Writing For Writers – Keep the Reader Stuck in the Suction
Have you ever been trapped in quicksand? I have. It’s a strange feeling. Every movement sucks you deeper and deeper into the pool of goo. It’s almost impossible to escape without help.
A Short Story
When I was ten years old I was stuck to my neck in quicksand. My two older brothers ran to a nearby corral and pulled a twelve foot one-by-eight board off the fence. They laid the board on top of the quicksand next to me. One brother stood on the end of the board while my oldest brother shimmied out to me and put his hands under my arms.
“Wiggle only when I tell you,” said my oldest brother.
When he pulled he told me to wiggle. The first several attempts were fruitless. Finally, he was able to inch me up. Two hours later we rested on terra firma covered with goo and exhausted.
What does quicksand have in common with writing?
Every writer needs to use a good hook to suck his readers into his story. Presenting a good hook is the first thing a writer must accomplish, but he must keep the reader stuck in the suction. Every action in your tale, every thought revealed, every phrase, and every word should be crafted to pull the reader deeper into the story.
When writing the first draft of your story just keep writing. Get your story down while the creative juices are flowing. Getting your story in a tangible form is critical to writing, but editing is where your greatest craft is displayed. Making grammatical corrections is a minor part of editing. Editing is crafting your story to give your reader the greatest pleasure from your work.
You must examine your work to weed out unnecessary wording, stale dialogue, duplication, or excess narrative. You may need to change or add wording for clarification of the story. You’ll need to tie up loose ends. Check your noun and verb usage to insure the best action words are used. Read the story out loud to insure it flows from beginning to end without unnecessary halts or breaks.
Finally, every scene or chapter must compel your reader to want more. He must tell himself, ‘I must know more.’ Keeping the reader stuck in the suction is no easy task, but it is a rewarding challenge.
The greatest compliment any writer can get is, “I just couldn’t put the story down. I had to finish it.”
Copyright 2010 J-me
Award winning author, Mark Brown, who writes under the pen-name, J-me, invites you to receive your free subscription to the Mason Bricklin Newsletter. Each family friendly monthly issue features a humorous short story, and articles about family, writing, internet marketing, and the amazing creation. Or visit his humorous books and stories site which features his award winning humorous book, Mason Bricklin: http://www.masonbricklin.net.
Author: Mark A Brown
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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