I am on such a high at the moment! When I checked my emails this morning I found an amazing critique of Vokhtah, by someone who commented on one of my posts.
Now there are critiques that make you want to sing, and then there are critiques that make you want to drown yourself in the fishpond. This one has me singing opera! I’m amazed that a stranger would take the time to give me such a gift. I’m also thrilled that he liked Vokhtah enough to help me make the next book better.
One of the things he pointed out to me was that I have a cosy relationship with the word ‘simply’. I do try to keep adverbs to a minimum, and I’ve weaned myself of ‘really’, but ‘simply’ simply slipped under my radar. -grin- See how easy it is to do?
So today I’ve resolved to quit using ‘simply’. If I sneak one into a post, please point it out to me in comments! And if I substitute another empty word in its place, please point that out to me as well.
Writing well is not a destination, it’s a process, and involves unlearning bad habits as much as learning new, better ones. I really want to become the best writer I am capable of being because second best is only cheating on myself. Of course today, the process feels effortless. Tomorrow, or the day after, it may be harder as the withdrawal symptoms set it.
Do you have any bad habits? I’m talking about writing of course. 😉 Please share, and please give me a prod if/when I fall off the wagon.
-hugs-
Meeks
Authors' favourite books
NANO 2012
January 31st, 2013 at 5:25 am
You got me thinking…i dont know what word i overuse… :p
im pretty sure there are some…
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January 31st, 2013 at 11:17 pm
lol – trust me! You’ll find them. They’re sneaky and stay just out of sight and then they pounce!
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January 30th, 2013 at 11:20 pm
So glad to hear you received such a nice and unexpected comment about Vokhtah, it is well-deserved! I really enjoyed reading it too 🙂
My worst habit is to write my blog posts like everyone already knows what I am talking about. Just because I know what I am on about doesn’t mean everyone else does!
I always have to go back and add in the explaining bit after I have finished waffling on 😀
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January 31st, 2013 at 11:06 pm
lol – However you do it, the finished post always reads well. I tend to start in the middle and then have to make sure there’s a beginning to match!
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January 30th, 2013 at 2:52 pm
I think that some writing habits, even if considered bad by normal standards, are not necessarily bad. Angela Thirkell, for example, has been criticized for her long sentences. Of course, long sentences are against the rules, but AT’s books would lose their special flavor if she followed the rules and shortened the sentences. Dickens, had he been writing today, would have been told to cut three quarters of his descriptions. I would not give up a single one of his atmospheric, beautiful word images. And so it goes. Sometimes, rules must be broken.
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January 30th, 2013 at 4:13 pm
I agree! But I’d prefer to knowingly break the rules than to oops them. 😀 This is the kind of constructive criticism that uplifts me.
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January 30th, 2013 at 2:48 pm
I will simply and gently remind you. We are constantly learning and striving to be better.
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January 30th, 2013 at 4:14 pm
-giggles- Nice one Kathryn!
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January 30th, 2013 at 2:11 pm
We all have writing “habits.” It’s very hard to notice them in your own work. Sometimes, picking up a story I wrote a few years ago is an eye-opening experience. THATS when I see my version of your “simply.”
Of course, if you sweat too much about it and continually question your own word choices, you never finish anything.
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January 30th, 2013 at 4:17 pm
That’s very true. I’m sure I’ll slip up a lot in first drafts, but that’s what they’re meant to be – raw. By the time I get to the nth edit I hope to be able to pare things down to the bone of what I’m trying to say instead of waffling around it. Waffling is another habit of mine. Why use one word when you can use ten? 😉
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January 30th, 2013 at 1:41 pm
I simply love your resolve. Couldn’t resist!
I enjoyed the line, “Writing well is not a destination; it’s a process.”
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January 30th, 2013 at 4:19 pm
-grin- You simply must restrain yourself young man. :p I think we’ve started a meme here!
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January 31st, 2013 at 1:03 am
“Young man?” I better enjoy that title while it lasts.
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January 31st, 2013 at 3:16 pm
lol – All things are relative. Besides, at my age anyone under 50 /is/ young. 😀
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January 30th, 2013 at 12:21 pm
It is a strange but also exciting thing to receive an email from a stranger about your book, isn’t it? And it sounds like you simply have the perfect attitude about it; you simply do. 😉
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January 30th, 2013 at 4:20 pm
ROFL – oh this is so funny, and so very unintentional – at least on my part. You are simply the best!
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January 30th, 2013 at 10:07 pm
And you are simply the best to say so.
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January 30th, 2013 at 10:35 pm
-giggles- and to think I started this with simply the most innocent of intentions. 😉
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January 30th, 2013 at 12:14 pm
I overuse ‘just.’ I will just have to stop …
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January 30th, 2013 at 12:21 pm
Oh, yeah, me too, just and yeah. Gaaahhh! I probably will have more bad habits the more comment you get here.
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January 30th, 2013 at 4:22 pm
-hugs- it’s all in good fun and you must admit, this is a pleasant way of having something drummed into our heads! The ‘S’ word will never be the same again. 😉
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January 30th, 2013 at 4:25 pm
Me too, me too! I’m not sure why those little words sneak in there. I guess it’s for emphasis or colour or something but they ‘just’ aren’t needed. 🙂
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January 30th, 2013 at 12:09 pm
I have a thing for seriously. Adverbs in general, but especially seriously.
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January 30th, 2013 at 4:27 pm
Confession time. ‘Gradually’ and ‘finally’ were two of my bugbears. I managed to tame them but then ‘just’ and ‘simply’ crept in when I wasn’t looking. They’re infiltrators!
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