On Being a Better Writer -

I have the luxury of having advanced degrees in English, Comparative Literature, and writing, in addition to being a professor of writing.  As an author, I read excessively from the greats, both classical and current, to see what is strong writing — and also what is not.  I try to model strong writing in my own authorship and avoid the weaker writing as much as possible.  Since I consider myself a bit of an expert in writing, I think I may have some good points, but if it doesn’t work for you, take it with a grain of salt!  Just one person’s opinion in the end.

When it comes to basic mechanics of writing (by this, the words we choose to put in our text — grammar, structure, word choice, etc) that contribute to our written voice, I have noticed some less-than-stellar writing in many author’s works, both traditional and indie published, but mostly indie. For those looking to migrate to a traditional publisher or present equally to those traditionally published, this information may be helpful.  

Here is my list of what I have noticed in the last several books I have read. Read Stephen King, Diana Gabaldon, John Steinbeck, or John Grisham for examples great writing that employ all of these tips:

1. Obvious/paired adjectives.  Some nouns just don’t need an adjective.  I don’t need to know the structure of every stone in the castle or the exact shade of every article of clothing.  Sometimes a blue work shirt is just a blue work shirt.  Focus on the nouns that are most important to that scene or moment.   Also, the excessive paired adjectives are getting to me. Not every noun needs two adjectives - “the large, dark room.” Pick the focus that is most relevant to the idea you are trying to present. Once or twice on a page is fine, but every single noun?  It contributes to a redundant writing structure, which leads right to my second point:

2. Redundancies in writing - especially with a “power” word.  One element of writing I teach in all my classes is sentence variety and word choice. I just read one book where EVERY SENTENCE, and. I am not exaggerating,  in one paragraph began with “They were.”   EVERY SINGLE SENTENCE.  I would have marked this up in an ENG 100 level paper in a heart beat - perhaps the editor just didn’t catch it?  Then repetitive wording in  general - the wonderful aspect of using a power word is its punch, but if you use it four times on one page, it loses that punch.  “Capricious” or “eccentricity” are great words but lose their impact when they appear repetitively on one page.  There are other words you can use that will still showcase  your written voice.

These two writing ✍️ aspects are ones that we would most likely catch in the revision process, as I tell my writing students.  They are ones that I endeavor to correct in each of my revisions and in the final editing process - in my most recent book, I found I used the horrible verb “felt” way too much (among other words!)  Not only is it redundant but it does not meet the “show don’t tell” aspect of writing. I had a lot of work in the editing process to fix that.

Ok, so that is Professor Dalrymple’s writing tip of the day!  Use it as you will!