their use should be rare. More often than not, a semicolon can be replaced with either a comma or a period, and only on rare occasion should colons be used as introduction to a dialogue line or in the prose. Neither should be used in the dialogue itself.
But it is the mark of many newbies to want to impress with loftiness. Lofty prose, lofty sentence structure, lofty punctuation. Jump from the loft, kids. It’s safe. Come on down.
Dashes and ellipses are popular these days too, but as with cliché phrases, these lose their impact with use. Ellipses illustrate trailing thoughts, an expression that dies because the author stopped speaking as if not knowing what else to say or losing his speech to his mental processes. Dashes serve two purposes, to illustrate the interruption of speech or to set off a parenthetical phrase. These tools shouldn’t be used too often, and when they are, they should be used correctly.
Once upon a time, I read about the apostrophe as used in the place of a missing letter in a word. She wrote, “Now that you know this, you’ll never forget it. You’ll see it every time, and it’ll drive you nuts too.” She was right. I don’t remember who she is or what I was reading, but I haven’t forgotten what she said, and I’ve noticed the phenomenon every time I see it.
What am I talking about?
The unreversed apostrophe.
Writers with word processing programs that use the curled apostrophes ( ‘ ’ ) need to be careful which way the apostrophe faces when the first letter of a word is missing. The mark is to point in the direction of the missing letter. For instance, leaving the “g” out in “wanting” to make “wantin’”–first hit of the apostrophe key has it facing the right direction, no problem. But what if you want to leave the “a” out of “about”? When you don’t pay attention, you get this: ‘bout. Oops. Apostrophe is facing the wrong direction. It should be: ’bout. Easiest way I know to make this work is to hit the key twice, and delete the first mark.
Once you start catchin’ on to the ’postrophes, you’ll see ’em every time too. You’ll be wantin’ to change ‘em to face the right direction. It’ll ‘bout drive ya nuts. Best to get ’em in the right direction to begin with.
Cliché expressions and misuse of punctuation are among the things I mark when I edit. These are the things for which I am responsible as a freelance editor, and the things I notice as an editor for the agent and publisher I work for. By the time a manuscript reaches the desk of these two individuals, and eventually my desk, it should be as fresh and error free as the author can possibly make it. My hope is that this post will help authors recognize a few more things to catch during their personal edit of their manuscript.
Bio:
Linda Yezak lives with her husband and three cats in a forest in Texas, where tall tales abound and exaggeration is an art form. She is a two-time finalist in ACFW’s Genesis Contest (in 2008 for Give the Lady a Ride, and in 2010 for The Cat Lady’s Secret) and a finalist for the 2012 Carol Award (for Give the Lady a Ride). After serving five years as a freelance editor, getting jobs by word of mouth, she finally hung her shingle to make her business, Triple Edge Critique Service, public in 2012. Link: http://lindayezak.com/triple-edge-critique-service/
Linda is a member of ACFW, the Christian PEN, and Women Writing the West (WWW).
Thursday, June 7, 2012
70 Common Writing Mistakes
As a thank you for my subscription to Writers Digest, they sent me this book which shares an excellent download that I want to share with you. http://media2.fwpublications.com/WDG/Z5001_70_Solutions.pdf?et_mid=560549&rid=233734901
It not only covers writing tehcniques but also protocol as a writer, emotional baggage we tend to carry, and many other elements of being an author and working to hone or craft so we can be the best writer we can be. I hope you enjoy this information. I thank Writers Digest for offering it to me.
If you don't have a subscription to Writers Digest magazine, it is something you will want to do. After having 50 contracted novels and writing hundreds of articles and short stories for magazines, I read the magazine cover to cover. The subscription is not expensive -- you get a deal subscribing for two years -- and you will not be sorry.
Friday, May 6, 2011
WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITING STYLE
Newer authors struggle with writing technique, and long time writers still find elements in writing that are their nemesis. Being aware of problem areas in your writing can help you move ahead as a writer when you focus on them and find ways to improve those techniques. Here are a few tips on become a better writer.
• Write active. Passive voice has a place in writing, but passive writing is a negative element. The most telltale clue to passive writing is the “to be” verbs: was, were, is, are, be, been, and being. One of the main problems with these verbs are they tell rather than show. She was beautiful. Can you picture this? Not really. But can you picture this? Her long raven-colored hair hung down her back in thick waves, brushing against her slender arms and contrasting with her eyes, the color of a Caribbean sea. Now you can get a picture of this woman.
• Avoid phrases that tell rather than show, such as felt and seem. I felt sick. Why not show the feeling through more vivid language. Nausea roiled in my stomach, burning its way to my throat with the stench of the decaying body. This sentence is far more dramatic and makes an impact on the reader. Avoid those words, such as: I felt, He believe, She seemed and In my opinion. You want your narration to come to life more fully with description and emotion.
• Redundancy of phrases and description slows down a novel and makes readers wonder if the author thinks they’re stupid, otherwise why would they keep telling them the same thing over and over? If a character has an experience or if a telephone call is heard by the reader, don’t retell what happened to another character. Use transitions, such as: After telling Joe what she’d seen, Allie pulled up her shoulders and waited for his response. Or forming the awful words in her mind, she related the horrible situation to Joe. Now the author can move along with new information—a discussion on what happened, possible solutions to the problem or if in the other character’s POV, you can show that character’s emotion over the situation.
• Don’t overuse words. Authors tend to have favorite words. Run a “find and replace” check on those words that you seem to overuse and find a synonym that means the same or similar. Not only words but phrases can cause a problem. Romance writers tend to use phrases, such as: her heart fluttered or her pulse hammered. Find new and more interesting ways to express those feelings. This happens in all genre so all authors need to keep an eye on repeated phrases. Even something as simple as repetitive nouns: John invited her in and motioned toward a chair. She crossed the room and sank into the chair. Instead, use cushion or seat. This can also happen with verbs. He looked at her. He gazed at her. He eyed her. He studied her. He searched her face. Make sure you use a variety of verbs. In a long novel, you will find some of these words will be used over and over.
• Avoid adverbs. Adverbs trigger weak writing to an editor and many readers. Instead of using adverbs, select the most dynamic verb possible. For example: He said loudly . . How do you say something loudly? He bellowed. He yelled. He screamed. He roared. He hollered. You have many choices so don’t show weak writing by adding adverbs to said and asked. And don’t use tag words other than said and asked. “How have you been?” she queried. That’s almost laughable. Obviously she’s asking or querying by the nature of the sentence. Words like: replied, noted, responded, queried, questioned, and all those other tags jump out at the reader. Said and asked are words readers gloss over.
• Look for compound and complex sentences. Sentence that are two long and too complex can lose a reader. If he has to stop and reread a sentence, you have pulled the reader from your novel and broken the spell of your story. Keep sentence length fluid but be careful of making them too long. Longer sentences work best with quiet moments in a novel during introspection or sometimes romantic descriptions. Short sentences work well for drama, suspense, thrillers and adventure.
• Avoid $$$ words. If readers don’t know a word, they stop and look it up or ponder what it means. Although you might like using a “million dollar” word, you put the reader at a disadvantage. Keep the vocabulary in the POV character’s tone and verbal style. Vocabulary ties to your character’s education, experience and career. Make sure your vocabulary fits your character. Use language that most people can pronounce and understand.
• Avoid predict nominatives and predict adjectives. It’s the same as she was beautiful (a predicate adjective). The word “was” or any other form of the “to be” verb tells rather than shows. She was a ballerina (predicate nominative). Instead, describe her entrance into the room. She glided across the floor, her slender arms as fluid as music, as if she worn her tutu for the evening. Another example: He was a cowboy. Instead use description that shows he’s a cowboy. His Stetson sat cocked on his head like a rooster’s comb, reminding everyone he not only managed the ranch, he owned it. Much more vivid and showing.
Although this list could go on and on, tackle one these problem areas that affects your writing, and once you’ve strengthened that element, move on to a new one. Trying to change too many weak areas causes frustration. Improving one element at a time works best6, and you’ll make good progress polishing your writing and developing a quality style.
• Write active. Passive voice has a place in writing, but passive writing is a negative element. The most telltale clue to passive writing is the “to be” verbs: was, were, is, are, be, been, and being. One of the main problems with these verbs are they tell rather than show. She was beautiful. Can you picture this? Not really. But can you picture this? Her long raven-colored hair hung down her back in thick waves, brushing against her slender arms and contrasting with her eyes, the color of a Caribbean sea. Now you can get a picture of this woman.
• Avoid phrases that tell rather than show, such as felt and seem. I felt sick. Why not show the feeling through more vivid language. Nausea roiled in my stomach, burning its way to my throat with the stench of the decaying body. This sentence is far more dramatic and makes an impact on the reader. Avoid those words, such as: I felt, He believe, She seemed and In my opinion. You want your narration to come to life more fully with description and emotion.
• Redundancy of phrases and description slows down a novel and makes readers wonder if the author thinks they’re stupid, otherwise why would they keep telling them the same thing over and over? If a character has an experience or if a telephone call is heard by the reader, don’t retell what happened to another character. Use transitions, such as: After telling Joe what she’d seen, Allie pulled up her shoulders and waited for his response. Or forming the awful words in her mind, she related the horrible situation to Joe. Now the author can move along with new information—a discussion on what happened, possible solutions to the problem or if in the other character’s POV, you can show that character’s emotion over the situation.
• Don’t overuse words. Authors tend to have favorite words. Run a “find and replace” check on those words that you seem to overuse and find a synonym that means the same or similar. Not only words but phrases can cause a problem. Romance writers tend to use phrases, such as: her heart fluttered or her pulse hammered. Find new and more interesting ways to express those feelings. This happens in all genre so all authors need to keep an eye on repeated phrases. Even something as simple as repetitive nouns: John invited her in and motioned toward a chair. She crossed the room and sank into the chair. Instead, use cushion or seat. This can also happen with verbs. He looked at her. He gazed at her. He eyed her. He studied her. He searched her face. Make sure you use a variety of verbs. In a long novel, you will find some of these words will be used over and over.
• Avoid adverbs. Adverbs trigger weak writing to an editor and many readers. Instead of using adverbs, select the most dynamic verb possible. For example: He said loudly . . How do you say something loudly? He bellowed. He yelled. He screamed. He roared. He hollered. You have many choices so don’t show weak writing by adding adverbs to said and asked. And don’t use tag words other than said and asked. “How have you been?” she queried. That’s almost laughable. Obviously she’s asking or querying by the nature of the sentence. Words like: replied, noted, responded, queried, questioned, and all those other tags jump out at the reader. Said and asked are words readers gloss over.
• Look for compound and complex sentences. Sentence that are two long and too complex can lose a reader. If he has to stop and reread a sentence, you have pulled the reader from your novel and broken the spell of your story. Keep sentence length fluid but be careful of making them too long. Longer sentences work best with quiet moments in a novel during introspection or sometimes romantic descriptions. Short sentences work well for drama, suspense, thrillers and adventure.
• Avoid $$$ words. If readers don’t know a word, they stop and look it up or ponder what it means. Although you might like using a “million dollar” word, you put the reader at a disadvantage. Keep the vocabulary in the POV character’s tone and verbal style. Vocabulary ties to your character’s education, experience and career. Make sure your vocabulary fits your character. Use language that most people can pronounce and understand.
• Avoid predict nominatives and predict adjectives. It’s the same as she was beautiful (a predicate adjective). The word “was” or any other form of the “to be” verb tells rather than shows. She was a ballerina (predicate nominative). Instead, describe her entrance into the room. She glided across the floor, her slender arms as fluid as music, as if she worn her tutu for the evening. Another example: He was a cowboy. Instead use description that shows he’s a cowboy. His Stetson sat cocked on his head like a rooster’s comb, reminding everyone he not only managed the ranch, he owned it. Much more vivid and showing.
Although this list could go on and on, tackle one these problem areas that affects your writing, and once you’ve strengthened that element, move on to a new one. Trying to change too many weak areas causes frustration. Improving one element at a time works best6, and you’ll make good progress polishing your writing and developing a quality style.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
What To Avoid To Be A Better Writer.
A while ago I read an article on my favorite topic---avoiding adverbs. Stephen King once said, "The road to hell is paved with adverbs," and I believe him. Adverbs as with adjectives, can weaken good writing for numerous reasons.
I found the blog on The Screenwrightist: Writing Tips on fictional storytelling for screenwriter, playwright, and novelist. The article titled, Why Good Writers Avoid Adverbs and Adjectives, covers the following topics: Lean, Powerful Prose, Specific Images, Actions, Being True to Character, Too Much Unnecessary Text, and Using Only Necessary Words.
This article is worth reading. Visit the website at: Click here: http://www.screenwrightist.com/avoid-writing-adverbs-adjectives
I found the blog on The Screenwrightist: Writing Tips on fictional storytelling for screenwriter, playwright, and novelist. The article titled, Why Good Writers Avoid Adverbs and Adjectives, covers the following topics: Lean, Powerful Prose, Specific Images, Actions, Being True to Character, Too Much Unnecessary Text, and Using Only Necessary Words.
This article is worth reading. Visit the website at: Click here: http://www.screenwrightist.com/avoid-writing-adverbs-adjectives
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Grammar Errors All Writers Should Know
ArcaMax Publishing provided this humorous take on grammar errors. A reader of this blog sent me a note to tell me that the origin of this list is from William Safire's Rules for Writers. The site said to "Share this Story" so I'm sharing it, hoping the humor will help you remember the right way to write. Many of these are common writing problems are negative things that catches an editors eye. I hope you get a chuckle but also hang on to the advice.
Tips with English Grammar
1. Don't abbrev.
2. Check to see if you any words out.
3. Be carefully to use adjectives and adverbs correct.
4. About sentence fragments.
5. When dangling, don't use participles.
6. Don't use no double negatives.
7. Each pronoun agrees with their antecedent.
8. Just between You and i, case is important.
9. Join clauses good, like a conjunction should.
10. Don't use commas, that aren't necessary.
11. Its important to use apostrophe's right.
12. It's better not to unnecessarily split an infinitive.
13. Never leave a transitive verb just lay there without an object.
14. Only Proper Nouns should be capitalized. also a sentence should.
15. begin with a capital and end with a period
16. Use hyphens in compound-words, not just in any two-word phrase.
17. In letters compositions reports and things like that we use commas
18. to keep a string of items apart.
19. Watch out for irregular verbs which have creeped into our language.
20. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
21. Avoid unnecessary redundancy.
22. A writer mustn't shift your point of view.
23. Don't write a run-on sentence you've got to punctuate it.
24. A preposition isn't a good thing to end a sentence with.
25. Avoid cliches like the plague.
Tips with English Grammar
1. Don't abbrev.
2. Check to see if you any words out.
3. Be carefully to use adjectives and adverbs correct.
4. About sentence fragments.
5. When dangling, don't use participles.
6. Don't use no double negatives.
7. Each pronoun agrees with their antecedent.
8. Just between You and i, case is important.
9. Join clauses good, like a conjunction should.
10. Don't use commas, that aren't necessary.
11. Its important to use apostrophe's right.
12. It's better not to unnecessarily split an infinitive.
13. Never leave a transitive verb just lay there without an object.
14. Only Proper Nouns should be capitalized. also a sentence should.
15. begin with a capital and end with a period
16. Use hyphens in compound-words, not just in any two-word phrase.
17. In letters compositions reports and things like that we use commas
18. to keep a string of items apart.
19. Watch out for irregular verbs which have creeped into our language.
20. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
21. Avoid unnecessary redundancy.
22. A writer mustn't shift your point of view.
23. Don't write a run-on sentence you've got to punctuate it.
24. A preposition isn't a good thing to end a sentence with.
25. Avoid cliches like the plague.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Question on What Errors Are Most Common With New Writers ?
Question: What are some of the serious errors made by writers?
My response:
I'll define errors as not following the major techniques of good writing, and since this varies so greatly it's difficult to answer, but over the years, I've noticed some common problems among newer writers and so I'll name some of the major ones. Some of these are point of view, pacing, dialogue and its tags, and passive writing.
Point of view (POV) seems to be one of the most difficult techniques to master. POV refers to through which character's eyes we view the scene. The decision is to give the scene to the character with the most at stake and the one from whom readers will gain more insight. Each scene has one POV---in other words, one character who is living out this scene for the readers. It is through that character that we experience everything and its the only character whose introspection we hear. As a reader, we can only hear, see, touch, taste and feel what that one character does. We cannot know what's in the head or heart of another character in the scene, so if the POV character sees another character's response or action, the POV character can only speculate what the non-POV character is feeling or thinking. This is fundamental to good writer, and yes sometimes well-known authors break this rule, but don't unless you are as established and well-known as that writer.
Pacing, covered in an earlier blog, refers to starting the story at the point of change and keeping each scene moving forward. Some writers tend to weigh down the opening chapters with backstory or with chitchat that doesn't provide anything meaningful to the story. As you write a scene, ask yourself what pertinent insight and information is learned from this scene that couldn't be learned some other way. If you can't answer the question, then delete the scene and write one that drives the characters deeper into conflict. A page-turning novel begins with action at the spot where something changes the life of the main character. Then as the story moves forward, pacing is making sure that every scene moves the plot forward by by providing new information or new insight to characterization, and strengthens or adds conflict.
Dialogue is another major problem. Real life conversation does make good fiction dialogue. People in everyday life talk too much about nothing important. Every piece of dialogue must do the same as every scene. It must move the story forward by providing new information, deeper insight into the characters and conflicts or set up a situation or conflict that is to come. Dialogue also needs to be like real dialogue, using contractions, half sentences, echoing questions or what was just said, avoiding responses and cutting off another character's sentence. This makes the dialogue real. Rather than using dialogue tags (he said, she said--and avoid using most responses other than said and asked--dialogue can be blended with action beats and introspection to bring it to life. Example: Ruby leaned forward, jambing her fist to her hip. "If you think I care about one word of your excuse, you don't know me very well." You know who's speaking without a "Ruby said" following the line. Avoid overuse of character names in dialogue, such as: "Yes, Ruby, I understand." We don't talk that way in real life.
Passive writing destroys action and imagery necessary for a good story. Writers should strive for active writing—to show not tell, to select the most appropriate verb so that adverbs can be removed, and to enhance visual descriptions. Instead of walked slowly use crept, inched, ambled, meandered—verbs that capture the mood of the story and create a vivid picture of the action. Remove deadwood phrases from the story like: there were, there was, it was and replace the "to be" verb - was - with active verbs. For example, instead of: She was beautiful, say something like: Her face glowed like sunshine, radiating from her heart. See how much more interesting and visual that is than using "was."
Showing not telling all of the other elements will be featured in a writing entry eventually, but this gives you a few things to think about.
My response:
I'll define errors as not following the major techniques of good writing, and since this varies so greatly it's difficult to answer, but over the years, I've noticed some common problems among newer writers and so I'll name some of the major ones. Some of these are point of view, pacing, dialogue and its tags, and passive writing.
Point of view (POV) seems to be one of the most difficult techniques to master. POV refers to through which character's eyes we view the scene. The decision is to give the scene to the character with the most at stake and the one from whom readers will gain more insight. Each scene has one POV---in other words, one character who is living out this scene for the readers. It is through that character that we experience everything and its the only character whose introspection we hear. As a reader, we can only hear, see, touch, taste and feel what that one character does. We cannot know what's in the head or heart of another character in the scene, so if the POV character sees another character's response or action, the POV character can only speculate what the non-POV character is feeling or thinking. This is fundamental to good writer, and yes sometimes well-known authors break this rule, but don't unless you are as established and well-known as that writer.
Pacing, covered in an earlier blog, refers to starting the story at the point of change and keeping each scene moving forward. Some writers tend to weigh down the opening chapters with backstory or with chitchat that doesn't provide anything meaningful to the story. As you write a scene, ask yourself what pertinent insight and information is learned from this scene that couldn't be learned some other way. If you can't answer the question, then delete the scene and write one that drives the characters deeper into conflict. A page-turning novel begins with action at the spot where something changes the life of the main character. Then as the story moves forward, pacing is making sure that every scene moves the plot forward by by providing new information or new insight to characterization, and strengthens or adds conflict.
Dialogue is another major problem. Real life conversation does make good fiction dialogue. People in everyday life talk too much about nothing important. Every piece of dialogue must do the same as every scene. It must move the story forward by providing new information, deeper insight into the characters and conflicts or set up a situation or conflict that is to come. Dialogue also needs to be like real dialogue, using contractions, half sentences, echoing questions or what was just said, avoiding responses and cutting off another character's sentence. This makes the dialogue real. Rather than using dialogue tags (he said, she said--and avoid using most responses other than said and asked--dialogue can be blended with action beats and introspection to bring it to life. Example: Ruby leaned forward, jambing her fist to her hip. "If you think I care about one word of your excuse, you don't know me very well." You know who's speaking without a "Ruby said" following the line. Avoid overuse of character names in dialogue, such as: "Yes, Ruby, I understand." We don't talk that way in real life.
Passive writing destroys action and imagery necessary for a good story. Writers should strive for active writing—to show not tell, to select the most appropriate verb so that adverbs can be removed, and to enhance visual descriptions. Instead of walked slowly use crept, inched, ambled, meandered—verbs that capture the mood of the story and create a vivid picture of the action. Remove deadwood phrases from the story like: there were, there was, it was and replace the "to be" verb - was - with active verbs. For example, instead of: She was beautiful, say something like: Her face glowed like sunshine, radiating from her heart. See how much more interesting and visual that is than using "was."
Showing not telling all of the other elements will be featured in a writing entry eventually, but this gives you a few things to think about.
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