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pub resource - blog post - overwriting advice

posted by [personal profile] drusillas_rain at 12:00pm on 02/01/2009 under , ,
One of the publishing blogs I read had a really interesting post about "overwriting" - the tendency to string together as many adjectives, adverbs, and "replacement" nouns as possible, among other things.

The blogger is an editor, so the post is written from their perspective of having to edit a promising manuscript, and shares tips on how to identify if you're an overwriter, as well as a list of words that scream out "overwriter".

http://editorialass.blogspot.com/2009/01/overwriters-anonymous.html


One of the bad words on the list is "sudden (suddenly)" and I know I succumb to that one. I think I need to find some resources on how to deal with that better...
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There are 12 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
 

(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] lusiology.livejournal.com at 05:16pm on 02/01/2009
Brilliant link. Cheers! One thing that has always bothered me is that I don't seem to be able to write pages of fic, with minute details, like others can. Maybe I should just accept that I'm a succinct, rather than under, writer.
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] drusillas-rain.livejournal.com at 01:16am on 04/01/2009
Exactly! Plenty of authors, even famous ones, are minimalist. Like Hemingway :)
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ext_17435: (Default)

(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] incapricious.livejournal.com at 05:30pm on 02/01/2009
One of my high school English teachers was really hard on overuse of "suddenly" so I at least am aware of that one. I should go search through my fics and see if I have been using it anyway... :\
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] drusillas-rain.livejournal.com at 01:38am on 04/01/2009
I only had 1 highschool teacher who cared about writing (he was a published poet himself), but he never really shared any tips with our class :(
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posted by [identity profile] callistianstar.livejournal.com at 05:55pm on 02/01/2009
Though I know that I'm garrulous and wordy, this was a funny but intelligent blog. I really have to cut down on these colorful words, unless they are just curse words.

But I really like "sneer" ... :(
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] drusillas-rain.livejournal.com at 01:17am on 04/01/2009
Heh, I like sneer too :)

I think the author probably combined a few different examples into one particularly wordy one.
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mordyn4: (Default)

(no subject)

posted by [personal profile] mordyn4 at 06:21pm on 02/01/2009
From what I've seen, you are not an overwriter. ;)

This is a great link, though. :D
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] drusillas-rain.livejournal.com at 01:18am on 04/01/2009
*g* that's very true - maybe I should think about adding a few of the bad words into my fic to seem less minimal :p

It's one of few blogs that I check daily.
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posted by [identity profile] dbassassin.livejournal.com at 06:42pm on 02/01/2009
Great link!

When I first started writing fanfic, my beta at the time repeatedly beat me over the head with the Overwriter stick. It made me a better writer and a better, if more depressed, beta.

There are a few words I'd add to her list: really, totally, sheer, pure... I could go on.

But if you're writing Snape fic, how can you avoid using "sneer"? ;)
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] drusillas-rain.livejournal.com at 01:19am on 04/01/2009
hehehe - that's exactly what I thought re sneer!
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] kerryblaze.livejournal.com at 08:20pm on 02/01/2009
Thanks for that link!
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] drusillas-rain.livejournal.com at 01:19am on 04/01/2009
*G*
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