{"id":1080,"date":"2018-10-26T22:00:01","date_gmt":"2018-10-27T05:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/?p=1080"},"modified":"2018-10-26T22:00:01","modified_gmt":"2018-10-27T05:00:01","slug":"pithy-writing-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/?p=1080","title":{"rendered":"Pithy Writing Advice"},"content":{"rendered":"

A number of writers I respect and admire have written books on how to write.\u00a0 These books range widely in detail and quality.\u00a0 Some are short and deep, others are large and shallow.\u00a0 I’ve consumed a few books on writing, with one of my favorites being by Stephen King called\u00a0On Writing.<\/em><\/p>\n

I’ve been a writer off and on for over 30 years.\u00a0 The last 10 have been particularly rich in terms of skill growth and quality output.\u00a0 For all of that, I wouldn’t feel comfortable trying to write a book on the subject.\u00a0 I have enough information to fill an essay or a blog post, though, so that’s what we’re doing tonight!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Read Widely<\/h3>\n

I’ve already talked about this<\/a>\u00a0earlier in the month so I’ll be brief.\u00a0 Writers need to read broadly and continuously in order to see what works and what doesn’t work.\u00a0 They need to be entertained and immersed in the kinds of stories that they want to create.\u00a0 I don’t know any good writers that aren’t also voracious readers.\u00a0 So go read.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. Use Strong Verbs<\/h3>\n

This is the most useful advice I’ve ever been, and it has drastically improved my writing.\u00a0 Verbs make your sentences stand out.\u00a0 They lift your story off the page and kindle the imagination.\u00a0 I’m using stronger verbs right now and this is probably the most exciting paragraph you’re going to read tonight because this paragraph yearns to prove itself and make you understand.\u00a0 Just as the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, so too are verbs the muscles of the sentence.<\/p>\n

Let’s try a quick example off the top of my head.<\/p>\n

Joe was on the couch.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This pedestrian sentence doesn’t excite anyone.\u00a0 It lacks a strong verb and it lacks specificity.\u00a0 From this sentence alone, I have no idea what Joe is actually doing.\u00a0 He has commandeered the couch in some vague fashion and the writer hasn’t given us a clue as to whether or not there’s room on the couch for anyone else.<\/p>\n

Joe was sitting on the couch.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This seems a little bit better, but a good rule of thumb is that if your verb takes more than one word, it’s weak.\u00a0 The verb in this sentence is “was sitting.” That pesky “was” isn’t helping Joe out at all.\u00a0 We can do better.\u00a0 Let’s drop the word “was” and make Joe an actual participant in this sentence.<\/p>\n

Joe sat on the couch.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is a good sentence.\u00a0 It’s brief and to the point.\u00a0 A little bit boring, but at least Joe’s an active character now.\u00a0 He’s a contributing member of society.\u00a0 He votes, and he sits on couches rather than being placed on them like a doll.\u00a0 We can add more detail if we want the sentence to be a little bit less boring.<\/p>\n

Joe sat on the couch with his legs stretched out on an ottoman, one arm draped over the seat back next to him as if waiting to wrap it around the first person to sit beside to him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You might not like this sentence.\u00a0 I’m not sure I like it.\u00a0 That comma splice in the middle worries me a little.\u00a0 But Joe is now an active member of this sentence with hints of his character starting to shine through.\u00a0 I don’t know much about him but I know that a man sitting like that, open and inviting, has confidence.\u00a0 He might even be displaying power and social status.<\/p>\n

We’re done with Joe for now.\u00a0 I hope I made my point about verbs.\u00a0 Strong verbs keep the reader awake and turning the page.\u00a0 Weak verbs invite yawns and boredom.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. Avoid Adverbs<\/h3>\n

New writers hear this one all the time.\u00a0 It’s not horrendous advice but it is often overstated.\u00a0 This piece of advice is often repeated often without an explanation of why.<\/p>\n

Here are the two main reasons you should avoid adverbs:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. They weaken the verb they’re meant to amplify<\/li>\n
  2. They tend to do a lot more telling than showing<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    That first point I’ve already touched on.\u00a0 The more words involved in the verb, the weaker the verb is.\u00a0 Let’s bring Joe back for another couple of examples.<\/p>\n

    Joe knocked on the door angrily.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    At a glance, that sentence might seem fine.\u00a0 It’s okay.\u00a0 It’s not the worst sentence in the world.\u00a0 It shows up to work and does its job, but it’s not winning any awards and it certainly isn’t winning any promotions.\u00a0 Let’s make it better.<\/p>\n

    Joe pounded on the door.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    This sentence is putting in a little bit of overtime and it’s using less words to do it.\u00a0 With this one, I can hear Joe’s fist slamming on the wood.\u00a0 I can see how Joe is holding his arm, his bicep flexed and his knuckles white as he strikes the door with bottom of his fist rather than the front of his fingers.<\/p>\n

    The second sentence is better than the first.\u00a0 It’s both more efficient and more descriptive at the same time.<\/p>\n

    Some writers offering advice on eschewing adverbs go too far.\u00a0 They might go so far as to say never use them.\u00a0 I subscribe to a much more lenient philosophy.<\/p>\n

    Adverbs are a tool in your toolbox.\u00a0 New writers have a tendency to overuse them because they’re easy to drop into sentences.\u00a0 They provide a shortcut to telling the reader some information that they want to get across.\u00a0 Sometimes it’s fine to use the shortcut.<\/p>\n

    Sometimes the right adverb can make a sentence fun.\u00a0 I remember looking at a video of an old fashioned printing press.\u00a0 The contraption had all these moving parts collapsing in on themselves, making it look like a partly unfolded wood chipper.\u00a0 There were no safety rails or guards on this device that I could see.\u00a0 I remember writing about it:<\/p>\n

    I can see someone misjudging and pulling their hand back with freshly waffled fingers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    This isn’t a bad sentence.\u00a0 I particularly like the last part because the cadence of “freshly waffled fingers” has a bounce to it that makes the sentence sparkle.<\/p>\n

    Of course, I’m kind of cheating with this example because while “freshly” looks like an adverb, it’s amplifying “waffled” which is an adjective enhancing “fingers.”\u00a0 There aren’t any adverbs in that sentence.\u00a0 Be that as it may, if we rearranged it so that “freshly” did become a proper adverb again, and we managed to keep that delightful rhythm in tact, wouldn’t the sentence still work?<\/p>\n

    Adverbs are a tool in the writer’s toolbox.\u00a0 They’re a special tool and should be used sparingly, but that doesn’t mean they should never be used.\u00a0 Just use them wisely.<\/p>\n

    <\/h3>\n

    4. Adjectives are Delicious<\/h3>\n

    Marketers learned this trick a long time ago and they take advantage of it constantly.\u00a0 If you want to make something delicious, pour on the adjectives.<\/p>\n

    Let’s do another exercise.<\/p>\n

    Bacon.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Lots of people like bacon, but we can do better.<\/p>\n

    Crispy bacon.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Now we’re talking.\u00a0 We added one word and already I’m hankering for a BLT.<\/p>\n

    Bacon is easy, though.\u00a0 Let’s try something a little more challenging.\u00a0 And here’s a hint: the adjectives don’t even have to make sense or have anything to do with the food that you’re describing.\u00a0 Just adding the extra words makes the food more desirable.<\/p>\n

    Oatmeal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Yuck.\u00a0 No one wants plain oatmeal.<\/p>\n

    Fresh oatmeal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Better. What else ya got?<\/p>\n

    Fresh, buttered, steel-cut oatmeal sweetened with cinnamon, brown sugar, and maple syrup.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    A little known fact… I make the best oatmeal.\u00a0 Seriously you should try it sometime.<\/p>\n

    I’m saying that adjectives are delicious, but what I really mean is that adjectives are multipliers.\u00a0 When you’re describing food, you can make the food more delicious by stacking adjectives.\u00a0 You can also make a corpse more terrifying, a monster more frightening, a weapon more deadly, a dress more beautiful… you get the idea.<\/p>\n

    The cost of using adjectives as amplifiers is pacing.\u00a0 Going back to food as the metaphor, adjectives will make your dessert more rich.\u00a0 The reader will have to chew more slowly to get through your descriptive sentence.\u00a0 If you’re in the middle of a chase scene, the reader isn’t going to want to sniff the sweet and honeyed flowers, the petals of which are smooth and soft and bursting with Spring colors.\u00a0 When the story needs to go quickly, you need to ditch the frills.\u00a0 Stick with what’s important and keep the sentences short.<\/p>\n

    Rich sentences with thick adjectives are great right after a fast sequence, not only because you can contrasting the pacing, but also because you can enhance the emotional reaction of the reader by focusing on the details that invoke the desired emotions.<\/p>\n

    <\/h3>\n

    5. Emotions and Chapters<\/h3>\n

    This one is a little bit complicated.\u00a0 Also, we’re pulling back a little bit.\u00a0 Focusing on verbs, adjectives, and adverbs is getting right down into the microscopic level of sentence construction.\u00a0 With chapters, we’re pulling back far enough to see more of the structure.<\/p>\n

    If you begin your chapter at an emotionally high place, end your chapter at an emotionally low place.\u00a0 If the characters are comfortable in the beginning of the chapter, driving along with their windows down and the radio playing, end the chapter with the character pulled over, stressed out, wondering what the hell they’re going to do next.<\/p>\n

    The length of a chapter doesn’t really matter.\u00a0 All that matters is that something changed between the beginning and the end of the chapter.\u00a0 There should be an emotional curve.<\/p>\n

    Also, it’s best when your chapters end in such a way that the readers are encouraged to the turn the page and keeping going on into the next.\u00a0 Some people might describe this as a cliffhanger, but really it’s just ending with a question.\u00a0 It doesn’t matter if the character is in peril or if they just opened the treasure chest they’ve been seeking and they’re about to look inside.\u00a0 If you end a chapter on a question, any kind of question, the reader will turn the page looking for an answer.\u00a0 If you end a chapter too cleanly, they might put the book down and forget to pick it back up again.<\/p>\n

    <\/h3>\n

    6. Do Whatever Works<\/h3>\n

    Every writer is different.\u00a0 We’re all people.\u00a0 Some like to listen to music while they write, and others (like me) prefer silence or white noise.\u00a0 Some people need detailed outlines in order to feel comfortable writing, while others get bored with the story if they know too much of what happens before they even begin.\u00a0 Some writers need seven or eight drafts before they get it right.\u00a0 Others get it done in one or two (but I would argue that the ones that actually get it done in one are rare).<\/p>\n

    There are lots of writers on the internet, and most of them offer advice.\u00a0 Listen to them with an open mind, but only do what works for you.\u00a0 You’re unique.\u00a0 Your writing journey is going to be different than anyone else’s.\u00a0 What works for me isn’t necessarily what’s going to work for you.<\/p>\n

    Here is an example of something I do which may or may not work for you.\u00a0 When I need to end a writing session, I often stop in the middle of a sentence.\u00a0 That way when I go back to start writing again, I’m forced to get into the mindset inhabited before I took the break.\u00a0 This method works well for me.<\/p>\n

    I write chronologically.\u00a0 Some writers write whatever scene they want to work on at the time, wherever that may be in their story’s timeline.\u00a0 I start from the beginning and proceed until I get to the end.<\/p>\n

    Don’t be afraid to experiment.\u00a0 Do you write a lot of stuff in first person?\u00a0 Try something in third.\u00a0 Or second!\u00a0 Do you write in past tense?\u00a0 Try writing something in present tense.<\/p>\n

    Artists doodle in their sketchbook.\u00a0 Musicians practice on their instruments playing riffs and scales.\u00a0 Writers shouldn’t be afraid to practice and play around, too.\u00a0 Open up\u00a0your word processor or notepad and write a story that you know you’re going to throw away.\u00a0 It’s fine.\u00a0 Free yourself from the expectation of presenting your work to someone else and just see what you create when there is no pressure.<\/p>\n

    As much writing advice as there is out there, as many books as there are published on the subject, none of it is as useful as the experience of writing.\u00a0 In the process of writing and experimenting, you will find what works for you and what doesn’t.<\/p>\n

    Figure out what works for you.\u00a0 Then keep doing that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A number of writers I respect and admire have written books on how to write.\u00a0 These books range widely in detail and quality.\u00a0 Some are short and deep, others are large and shallow.\u00a0 I’ve consumed a few books on writing, with one of my favorites being by Stephen King called\u00a0On Writing. I’ve been a writer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1080"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1081,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080\/revisions\/1081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}