For the A-Z challenge, I am posting writing and editing tips to help you improve and enhance your writing.
B is for Boring, boring, boring….
Your job as a writer is to entertain, inform and engage your reader. If this isn’t your goal, then you may be in the wrong job. You don’t want to bore your reader or they’ll simply close your book and go and find another one on Amazon (there are millions to choose from after all). So how do you avoid sending your reader to sleep?
- Increase the pace. You can do this by using a variety of sentence and paragraph lengths. Short sentences will add drama, suspense and pace, moving your reader forward with your character.
- Get rid of passive voice. Passive voice can be too wordy and can put a distance between your reader and your words.
- Include drama, conflict and events. You’re writing fiction. Things need to happen. Your characters need to have experiences and develop, change and be affected by what is happening.
- Ditch the clichés. Clichés are boring, lazy and add nothing to your writing. If your work is riddled with clichés you are showing no respect at all to the readers who will invest time and money in your book. Give them something fresh, something new.
- Be honest with yourself. Do you need all that description? All those lovely adverbs and adjectives? All those clever, clever metaphors? Who are they for?
- Read, read, read. And when you’re reading make a note of what bores you as well as what excites you. Learn from other writers – from their mistakes as well as their successes.
How do you keep your writing exciting? Share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below.
Great advice, I don’t enjoy reading lots of every day sayings peppered through out a book, they date it and I lose interest.
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Thanks Rosie – and I agree, it’s too easy to let cliches slip into writing and they are very off-putting.
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Such creative and amazing – always great surprises!
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Thank you 🙂
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Great advice! I agree absolutely. I’d hate to think I’m boring my readers.
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I’m sure you don’t!
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Good advice. Long pages of description can slow the story way down.
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Thanks Elizabeth. Completely agree – takes you right out of the story.
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Is hyperbole okay? Just checking 😉 *runs off to hide from the red pen*
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Ha – I’m a terrible one for hyperbole 🙂 Love that word though (I’m such a nerd)
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Great advice! I have such a hard time keeping away from cliches, but you know, such is life. 😉
Found you through A-Z – I’m writing about writing too. 🙂
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Thank you – I’ll stop by your blog 🙂
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Thanks!
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Agreed on passive voice. I know a lot of people who overuse it in academic writing and it makes everything WAY more confusing. Occasional passive voice is fine, but active is preferred.
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I agree, especially for fiction. And if you do use passive voice, it has to be done really skilfully – not something I’d feel confident about!
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This is such a B for brilliant blog. ! have spent far too long here reading…. Nice to meet another editor–oh wait, am I allowed to say nice? 🙂 I’ll be recommending your posts to more than a few authors I know. lol And thanks for the tweet–greatly appreciated.
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Thank you so much – that’s really kind of you. And it’s nice to meet you too!
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Good information – as usual!
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Thank you 🙂
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I was on a deadline yesterday, so marked this to read as i think Alison is a brilliant editor, who really gets to grips with fundamental issues we writers ignore/misunderstanding/are ignorant of! Oh dear, that was a boring response …meant to say brilliant, insightful blog!
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Thanks so much Adrienne – a lovely comment to wake up to 🙂 and certainly not boring!
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More great stuff, keep it coming!
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Thank you!
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Reblogged this on Musings by Melanie V. Logan.
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Thanks for the reblog 🙂
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I use humour and drama.Not too many endless details. More action. Suspense. Don’t tell them everything up front.
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I agree – you need to trust your readers to put things together.
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