editing
I tell my students to liberate a certain part of their mind that, because they are good, humble people they may have likely suppressed, and that's the part that wants to be known, that wants to be famous or rich or whatever. I say that part is not entirely separate from the part of you that wants to be a great writer. Which is not separate from the... See more
Jane Ratcliffe • Craft Advice from George Saunders
George Saunders on the revision process: “The way I revise is: I read my own text and imagine a little meter in my head, with “P” on one side (“Positive”) and “N” on the other (“Negative”)... This involves making thousands of what I’ve come to think of as “micro-decisions.” These are instantaneous, intuitive – I just prefer this to that... I just
... See moreAvoid vagueness in descriptors and exposition by using specific, concrete language. If the vision is vague to us, it will be vague to our readers. A storyteller may say that her protagonist “experienced an unpleasant feeling.”
Jared C. Wilson • The Storied Life
of being specific. It is vital to be concrete, to come up with memorable images.
Trish Hall • Writing to Persuade: How to Bring People Over to Your Side
In the case of my novel, The Bright Forever , I wanted to propel the reader and myself along a trail of mystery, so I opened by having a character say this, "I'm not saying I didn't do it. I don't know." Hmm...what's the it , and why wouldn't he know whether he was the responsible party? And if he didn't do it, who might have? All these questions... See more
Lee Martin
From George Saunders, on nuance and embracing complexity:
... See morethe writer doesn't have to have a fixed firm idea, but has to be able to take the reader on a journey to remind her that the world is complicated. From the very beginning, I understood writing to be about some kind of moral or ethical imperative. Absent that, I'm not that interested in it,