To Write Well Pt.2

I've been reading and reviewing a lot of books on Smashwords lately, as now is the time where I'm in between writing.  I read free books mostly.  Why not?  Most authors who publish something for free are novices just trying to make a name for themselves.  Why not give those email authors and thoughtful bloggers a chance to have their voices heard?  The thing with most free eAuthors, is they lack proper editing.  Sure, their stories are entertaining enough, but (for whatever reason), didn't have their eBooks properly edited.  I myself go through a book literally dozens of times before publishing, and still I look back and cringe; pondering, if only I could have written then as I do now.  That's the big thing here.  If you want to be a writer, you gotta work at it.  But I'm skewing slightly off tangent here.

As Heath Ledger's indelible portrayal of the Joker proclaimed, "If you're good at something, never do it for free."

But even the ol' drug dealers axiom holds true to this day, and is fastidiously adhered to by businessmen of all calibers:  Only the first one's free.  After that, it's gonna cost ya.

But just because you're going to depart on your voyage into authorhood doesn't mean you shouldn't take the time, effort, and sometimes fat-stacks, to make sure your masterpiece is as tight and polished as possible.

I see too many writers using the phrase "it was", not only in sentences, but also at the start of paragraphs.  "It" is unclear to the subject.  Overused, it incipiently becomes confusing and even worse, lazy.  Used sparingly, "it was", can have a profound impact.  Furthermore, never conjoin "it was" and "to be" in a sentence, as "was" is the past-tense form of "to be".  Essentially, coupling the two is redundant.

I read far too many:  there was, it was, he was, she had, had been.  It's passive voice.  The phrase, "had taken a seat", isn't nearly as powerful as, "then he sat with a plop, and dust swirled about his pear-shaped frame."  He had caught should simply be, he caught.  So on and so forth.

I know, it sounds anal, but these little details determine whether your reader gambols gleefully through pixeled pages, or totters among a sea of verbose jargon.

Don't get me wrong, it's impossible not to use "was" and "had".  Still, overuse is trite and lethargic.  Often, we say, "Screw it.  I like it.  My friends like it.  My family likes it.  So what do I care if someone I don't know thinks unkindly of it?"

Let's face it, going over and over and over something is like boring a nail in your head when only a screw will do.  Is that too esoteric?  Sorry.  Anyway, I myself face the very same problem of overusing "was" and "had".  And the last edit of anything I publish is me tediously reading (not scrolling), through my document and eliminating as many of these pesky buggers as possible.  Here's why:  "John had on denim shorts.  They were ripped and faded." isn't as poetic as, "John wore denim shorts frayed and tattered where his boney knees protruded."

Say it once, and say it well.

That's enough free advice for now.

That reminds me, if I review your book and it's not sterling, don't be all like, "Screw that asshole, what does he know?"  I'm just offering a bit of free advice.  And as crafters of wordsmenship, aren't we all looking over previous material ('cause let's face it, we've always been writers of something), and said, "You know what, I think I can make that a little better."