Just a quick note...
A lot of great points and questions came up in the comments of yesterday's post. I've been wanting to do a post on voice anyway, and this is a great segue into it. Unfortunately, my day got slammed, so I won't have time until later today to post.
If anyone has any additional comments or questions about style, voice and editing it out for "good" writing, post away and I'll add them in. This is all important stuff and it's good to talk about it, since it confuses (and frustrates) so many writers out there.
EDIT: Wednesday got away from me, and I forgot I had a guest blogger on Thursday (great post for picture book writers!) so Friday will be a Real Life Diagnostic with a reader who sent in a perfect example of everything we've been talking about. And I suspect this general topic might continue some next week as there's really a lot to it.
The discussion of purple prose and voice has prompted me to submit an extract to Real Life Diagnostics. I've often been acused of flowery writing so it was great to see such clear examples and concise explanations. However, many books I enjoy reading are rich in detail without being flowery... where to draw the line? I like detail and metaphors but find myself becoming too wrapped up in the imagery and forgetting the story. In other words, my zombies just wish the hero would get on with it and shoot them in the head.
ReplyDeleteI would like to hear your opinion on overwriting vs building tension by slowing the pace. I agree that it shouldn't be done for an entire book, but as a reader I love the feeling of tension that makes me want to jump ahead to find out what happens. I'm not saying write what you know will be skipped. I'm saying drive reader anticipation high and hold it there. Make them hold their breath.
ReplyDeleteWill do! I'll be doing Vahlaeity's submission tomorrow for a RLD, and that's one of the questions. It's a great sample to further discuss this.
ReplyDeleteOooohhh I can't wait! Voice is such a tricky thing to pull off. I tend to overdo the description too, but I don't like the really sparse style of some authors, so a little demo would be great.
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