The Write Blog

The key to good fiction is giving your readers a reason to keep going – little mysteries and mini-conflicts that add suspense and create tension. After all, if you feel like you know everything about a character in the first few pages, is there any real reason to waste time finding out what will happen to him?

Here’s what I mean:

Pete works at a pharmacy. He’s in his mid-twenties and he loves Asian cuisine and professional wrestling. He lives with his mother, but he wants to move out on his own when he saves up the money. He likes a girl at work named Myrna, but he’s afraid to ask her out on a date.

This is critical stuff: We have hints of a few conflicts (Pete is shy, but he’d like to go on a date with a coworker; Pete wants his own apartment, but he can’t afford it right now), and we know a little about his interests and goals. But, it’s dull, dull, dull. It’s an information dump – in a rush to introduce Pete, we’ve put our readers into a coma.

This one’s a little better:

Pete set down his plate of teriyaki and stared at Myrna from across the break room. Even dressed in her white, polyester lab coat (everyone who worked at the pharmacy was required to wear one), she was stunning.

I wonder if she likes wrestling, Pete thought. I’ve got two tickets to next week’s match. Maybe I should just ask her out. Just as friends. Oh, who am I kidding? I can’t even afford my own place – who wants to go out with a guy that still lives with his mother?

Myrna looked up and met his gaze. Pete snatched a newspaper and opened it to a random page, trying to look casual. That’s when he saw the advertisement: “Wrestlers needed for amateur match. Saturday night. First prize $5,000.”

The hints of conflict in the first version have become specific questions: Will Pete ask Myrna on a date? Will he put on tights, get in the ring, and win first prize? Focus on showing –revealing details through a character’s speech, thoughts, and actions – rather than simply telling the reader what’s important.

One of the most difficult parts of writing – even if you write all day, every day – is learning to ignore your internal editor when you’re working on a first draft.. Even now, as I start writing, I can hear the nagging voice of doubt that makes it difficult to put words on paper. My particular voice of doubt looks a bit like my ninth-grade English teacher: She’s got a sour expression on her face, and she’s wearing necklace made of little wooden apples. She knows everything. She hates experimentation. She stands behind me, reading over my shoulder and shaking her head. She makes little noises of disapproval as I work; the tap of my fingers on the keys punctuated every so often with notes of discouragement:

“Oh, you can do better than that, can’t you?”

“Well. That’s not very interesting, is it?”

“I just don’t get it.”

Writing well isn’t always easy. Fighting the urge to engage in too much self-editing is even harder. There’s nothing wrong with having high standards. But, if you fret too much about getting it right the first time, you’ll wind up with a migraine and a blank page.

Maybe your first draft is dreadful. So what? Throw it away, hit the “delete” key, bury it in the backyard in a shallow grave – whatever makes you feel better. And keep going. Experiment a little. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

You’ll have plenty of time to revise and let your internal editor go crazy after you’ve gotten your ideas written down. But, when you’re trying to write a first draft, you have to ignore her and concentrate on what you’re trying to say and how you’re trying to say it. You can’t grow as a writer until you learn to stop worrying about perfection.

When you work with words every day, it’s not always easy to keep your vocabulary fresh. I’m a word junkie. I’d like to think that I’m a formidable Scrabble opponent. I even have one of those dorky word-a-day calendars on my desk. But, like any other writer, I occasionally slip into a word choice wasteland where mediocrity rules and the most compelling adjectives I can come up with are absolutely mind-numbing: perfect; beautiful.

Yawn.

Good writing is about more than just stringing together a sentence or selling a widget. Good writing should grab the reader’s attention and make them want more, whether you’re writing ad copy, a financial newsletter, or even a blog entry. Precise, interesting words make or break your prose.

Invest in a good thesaurus. Use it. End of story.

After all, why settle for perfect when you can be unblemished, flawless, or unsurpassed?

Who wants to be merely beautiful? Personally, I’d rather be alluring or fetching.

The Writers For Hire, Inc., launches a new blog for writers and marketers. The blog will feature writing tips, ad copy, and much more.