Website design By BotEap.comI am nearing the end of my latest novel and, as always during this stage, I have begun to think seriously about the editing process. When I started, I would edit each piece of work as I went along. This was very time consuming and frustrating. My creative side was pushing to keep going, while the editor in me wanted to fix each paragraph until it was right. By the time that happened, my muse had gone to sleep, convinced that I never got to the next paragraph. And trust me, waking her up again was always a bitch.

Website design By BotEap.comAfter finishing my second novel, I learned to ignore that need to make everything perfect and learned to move on with the story. Getting the main story out of my head and onto paper (or in my case, onto a computer screen) was paramount—I knew I could always go back and fix things later. This helped me generate more exciting work (as my own emotion was running high while writing it) and kept the creative spirit strong. It also cut my first draft time in half. I can’t imagine going back and doing it any other way now.

Website design By BotEap.comBut once the first draft is done, it’s time to examine it with a critical eye and clean up the mess. Over the years, I have written a series of notes to myself that cover this stage, reminders to watch out for this or that, so that each manuscript is as good as it can be. Some of these suggestions come from writers much more experienced than I am, suggestions drawn from great books like David Morrel’s LESSONS LEARNED FROM A LIFETIME OF WRITING and Stephen King’s ON WRITING. Earlier this week I was reading one of those pieces, Elmore Leonard’s Ten Rules of Writing, and thought I’d share his suggestions, along with my own success or failure in these areas, with you as this month’s essay.

Website design By BotEap.comElmore Leonard’s Ten Rules of Writing

Website design By BotEap.com1. Never open a book with time. I’ve never done this, which means it’s so good so far.

Website design By BotEap.com2. Avoid prologues. Okay, so I knew my success rate couldn’t last. I just didn’t think they would get me off the island so quickly. My HERETIC novel begins with a prologue. Leonard goes on to say that “they can be annoying.” I can certainly understand where it’s coming from and I almost removed the prologue in HERETIC for that reason alone. In the end, I decided to leave it because I wanted to include background information in the story before the reader meets the main characters. I managed to resist the temptation while writing the sequel, A SCREAM OF ANGELS.

Website design By BotEap.com3. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry the dialogue. I fully agree with this statement and do my best to avoid the temptation to do otherwise. I think this is one of the most common mistakes new writers fall into and it can certainly take the reader out of the text. I recently went through an entire training session with a customer writer dealing with this issue. I still fall victim to it from time to time, but it will be one of the main bugs that I will revisit the current work in progress for once it enters the editing stage.

Website design By BotEap.com4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said”… Frankly, I suck at this. I’m getting better, but this one has plagued me for years and is something I have to remind myself of regularly.

Website design By BotEap.com5. Keep your exclamation points in check. While I often use them in email (no, I have no idea why!) I don’t struggle with this one too much in my fiction.

Website design By BotEap.com6. Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.” I think I’m guilty of both, especially the first. I’ve been more aware of “suddenly” in my more recent work, but I know my first novel was plagued with it. “All hell broke loose” is too cliché for anyone to use, even us horror types.

Website design By BotEap.com7. Use the regional dialect, patois, sparingly. I don’t have an ear for languages, so I don’t give in to this temptation. If you are going to use a dialect, I have always believed that it should be used for the first line or two of dialogue to establish the fact that there is a difference in speech patterns, but after that the dialogue should be clearly written. the reader does not struggle trying to figure out what is being said.

Website design By BotEap.com8. Avoid detailed character descriptions. Once again, I wholeheartedly agree with this rule. I think the problem is defining exactly what “verbose” means. How much is too much? I’m not sure I have a written answer for that. I know when I’m uncomfortable with the description, but I’m not sure I can explain where the edge of the cliff actually is.

Website design By BotEap.com9. Don’t go into great detail describing places and things. The reader’s imagination can fill in much more detail than the writer needs, and it behooves all of us to remember this. Of course, see #8 above for the particular issues this raises.

Website design By BotEap.com10. Try to skip the part that readers tend to skip. The first time I read this I laughed out loud. It’s such a true statement. I know I do, flipping through certain sections when the writer has lost me (usually in the midst of an overdose of detail), but it’s hard to pinpoint when and where sections should be cut. This is just one of the reasons why I appreciate my editor so much.

Website design By BotEap.comSo there you have it. Ten writing rules that we can all benefit from reviewing regularly.