Welcome to this week’s #WritingWednesday post!
We’ve all heard different rules of writing—show, don’t tell; avoid –ly adverbs, don’t head-hop with point of view, blah, blah, blah. But a sure death knell for a story is vanilla writing. No one wants to write the yawn-inducing DNFed story (Goodreads speak for Did Not Finish). While “avoid vanilla writing” is a bit vague, here are a few ideas to keep your readers up late turning pages.
- Murder your darlings: this quote is attributed to William Faulkner or Oscar Wilde (or others), but actually originated with Arther Quiller-Couch from his 1914 lecture “On Style.” Good job, Arthur! But what does it mean? It means all those things you absolutely love, the cutie-patootie characters, clever dialogue, and flowery descriptions should be eliminated if they’re unnecessary or don’t move the plot forward. Believe me, I know it’s tough—I’ll weep with you while we read on.
- Zzzzz: Ending the chapter or scene with the character going to sleep. I’ve done this. Sometimes it can’t be helped. But if you can find another ending, maybe a twist to ratchet up the tension, the scene will be better and the reader will keep reading.
- The Normal Routine: Mary Sue wakes up to the sun streaming into her room. She stretches, slips out of bed, and pads downstairs for her regular cup of coffee. She pulls her favorite cereal from the cupboard, but the dog Benny whines and dances around her ankles. She lets the dog out and gazes out on a lovely morning with white, puffy clouds and singing birds. The bird feeder was empty–she’d have to refill it after breakfast. Her thoughts turn to what she can make for supper this evening. Perhaps her husband’s favorite casserole…
Have I lost you yet? Aside from my bad writing example, it’s boring! Nobody cares about Mary Sue or her coffee or what she’ll make for supper. Summarize and get to the point when she discovers her husband is having an affair or her dog tore up her neighbor’s prize-winning roses…
Check in next week for Part 2 of Avoid Vanilla Writing. And in the meantime, go have some ice cream. After all, it’s still National Ice Cream Month. 🙂
Pictures from Pixabay