Hi. My name is Maggie, and I`m an under writer. Not to say I work in insurance, but that I use my words too sparingly. When most writers get done with a draft, they need to cut much of their words to lower the count. I have to come up with chunks of content, mainly in my descriptions. I must have taken `write tight` to literally.
When I write an article, this is a good thing. I liked short story writing, too, because I could say quite a bit in a few words. Novel length fiction, as much as I love it, is a challenge. One writer`s lovely description of a scene may be my babbling like a brooke to beef up the count.
Books I find helpful are Description by Monica Wood and the Flip Dictionary by Barbara Ann Kipfer. Sometimes I just need to slow down and really look at each word I`ve written. There is often a clearer way to say something without becoming verbose.
Are there any other under writers out there? If so, please send me a few words of advice.
Total over-writer here, except with poetry. I find minimal words there more powerful, but don't translate that (not at first, anyway) into my essays, etc. Brevity with words is a virtue. Choosing the right ones, even more so.
ReplyDeleteI understand where you're coming from.
ReplyDeleteAs a flash fiction junkie, I write sparsely... lean & tight...
Writer In Transit
We've almost made it to the end of the month Maggie. Woo Hoo! :)
ReplyDelete