There are a few tricks to not appearing
as an amateur writer, and it is the desire of every writer to sound like they
have been writing for many years.
One
of the most mistakes a young writer makes is using -ing words and as. Now
don’t get me wrong. An occasional use of these is not a bad thing, and
sometimes it is necessary. However, most of the time the ing words and as can be
dropped or moved to elsewhere in the sentence. It can be placed in the middle
or at the end of the sentence.
Example:
Pulling the books off the top shelf,
Meg knocked the vase over.
Meg
pulled the books off the top shelf and knocked over the vase.
As
Cassie picked the bag of groceries up, the bottle of juice fell and broke.
Cassie
picked up the bag of groceries. the bottle of juice fell out and broke.
Another
way to avoid appearing like an amateur is to eliminate as many -ly words as possible, even those in
dialogue. Where there is an adverb, there is a weak verb. Drop the adverb and
replace the weak verb with a strong one.
Example:
Angrily
she put the file on the table.
She
slammed the file on the table.
There
are exceptions to this rule. Though not a perfect solution, it does provide
effect.
Example:
Eyes
cold as steel, she lifted gun--slowly, deliberately.
Clichés.
What can I say but no, no way, and forget it. If you use a cliché to describe a
character, you run the risk of making him appear like a cartoon character or,
at the least, unreal.
There
are some other small items you need to consider. Commas, for instance. If
you’ve ever listened to people around you, you will notice they don’t always
talk in sentences. They often string their sentences together. Doing this in
dialogue could make your character sound more real, though it doesn’t have to
be just in dialogue. How do you string sentences together? With a comma instead
of a period.
Example:
“Come
on, I’m in a hurry, we need to leave now.”
Some
small things which make a writer sound amateurish are: emphasis quotes,
exclamation marks, and overuse of italics. Need I say more?
And
my favorite the flowery, poetic figures of speech. Use this method of writing
very sparingly or chance losing your reader (he’s probably dying of laughter).
Metaphors
and any phrase that draws attention to itself rather than what is actually
being said is not sophisticated at all. The more subtle approach can
convey the idea and allow the reader to use his/her imagination, and your
reader does like to do this.
Profanity
is acceptable only if it is appropriate to your character. Otherwise leave it
out.
Writing
is an art, and it takes a lot of hard work to perfect it. However, it is not
impossible to be a sophisticated writer.
Faye M. Tollison
Author of: To Tell the Truth
Upcoming books: The
Bible Murders and Sarah’s Secret
Member of: Sisters In Crime
Writers on the Move
