Why Refreshing What Your Know About Writing is a Good Thing

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

I love reading about writing. There's something about an article that looks at -- say dialogue -- in a new way and makes me realize I could improve it if I did X, that gets me all aflutter. It's one of the reasons I love reading writing blogs so much. They're a wonderful way to grow as a writer.

I often point these out to writer pals, and I've had some mention (and I'm paraphrasing here), "Yeah, that's a great blog, but it's all basic stuff. We're way past that." In a way it's true, but in a way, it's not.

It's easy to forget about the fundamentals when they're old hat to you. When you don't sweat over structure, worry over dialogue, fret over setting, you don't always look at them as closely as you once did. Sometimes, they suffer because of it. Or if not, they might not be as stunning as they could be, because they're good enough. It's all stuff you know. You're past all that.

I came across a link a while back on a blog I read, which led me to a blog that had links to a bunch of blogs I don't read. I usually check out other blogs like this, because I never know when I'll find a great one to add to my morning reads. I found agent Sara Crowe's blog, and she had an older post about dialogue that really made me stop and think.

Now, there's nothing in this post that I don't know already. Of course you want all your characters to have distinct voices. You should be able to tell who's speaking without having a tag. This is all dialogue 101 stuff. But I couldn't tell you when the last time I thought about this was. This post made me think, "Gee, have I been doing that?" Does Danello sound differently from Aylin? Is Nya as distinctive as she should be? You can bet your bippy I made a note to check that, and make "check voices" part of my final polish check.

Had I not seen this post, I wouldn't have bothered. Because I know how to write dialogue. (not in a cocky way, just, like, we know what we know). But here was a gentle reminder that while I know it, I might not always remember to do it to the best of my ability. There's so much to learn in writing that once you nail something, it's easy to move on to the next piece and not think about the rest.

I think it's a smart move to keep up on the fundamentals, (just like athletes do) to stay fit and sharp. That way we'll know we're always giving 100%, and not setting for "good enough."

Do you ever brush up on the fundamentals? Do you read posts that discuss things you know or focus more on what's new? How do you feel about "reminder posts?" 

If you're looking for more to improve your writing, check out one of my books: 

In-depth studies in my Skill Builders series include Understanding Conflict (And What It Really Means), and Understanding Show Don't Tell (And Really Getting It). My Foundations of Fiction series includes Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure, a self-guided workshop for plotting a novel, and the companion Plotting Your Novel Workbook, and my Revising Your Novel: First Draft to Finished Draft series, with step-by-step guides to revising a novel. 

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The Shifter, was chosen for the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book. It was also shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize (2011), and The Truman Award (2011). She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy.

She's the founder of Fiction University and has written multiple books on writing, including Understanding Show, Don't Tell (And Really Getting It), Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure, and the Revising Your Novel: First Draft to Finished Draft series.

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