Paul Gitsham
  • Welcome!
  • News
  • Books
  • Blogs
    • Writing Tips
    • Recommended
  • Newsletter

Writing Tips Blog

#TuesdayTip
Newsletter
Picture
Breaking News!
DCI Warren Jones 9, Web Of Lies, Out Now!
​Click Here To Visit My Writing Page (opens in a new window).
​Free Download!
Papering Over The Cracks - A DCI Warren Jones short story
(Includes a sneak preview of Web Of Lies)
Picture

TuesdayTips117

13/9/2022

0 Comments

 

Block Buster
Ideas To Thwart Writer's Block

Picture

Tell Me More!

Last week's activity (Tip#116) involved taking a piece of writing and trimming it to make it more pacey.
Today's activity is the exact opposite. The object of this exercise is to enrich a piece of writing with increased description. However, there can be danger here. Too much description and you run the risk of being accused of padding the text to increase the word count. It can also frustrate readers and ruin your pacing, not to mention look amateurish.


Again, choose a starter image.
I've recommended the use of a random picture generator before.
https://writingexercises.co.uk/random-image-generator.php is a good one, or you can just use Google Images.


Write a paragraph to describe what you see.
Then take that paragraph and double its length. How will you do this? Use more colourful descriptions? Add additional metaphors? Or will you add in another aspect of the picture that isn't included in the original description?
Once you've done this, then go back with a fresh eye and see if you can trim the piece - this is vital, to avoid your final prose becoming flabby and embarrassingly florid. The aim is not to simply delete what you've just added (that would be a pointless activity), rather to cut the fat and make it more pacey.
How much of the new text will you keep? Will you ditch some of the original paragraph?
Can you tighten sentences by using more efficient language? Are there tautologies (sentences that are written in a redundant fashion - eg he ran faster, covering the distance more rapidly - well obviously, that is literally the definition and purpose of running faster!)? What about punctuation? Commas and semicolons can eliminate the need for joining words. See if you can decrease the length to between 50% and 75% - that's a tall order, so don't worry if you don't quite manage it.


Ideally, you are looking for a balance between tightly written prose and rich description.


Do you have any suggestions on ways to increase the descriptive power of a piece without sacrificing pacing?
As always, feel free to comment her or on social media.
Best wishes,
Paul
0 Comments

TuesdayTips116

6/9/2022

0 Comments

 

Block Buster
Ideas To Thwart Writer's Block

Picture

Setting The Pace

Today's writing activity/block busting activity involves increasing the pace of a scene.
One of the easiest ways to make a scene more punchy and pacey is to simply reduce the word count. This takes practise, and if you really want to trim the fat,  it usually takes several passes.
There is a (perhaps apocryphal) story that Ernest Hemingway entered a competition in a newspaper to tell a story in six words or fewer.
His winning entry was thus:
For sale: baby shoes,  never worn.
Whatever the truth regarding the tale's origins, it demonstrates how a story can still punch you in the gut without any unnecessary words.

A nice way to develop this skill is to rewrite the same scene repeatedly, with progressively fewer words.
I've recommended the use of a random picture generator before.
https://writingexercises.co.uk/random-image-generator.php is a good one, or you can just use Google Images.


First select an appropriate image. It could be a place, object or person. See what grabs your attention.
Using the image as a prompt, describe what is happening in the scene; include feelsing and emotions, if there are people. Pay attention to sights, sounds and smells. A couple of paragraphs is enough.

When you are happy with what you have written, take that scene and trim it down to fewer than 100 words. What are you going to cut out? What are you going to keep?

Now take it and cut it to fifty words. By now you have to make some hard choices. Decide what absolutely has to stay. Do you need to rewrite sentences to lose words? Can you get rid of 'invisible' words like 'and' and 'the'? Can you use punctuation, such as commas or semicolons to tighten the prose?

Can you trim it to thirty words and retain the essence of the original?

Of course, the word counts suggested here are only guidelines, and if your initial description is significantly shorter or longer than 100 words, adjust the subsequent targets accordingly. The main thing is that by the time you've gone through it three or four times, your original piece is a half or a third of its original length.
If you want to practise this some more, Google 'Flash Fiction'. These are challenges to write a story with a very strict word count. They are great exercises.

Next week, we will do the opposite of this activity. Stay tuned!
Do you have any tips for increasing the pace of a piece of writing?
Feel free to share here or on social media.
Until next time,
Paul
0 Comments
    To increase the range of topics on this blog, I am inviting Guest Bloggers to share their writing tips.
    If you are an author and would like to be featured, please email me. 

    Author

    Paul Gitsham is the writer of the DCI Warren Jones series.

    I don't claim to be an expert, but after more than 10 books, I think I've picked up a few things along the way.

    All material copyright Paul Gitsham (c) 2020-23.

    Please feel free to share, but you must include a link back to this site and credit Paul Gitsham.

    RSS Feed

    Useful Topics
    • Reviews of Writing Books​
    • ​Writing Exercises/ Writers' Block Tips​
    • ​Interviews
    ​

    Categories

    All
    Author Interview
    Backstory
    Block Buster
    Book Review
    Character Voice
    #ConversationsWithTheirCreations
    CSI
    DCI Jones
    DCI Warren Jones
    DNA Evidence
    Editing Hacks
    Fantasy
    Forensics
    GB Williams
    Geraldine Steel
    Guest Blog
    Historical Fiction
    #JackReacher
    Jason Monaghan
    Jonathan Wilkins
    Kate Bendelow
    Kill Your Darlings
    #LeeChild
    Leigh Russell
    Mobile Phones
    Modern Technology
    MS Word
    Musings
    Police Procedure
    Poppy
    #RecommendedRead
    Research
    Scrivener
    Social Media
    Stephen King
    Stuart Field
    #TuesdayTips
    UK Policing
    Web Of Lies
    WhatsInAName
    Writer's Block
    Writing Craft
    Writing Tips


    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020

    Disclosure: I am a member of both the Amazon and Bookshop.org affiliates programs, meaning that I get a small commission everytime a book is purchased using links from my site.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Welcome!
  • News
  • Books
  • Blogs
    • Writing Tips
    • Recommended
  • Newsletter