Welcome to the mini writing workshop! This is a weekly post that provides simple tips and examples to support fiction writers on their journey.
This workshop session is about writing tics that can be jarring or annoying to the reader. I chose the title because, as you will see, I have a personal pet peeve. It's not to be taken too seriously. I hope you'll find it both educational and amusing! Let's roll.
Topic of the day: Must your character do that?
Writing tics are very common. A "tic" is something that we do without really thinking about it. As an example, think of a speaker who says "um" or "you know" in between statements. That's a tic. It's subconscious, typically. And it's neither intentional or useful. To those listening (or reading, in the case of the written word), it can be annoying.
Not all writing habits are tics. And not all are annoying. Some serve to diminish the power of the writing, or impact the readability. These are all things to think about as you revise and enhance your writing.
Writing tics and habits to avoid
Here are some common not-so-desirable writing habits and tics to watch for in your work:
Using adverbs for description of characters and their actions. This actually deserves its own post, and I'll write that one in an upcoming writing workshop. But here's a brief example of how adverbs can weaken writing:
Example with adverb: Brenda was strikingly red-headed.
Example without adverb: Brenda had striking red hair and eyes the color of shamrocks.
Note how the second example uses meaningful description instead of relying on a word that really doesn't mean anything specific.
Using dialog tags. Dialog tags can detract from your writing and pull the reader out of the story. (See this related post: "Mini writing workshop: Who said that?") Compare the following two examples. Notice that in the second one we know who is speaking, so it's not important to add the dialog tag "he said."
Example with dialog tag: "I don't like this kind of cake," Jared said.
Example without dialog tag: Jared sat down at the table with his birthday party guests. He stared at the plate in front of him. "I don't like this kind of cake."
Starting a story with someone waking up. This is a no-no, and in fact I've taken a screenshot of a Google search so you can see the top suggested search results for "Never start a story with someone..." because that is one of them.
The reason is that it's not particularly interesting, and it is a hallmark of the work of a new writer. Don't be that guy. Or gal.
That said, there are always exceptions to rules, especially if you do it with purpose. I found something to share with you from a post on The Writing Cooperative blog, titled appropriately, "Don't Start with a Character Waking Up!"
"However, if you start your story with a character waking up next to a severed head of a horse (poor horse!), or at the edge of a cliff, or while a huge anaconda is trying to eat them, or while the Orcs are taking them to Isengard, it’s a perfectly fine start."
A few character pet peeves to avoid
And finally, here's the reason for this post: annoying, distracting and boring stuff to not have your character do. Most of these are common sense, but in my many years of rubbing elbows with writers in workshops and a masters in writing program, I have seen these more often than I can count.
Making small talk. A bit of this is okay. It can help to give color to a character. Do they mention that they like their steak medium rare? Or they only use Downy fabric softener? Or they have an itch on the bottom of their foot? Fine. A little dab will do ya. You can eliminate most stuff that doesn't move the plot forward.
Doing mundane or disgusting things in the bathroom. No. Just no. Thank you.
And my personal pet peeve: Pursing their lips. I know, there are bigger fish to fry when it comes to fixing writing tics, but each time I see this one I just find it a little cringe-worthy. Why? A few reasons:
It's over-used. It's a phrase that appears in the writing of many new and seasoned writers' work. "She pursed her lips." "He pursed his lips." Ugh.
It's non-specific and doesn't really mean anything. If you write "she pursed her lips," what exactly should the reader "see"? Does the character clasp her lips together the way a woman clasps a handbag? Does she open them like she would open a purse? Throw them over her shoulder? For illustration purposes, I give you pictures of purses. Should we have one of these in mind?
I hope that made you smile! The point is really to think about meanings, and use words that describe what the reader should see in vivid detail.
That's it for this week's mini writing workshop. Note that the source for all images, with the exception of the Google search image, are creative commons images from Pixabay.
