So I've been submitting for around 6 months and continueing writing the next installment in 'Of Bloody Reflections...'. I've had one revision already and some positive feedback, but no one ha bitten yet.
Of late I have been taking a good, hard critical look at my writing. And I fear the earliest is simply not good enough- I know I have developed a great deal since it was written, my style is sleeker, my story telling deepening. So I had a look at my notes and at my ms...
And cut the beging right off. 37k of it.
It hurts, I'm uncertain if this is the right thing to do. My beta's weren't very keen having read the whole book and seeing how the narrative grows, how the patterns emerge and circle, the character development.
And I agree. It's not that the writing is terrible, or doesn't add to the world & plot ect.It's just that I think it can be better. The market is still incredibly tough at the moment and the way the book stands, well.
They say the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect different results. Or am I just an unsatisfied perfectionist?
As anyone else been in this situation? To burn or not to burn.
http://www.timclarepoet.co.uk/?p=1344
http://torbooks.co.uk/2014/01/29/lesson-one-burn-brian-staveley-creative/
Joanna, I'll do my best to explain Show don't Tell.
Most bits of information are better shown than told. This can be done in various ways.
1) A dramatic scene is Show don’t Tell. How you define your characters by their actions. What did your characters see, hear, smell, taste or feel.
2) Dialogue is Show don’t Tell. How your characters speak. How they say things about each other. An effective trick is to have your character reveal what you want your reader told by talking to another character about it. This can also serve to advance the plot or add to the tension. But it’s essential the dialogue sounds natural.
3) Streams-of-thought is Show don’t Tell. How your character’s streams of thought let people know their inner world; perhaps reveal things that would not be revealed in any other way.
4) Descriptions of the weather or landscapes. This can be Show and Tell. But it’s better to describe the landscape and weather through a characters sensory perception or snappy prose. You don’t want your prose to sound like a travel brochure.
a) Example of Tell. ‘It was a dark and stormy night in the village. The wind blasted the cottages. The villagers feared for their crops.’
b) Example of Show. ‘Lightning exploded fracturing the darkness surrounding the village. Thatched roofs shook and shutters rattled in the howling wind. The slanting deluge turned the hot earth into an oozing quagmire. Between the booms of thunder, wind and rain lashed at the fields of ripe corn flattening the lifeblood of the village.’
c) Example B could also be Show through the sensory perceptions of a character.
I hope that helps.
Good luck.
in the Arvon book, Creative Writing the advice says to give yourself a tick every time you come across something in your work that you really really like. You have to genuinely think its good. After re-drafting do the same again and you should have more ticks. This is to boost your confidence. Don't throw anything away........ You are a good writer.
Can anyone advise me, please. I keep reading about "show not tell". Can someone give me a good example of this. For some reason my mind goes blank every time I think about it then I don't know what to write!!!
I agree, it is probably a case of needing a heavy edit rather than a complete burning!