Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, 2nd ed.
by Renni Brown, Dave King
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HarperCollins (New York): 13 April 2004. Trade paperback: 226 pages. ISBN-10: 0-06-054569-0 ISBN-13: 978-0060545697 Suggested retail price: $13.95 (US) Tactical strength: [8/10] |
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After you have read five (or ten) books about writing, it's rare to read any really new advice. How often can you be told, "Show, don't tell," "Use strong characters," "Avoid unnecessary exposition," or "Read your dialog aloud." Well, Renni Brown and Dave King reiterate all this advice, but then move into a lot of new territory.
Brown and King cover all the old advice in the first five or six chapters. Their suggestions aren't new, but they are stated clearly and accompanied by excellent examples. The remaining chapters move into some areas that are not typically covered in the "advice" books. Most interesting was the discussion of "beats" -- the stage business of writing; how to handle all of those "he said" and "she said" bits between the dialog. I can't recall having seen this discussed in any one else's suggestions for dialog.
And how often can you read discussions on where you should make paragraph breaks to make your writing more effective and easier to read? Or, what writing mechanisms have become clichéd and give the automatic appearance of amateur writing? I won't reiterate the advice -- I couldn't do it as well anyway. Brown and King also include many exercises that allow the reader to practice the skills Brown and King discuss. (They even include suggested answers at the back of the book.)
A quick review of Self-Editing should enable writers to pinpoint and correct any slow or dull sections in their writing. And with a little more attention, readers might even raise their writing to a professional level.
