IWSG: Writing rules
It's the first Wednesday of the month, and time for another IWSG post, with a discussion of writing rules.
Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG
This month's optional question - Since it's back to school time, let's talk English class. What's a writing rule you learned in school that messed you up as a writer?
Okay, this one has me laughing a bit, because I really don't remember any writing rules from school, which was a long time ago. I don't recall learning much about writing fiction, though I did a fair bit of it. It was also a period when they weren't big on formal grammar instruction, so I probably suffer more from what I was not taught. Lucky for me I'm a good mimic, so learned good grammar and structure from reading tons.
What did mess me up, and took a long time to unlearn, was a decade or two of learning to write academic prose. You know, the stuff that is complex and convoluted and loves big words and jargon and all that stuff that's horrid in fiction. Frankly, I think it's horrid in academic writing, too. Precision, yes. Complexity at times to deal with complex ideas. But as I worked my way through a PhD in English lit, I think I learned a prose style that no one wants to read. So that's how school messed me up as a writer! How about you?
Writer's report
Submissions:
1 rejection
2 stories still out
Writing:
- The novel is being proof-read, and the cover is finally coming along--hoping for a cover reveal in the next maybe 2 weeks--let me know if you'd like to participate.
- I had an objective to draft an all-new short story for submission, and that is nearly done.
- I've gone through my unfinished/unsubmitted shorts and selected several that I think are worth finishing and/or polishing to get out there on the market. I've also nearly decided to do a new collection of stories in JJ's world of the Pismawallops PTA.
- I'm working on plotting a new book in the Seffi Wardwell series, as well as psyching myself up to start edits on #3, which I drafted 9 months ago. I actually have scenarios for two more novels.
Life:
Logged 15 trail nights in August. Life doesn't get much better than that. Am also working on a plan with my daughter to get her into her own place, with compatible roommates, a bittersweet but necessary development.
I'm going to finish with a shameless plug. Not for myself, but for my daughter. She is the author of the increasingly popular and meticulously researched and written Admiral Cloudberg air-crash blog. If you have an interest in aviation history and safety, take a look--and consider supporting her work with a Patreon donation, because this stuff is not only her passion, but her source of income. One reader, who reviewed the blog on Slate.com, credits Admiral Cloudberg (Kyra Dempsey) with helping her get over a fear of flying--not what you might expect from articles on crashes, but there's a reason for that! Available on Medium (link above) or on Reddit.
(Yes, Mom has a vested interest in keeping up Kyra's income!)
©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2024 As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated.
Kyra's site is very cool! I will have to check it out some more. And I too feel that 1) I don't remember what they taught me in school and 2) I don't think any of it was very useful.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking a look! And I am sure I learned many useful things in school, but it was such a long time ago...
DeleteI hear you! I've writing fiction since I could construe a sentence but the business of writing for law offices was bread and butter for 24 years. Now fiction supplements my retirement income.
ReplyDeleteLegal prose has to be the only thing worse than academic prose!
DeleteAll I remember from English class was "use big words" and "use adjectives". Yeah, overusing a thesaurus turns readers off, and Stephen King famously said that the road to hell is paved adjectives. Or was that adverbs? LOL.
ReplyDeleteRonel visiting for IWSG day Adventures in Audio: Recording and Publishing a Podcast
You had awful teachers! No one ever who knows anything about kids or
DeleteWriting will urge kids to use big words in writing.
Love those trail miles. Nothing better than a hike in a forest.
ReplyDeleteAnd I do understand how academic prose can muck up a good story. I'm still prone to using "So as you can see..." or "In addition..." No! No! No!
Good luck with those 2 stories you still have out.
Oh, yeah. I have to delete lots of that sort of stuff, even after all these years (I think it's been about 30 since I finished the PhD and 25 since I worked in academia at all).
DeleteBeautiful photo.
ReplyDeleteI have written non-fiction and it can be done without being stuffy and boring.
Thanks! Non-fiction, yes. But in academia I swear they give extra points for using too many words.
DeleteI don't recall many lessons on writing from school either given it was a good 20 years ago.
ReplyDeleteIf it were only 20 years, maybe I'd remember something :D
DeleteOo, I remember getting "bonus points" for big words!
ReplyDeleteSuch a foolish thing. Didn't they ever read Anne of Green Gables? She had to learn to leave the big words and write well :)
DeleteAcademic writing is such a different beast from fiction writing - distant cousins at best.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. Some seem able to turn it on and off, but I had to separate myself from the one to do the other well.
DeleteI share a similar formal writing background. In my case, it was technical writing.
ReplyDeleteAt least the point of technical writing is (or should be) to communicate. I've been pretty sure at times that the point of lit crit, anyway, is to obfuscate everything so you sound smart.
DeleteEnglish rules keep changing. Now descriptive prose is generally frowned on. Do what makes your voice zing!
ReplyDeleteThanks--I needed to hear that today.
DeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. I think I did a lot of creative writing outside of school when I was in HS but outside of that, I've had to do a lot of technical writing since. Glad you hear your cover is almost ready to reveal (it may be out by by now). I too am finishing up some old shorts. It's good to hear you have so many ideas to work on. I love that you are so supportive of your daughter's work.
ReplyDelete