The Overwritten Novel: How to Identify & Fix Purple Prose in Your Novel

By Janice Hardy

Be wary of going too far and turning a good sentence (or scene) into an overwritten mess. 

The term "purple prose" has been around as long as I've been writing, and chances are you've heard it too. 

If you're unfamiliar with the term, purple or flowery prose is so filled with adjectives and adverbs, similes and metaphors, that it screams "Hey look! I'm fancy writing" and distracts readers from the actual story. You often need a thesaurus just to read it.

Overwritten text is trying too hard to sound "written" or trying to explain too much. For example, a sentence that uses fifteen words when three is enough, and half of them are adjectives. Or a sentence that explains every single step in a task that doesn't need it. 

If you ever thought to yourself, "Yeah, I get it, he was angry, move on" then you probably read an overwritten passage.

Overwriting bloats a novel and usually kills the pacing and narrative drive, because the focus is on the description, not the action. Even when what you're describing is action.

What Your Favorite Book Can Teach You About Writing

By Janice Hardy

Your favorite book is more than a great read—it’s a masterclass in writing craft.

I have a beat-up copy of Dave Duncan’s The Gilded Chain on my shelf that’s filled with notes in the margins and highlighted passages in different colors. It was my writing textbook when I was figuring out how to write and analyzing what made the books I loved work.

I loved Duncan’s prose. (Still do.) It’s smooth, clear, never draws attention to itself, but always pulls me right into the story. I studied how he structured sentences, how he handled action, how he managed dialogue without slowing the pace. I wasn’t trying to mimic him—I was trying to understand why his writing kept me turning pages long past midnight.

3 Writing Rules You Can Break

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Some rules are absolutely made to be broken.

There are tons of rules in writing. Some we need to follow to be understood, others are more like guidelines, and some have gotten lost in translation, and no longer mean what we think they mean. Some are even stated as if they were absolutes, such as, "You should never use adverbs."

It's a lot to remember. However, once you know the rules, you can break the rules.

The trick is knowing which ones to ignore. 

I know how to spell, but that doesn't give me the freedom to misspell everything in my manuscript because I think it'll look cool. If you read my work you wouldn't think, "Wow, she's being really creative with the spelling. She must know what she's doing." You'd think, "Wow, she didn't even bother to proof this." Or worse, "She has no clue what she's doing."

What is “Bad Writing?” (And How Can We Avoid It?)

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

"Bad writing" means different things to different readers.

We writers notice bad writing far more easily than readers, because we know the rules. For us, the writing is critical, but for a reader, it’s more about the story.

Readers don’t care how the sausage is made as long as it tastes good. And “good” is very subjective.

No matter what genre you write, I bet you can name a few huge, mega-bestsellers you feel are badly written. Every genre has them. And they drive us crazy as writers because “writers must write well” is drilled into our heads by everyone in the writing and publishing industry.

Leave a Message at the Tone: Setting the Right Tone for Your Novel

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Tone is an important part of any story. The wrong tone can ruin the mood and steal the thunder away from the words.

There's a great moment in the beginning of Pirates of the Caribbean where Captain Jack Sparrow is standing in the crow's nest as his ship pulls into port. It has a big adventure feel, the mighty pirate surveying his domain. Then, as the camera pulls away, you see his ship is sinking and it goes under just as he reaches the dock and steps off.

It's silly, it's comical, and it immediately sets the tone for the rest of the movie. We’re not taking ourselves too seriously, here.

Which is exactly right for a movie based on a ride at Disney World.

The scene is a bit over the top, but but it informs viewers right away to just go with it and enjoy the ride. It's all about fun, not a realistic look at pirates. You know what you're going to get after that, so anytime the movies gets a little silly you accept it.

Uncovering the Mysteries of Narrative Flow in the Opening of Stephen King's 11/22/63

By Jeanne Cavelos

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: Studying the masters is a wonderful way to improve your own writing, and Stephen King is certainly one of the masters. Please help me welcome Jeanne Cavelos to the lecture hall today, to learn more about how King uses narrative flow in his novel, 11/22/63.

Jeanne Cavelos is the director of the Odyssey Writing Workshops Charitable Trust, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization devoted to helping writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror improve their work.

Jeanne began her professional life as an astrophysicist working at NASA. After earning her MFA in creative writing, she moved into a career in publishing, becoming a senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell, where she edited award-winning science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels and won the World Fantasy Award. Jeanne left New York to pursue her own writing career and find a more in-depth way of working with writers. She has had seven books published; her last novel was Invoking Darkness, the third volume in her best-selling trilogy The Passing of the Techno-Mages. Her writing has twice been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award.

Jeanne is currently working on a near-future science thriller, Fatal Spiral. Since Jeanne loves working with developing writers, she created the Odyssey Writing Workshop in 1996, which quickly became one of the most respected programs in the world for writers of the fantastic. In 2010, she launched Odyssey Online Classes; live, intensive, interactive courses that use the techniques that have proven so effective at the workshop. Three online classes are announced each fall with application deadlines in December. The class Getting the Big Picture: The Key to Revising Your Novel will include the issues discussed in this article. Jeanne is also an English lecturer at Saint Anselm College, where she teaches fiction and nonfiction writing.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads.

For more information about Odyssey, check out this YouTube video.

Take it away Jeanne...

How Your Ear Can Make You a Better Writer

By Fred Johnson, @standoutbooks 

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: Writing great fiction relies on trusting your ear as much as trusting your gut. Please help me welcome Fred Johnson to the podium today, to share some tips on training your writer's ear.

Fred Johnson is an editor for Standout Books, where he helps authors take their manuscripts from good to perfect. He also writes fiction and poetry. You can follow Standout Books on Twitter @standoutbooks.

Take it away Fred...

What “Write What You Know” Really Means

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy 

The week’s Refresher Friday takes a heavily update look at writing what you know. Enjoy!

Writers hear it all the time: Write what you know.

Good advice, but a little more information on what that means might be nice, right? Does this mean if you're a graphic designer, you should write about graphic designers? Doctors should write about doctors? Third-grade teachers should write about third-grade teachers?

Yes and no.

Knowing Your Author Promise

By Roni Loren, @RoniLoren

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: It's not unusual for writers to have a style that's unique to them. Call it voice, career theme, story topics--however it works, readers know going in what they're going to get. And if they don't? Well, you might end up with some disappointed readers. Roni Loren visits the lecture hall today to share more thoughts and tips on keeping your author's promise, and why that's so important.

Roni wrote her first romance novel at age fifteen when she discovered writing about boys was way easier than actually talking to them. Since then, her flirting skills haven’t improved, but she likes to think her storytelling ability has. She is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of The Loving on the Edge series and other sexy things.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Indie Bound

Take it away Roni...

Grammar and You: What You Need to Know to Write

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Publishing is a business, so to be part of that industry, you do need to write at a professional skill level. Understanding grammar and the mechanics behind writing is a must. Just like you can't figure skate in the Olympics if you don't know how to do any jumps, you can't publish if you don't know how to put sentences together correctly.

However...

These are skills you can learn. There are tons of books out there that can teach you proper grammar. And if you're a decent day-to-day writer, you might even have the basic skill set already, since writing is so much more than knowing "i before e except after c." Technical skill is only one part of it.

Did You Hear That? Showing Sound

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

I love crafting scenes where my narrator can't see. I'm not sure when this developed, but quite often in The Healing Wars, Nya is either in the dark, locked away inside something, or otherwise deprived of her sight. I find it creepier to put her in situations like that, and it lets both her and the reader imagine the worst and helps raise the tension of a scene.

Sometimes it's perfectly fine to use "heard" or "sound," just like it's fine to use saw or look if that's what makes the scene work best (I've even had my copy editor put it back into the text when I've written it without it). But other times it reads as redundant, detached, or even told. There are only so many times you can write "the sound of..." before it sounds repetitive.

Give Me a Beat: Rhythm in Dialogue

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Just like rhythm in the narrative can hook or bore your reader, the flow of your dialogue can also cause a reader to stay or skim. Too many tags can sound choppy, too few can get confusing. How you say it plays a big role in how much your readers want to hear, so look at how your dialogue -- and what comes after it -- hits your reader's ears.

Oh, the Irony: Working With Dramatic Irony

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

One of my favorite techniques is dramatic irony, which itself is a little ironic since I've discovered I love first person. Harder to pull of dramatic irony when there's only one POV.

So what is dramatic irony?

Basically, it's when the reader knows more about what's going on than the characters, and they see the meaning or truth where the characters do not.

Get Serious (But Not Too Serious): Why Serious Books Need Humor and Levity to Work

By Sarah Skilton, @Sarah_Skilton

JH: Please welcome YA author (and literary agency sister) Sarah Skilton to the blog today to chat with us about why even serious books need a little laughter now and then. I'm a big fan of dark stories, but I have noticed that when it's all dark all the time it lessons my enjoyment. If you write dark or serious tales, these are good things to consider.

Sarah lives in California with her magician husband and their son. By day she works in the film and TV business. She is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, which came in handy when writing Bruised (Abrams/Amulet Books, March 2013). Visit her online at sarahskilton.com.

Take it away Sarah...

Rhythm of the Words: Voice in Dialogue

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Aaron Sorkin is a god when it comes to dialogue. Seriously.

For those unfamiliar with the name, Sorkin is the writer and creator of such delights as "The West Wing," "Sports Night," "Studio 64," "The American President," and "A Few Good Men." Watch any of these, and you'll hear the style of his writing and how he puts words together so they hit the ear just right.

What does this have to do with writing, you ask? Everything.

Guest Author J. Kathleen Cheney: On the Hunt for Easter Eggs

By J. Kathleen Cheney

We welcome to the blog today science fiction and fantasy writer, J. Kathleen Cheney. In honor of yesterday’s “Talk Like a Pirate Day,” she’s posted a free pirate story. You can get it here, or get it through Smashwords here. The Smashwords version also has the shorts "Masks of War" and "Fleurs du Mal."

J. Kathleen Cheney is a former teacher and has taught mathematics ranging from 7th grade to Calculus, with a brief stint as a Gifted and Talented Specialist. She is a member of SFWA, RWA, and Broad Universe. Her works have been published in Jim Baen's Universe, Writers of the Future, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Fantasy Magazine, among others.

When not writing, she likes to don a mask and get sweaty fencing, both foil and saber, or put on her Wellingtons and get her hands dirty in the garden. Quieter hobbies include quilting and taking care of her husband and dogs–big hairy dogs.

Take it away J. Kathleen...

How to Make An (Exclamation) Point

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

OMG!!! You can't ever use exclamation points!!! Ever!!!

Exclamation points are a troublesome beast. Like adverbs, we get lots of advice to cut them out of our books. But like so many nevers, it's more about proper usage than the exclamation point itself. They do have uses and are valuable tools to show emphasis. But too many become visually distracting. If readers are yanked away from the story by punctuation, that's a problem.

She was so lost! She couldn't believe how stupid she was, leaving her compass in the tent! What an idiot! A total idiot! Arrgghhh!

Multiple exclamation points like this dilute the exclamation. Did you keep reading the sentences as exclamations, or did you just read them all the same intensity after the first few? If everything being said is exclaimed--and thus emphasized--then nothing stands out. If nothing stands out, what's the point of the exclamation point in the first place? Periods would achieve the same result.

Trust Me, I’m a Reader: Writing for Your Audience

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy
 

“Trust your reader.” You hear it all the time, but what exactly does that mean? Do you just assume they’ll figure out what you mean? That can lead to confusion, which you certainly don’t want, so what’s a writer to do? Who do they really trust?

Believe in Yourself

Trusting your reader is all about believing that they can and will pick up on the things you leave as clues in your story. Not just mystery-type clues, but hints about backstory, world building, characterization, etc. The things you write and then wonder, “Will my reader get this or do I need to explain more?”

As someone who writes for teens, I face this every time I sit down to write. My youngest readers are ten years old, my oldest are adults. While I want every age to be able to sit down and enjoy my books, if I write for the adult audience, there’s a pretty good chance I’ll leave my younger readers behind. What each of those readers pick up on is different.

Feel the Rhythm of the Words

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Fiction it about more than describing a situation and telling readers about it. Good fiction flows and dances across the page, using every word to captivate the reader and lure them deeper into the story.

 
Which is why rhythm is so important. How the text flows matters, because choppy writing can jar readers right out of the story. It often reads like a list, with flat description, focusing more on the what than the who or the why. There's no sense of storytelling, just boring explanation.

Me or You? Part, Two, Mixing First and Third POVs

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Q: Can you mix first and third POVs?

Short answer: Sure.

Long answer: Like everything else in writing, it's all in how you do it. Kathleen Duey's Skin Hunger mixed first and third with great success, as does Roland Smith's I.Q. series. But I've read books that didn't mix them so well and made an utter mess of the story. Every POV switch was painful, there was no reason for them, and it just yanked me right out of the tale.

Mixing POV styles can be jarring to the reader without a good reason to do it. In Skin Hunger, the POVs are set 500 years apart, and the present day POV is in first person, while the past is in third. The more detached third person works well thematically with the distant story of the past. In the I.Q. series, the third person POV is snippets of the bad guys, so seeing them from a more distant perspective also worked thematically.

First and third mixed in the same time frame with two major POV characters doesn't always work so well, however, because there's often no reason for it to occur. It's done just to be different, or because you want to be able to show something your protag can't know and this is an easy way to do it.

If the reasons behind the POV mix are sound and serve the storytelling, go for it. If not, I'd suggest picking one and sticking with it. Mixing them is tough to do well, so unless it's the best thing for the story, you might be better off with one style.