Critical Steps to Strong Writing

When I was in college many years ago, I had a professor who wasn’t shy about handing out valuable bits of advice. One day he stood before the class, and said, “Don’t ever love what you’ve written so much that you can’t throw it away.” He didn’t say this to scare us; instead, his goal was to get us on the right path to becoming strong writers.

As we continue our studies as writers, I will go into depth on the process of revision. But in the mean time, let me say this: we need to pay attention to each word we have written, each clause, and each sentence.  We need to ask ourselves if each is important and adds meaning to what we are attempting to do in our writing.  I believe this is what the professor meant by advising us to not be afraid to throw away what we have written.  If what we write doesn’t work, then it's time to start over, but I suggest that you keep the same story line. Just rework the words and the sentences. Keep in mind that every word, every clause, every sentence must contribute to the story. If they don’t, get rid of them.

This is all part of the learning-to-write process.

Another measure we must take in order to strengthen our writing is to gather works by the greats and absorb ourselves in them. Works by Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Chopin, and O’Connor are perfect for what we need to do. We can begin by studying how characters act and react with other characters; do they come to life on the page? This is important because if they don’t, the reader will get bored with them. They will be dull and unbelievable. What type of conflict do the characters face? How is the setting described? What mannerism of speech does the character use?

Pattern of speech or the way people speak is easy to pick up. All we have to do is eavesdrop (I can just see my readers covering their mouths with their hands and saying, “Ohhhhhh.” It’s all right. No one will know. By the way, use whatever you overhear in your stories.) By eavesdropping and listening to the way people talk, you will begin to pick up the natural way of speech. And the dialogue you use in your work will not sound forced or fake.

Pay attention to the words people use. Pay particular attention to the tone. Is the speech angry, happy, excited, or does the person speak in a monologue? Listen and don’t stop listening because this is one way to create believable characters.

As youngsters, as we sat on our beds listening to our dad or mom reading to us, we listened to each word. We looked at the pictures or, as each word entered our brain, we envisioned whatever was being brought to us through the written word. Now, as adults, this is what we are after. We want to create settings that readers can see; we want to create characters our readers believe in.

So as you look back at what you have written, make sure each word, clause, and sentence is strong and essential to your story. If not, get rid of the weak ones. And read to see how the greats have created strong stories through the use of meaningful words, essential clauses, and beautiful sentences.

Happy Writing.