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Yelling on Paper

H. L. Mencken referred to a writer as an individual “in whom the normal vanity of all men is so vastly exaggerated that he finds it a sheer impossibility to hold it in. His overpowering impulse is to gyrate before his fellow men, flapping his wings and emitting defiant yells. This being forbidden by the police of all civilized countries, he takes it out by putting his yells on paper.”

Hm. Not sure if Mencken’s thought pattern is running true to course for the majority of writers. But that’s his opinion. He assumes that every writer writes simply to feed his or her vanity.

Reading Our Work

Late in life when E.B. White’s eyes were failing, a friend offered to read to him. When asked what he would like to have read, he chose his own works. Then he said, “I have always been aware that I am by nature self-absorbed and egotistical.”

I remember a few years ago, I embarked on a project of reading through each one of my past published novels. I never even thought about doing it because of my ego. I did it 1) because I wanted to remember… and 2) because I think they’re great stories. If that’s egotistical, then so be it.

But back to the title of this blog post. Why do authors write?

Pay Back Time

Some will admit they write so they can pay back all those people who told them they couldn’t write. Or told them that they would never amount to anything.

John Grisham is one of those. He admitted that in his novels he was getting back at “lawyers, prosecutors, judges, law professors, and politicians. I just line Be A Novelist ‘em up and shoot ‘em.”

Many novelists lived the life of the misfit throughout their school years. They were the quiet introvert-type. That station in life pretty much set them up for living the solitary existence of an author. But still and yet, is that the answer to the why question?

Off the Top of My Head

Perhaps I have never dug down deeply enough. Or more probably, I never particularly cared about why I write. But if I were to answer the question off the top of my head – without being philosophical – I would say I write because I love to write. Simple as that. I love to write both my own stuff and to create writing projects for others (freelance writing). There’s nothing I would rather do with my life than to spend most of the hours of every day writing.

Quickly on the heels of that, I would answer the why question by saying “I love stories. I love story telling.”

I derive great satisfaction from plotting, developing, structuring, producing, creating a novel-length story. It feeds my very soul.

Pretty simple; not very deep.

Oh, and “yelling on paper” is not on my list.

What would you say? How would you answer?

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“Stop Repeating; It’s Redundant,” She Said Again

Avoiding the Redundancy Trap

Okay, so the title is overkill. But hopefully it grabbed your attention. How easy it is for a careless writer to slip into the redundancy trap.

“Writing is clear thinking on paper.”

The above saying was drummed into my head early on in my writing life. Near the top of the list (if not the top), of how to write clearly is to steer clear of redundancies.

Definition of Redundant

In order to avoid that trap, it’s good to first understand what the term redundant means. Below are several variations of the definition^*:

a : exceeding what is necessary or normal : superfluous

b : characterized by or containing an excess; specifically : using more words than necessary

c : characterized by similarity or repetition <a group of particularly redundant brick buildings>

d chiefly British : no longer needed for a job and hence laid off

^* http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redundant?show=0&t=1378997895

Since we’re talking about words and not buildings (or employees) we’ll stick with “b” – when writers/novelists use more words than necessary.

A Sneaky Culprit

Believe me it happens to all of us, no matter how many years we’ve been at this writing business. Redundancy is a sneaky culprit, lurking in the corners of your brain ready to fill out those seemingly weak sentences.

Clear writing is achieved by concise writing, as stated below:

“Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.”

— William Strunk, Jr., Elements of Style

“…but that every word tell.” I like that statement. We writers are wordsmiths. Our craft is writing and words are our tools. The best writers are those who have learned (and continue to learn) how to wield those tools like an expert.

Lazy Writing

Here’s an example of lazy writing:

Erik was truly paranoid. He honestly felt that every person was out to get him.

This heavy writing is made heavier by adding truly and honestly – they are truly redundant words. Right? The two sentences hold the same meaning which again adds to the heaviness of the writing. Concise it is not.

Let’s look at a few common redundancies:

End result
Exactly the same
Past history
Basic essentials
New innovation
Protest against
Spell out in detail

You get the idea. Unnecessary words serve to bog down the text and muddle the meaning.

A Place for Repetition

Is there a place for repetition? Of course. When you are stressing a point. Or perhaps in ad copy when a declaration is repeated for emphasis. The skilled writer knows how to make repetition work for the intended purpose. The unskilled writer inadvertently lumps redundant words and phrases simply because of inattention, lack of expertise, or laziness.

Most readers could not tell you why a piece of writing is not effective – they just know. It’s the writer’s job to create clean, clear prose as a work of art. As Mr. Strunk alluded, clean writing is like a drawing with no unnecessary lines. The viewer of the art, and the reader of the prose, may admire each one, but the artist and the author remain invisible. Their techniques are subtle but powerful.

As you practice your craft of writing, whether it’s a blog, or an ebook, or a freelance assignment, or your beloved novel, strive for clarity.

Learn to make “every word tell.”

Be A Novelist

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Why Do We Write?