We're writers. We love words. But why do we need to junk up our work with too many of them? It's because we want to make sure everyone reading our book understands exactly what we mean. But too many descriptive words cut up on the piece, shoving speed bumps all over the place for the reader to navigate.
I'll never forget what my mentor, Rona Altrows asked about the first battle scene of mine that she read. She shook her head and said, "This character is amazing. How did he survive all those adjectives?"
So what King suggested (and at first I said Pshaw! I'm not doing that! ... but I did, and wow) was:
1) Take the first page of your book. Read it - out loud.
2) Delete EVERY SINGLE adjective and adverb (of course I don't mean delete permanently. Do this on a separate document. Never delete anything you've written).
3) Now your first page is 'naked'. Read it - out loud. Doesn't that sound cleaner?
4) Read it through slowly again, adding in any descriptive words you feel are imperative. But don't layer it on thick. Don't use three adjectives when you could use one more effectively. For example: It was a hot, humid, oppressive day. Change to: It was a muggy day.
5) Apply this technique to everything you write.
My original first novel was 150,000 words long, and I loved every single word. Using the above technique (and a few others), I cut it to 90,000. And you know what? They're way better.
I'll never forget what my mentor, Rona Altrows asked about the first battle scene of mine that she read. She shook her head and said, "This character is amazing. How did he survive all those adjectives?"
So what King suggested (and at first I said Pshaw! I'm not doing that! ... but I did, and wow) was:
1) Take the first page of your book. Read it - out loud.
2) Delete EVERY SINGLE adjective and adverb (of course I don't mean delete permanently. Do this on a separate document. Never delete anything you've written).
3) Now your first page is 'naked'. Read it - out loud. Doesn't that sound cleaner?
4) Read it through slowly again, adding in any descriptive words you feel are imperative. But don't layer it on thick. Don't use three adjectives when you could use one more effectively. For example: It was a hot, humid, oppressive day. Change to: It was a muggy day.
5) Apply this technique to everything you write.
My original first novel was 150,000 words long, and I loved every single word. Using the above technique (and a few others), I cut it to 90,000. And you know what? They're way better.
RSS Feed