by Joe Bunting |
Elmore Leonard said, Never use any word other than “said” for dialogue. Why? Try reading the above out loud. The “he exclaimed” and “he admonished” and “she cried” become like a child saying your name over and over. Distracting.
The word “said,” though, is easily ignored. You want the attention focused on the dialogue, not your clever use of verbs. In many cases, it’s good to change up word choice. You don’t want to use “quintessential” or “luminescence” too many times. “Said” is a major exception. Let us tune it out. Please.
by Joe Bunting |
I closed my eyes, and what I saw made me cringe.
A little kid, maybe ten or eleven, sat against a wall watching some other kids his age doing tricks on their skateboards. He wore short red shorts and roller blades on his feet. When he got up to skate around the black top, the other kids pointed and nudged each other, laughing at him. Their shorts were baggy. He nearly tripped and fell several times. Embarrassed, he sat back down to watch.
I opened my eyes, shuddering.
The little kid was me.
by Joe Bunting |
Can non-fiction writers borrow techniques from poets to set their writing apart?
Last night, I finished Rob Bell’s explosive and polarizing book about heaven and hell, Love Wins. While I don’t want to review or comment on a book that has been reviewed and commented on en extrema, I do want to make some observations as a writer.
by Joe Bunting |
How do you stay focused when you’re writing?
I was in the middle of a ghostwriting project, and I kept hitting a wall. One problem after another and I just couldn’t think a way out. How did I deal with it?
Facebook games, obviously. CityVille. Kingdoms of Camelot. Zynga Poker when things were going really bad.
Unfortunately, my “solution” only seemed to make things worse. I needed to refocus. That’s when I remembered a trick Donald Miller uses…
by Joe Bunting |
So how does it all work?
We’ve discovered hundreds of big insights and little truths in our quest to become great writers. Every day we’re going to dole out a lesson we’ve learned.
We’ll talk about how Hemingway strove to write in the style of the French impressionist Cezanne painted. Or how Malcolm Gladwell plays dumb in order to put himself in the reader’s shoes. Or how mystery writers like Agatha Christie introduce puzzle elements to lead the reader on like Hansel and Gretel. (By the way, have you ever noticed that people who love mystery novels are obsessive about their crossword puzzles?) Or how Annie Dillard describes scenes in terse detail to make you feel like you’re right there with her.
