avoidance de jour

Oh exposition. (Nope, you don't get a “Dear.”) You’re the guaranteed blah of stories, but it’s not completely your fault. Sometimes we writers load up our first few drafts with you. This is fine, because this is how we get to know our stories and see where they're headed. Yes, we USE you. And then we must cut you; I’m sorry. Actually I’m not sorry. Whenever I read you my brain goes a little fuzzy. If you had a face, I'd punch it. Sincerely; etc.

Exposition – which is explained background information – is boring. See; I just explained what exposition was. Wasn't that boring? Readers want to be entertained, not bored, so treat explanations and background information like . . . salt. (Also, treat clichés – like this salt one that is happening right now – like salt.) Sprinkle them throughout the story, otherwise “info-dumps” can happen, and those are NEVER fun. Especially in the beginning, when readers should be pulled in. And a heap of blah doesn't make for a great hook.

If you still find yourself going super exposition-y in later drafts, have a character SAY what you’re trying to explain instead. Twist an explanation into something more entertaining. Cut the explanation in half and see if it still makes sense. Give it personality. Save half of it for a later point in the story; intrigue is good. Succinctness is good. Exposition is not so good.

*Tip: Don’t make anyone read your very first draft. Just don’t. I’m pretty sure I owe my sister a kidney for making her read the Monstrosity of Terrible Writing that was my first draft (and, okay, the second one too). DON’T OWE ANYONE A KIDNEY. Or just give your first draft readers drinks and chocolate truffles and Chipotle and apologies. Whatever.

"no one SAYS that, okay?"

Much writing is happening lately, so since I've got nothing WIP-related to go on about, I shall share writing tips. Just think of me as a (mediocre) Writerly Professor Person. . . Or not.

When we start writing, our dialogue can come out overly stiff or unrealistic. Along with: awkward, sappy, cheesy, cliche, cringe-worthy, terrible. . . If your character would really say "gonna" or "would've" or "settin'," LET THEM. Many people conjunct and speak informally in real life. I promise. Pay attention to the differences of the voices in your head (. . . yeah, I went there) so your characters don't all sound the same. Good dialogue stands out!

Here's an example from my OWN first draft of LAYLA AND THE HALF BLOOD HARPIES that I can ninja-kick apart. *flips through first draft* OH, THE EXPOSITION. (Tip: avoid exposition in anything you want people to read EVER.) Anyway. Snippet:

"Um, it's fine. Sort of."

He smiles a fraction at my lack of conviction. "Sort of, huh?" He thinks for a second. "Not a day goes by where I miss that."

I raise my eyebrows, and jealousy colors my voice. "Lucky you."

One: don't explain WHY characters are doing what they're doing.
Two: what the characters say and do should eliminate the NEED for any explaining.

Possible fix:

"It's . . . fine."

"You sound so convinced." His lips twist. "Can't say I miss any of that."

My eyes narrow. "You suck."

(Okay. That's still not awesome. My first draft is un-salvageable, I'm thinking.)

*Tip: Next time you're out, LISTEN to the conversations around you. No brainer, right? Yeah. Except it took me until a month into a creative writing class to do that actively.

*Always Tip: Read. A lot. You'll find out for yourself what's "good" and what makes you wanna smack yourself in the brain-region.

And First Draft will find it's way back into the dark, spidery file cabinet for now. Back to writing!

wishful thinking

YOU (imaginary) GUYS. All of my characters for LAYLA: FAST TIMES AT MOUNT MYTHICAL have their own plot arcs. Not that they didn't before, but now the information's written down and shiny and magic marker-y. Right now I'm as happy as this girl with the balloons. (Well, I can't exactly see her face, and therefore can't see The Happy—but she's frolicking in a field with BALLOONS. That means she's happy, right? RIGHT.)


I CAN ALMOST SEE THE END OF MY STORY. I will also now proceed to knock on every item I pass that is wood. And do my homework so I don't have to worry about it while I'm trying to finish LAYLA AND THE HALF BLOOD HARPIES. Or that's a lie, because I hate homework.


*Current draft* word count of WIP:

30110 | 65000

the importance of being edited

Lately I've been baffled by under-edited books. Sometimes stories really do need another edit; it's Truth. I’ve read fully published books that feel more like first drafts—and unless you're a writing profesh, there's a pretty good chance your first draft sucks. And probably your second. Maybe even your third.

Embarrassing example: In my main writing focus (which was my first EVER), my MC didn't develop a palpable personality until the fourth or fifth draft. (They were all partials, but DANG.) She had her hints of wit and pinches of personality, but mostly it was just me trying to put a book together by writing out some kind of immense manifesto. But that's also how I got to know my characters and whittle them out. Like tiny wooden bear figurines, obvs.

It's important to get that massive over-detailing out of your system, if only so you learn how NOT to write, and so the words you've already written can be inspiration in later—better—drafts; that's the point where page-long descriptions and the vast majority of adjectives should get cut down (and hopefully characters develop personalities). Oh. And it's really okay for characters to purely "say" things. They don't always have to "agree" or say "angrily" or "carefully" . . . or is all of that just from MY past drafts? It's totally possibly. Make sure it doesn't happen to your final drafts by EDITING! And then EDITING some more!

Last thing (which I'm sort of stealing from my creative writing class): Dialogue’s an awesome way to show readers what the story's trying to say. It avoids over-explanation—and the readers going, "Oh my Calliope, muse of epic poetry; I GET it."

Happy writing! Please don't punch me (if you actually read this)!

*ALSO! It's mine and Harpy Layla's one-year anniversary. I hear a margarita being blended tonight!