3 Ways to Avoid the Waffle in Writing

What I mean by the waffle is not a Belgium dessert, but prose that meanders along unrelated tangents that fail to add anything to the story. As writers we want to avoid the waffle. Like the dessert, it can add unwanted fat to the story and weigh down the pace and tension. Never give your readers a reason to put down your book.

Below are some tips we can use to help us stay on track:

Slash and burn. One major question to ask often is, does this scene, character, paragraph, sentence add anything to the story? We grow attached to moments of writerly genius. We hold onto our little treasures and often fail to see they can take the shine from the story if their only purpose is to dazzle. Anything that doesn’t add to the story, reveal something relevant about a character, or push the plot forward, has to go.

Find clarity. Another important question to ask is, what am I trying to communicate? Often we wander around our stories or scenes because we aren’t entirely sure of what we want to say. We may not be sure of our characters, we may have too many characters, we may not have a clear idea of where we want the plot to go.

Get a second opinion. Or a third and fourth. Often we get too close to our manuscripts and we lose the ability to discern the weak areas. Find someone you trust, preferably someone with some knowledge of story structure, and get their opinion. Ask them if there are parts that slow down the story. Ask them if they feel there are any unnecessary scenes.

Can you think of other ways of avoiding the waffle? What do you do to keep your stories tight?


Pic: A huge thanks to Dezmond for the use of the picture of these Rum Bombs. Neither of us had waffle pics but I thought this one was brilliant. His cakes are truly amazing. Check them out on his Facebook album: Dezz in the Kitchen. He will also soon open Dezmond Dish Delish culinary site. Sounds exciting!

Ways to go from Plod to Plot

Many stories fail before they begin. They lack that special something that engages the reader. The story may be self-indulgent. It may lack focus and plod along without any clear direction. These things will cause the reader to put down a book and never pick it up again. Below are some tips on how to keep your readers from boredom and frustration:

Story:

• Have a beginning, middle and end. They don’t necessarily have to be in that order.
• Make sure you grab your readers on the first page of your novel, on the first paragraph, on the first line.
• Take out any scene that doesn’t add anything to the story
• If you are bored writing a scene, then the reader will be doubly bored reading it. Remove it or change it.
• make sure there is something new and interesting about your plot otherwise the reader will feel like they have read it all before.

Characters:

• Create believable, relatable characters.
• Don’t use names that are long and difficult to remember or pronounce.
• Characters need conflict but often it’s how they react to conflict that makes them interesting.
• Take out any character that doesn’t add anything to the story. If two characters perform the same function in your story then remove one.
• Weak and whiney characters will make a reader put down your book.
• Readers want to see growth and change in the characters.

Description:

• Weave in description rather than dropping in a solid block of it. Many readers skip descriptions anyway.
• There’s no need to describe every detail in a room or every action a character takes. Readers have a vivid imagination so our descriptions should only be enough to pique their imaginations.

Pace and Rhythm:

• Times have changed and continue to change. The majority of the population prefer a faster paced book than they did 20 years ago.
• Rhythm is the music of your novel. It’s the subtle magic that keeps the reader’s eye dancing across the page. Match rhythm to pace and even a slow scene won’t become a plod.

What do you do when your stories begin to plod? Can you think of any other tips?

NaNoWriMo: To Plan or Not to Plan?

November is NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

This is the first year I’ll be taking part, although I have a friend who’s participated every year since 2005. If you’d like to be my writing buddy, I’m signed in as LynFaw. Just click here.

Earlier in the year I had decided to wing it and see where the words would take me, but working on my current WIP reminded me of the downfalls of this method. Writing can slow down when we don’t know where we want to go next. At one point I hit a wall that took two weeks to budge. If I want to finish a new novel for NaNo, then I can’t afford this kind of set back.

In the past I’ve tended to plot a little ahead as I go, but I’ve never tried a full outline before. I’ve always turned my nose up at this method and proclaimed it wasn’t for me. I expected it would dull my creativity. In truth I’ve discovered the opposite.

I’m more willing to try different plot tangents for the story because it’s less work to write a quick outline. I can see whether or not it works and throw it out if it doesn’t. When November hits and it’s time to write the novel, the outline won’t stifle my creativity, but instead give me freedom to concentrate on how I tell the story.

How much do you plan a new novel before you begin to write the words? How open are you to try new methods of writing?

Freedom of the First Draft

Trying to write the perfect first draft is a beginner’s mistake. Why spend hours on a piece of writing you could eventually toss? The trick to writing a successful first draft is to write it fast.

There’s no need to concern yourself about perfection. You can throw in as many adverbs as you want. You don’t have to worry about sentence construction. You don’t even have to worry about spelling. And, because of this, there is no place here for self doubt, guilt, or fear.

Just write.

The faster you write your first draft, the more chance you’ll keep ahead of that niggling voice that says you’re not good enough. You’ll be able to hold onto all the threads of your plot. You’ll be able to plunge into your story with abandon. You’ll have the freedom to explore different possibilities; they don’t all have to work because it doesn’t matter.

Things begin to unravel when we slow down, when we deal with the details at a microscopic level, when we continually question whether or not we are heading in the right direction.

The more you write, the better you will become. So keep writing and don’t give up. Give it everything you have. Give it your passion. Give it your heart. Give it your soul.

And then edit.

Do you agree? Do you have any tricks you use to stop yourself from self-editing during your first draft?

The Cliché Plot Monster

Have you ever started to write a story only to realise it’s a copy of another?

I’ve done this on multiple occasions. It’s the curse of the cliché monster. We read a story and we file what we like about it in our minds. Years, or months, or even days later it re-emerges in our own stories. It’s not something we do on a conscious level. But it is something to watch out for.

It’s crucial to make the story your own. Create a twist from the original, veer off in a completely different direction. Don’t settle with what you have, but strive to make something new.

The cliché monster lurks in all of us. It likes to live not only within the phrases we use, but also in the plots we pursue. If we want our writing to be greater than mass produced pulp written to a formula, then we must study our plots as carefully as we study our words. We must seek the crispiness of a freshly tossed salad of events in our stories and surprise our readers with excellence.

Are you also plagued by the cliché plot monster? How do you keep it fresh?