I think the real answer is, fall in love with the nuance of language and how it works in the reader's mind.

I often mention the book, Make Your Words Work, by the late Gary Provost -- amazon link, because it is the book which most helped me fall in love with how words on the paper transform into images in people's minds.

Don't view the editing process so much as a work to do, but more as a research project where you are attempting to answer the question:

"How do I write this more clearly so that an FTR (First Time Reader)
will see it the same way as I do?"

Don't you love reading a book which does something to you so that at some point you are no longer reading, but watching the story play out on the Movie-Screen of Your Mind?

I believe great fiction writing like that occurs because of what Jack Bickham talks about in his book, Scene & Structure -- amazon.com, related to stimulus / response.

He provides an example which shows the flow something like the following:

Incorrect

Joe threw the ball to Tom.

Tom said, "Hey, have you ever eaten oysters for breakfast?"

That is incorrect, because in the reader's mind the ball hangs in the air.

Correct

Joe threw the ball to Tom.
Tom caught the ball and said, "Hey have you ever eaten escargo for
breakfast?"

It's a very subtle thing, but if you really apply this to your writing where one sentence stimulates another you get great transitions which make your reading flow really well.

All of this adds up to concentrating on one sentence at a time as you do your edits and you'll get a lot more done than if you concentrate on the overwhelming large number of pages. Good luck.

John Grisham: The Partner

Here is an example of great writing that definitely came from an author who thought about all these things. No matter what you think of Grisham and his novels I believe if you read one sentence you will want to read more so it is a great example of this stimulus / response and using the exact right language.

They found him in Ponta Pora, a pleasant little town in Brazil, on the
border of Paraguay, in a land still known as the Frontier.

They found him living in a shaded brick house on Rua Tiradentes, a
wide avenue with trees down the center and barefoot boys dribbling
soccer balls along the hot pavement.

They found him alone, as best they could tell, though a maid came and
went at odd hours during the eight days they hid and watched.

You can read more of the excerpt at :
John Grisham - The Partner (amazon link)

---

(0)

Login to post a comment!