Writing Discussion 5

[kriadydragon]

They're ba-ack!

If anyone is curious as to why I haven't touched on some of the suggested topics it's because some of the topics are rather fanfic centered and I want the discussions to be centered around both fanfic and original fic.

Tonight's topic is on wording, word choices and using words in a way that makes your story flow and holds your reader's interest.

I start with this question: Have you ever read a story that A) even though it was well written, interesting, the content superb and agreeable, something about the story still managed to give you a headache or B) have you ever read a story that though well written and interesting, made your mind wander more often than not and you wished the author would - to put it bluntly - shut up already? I just finished a book not too long ago that actually did both. Though it was good, it just kept going and going and going... yes, the plants have special powers, we get that already. To quote Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Get on with it!

And also this question: have you ever stopped reading a story for something as trivial as, say, the author's choice of words? I have. I believe it was because of the gratuitous use of the word giggle. I don't trust stories written by people who actually think grown men giggle, and said men are neither drunk, drugged, insane or ten years old.

Now on to the topic question - how the heck to avoid all the above mentioned pitfalls?

Comments

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

A thesaurus is your best friend but a dictionary is an even better friend. I often compare writing a story to painting a picture, because like in painting where the right color makes all the difference, in writing the right words make all the difference.

Using my above example again, I've come to really dislike the word giggle. I've read one too many stories where the author got a little too slap happy with the word giggle. I'm sorry but it's really hard to picture a grown man "giggling" over something "silly" his friend did - because they're not friggin' teenage girls - and not cringe. When you hear the word giggle, do you think laughter? Because I don't. I think high-pitched tittering. Giggle may be a synonym of laugh, but it's really a whole other beast. Giggle is a type of laugh, and a word you might not want to use so casually.

And that's why I've come to adore the Thesaurus program on my computer coupled with my dictionary. It's important to be as diverse as you can in your vocabulary, to keep from being too repetitive, but it's also important to not go for just any word simply because it's similar to the word you had planned to use, or because you think it sounds pretty, or poignant, or because you're under the impression that the bigger the words you use the better you're story will be. I've used words before that I thought sounded nifty and that, according to the Thesaurus program, was similar to this other word I was using too much, only to find out that the new word really wasn't all that similar. Only kind of similar. And to know the word's true meaning made it's use in that particular story rather ridiculous. So now, before choosing a word from the list of suggestions the program provides me, I look the word up, first.

I don't worry "too much" about wording during the writing process (a little, but not obsessively or I would never get any writing done). For me, it's usually during the editing process that I pay closer attention to the words I've used - whether I'm being repetitive, if a word feels too much, too little, doesn't fit with the personality of the story (or characters), Doesn't convey the right emotions for the scene, it's too cliche, it clashes with another word or it just plain feels wrong.

As for trying to keep what I have written from losing the reader's interest due to wordiness, when in doubt, I ascribe to my favorite motto of less is more - if it feels too much, too long, too dull, I'll either trim the fat or spread it out. That is, cut out a sentence here and a paragraph there, condensing the scene. Or, if it's a matter of me being too info-dumpy - providing too much information in one go - I'll spread that information out, deal with it scene by scene or chapter by chapter as needed rather than provide all that information at once. In fact, I did just that with my original story. One of my biggest issues with the story was it's pacing. It was slow, slug slow, slug-with-salt-on-it slow. The first five our so chapters were nothing more than massive info dumps and it made the story boring. So I took all that info, broke it down, and spread it throughout the story where I felt it would best fit. Not only did it pick up the pacing and cut down on all that pointless bulk, it allowed the world and its characters to build along with the plot.

Which is also why it pays to have someone look over your story. I knew something was wrong, but couldn't figure out what it was until someone mentioned the pacing issues, especially with the first couple of chapters. You need a fresh, unbiased reader, the kind of reader willing to be brutally honest with you.

[tj-teejay.livejournal.com]

I am loving the Thesaurus too, though most of the time I use my English/German dictionary for that rather than an actual Thesaurus. But I guess for me that's more of a unique situation, seeing how I seldom write fiction in my native language.

It's not that I "translate" in my head what I write from German to English. I write in English and the words form in English (otherwise writing would not work like this, I think). But every now and then, I'm not sure about a word or an expression -- if they have the right feel for the situation, if they mean what I think they mean. Often my gut feeling is right, but in those cases, I usually go to LEO (http://dict.leo.org) and look the word up.

And in a way, I can use the dictionary as a Thesaurus by clicking back and forth between the German and English words. Sometimes when you click the German word that feels right to use, it'll offer you other English words that mean the same or a similar thing. And then I take my pick for what I think fits best.

As for overuse of expressions, yeah, I have that problem sometimes, and I'm sure it's coupled with the non-native speaker thing. My active English vocabulary, while probably being way more extensive than the next German's, is still a lot smaller than my passive one. Well, that probably applies to German too, but I still get annoyed at myself sometimes for getting stuck on expressions and words and descriptions that I feel I keep using too often. That's when it helps to have a good beta reader.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

but I still get annoyed at myself sometimes for getting stuck on expressions and words and descriptions that I feel I keep using too often.

This drives me crazy, especially if I can't find the words or expressions that could replace it to break the repetition.