Let me begin with a thank you to Ashley for inviting me to do a guest post on her web site, my new home away from home.
Or, should I have said, “Ashley, thanks for letting me blog on your web site”?
Oops! The second one does not express what I wanted to say. Nor does it convey the image I’d like my character (me) to be seen as. Is that part of being readable? To me it is. The first one makes me appreciative. It says that I realize this is Ashley’s web site and she is honoring me by allowing me to do a guest post. In the second ,I come across entitled. “Ashley I’m gonna do a blog on your web site and make you famous!”
Is that what you read into that?
Sorry! As usual, I’ve gotten ahead of myself.
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As an author or writer, you will learn that there are an amazing number of things out there to help you become a better writer. Ashley’s web site and blog(s) are no exception. Her website and blog postings will provide you with some wonderful ideas and examples of how to make your book or short story better and get it reviewed.
In an effort to look like I know what I’m doing as an author, I’ve read a lot of what’s out there and honestly, almost everything I’ve read has helped me. Much of it has also caused me to go back and rewrite portions of my stories. But, when all is said and done, I’ve found one thing that, I believe, has made my books more readable.
Once you’ve finished your book, and I mean finished, finished it, set it aside for a day, a week or a month. Whatever amount of time it takes to clear all those ideas about it out of your mind.
Then, pick it up and reread it with only one purpose in mind: How does it read?
I want you to try and forget that you wrote it (yeah, like that’s going to happen) as best you can. Put yourself in the reader’s shoes. Forget grammar; forget punctuation; forget sentence structure. Forget everything you learned about writing and just read it! Why? Because that’s what your readers are going to do.
Put another way: Stop being an author and become a reader!
Okay, so how does it flow? Does what’s being said read well? Does it sound real or contrived? Do you know whose speaking or do you just think you do? Do you care whose speaking or is it important to know? Can you form a picture of where they are? What they look like?
I know some of this is unfair because you wrote it! Of course you know what they look like and where they’re located! But does that come across to the reader? Keep yourself in the reader’s shoes!
Are the words arranged right? Is what you’re reading what you meant to say? Changing a few words around or using a different word(s) can often give what you wrote a whole new or slightly different meaning. Is that what the average person would say? Is that how they would say it? Would they ever say that?
So, what do you do when you get to a part that’s not working, one that confuses the you in your position as a reader? A part you stumble over, where the words don’t flow right? Where you had to read it twice and still aren’t sure what it said. Where reading it leaves you with a whole new meaning from the one you wanted?
The answer is simple, rewrite it! But rewrite it from the reader’s point of view. You already tried the author’s point of view and that didn’t work. I don’t care if it’s right or not. If it reads well, it’s good! Seriously; if it flows well and sounds natural it’s going to work!
Oh, and don’t forget about spacing!
Did you find yourself holding your breath on page 40 because you jammed twenty paragraphs together? Did you get to the fourth phrase in a conversation and have no idea who was talking to who? Or, did you use enough he said/she said that you never want to see a he said/she said ever, ever again, as long as you live?
Spacing is a good way to help you make things flow. Start a new paragraph each time you change subjects, speakers or thoughts. Add ellipsis (…) wherever and whenever it helps you convey the speaker pausing, or if you want the reader to pause or just take a breath. Don’t be afraid to space things out! Use the reader’s eyes to help you do what you want them to do.
But… my book will be too long, you say. Uh, do you really think 20 or even 50 extra pages are going to turn off a reader? Most likely not. But if they can’t figure out who’s talking or lose their place every time they glance away, that surely will.
My point to all this is that when all is said and done, no matter how correct your writing is, if a reader has to struggle with it, it’s going to be a failure.
One last point is all the pieces have to fit. You can do an outstanding job describing your characters to make them believable, lovable, horrible, scary or whatever but when they open their mouth, what flows out better fit the image you built
I know I’m kind of rambling but that’s because there are so many elements to writing and they all have to fit; especially in the reader’s mind! Not yours but theirs! And that should be what your final, final pass should be all about. Are you as the reader happy with it?