Coming Home as a Writer

In a comment to Bonnie's post, "Literary Fingerprints," Amy K. Sorrells said, "My current novel has a pretty unique voice, and I find my pen/fingers feel sluggish whenever I'm hesitant about speaking freely through her. It's when I open my heart unabashedly that my character is able to sing." That got me thinking about the difference between character's voice and author's voice in fiction. There are, or should be, as many "voices" in a novel as there are characters. The more distinct we make those voices -- without resorting to cliche -- the better our work is. That's not to say that conveying the voice of every character is an easy task; some will undoubtedly be more difficult than others to "get right." But getting it right is one of the most important jobs an author has. We talked recently about the voices in the best-selling novel The Help, about how you can "hear" each of the three POV characters as you read, and how you can easily distinguish between them. In fact, all the characters have strong, identifiable voices. I love to read novels like that, where the voices are so well executed that you feel a part of the story. That's not always the case, as anyone who reads much fiction can tell you.

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But there's a difference between the voices of the characters we create or read about, and the author's voice. Bonnie cited word choice and sentence structure as things that add to the author's voice, and she's absolutely right. As part of the writer's syntax, they help make an author's voice unique. Added to that are diction, author's personality, education and locale. It's the use/non-use/over-use of adjectives and adverbs, or falling into patterns of passive voice. It's the way punctuation is used; the tight or flowing style in which an author writes; their preference for dialogue/action tags. An author's voice should be as individual and identifiable as his or her physical voice, because one is as unique as the other.

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In Finding Your Author Voice, Michele Dunaway writes, "An author's voice is that mystical, interplanetary thing that you can't buy in Walgreen's or find on the Internet. But every best-selling author has it. So where did they get it? And better yet, where do you find it? Your author's voice is actually already with you. It's found deep inside you..." It's there in everything you write, from the first rough draft to the final spectacular one. It's part of your creative DNA. Even if you try to emulate another author, your own distinctions will inevitably shine through. Wendy Paine Miller, a frequent commentor on this blog, said, "I believe voice happens on the page when you lose yourself to the writing." William Brohaugh, in Write Tight (one of my favorite books on the craft of writing), agrees. He says, "Remember that voice and style should be quiet. They are not established with gimmick. When you strive for voice and style, you don't achieve it. You simply show off" (pg. 149).

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I've experimented with a variety of genres in my years of writing, but it was when I began to write contemporary women's fiction that I found my true and best author's voice. That's the genre where the best I have to offer comes through, where all the elements I mentioned above come together in the best way possible for this writer. It gets to the heart of who I am and what matters most to me. That's important for many reasons, not the least of which is that editors are not just looking for a great and unique story; they also want a great and unique authorial voice -- someone to tell that story in the most engaging way possible.

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I highly recommend that you experiment with different genres as you seek to find who you are as a writer. Write short stories to determine which genre is the "mystical" fit for you, to find where you shine, because not all genres are created equally for each and every author. If you find that you struggle with the work -- above and beyond what every writer experiences -- then maybe you haven't found your genre. Experiment! Experiment with tense and time and topic. If you're like me, you'll know when you've come home as a writer.

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Can you define your author's voice, even if just to yourself? Have you experimented with genres to find if one is a better fit than another? If so, did you learn anything about yourself as a writer?

Distance and Lists in the Editing Process

Teeth and Bones Editing Contest:

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How to enter: Comment on the Novel Matters blog anytime between Monday, September 6th, and Friday September 17th. At the bottom of your comment type TABEC (short for Teeth and Bones Editing Contest). Only comments with these letters at the bottom will be eligible to win (we understand that not all our readers are interested in this level of editing, but would still want to be free to comment and discuss editing - that's the reason we require interested people to please use the TABEC letters at the bottom of their comments). You many enter as many times as you like over the two weeks. Each comment counts as an entry (but don't forget to type TABEC at the bottom of each comment).

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Winner: One winner will be announced on Friday, September 17th at 5:00 PM pacific time.

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The prize: A teeth and bones edit of your first chapter and synopsis by Bonnie Grove. The edit will be on the substantive level (the overall concepts, characters, and themes, etc. of the novel). It will be Bonnie's teeth on the bones of your manuscript.
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The winner will work one on one with Bonnie Grove via e-mail. The winner will consent to having the first paragraph of the work posted on Novel Matters in a before and after comparison. This means the winner will agree to have the first paragraph of your WIP appear on the blog, first as it was originally written, then in its edited form.

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Hemingway once said in an interview that he rewrote the ending to A Farewell to Arms 39 times before he was satisfied. Asked what the problem was, he said, "Getting the words right."

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Editing is all about getting the words right, but it's one of the more difficult aspects of being a writer. Our words mean a lot to us. After all, we put a good deal of thought into our word choices, as well as the meaning that lies behind them. As we write we can carry on our love affair with all those words. But after the writing comes the reality, where we give the most objective look we can to the work itself, free of the emotion that goes into the creation. That's where distance can be our strongest ally. By the time I finished writing Every Good & Perfect Gift I was saturated with the story, and wondered who in their right mind would want to read it. Because, as I wrote the book, instead of starting my writing session close to where I left off, I would read much of what I'd written the day, or week, before, as though I needed a running jump to get back in the story. It was one step forward, five steps back.

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It's unlikely you'll write a novel without looking back to some degree, but the way I was doing it was overkill. Before I could begin the editing process I needed some distance between myself and the manuscript. I had the luxury of time (code for "not under contract"), so I put it aside and went to work on my next project. Later, when I was ready to revise, I started with a fresh eye.

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Sol Stein (Stein on Writing) says, "The biggest difference between a writer and a would-be writer is their attitude toward rewriting. The writer ... looks forward to the opportunity of excising words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters that do not work and to improving those that do." Well, I'd say looks forward to is a stretch, but I do know that editing is a vital part of the process. Jim Scott Bell, in his own inimitable style, says, "Rewriting is what separates the real pros from the wannabes. I don't wannabe a wannabe. I wannabe a pro" (Plot & Structure). And so I pick up my red pen and go to work.

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Let's assume we've completed our substantive edits--so we're not polishing poop, as Bonnie so eloquently said--and now we're onto more specific edits. This is where we cut and/or replace. Following is a partial list of editing points I follow as I revise:

• Cut superfluous words, phrases, sentences--things that get in the way of the story. Use a machete.
• Replace words, phrases, sentences with the right words, phrases, sentences (ala Hemingway).
• No cliches! And there are way more than you think.
• Get rid of italics, even for internal dialogue in many cases. Get. Rid. Of. Them.
• Look for repetitious words and make one of them leave. For good.
• Passive voice should be gotten rid of.
• Any word or phrase I trip over is likely a word or phrase my reader will trip over. And that's a lawsuit waiting to happen.
• Know the rules before you break the rules. Okay, that one's just dumb. But you can look very bad if you break rules by accident. Break rules on purpose and you'll come across like Jodi Picoult. Not that she breaks rules, but wouldn't you like to be compared to her? Well now you can.
• Eliminate adjectives and adverbs that modify nouns and verbs that aren't doing their jobs--the adj's and adv's are merely crutches. Mark Twain said, "If you find an adjective, kill it!" And if they're on crutches it should be a piece of cake. Really, though, I don't want to get in trouble with the law or anything; just wanna write really good books.
• Look for "ing" phrases that I all too often begin sentences with (i.e., following my list, I eliminate "ing" phrases because I don't wannabe a wannabe).
• "Eliminate dialogue tags where possible," she said.
• She tapped her red pen on her chin. "Replace with action tags."
• Get out my list of qualifiers and intensifiers, then Search and Destroy the following (think Hunt for Red October): a bit, a little, absolutely, actually, basically, completely, extremely, just, kind of, mostly, naturally, often, ordinarily, particularly, perfectly, pretty (as an adverb), probably, quite, rather, really, so, some, somehow, somewhat, too, totally, truly, usually, very (not an exhaustive list--it just feels like it).
• When you come across an exclamation point, whack off the top. Make the writing strong enough to stand on the remaining dot.
• Find and replace "have got" in any form. No exceptions!
• Redline the redundant. The list in the Appendix of Write Tight is absolutely essential to this.

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These are some of the things I look for when I revise. (And I've had some fun sharing them with you.) They're not hard and fast rules, but guidelines. For example, I don't automatically, in every situation, delete an exclamation point as I'm editing, but I do stop to see if it's there because of weak writing. Same with some of the words in my qualifiers and intensifiers list. They may have a purpose, may help define a character for example. But again, when I come across one of those words in a search, I evaluate its purpose for being there. What editing points can you add to the list? Which points of mine would you eliminate?

Micro-editing

There are only 15 days left to submit your chapter and synopsis to our Audience-with-an-Agent Contest. Lori Benton was just offered a contract for representation from Wendy Lawton as a result of our first contest. Don't miss out!

Patricia W. is the winner of Blue Hole Back Home from Monday's drawing. Patricia, please use our contact button to supply your snail mail address. Congratulations!

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Before a manuscript becomes a book it will, or should, go through a series of edits, some by the author and some by a publisher's in-house editor. On Monday, Patti talked about macro-editing the first draft of her WIP. That's where you look at the manuscript as a whole for continuity, loose ends, POV or tense problems, etc. I love her octopus-in-a-jar analogy, and I'm super impressed with her color-coded outline. Arguably anal? Not if it works, Patti. Ideally, it helps to take a break between completing a manuscript and starting the read-through for the macro edit. It gives you a fresh look at the story. I know FIRM deadlines like Patti mentioned can make it difficult to let the manuscript sit for a while, but when possible put it aside for a couple of weeks before starting the read-through.

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Another type of edit is the micro edit, where you look at the manuscript line by line to make sure every word is the right word, that the meaning comes through loud and clear. This is the time to replace passive verbs with active, and ferret out superfluous words, phrases, sentences, even paragraphs. William Brohaugh in his excellent book Write Tight (which I recommend), says, "The goal is to deliver 60,000 words with 60,000 words of value ... Whatever the length, you must deliver value." In other words, every word must count. Go through the manuscript and delete as many adjectives and adverbs as you reasonably can. Leave in only the ones that add something unique or surprising, or that are absolutely necessary. Often, adjectives or adverbs are crutches used to make up for a weak noun or verb. When you find the right noun or verb the modifier can usually be cut. And when you come across a noun modified by two or more adjectives, in most cases you should select only the strongest and eliminate the others. When I finish a manuscript I do a search from a list of words I've compiled that I tend to use and overuse: really, very, quite, some, just --it's a growing list -- and send them packing.

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Adjectives and adverbs aren't the only culprits in our writing. Redundant words and phrases make for flabby prose. Consider the phrases absolutely certain or follows behind. When you're certain about something, there's no room for doubt, so absolutely is redundant. And when you follow someone, you don't do it from the front, so behind is another wasted word. Little things like that clutter what might otherwise be a good manuscript. This may seem trivial or nitpicky, but consider this: The typical proposal consists of a summary, a synopsis, author bio, promotion ideas and three sample chapters. But the editor or agent who picks up your manuscript may not get through three paragraphs if the writing isn't crisp and above par.

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Long passages of narrative can be a problem as well. I'm not saying there shouldn't be passages of narrative. I have a favorite author whose fiction is 80% narrative. But the narrative needs to serve a purpose beyond describing the landscape or weather, unless the landscape or weather contributes to the plot. Use just enough to establish the setting of a scene, then get on with it. As author Elmore Leonard said, "... leave out the parts that people skip." I know, that's easier said than done, but take note of the expendable passages in the books you read for pleasure, the passages you're tempted to skim, then try to leave those out of your own writing.

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In chapter 2 of Write Tight, "Sixteen Types of Wordiness and How to Trim Them," Brohaugh says this about "weed words ... the stuff that grows so hardily in your manuscripts. Trouble is, like some weeds, these parasitic undergrowths can deceive you. They're pretty, and they don't look like weeds. Wordweeds, prunable leaves and branches ... fall into these general categories:

1. The redundant
2. The already understood
3. The empty
4. The evasive
5. The passive
6. The weak, the noncommital and the hesitant
7. The affected
8. The circuitous
9. The self-indulgent
10. The overkill
11. The inflated and the deflated
12. The invisible and therefore unnecessary
13. The imprecise
14. The clever and the show-offy
15. The nonsensical
16. The beautiful

Whew! Seems like a lot to eliminate. What's left, you wonder? A stronger, tighter manuscript that rises above the slush pile. I know, I used two adjectives, and sometimes that's alright. But tell me, what one word would you use to replace the two I used to get the exact meaning across? Do you have your own list of words you search and destroy in your manuscript?

Paper Doll People

Multi-layering, or depth, in writing is as important as depth in painting. One-dimensional art is color-book drawing compared to the painting of, say, Rembrandt or Gauguin. In literature, the comparison may not be as stark on the surface, but the experience is just as flat.

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Patti's comment to Bonnie's post on Monday gives us a great visual of what I mean. "Subtext is the difference between looking across a glinting lake, and swimming through the bottom weeds, letting them slide across your body." What a great analogy. But how do you add that kind of depth to your writing? How do you make it three-dimensional so that your readers want to dive in? Subtext, about which Bonnie so capably educated us on Monday, is one very important way. Conflict and unique plot--or a unique method of conveying the plot--are equally important. I'm about to begin life on the refrigerator door by Alice Kuipers, a story which consists entirely of notes between a mother and daughter, posted on their refrigerator. Unique? Absolutely. I can't wait to, well, dive in.

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To me, one of the most important elements to three-dimensional writing is characterization, to follow Debbie's lead from Wednesday's post. This is true even in plot-driven stories. As Lajos Egri says in his book The Art of Creative Writing, "living, vibrating human beings are still the secret and magic formula of great and enduring writing." Does this mean we must never write about ordinary people? Certainly not. Lori Benton, in her comment Wednesday, made the point, "the characters that have touched me most deeply and stayed with me the longest...were ordinary folk placed into extraordinary circumstances, called upon to find the mettle...to journey through those circumstances."

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Exactly.

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In fact, "ordinary people in extraordinary situations" is the hearbeat of good fiction. Nothing else allows us to dive into a character's world as deeply as relatability. That doesn't mean I only want to read about characters like myself; but it does mean the character that will hold me in their story world has to have flaws, fears and failures...because I do. They must be misunderstood, and have goals and desires they're willing to stake everything on. They can be young or old, male or female, human or hobbit--but what they must be is real.

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Nothing kills a character or a story more completely than cliche. "Cliches are like fast food hamburgers. No matter what city you eat them in...the burgers taste the same." So says William Brohaugh in Write Tight. He's absolutely correct. And cliches are more than overused phrases. They're overused plots, overused character traits, overused anything; the complete opposite of fresh and inviting. The heroine isn't always beautiful. The bad guy doesn't always wear black. The protagonist's life isn't--cannot be--smooth sailing if I'm to care about them. Don't give me paper doll people, don't give me perfection, please. Give me someone to yell at, to cry with, to learn from, even to abhor, or I'll be a stone skipping over the surface of your book on my way to deeper water.

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Who's the most unlikely character you've related to lately? Why? What have you learned from that?