Tips From My Inner Editor
Do I need to be careful of yet another overdone cliché?
I’ve noticed that when something--words, situations, plots, etc. are used too much in too many books they become a cliché in the writing industry. If I study the markets and read the books that are published, I can see these cliché patterns.
When I first wrote the sex/love scenes in Knight of Dreams, I just wrote it the way I felt it. And my crit partners said I needed to add the characters names several more times throughout the passage. So I did. But was that the right thing to do? No, it wasn't.
Okay, so maybe this is an ongoing debate. But here's the way I see it as best when I'm reading a book or story.
When in deep POV, that is revealing story/character through a character’s head, don't repeat the character’s name over and over. Once you establish the name, then you don’t need to say it again and again. Everyone knows what this means from examples in your own writing. So just keep in mind that it can pull a reader out of the story and back to the realization that they are reading, rather than immersing them inside the story, which is the goal. This goes for all deep POV writing, but especially inside a sex/love scene. Just be careful and don’t use the character’s name every other sentence, or even paragraph, if you are in the same passage or scene.
And here’s another-- This I know, but I see it especially in new writers work. I call it the ‘Laundry List’ or the ‘Rambling Writer’ syndrome. You know this one. It’s when we give each nuance of detail of a room or a setting, and even over describe a character. Or write on and on about unimportant events.
When I first wrote the sex/love scenes in Knight of Dreams, I just wrote it the way I felt it. And my crit partners said I needed to add the characters names several more times throughout the passage. So I did. But was that the right thing to do? No, it wasn't.
Okay, so maybe this is an ongoing debate. But here's the way I see it as best when I'm reading a book or story.
When in deep POV, that is revealing story/character through a character’s head, don't repeat the character’s name over and over. Once you establish the name, then you don’t need to say it again and again. Everyone knows what this means from examples in your own writing. So just keep in mind that it can pull a reader out of the story and back to the realization that they are reading, rather than immersing them inside the story, which is the goal. This goes for all deep POV writing, but especially inside a sex/love scene. Just be careful and don’t use the character’s name every other sentence, or even paragraph, if you are in the same passage or scene.
And here’s another-- This I know, but I see it especially in new writers work. I call it the ‘Laundry List’ or the ‘Rambling Writer’ syndrome. You know this one. It’s when we give each nuance of detail of a room or a setting, and even over describe a character. Or write on and on about unimportant events.
Less is best.
It’s not necessary unless you are creating an unknown or alien world for your character. And you still need to use care when doing so. The purpose of description is to give the reader a sensory grounding in a scene and that is all. So be careful with overusing description.
It’s not necessary unless you are creating an unknown or alien world for your character. And you still need to use care when doing so. The purpose of description is to give the reader a sensory grounding in a scene and that is all. So be careful with overusing description.
I’m not big on expository passages though. I like my stories to get right to the point and keep on going. In fact, I’ve had to practice layering in more description and detail to my stories. However, I’ve seen other writers rambling on and on saying much more than is necessary for the scene. Grounding your reader is the key to all good fiction writing. And it just doesn’t happen if you overwrite.
I edit out overwritten passages and too much detailed description. And I try not to repeat my viewpoint character’s name too many times. As a reader, I already got it-- when the writer revealed the name of the character in the first sentence. Occasionally I'm sure it's okay, but I say let us be careful with overuse of names, even if it is debatable. Oh yeah, I did change my scene back to the way it was written originally.
Write Well All,
Kaye
