Monday, January 5, 2015

Whining! The Instructors are Right! By Linda S. Glaz



So, here I am whining again. Let me back up.
My husband and I took a quick trip to Chicago last week and I popped an audio book into the car to listen coming and going. He and I laughed at all of the intrusive dialogue tags including growling, barking, cooing, chirping, and trilling. And if that wasn’t enough, EACH of those tags was followed by an adverb. Chirping cheerily, cooing sweetly, growling angrily. And I began to finally GET it. I teach it, and I believe it at some level, but hearing it repeatedly really made me take notice.
“I believe!” “I believe!”
Was this some new author who didn’t get it? Absolutely not. This was a multi-pubbed, multi-million dollar contract fave author of mine that I started reading in the eighties and nineties. How did I not notice this before?
Easy, I was used to the way the author wrote. I have ignored this in the past, but hearing it out loud, the result was so much telling, and to be honest, very little opportunity to get to know the characters on a personal level. That’s right. Just like our writing instructors tell us. We, as readers, want to really KNOW our characters. We want that personal connect.
As the story finished, I realized that I knew almost nothing about the characters except what the author told me. Yes, I said told me. Because the entire book was telling.
I whine about this a lot as I feel showing rather than telling is drilled into us, shoved down our throats, beaten into us. And at times, I rebel. I feel as if too much emphasis is put on worrying about whether or not a character barks, coos, or growls heatedly. And yet, hearing it audibly, it was cringe worthy. I barely got into the characters’ heads at all. At one point, more than half a dozen lines, structure identical, spilled dialogue followed by a tag, followed by an adverb. It felt like a laundry list of dialogue that had somehow been dragged together. In other words, it stood out like the proverbial sore thumb after a huge strike with a hammer. And after a bit, it hurt to keep listening.
So, okay. I admit it, I am often dragged kicking and screaming to a deadline with these items needing change in my novels. I comply, but don’t always like it. Shucks, I rarely like it. But now, more than ever, I see the need.
Will that author stop making millions? No. The author’s readers are used to the way the author writes, and are fine with it. But I have to ask myself whether or not that author would make it if starting out in today’s market.
I love getting to know my author’s characters in a very personal way, and maybe this year, I’ll stop whining about some of the things that are expected of me. And do what my instructors have taught me. Tighten the writing and show don’t tell.

10 comments:

Jodie Wolfe said...

LOL. Great reminder, Linda.

Linda Glaz said...

So sad when I see amazing writers turned down who are doing everything right. GRRRRR

Anonymous said...

Linda, thanks for reminding us that we're supposed to be in the character's head and not the writer's.

Blessings for 2015 ~ Wendy ❀

Linda Glaz said...

Reminding myself as well, Wendy! :)

Diana Flegal said...

Thank you also Linda for reminding writers to consider the reader. :-) If they only took the time to read their work out loud they would even get this! So many of us have had a similar experience, reading a 'used to be' favorite author and realizing they have not gotten better at their craft. Too bad. Dollars do not equate to quality but it should.

Linda Glaz said...

And it's so hard to convince new authors to move away from 'the way it used to be'.

Susan Craft said...

Thanks for the reminders, Linda. Reading your manuscript aloud really helps you find the awkward sentences and dialogue.

Neil A. Waring said...

These seem to jump out in the audio not so much in the written word. Might be like an author skipping over mistakes in a self edit.
"Not so noticeable when its familiar." he said knowingly.

Wandering Writer said...

This proves my point. Learning to write makes you a whole different kind of reader--or listener, in this case. Some books make me wonder how they ever got published. Others are filled with gems and I sit in awe, make a note, and try to discover how they did that.

Diana Flegal said...

Karen, that is what we look for- the gems :-)Some writers take my breath away with their prose. Keeps me reading.