By Adele Annesi

Word for Words is by author Adele Annesi. For Adele's website, visit Adele Annesi.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Writing Well in 2015 - Take a Tip From a Memoirist

One of the best pieces of advice an editor can give a writer is to write; an even better recommendation is to write slowly, consciously, reflectively. That's how memoirists write, and one way fiction writers can bring a deeply reflective quality to their
work is to evaluate every word for precision, context, clarity and revelation. Here are some examples:
Clarity helps both writer and reader
  • Precision: Rather than use common nouns or noun phrases, consider more specific choices. For example, if you're referring to the area just above the upper lip, use dent, divot, groove or philtrum.
  • Context: Even original descriptions can be generic. To avoid this, consider using descriptive words or phrases that suit the context. For instance, if you're writing about a seamstress, choose words and phrases to describe the setting that relate to the art and craft of sewing.
  • Clarity: Sometimes, what's clear to the writer isn't clear to the reader. For example, how a character responds to a life-changing event hinges on who the character really is, and how mature he is at that point in the story. Make sure your character's response to an event is consistent with who he is and who he is becoming.
  • Revelation: Each word choice should reveal something to the reader about the story, plot, characters and setting.
To make the best use of the slow-writing technique, start small, with a sentence or paragraph; then move to a scene or chapter. To check for overwriting, wait a couple of days; then reread the section. You may find some cumbersome language, but you may also find that you're revealing more to yourself and your readers as you write. Generally, it's easier to trim writing than expand it. This is especially true when there's enough substance to trim.

What project are you working on now that could use a bit more precision?

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

When Revising Your Prose, Take Time to Tinker

For better prose, take time to tinker
A great way to become a better writer is by revision, and concentrated revision yields faster and more noticeable results.

Taking time to self-consciously tinker with your prose can yield more progress than hours at the keypad because you’re paying attention to the before and after as you write, and learning what works and what doesn’t in real time. More importantly, you’re learning how phrasing works and why, and that yields a repeatable technique, and a repeatable technique will stay in your writing toolkit.

Here’s an example of the tinkering approach:

Before:
The highway to the beach was bathed in sunlight, and the temperature in the car was getting hotter and hotter. Jim wiped his forehead and rolled the window partway down. He couldn’t see the shore from here but could feel it.

After:
The road to the shore shimmered in the summer sun, and the temperature in the Kia was rising like a kiln. Jim wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and rolled down the window. He couldn’t see the Sound from this flat strip of asphalt but could feel its pull like an outgoing tide.

To tinker with your prose, select a descriptive paragraph, and revise it slowly, sentence by sentence and word by word. Do the same with a short scene. This technique also helps settle the mind for improved focus.

Got editing questions? Share them via Word for Words. Happy writing!

Monday, August 18, 2014

When Nothing Is Lost, Novel Writing and Henry James

If you’re looking to enhance your storytelling, consider this advice from novel writer and essayist Henry James: Be a writer on whom nothing is lost.

James’s style in Washington Square (1880) reveals characters and story more by telling about them than showing them in scene and dialogue. Yet, the author clearly knows the people, setting and era, and knows how to present them in a way that has broader thematic appeal.

In the craft essay "The Art of Fiction," James advises, "Write from experience, and experience only …” He then adds, "Try to be one of the people on whom nothing is lost!" However, there are two important caveats: It’s better to write from experience than with it (think fiction versus reportage), and if a writer is to be someone on whom nothing is lost, he or she must have first closely observed the world in order to gain that experience, and must have analyzed with some accuracy the experience gained.

The triad of experience, observation and analysis is similar to Bob Dylan’s description of the creative process as involving observation, imagination and experience. If we merge Dylan’s insights with James’s, we have the following:
  • Mine your past experiences, and look for new encounters.
  • Don’t just see what you’re looking at; observe it.
  • Analyze what you observe, and consider how it applies to the world at large.
  • Write from your experience not with it by letting your imagination create the fiction. Washington Square is based on the true story of a jilted heiress whom James heard about through a friend.
For more on Henry James and his work, visit PBS. Also see Henry James’s "The Art of Fiction" at Washington State University.

What story are you writing that could benefit from the wealth of your experience, observations, analysis and imagination?

Happy writing!

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

“Some of the Best Stories Are Yours”

Some of the best stories are yours
A few posts ago, we covered how to mine family history for stories. Using similar techniques, you can mine your life for stories, too.

Reviewing your personal life for story ideas can be an emotional experience, but those very emotions can signal a story worth telling. In considering your options, ask yourself:
  • What aspect of this event in my life would others find most interesting and instructive, and why?
  • What turning point occurred as a result of this that forever changed my life?
  • What pivotal incident led to the event — the one without which the turning point wouldn't have occurred?
  • What was the main outcome?
  • What were the secondary and tertiary outcomes?
  • What were the most important consequences for me and those closest to me?
To fictionalize your story, ask yourself:
  • What if the main person in the story was of a different race, ethnic background and/or gender?
  • What if the turning point occurred at an earlier or a later stage of life?
  • What if the pivotal incident occurred in a different setting?
  • What if it was a different incident altogether?
  • What if the event’s main outcome was the opposite or vastly different from what happened?
Taking these considerations into account and changing the story accordingly should alter the plot, characters and ending, maintaining the story’s integrity while taking it into the realm of fiction.

The key to this approach is having an affinity for and/or experience in how you make the changes. For example, if you alter the setting, do you know the new locale? After all, truth is still stranger than fiction.

Tip: To spice up your story, consider this adage from John Updike. There's the story you're afraid to tell others and the story you're afraid to tell yourself. That's the one to write.

What aspect of your story are you afraid to tell?

Happy writing!

Adele Annesi is an award-winning writer, editor and teacher. Her book is Now What? The Creative Writer's Guide to Success After the MFA.

For one of the most instructive workshop-based writers conferences, visit Ridgefield Writers Conference 2014.

For queries, contact Word for Words, or visit Word for Words. For in-depth tips, visit the Online Workshop.