Long, long bike ride (for me) yesterday, 24 miles or so. It took longer than planned but I still managed to get through about half of 'Self-editing for Fiction Writers'. So far, I recommend it, highly. The first chapter is one of the most important, I think. They start off right away with 'show, don't tell'. That's something I believe in but I still struggle with. As I've mentioned elsewhere on this blog, sometimes I have to tell in order to know what I want to show. But 'showing' is something I really want to focus on in subsequent drafts of Angel Odyssey.
I probably could go on for pages talking about all the good advice the book has but there's one tidbit that I really liked. They abbreviate it as RUE, as in 'Resist the Urge to Explain'. That ties into a lot of their advice, like on avoiding just about anything ending in '-ly'. I knew about the adverb rule, even if I don't follow it all the time...yet. But I really liked the idea of writing clearly enough that I wouldn't need to explain to the reader what the characters are feeling or how they're acting.
On the other hand, the most successful (ie. biggest selling) novels have tended towards the other side of the scale. Twilight comes to mind as a book that holds the reader's hand and tells you exactly what you're supposed to feel at every step. There has to be a middle ground. I don't want to talk down to my readers, even if Angel Odyssey ends up a YA novel. But I think a simple and clear story, well told, may be something to stand out and who knows, maybe live forever.
Ah well, my next self-editing step: cool my love for compound sentences. :)
I probably could go on for pages talking about all the good advice the book has but there's one tidbit that I really liked. They abbreviate it as RUE, as in 'Resist the Urge to Explain'. That ties into a lot of their advice, like on avoiding just about anything ending in '-ly'. I knew about the adverb rule, even if I don't follow it all the time...yet. But I really liked the idea of writing clearly enough that I wouldn't need to explain to the reader what the characters are feeling or how they're acting.
On the other hand, the most successful (ie. biggest selling) novels have tended towards the other side of the scale. Twilight comes to mind as a book that holds the reader's hand and tells you exactly what you're supposed to feel at every step. There has to be a middle ground. I don't want to talk down to my readers, even if Angel Odyssey ends up a YA novel. But I think a simple and clear story, well told, may be something to stand out and who knows, maybe live forever.
Ah well, my next self-editing step: cool my love for compound sentences. :)
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