 Flashback Friday is a monthly feature created by Michael D'Agostine at A Life Examined. Got an old post that never received the love you thought it deserved? Have new followers who might not have gone through your older posts? The last Friday of every month flash back and highlight those posts. Writing SkillzI finished my latest shiny new idea this past weekend. The work count was just over 48K. As I was writing, I was cranking out the words. At least 2K a day, and many of those days up to 4K. I was on fire and the word count was soaring. Would I get this WIP over 50K?
Honestly, it's been a while since I've written a story that's over 50K. The first draft of Being Human topped at 150K and I cut it in half with the help of beta readers. It wasn't my first story I wrote, but it was the first one I shined and polished. I knew I'd need helping editing it while writing it too. There was no denial there. Since then, I have learned a lot about writing. I know about fluff words, adjectives, passive voice vs active voice. Being Human had all that, and those elements were slowly chipped away. Now when I write, I'm more aware of my favorite fluff words, just and so. I know not every action needs an adjective. Softly whisper anyone? I will still search out fluff words in my current writing. There are not as many anymore. I'm more aware. I even notice in my blog posts. When I'm proofing and trying to minimize typos (they always slip though!) I notice a fluff word here and there. I wonder if that's part of why my recent first drafts don't end up as monster 100K+ stories. I know how to tell a story in less words. My writing is tighter. A friend on twitter said maybe my muse was holding back my next monster story. Is it lurking in the back of my mind and waiting to ambush me? Maybe I'm more of a short story writer. Not that 40K+ qualifies as short stories. Just some of my stories are riding the boarder between short story and novel. Anyone else notice this trend in their writing? Their word count has gone down as their writing ability improved and bad writing habits are broken?
10 Comments
6/24/2016 05:05:49 am
I always seem to be stalked by the greedy 'just' in all my drafts, but at least I know how to get rid of it. I find that as I cull words from my story I replace them with more and or better descriptions. My works keep getting longer. Sometimes, I have to change what I'm saying. 6/24/2016 05:22:31 am
I worked on an anthology where one of the writers is the "look" police. She marked up every time you did some variation of look (glance, saw, etc.). But my protest to that is that "look" is an important action and should be conveyed regularly. Maybe not too close together? I don't know. It seems like it's pretty standard to me, as long as you don't use the word "look" over and over. 6/24/2016 05:34:51 am
I always end up with a list of overused fluff words that I try to eliminate at the end of my editing process. 'Just' is usually at the top of that list. 6/24/2016 01:03:42 pm
If I were writing (other than blog posts) then I might notice some improvement. Just writing would be an improvement even if filled with fluff. Now I'm thinking about cotton candy---mmmm! 6/25/2016 12:49:08 am
Wow, it's little tips like that that I've never picked up, having never had any formal writing education.
Patricia Lynne
6/27/2016 12:46:26 pm
@Toi, I get rid of A LOT of justs in my WIPs. 6/28/2016 06:29:05 pm
It's funny because when I read, I would sooner read 30,000 words of fast paced story than 60,000 full of filler, but when I first started writing, I always felt longer was better. I'm learning though! Leave a Reply. |
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