Tip #6:I used to be the writer with the flowery words, the writer like L. M. Montgomery and Eloise Jarvis McGraw. I was a firm believer in adjectives and their impending power to bring to light the many details of things I thought important in my books. I was the master at listing adjectives behind nouns; I would go on for paragraphs and paragraphs, using redundant words like "brilliant" and "excellent" in the same sentence. Looking back, I find it humorous, but at the time I was dead serious. L. M. Montgomery and Eloise Jarvis McGraw were my role models. They still are in a way.
But today while editing I learned something that I had learned before, just never consciously realized.
Conciseness is the key.
"Well, duh," you might think. "Everyone says that." But really think about it. Really, really think about it. Why write, "He took a deep breath in" when you can write "He inhaled deeply"? It means the same thing, and it obviously reads better, right? I thought so, too.
See, conciseness packs a powerful punch. When you are concise and specific, you can move mountains with your writing. Instead of using to-be verbs, use specific, powerful verbs to really show the readers what you want to say. Use "glance" instead of "look", and that right there ups your writing by ten percent. Use "morbid" instead of "dark", and you get ten whole brownie points (and those are redeemable at any Anastasia Cross hug store).
Now, instead of writing lists of adjectives, and try to find one or two specific words that sum up the characteristics of whatever I'm describing. And if I want to dig deeper, I look for one or two specific traits and describe those. My writing has become much less boring and much more intense.
Now, I pass the torch of awesomeness to you, reader. Carry it well.
~Anastasia Cross
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