Writing tips

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Getting rid of filter words

Image is from: http://inkslingereditorialservices.com/category/mechanics-of-writing/get-out-of-the-way/

Image is from: http://inkslingereditorialservices.com/category/mechanics-of-writing/get-out-of-the-way/

‘Show. Don’t tell.’ Every writer has heard this mantra. I hadn’t, though, heard of filter words till recently. Filter words are verbs that take the reader one step away from experiencing life as your POV character. Leah Wohl-Pollack of Invisible Ink Editing gives this list:

  • to see
  • to hear
  • to think
  • to touch
  • to wonder
  • to realize
  • to watch
  • to look
  • to seem
  • to feel (or feel like)
  • can/could/couldn’t
  • to decide
  • to know
  • to sound like
  • to notice
  • to be able to
  • to note
  • to experience
  • to remember

I’ve been through my draft evaluating each filter word as I find it. Here’s one passage before the changes:

She felt torn between railing at him for his arrogance and blurting out how uncomfortable she was with the constant prickly awareness he induced in her. Silence seemed safe. She said nothing as he coaxed the horses onto the bridge, then turned to pass the mill.

This became:

Should she rail at him for his arrogance? Blurt out how uncomfortable he made her? She was constantly aware of him; every nerve ending on edge and a strange hollow warmth in the pit of her stomach. Silence seemed safer. She kept her eyes turned away from on his strong hands as he coaxed the horses onto the bridge, then turned to pass the mill.

It’s a great tip. For more, just google ‘filter words’.

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Why do I need a beta reader?

betasThe third draft of Farewell to Kindness will be finished this weekend; probably later today. Some wonderful people have volunteered to read it for me, and I’ve been fishing around for clues on what I should say when I brief them. I found a fabulous resource by Belinda Polland at Small Blue Dog Publishing. It explains what a beta reader is, and why we need one. It then goes on to link to more articles about how to find beta readers and how to brief them. Great stuff. Here’s Belinda’s list of reasons:

The fact is, we spend so much time on our own manuscripts that we can’t see them objectively — no matter how diligently we self-edit. These can be some of the outcomes (there are plenty more):

  • We create anticipation or an expectation early in the book, but forget to deliver on it.
  • We describe events in a way that is clear to us but not clear to a reader who can’t see the pictures in our head. (At least, we hope they can’t see them. Are you looking inside my head??? Eek!)
  • We leave out vital steps in an explanation and don’t realise it, because we know what we mean.
  • The characters in our books (whether fictional, or real as in a memoir or non-fiction anecdote) are not convincing, because we know them so well we don’t realise we haven’t developed them thoroughly on paper.
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Write with style

vonnegut1A grateful curtsey (in place of an anachronistic tip of the hat, or H/T) to the person who tweeted a link to the Brain Pickings article about Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 keys to power of the written word.

Here’s his list. Click on the link to find out what Vonnegut has to say about each one.

  1. Find a subject you care about
  2. Do not ramble, though
  3. Keep it simple
  4. Have the guts to cut
  5. Sound like yourself
  6. Say what you mean to say
  7. Pity the readers
  8. For really detailed advice…

 

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A brief glossary for novice novelists

stepbackHere are a few of the words I’ve had to look up since I started taking my novel writing seriously. Most of them are not romance-genre specific. All of them were new to me.

Beta reader: I’ve been seeking beta readers for Farewell to Kindness, and one of the people I asked said ‘what’s that?’ A beta reader is kindly soul who agrees to read your 3rd, 4th, or 5th draft (the one you think is just about finished) and give you a reader’s honest opinion. A beta reader is not doing a proofread or a copy edit. They’re reacting to the story as a reader would.

Category or series titles: A short romance novel (55,000 words) published within a clearly delineated line with a distinct identity, which may involve similar settings, characters, time periods, levels of sensuality, or types of conflict. Publishers of these lines include Harlequin/Mills & Boon.

Indie publisher: Indie is short for independent – a person who decides to go it alone and self-publish.

Novel: A work of 40,000 words or more

Novella: A work of between 17,500 and 40,000 words

Novelette: A work of between 7,500 and 17,500 words

Pantster: Writers are apparently either planners or pantsters. Planners plot everything in advance. Pantsters write by the seat of their pants, finding out what’s happening as they go along. I do extensive planning in advance, and go into the book with a clear idea about the characters and what is going to happen. Then the story takes over and I shoot off in a completely different direction. I rewrite my plans constantly as I go, each day finishing the day’s work by writing the story line for the next day. Then my characters surprise me again the next day and I have to do it over. Am I a planner or a pantster?

Planner: see pantster

POD: Print on Demand – using digital printing techniques to print copies of a book one at a time, as they are ordered. While not as economical per copy as traditional printing for large print runs, POD makes it possible to provide small numbers of books and save on warehousing space and print overruns.

POV: Point of view – the perspective from which the story is written. In my novel, I’ve used third-person limited, where I’m inside the head of a particular character during a scene, but cannot write about anything that character doesn’t know or sense.

Series: A group of books with connecting themes, characters, or both.

Series titles: see Category or series

Short Story: A work under 7,500 words

Single-title: A romance novel that is not published as part of a category line. They are typically longer than category novels (100,000 to 120,000 words), which means the writer has room to develop subplots and secondary characters.

Step-back: the picture on the inside of the cover – a tradition in romance novels that is making a comeback. The two together are called two-image covers.

If you have more, please add them in the comments. My lunch hour is over, and I’m back to work.

The Slang for Writers I found is more about writing and plot development terms, so not relevant to this post. Good to read, though. Consider it a bonus.

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Random thoughts about writing from Christina Dodd

Today, I’m editing. I want to be through this first continuity edit before tomorrow morning, when I have the day off from work and plan to do the think and plan part of the rewrite, restructure phase.

So for today’s post, I’m taking the easy route and also offering you a treat. Here, if you haven’t come across them by another route, are Christina Dodd’s thoughts about writing.

And here are some covers of Christina’s books, chosen at random and made into an image quilt for your viewing pleasure.

ImageQuilt 2014-02-11 at 12.45.15 PM