The article mentions a few with examples. And don't all of you grit your teeth at the same time.
Here are the errors:
- Morning-routine cliché - "rudely awakened", "bleary-eyed" reminds you of anything?
- Answering-the-phone cliché - no need to expand here
- The clutter of detail - oh boy. I believe I once explained the whole process of coffee making in three pages...
- Skip the recitals of ordinary life
- Don't spell it out - explaining too much and more than once
- Pass on the preachiness - but why? Preaching is fun!
- Setting the scene - be visual without too much description - how's that possible? Go find out.
- Coincidences - avoid too many of them.
Categories: writing, process, plot
6 comments:
Eric, you managed to totally confuse me :)
I thought you were the fiercest advocate to drafting/outlines.
Pray tell me the difference between that and "a strong game-plan"
Totally. I maunder on because I'm avoiding the hard work of making the scene move forward. Sometimes a gem emerges from all the muck...which makes editing that much more important.
Got ya now Eric. I was really confused by what you meant as drafting.
That's some process you've got there. If it works, it works!
Oh, Kathleen, I'm so with you there. Like I said, a three (3!) page description of coffee making. Sigh.
When I caught the Writer's Digest article, I immediately emailed it to a client caught up in cliches. I think it's great to extend the notion of a cliche from a word or phrase to whole scenes. The author is so right, that these elements ARE hackneyed and overused. Writing is much richer without them. Readers (usually) have keen imaginations that fill in the blanks without the writer's help needed.
This article was good on so many level, Georganna. I completely agree with your last point. Now if only I could remember it when I write ;)
If you want more great advice like the kind in "Beyond Basic Blunders," be sure to check out the book it was excerpted from: WRITING FOR THE SOUL by Jerry B. Jenkins. (From Writer's Digest Books)
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