Writing Advice

There are so many things I want to learn how to do better. So, when Voracious Readers Only sends out its weekly compilation of articles relating to writing, marketing, research, and other author-related activities, I make sure to always scan the titles and click on the ones that are relevant. Usually I'm disappointed.

There is a lot of redundancy among topics. An example is the subject of adverbs. I think Stephen King's immortality will rest on his hatred of adverbs, as opposed to any of his literary works. Yes, we've all heard it a million times. I read the book years ago, before that piece of advice became an internet staple. So, article writers, stop telling us about it! Yes, yes, show, don't tell. We get it. Some writers have taken King's admonition too far and eschewed adverbs all together. Know what? It's okay to use them. I didn't need King to tell me that an endless procession of "lys" starts to read like a fourth grader's short story. Occasional usage, though? Go for it. "Always substitute an action verb for an adverb." Well, that can become hilarious. Your characters are going to be zooming and zig-zagging all over the place. There isn't always an appropriate substitution. Something that's worked for me in dialogue when I've been tempted to use an adverb to clarify a character's emotion or intent is to have that character do other things while speaking. I've been told that I reveal my feelings readily, not by what I say but by my actions while saying it. I've been known to slam things too forcefully in the kitchen, like a drawer or the refrigerator. Or a character may be uncertain but loath to convey it verbally. Their little movements, however, give them away ~ little tics, like looking up at the ceiling or drumming their fingers; you get the drift. This is the type of advice that would be useful to me.

Then there are the opinions I can't get on board with. A so-called "pantser" (I prefer the term "discovery writer") tried to convince me in her article that you can still "pants" and outline at the same time. No. You can't. She posits that you, the discovery writer, knows at least three things that you want to have happen in your story when you begin it. Hello? Has she met me? I most certainly do not. Take, for example, the book I'm currently revising. What did I know at the start? That my main character was a singer in a local band. The End. Maybe the article's author doesn't truly understand what discovery writers are, even though she claims to be one. (Yes, I just used an adverb, intentionally.) <-- oops, I did it again.

And using classic literature as examples of anything is cheating. Here's my advice for how to write a great song: Write one the way Paul Simon does. You're welcome.

I understand that VRO certainly doesn't need to bother compiling these articles to send to authors, and I understand their intentions are good. I'm not sure how they locate the ones they do, except for perhaps employing keyword searches, plus returning to the same bloggers over and over. A competing opinion once in a while, however, would pique my interest. Offer a different way to do something, and please, for God's sake, give examples. I'm not clairvoyant. 

Sure, I'll continue to browse each week's offerings, but writers are supposed to be creative. That applies to advice columnists, too.