Writing Secrets: Big writers pay attention to the “small”
I love it when good writers give advice on “small issues”.
When would-be writers sit at the feet of writers they admire, they’re often looking for pointers on the grand roll-out of plot, or ideas that will shake the world. But it’s in the small things that your writing betrays you. It’s the words and sentences which will give your writing a clunky feel. With writing, you should sweat the small stuff.
This is why I was drawn back to Elmore Leonard, after considering his most- quoted advice last week. Some of his less-mentioned tips are just as worth revisiting.
For example, he advises us never to use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue. (I remember coming across “ejaculated” in my teenage staple, historical romances – eliciting howls of laughter from my friends.) In this instance, our familiarity with a word has become an advantage. We are used to seeing “said” in print. Our eyes slip over it without snagging.
I would go further, though. If it’s clear who is speaking, you don’t need a speech tag at all. Too many speech tags are distracting and inelegant. They can mark a writer as inexperienced.
If only two people are speaking, it’s not hard to keep track. And if your character does something – acts or gestures – while speaking, we’ll know he is the speaker.
This has the added advantage of giving your scene depth and reality. Dialogue shouldn’t occur in a vacuum. We want to picture them in their setting, visualise them as they go about their business – while having their chat.
“Never use an adverb to modify the verb ‘said’,” Leonard admonished gravely.
Readers are well able to judge, from the words themselves, and from the context, how they are delivered. In fact, I’d say, keep adverbs to a minimum everywhere. Try to use the strongest verbs you can – your writing will be more powerful.
Aha, and here’s one I’d like to emphasise because, once you’re aware of it, you see it everywhere. I find myself cautioning against it in feedback after feedback. Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose”.
I learnt this one the hard way. It’s so easy to slip in a “suddenly”. But it’s so much better to show the reader that something is happening “suddenly”. If you simply write, starkly, that something happened, we’ll be aware that it’s sudden. If your characters need to be startled by this sudden occurrence, show them being startled.
And yes, “all hell broke lose” is an example of a particularly egregious cliché. Worse, though. It’s generic. It’s like “Chaos ensued”. What does that even mean? It goes back to what we teach about details.
Details are precious. Use them sparingly, but well. And that means, be specific, be very specific. The more specific you are, the more on point your detail, the fewer you will need. Focus on the particular, and your writing will take a giant leap to a new level.
I can’t resist finishing with his advice to keep your exclamation points under control. “You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose,” he says.
I have nothing to add. All you mentees who laugh when I remove your exclamation marks month after month … I rest my case.
Read Richard’s latest blog: ‘Monday Motivation: Three honks for coronavirus‘
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