Saturday, March 9, 2013

Making writing that isn't wordy

As a bit of a condolence to the few poor, miserable souls who actually visit this place (assuming that number is above zero, which is not a safe assumption), I've been sort of sitting on the next parts of my story for some time now.  The main worry I have is that, well, they're too wordy.  There's a lot of personality bits, exposition, and dialogue in the story at this point.  I'm trying to figure out what exactly I should do to reduce the level of dialogue... show, rather than tell.

So... I have two options.  I'm deciding whether or not to post what I have and ask for feedback, or just go and try to re-write it entirely.  If anyone visits this place, feel free to leave your opinion on the topic.

3 comments:

  1. Hey flamingkillamajig here. I visit this place sometimes and not to be a jerk but the writing i'm just not into. I prefer your blogs about different things. Hopefully something that isn't angry or about women not being treated as equals to men. I mean i understand you make very good points. You really do. It's just that whenever something is filled with anger the likelihood of somebody giving a shit drops to zero or at least i think it does. This is one reason i can't stand the political radio people filled with so much rage.

    So how about for an example you talk about what games you're playing now or something. You always seem to be doing more than me so surely you have more to talk about. I mean i know you've taken science classes or something. Certainly something you're doing or an interest would get some feedback. Figure something out. I can't think of everything for you. It wouldn't help you help yourself.

    Hopefully that helped a bit.

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  2. probably a bit late but I just this blog and I'll definitely be paying attention to it. I thinks in terms of wordiness, it can be okay depending on if people enjoy reading the lengthy descriptions. If they want to learn about a character and this is the best way, do it and it will fit well. if not, maybe leave it out for introduction later on. Dialogue can be tricky as well as too short can just as confusing as too long. I'm saying all this from personal experience, not from any rules or guidelines. I do some scifi writing and lengthy wordy descriptions are a major part as hard scifi is based off detailed technical descriptions. I will, hoefully soon, read through the rest of the blog. I hope this helps a bit, though from just reading when it was posted, it may be a bit too late.

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  3. >I'm deciding whether or not to post what I have and ask for feedback, or just go and try to re-write it entirely.

    Post it. Lack of positive feedback is what killing writers and you won't have any without showing your work. Also try finding yourself an editor or a proofreader, it helps a lot.

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