I've been told about 'show not tell' but I was wondering what other ways people think work when trying to improve their work. I have a piece uploaded entitled 'Angel in the Snow' that I wrote at 16 and know it needs improvement but am at a dead end in which techniques would work well for the piece. What techniques do you use and does this go for any genre or specific ones?
I leave whatever I write for a few days and then go back and re-read it with a fresh pair of eyes and I'm often shocked at how lax I've been with descriptions, metaphors, and at how much I waffle on. I then brutally edit and it reads so much better. :o)
Read it again and again. You would find loose points everytime!! :)
Hello Victoria.
Have you tried reading your work aloud. have you listened for the rhythm and the music in it? If you feel you need to change it, why not try from a different POV or tense. Try writing in the present tense, that really brings things alive. You might even try writing in the first or second person... that can be a revelation.
Show, don't tell is also a good rule to follow. This reduces the amount of narrative and then if you tighten up the work by rearranging some of the sentences to make them shorter but snappier, you'll find it can help too. Get rid of adjectives unless they are very important and don't use very (like I just did) if you can help it. 'That' is another word you can often do without. Try it. It is possible to cross out most of them without changing the sense at all.
Dialogue will move your story along more quickly and with more interest too if you can bring your characters alive with dialogue.
Just a few suggestions.
Good luck with it,
Rosa.