Tuesday's Writer's Tip - Selective Process

Once again I'm looking at an essay by Morris L. West. He has this to say about the selective process. "If you try to show and tell everything, your reader will die of boredom before the end of the first page."

How very true this is. I'm revising a story written 40 plus years ago. What surprises me is that it was almost published. I'm sure the editing would have been extensive. It is today. More than 125,000 words will probably end up as no more than 80,000 words. The real problem was in the they did this and they did that without taking any breaks to show the later moments. A lot of the words are cut because once on a roll, I wanted to tell everything the characters did, said, felt and that drill. Very few moments were left unsaid. Important happenings were buried in a storm of words.

How can this be changed? Picking out what's important and focusing on this. The reader doesn't need to know about every meal, every going to bed, every awakening. Is this a beginner's mistake? Partially but it can happen to old hands, especially when they're trying to find what they want to say and show about each character. It's a matter of importance and the writer must decide this. Making time breaks is one way to get out of the problem of being unselective. Rather than take a minute to minute look at the character cut out all those details that add nothing to the story.  Try, he yawned. then a *** space break. Then try. The office or wherever the character goes next. 

Be selective and the reader will read on. Throw in every action, thought and deed and the reader will yawn.

Tuesday's Inspiration ala Morris L. West

I find it interesting ro read these old essays by many writers I've read in the past. Often what they say relates to where we are as writers today. Sometimes reading them brings me to think of my own writing or about advide to those who are just beginning their careers. This quote is from an essay by Morris L. West and I remember reading most of his books many years ago. I may glean several quotes from this essay. Here's the first.

"Writing is like making love. You have to practice to be good at it." What a wonderful quote. Few people sell the first book they've ever written. Most of us have this stuffed in a drawer never to be seen by anyone. I was fortunate to sell my first novel, but not the first versionof it. The manuscript was returned and revised many times. And I learned from this. I also took time out from my writing career to return to nursing to help put 4 children through college. When I returned to writing, though I remembered many of the things I'd learned earlier I began slowly at first and did much re-writing. What I was doing was practicing so I could be good at putting the words on paper.

What about you? Did you write and re-write many times? Did you expect the first story from your computer to sell and make a million dollars or did you practice your craft, mastering each element until suddenly, you became good at what you wanted to do? Not perfect though. I look bacl on stories I wrote years ago and I can see where they need work. But they were the best I could do at the time. Sometimes they were purchased. Sometimes they were read, garnered nice reviews and sometimes were nominated for awards. They would never have reached this statis if I hadn't practiced and practiced over and over.

Tuesday's Inspiration

Back to reading small essays by writers either famous now or in the past and finding little gems that inspire me. Morris L. West was a writer I remember reading. One thing from his essay that struck me spoke of "the writer's selective process." How right he was with this one. I know that sometimes when rough drafting a story I start writing every event of a character's day. When I go back to look at this scene I often laugh. Why? Because I'm rather bored. Then I stare at what I see and suddenly one of the incidents I've noted is the one that causes a change in the story. Often this is something that gives me a Why or a How. Those pages are torn up and only the moment of a change remains

This moment of change is the one for me because often there are other moments that would produce a change in a different direction. What I've learned from this is one must look at their characters' lives and decide where they are going. Keeping the goal in mind allows you to move the story along. Side trips can be fun but they can also muddy the fictional story a bit.

How do you choose your selective moments? Is there a process you use or do you wait until an incident jumps out and hits you in the eye? Many writers do this by instinct others have to search.