Writing: Entry 1

Since I am in the process of Learning:

Examples of Writing setups that really assisted in me understanding rather annoying aspects!

Passive Vs Active Voice.

 

Edit: I think its most important to add passive voice when needed. Active when needed. If you do all in "ONE mode" over the others, it will get monotone. Lots of writing advice doesn't really cover the idea of adding Tools to the toolbox. Granted, my overall distaste for many writing rules comes from people prioritizing VISUAL mediums to be adapted from books rather than books themselves. 

So I hope some of this helps other people. As I go through my writing development and processes.

Show "Stab me in the EYE" Don't Tell aka the "golden rule" that gets shot into the sun by me. I keep going back to Pulp on Pulp and The FILTER Words setup instead. Because a great bulk of the examples online for this infuriating POS setup is aimed towards VISUAL PRIMARY Mediums. Like TV/Movies. Screen writing rather than books. 

 

That's right! Get it here: Click! Invaluable in my opinion  

But really? LORD OF THE RINGS.

"The gasping pools were choked with ash and crawling muds, sickly white and grey, as if the mountains had vomitted the filth of their entrails upon the lands about. High mounds of crushed and powdered rock, great cones of earth fire-blasted and poison-stained, stood like an obscene graveyard in endless rows, slowly revealed in the reluctant light." --Describing Mordor.

This much more clear. But books can go beyond mere VISUAL. I think people have gotten so used to video games and comics that they don't imagine things as strongly as they used to. They want everything spelled out/Visualized to a minute detail. Its why you get 1000 page molasses books (imho) 

The Telling Example of that Passage:

‘Frodo was horrified by the landscape – every rock formation reminded him of gravestones and there were foul smells and eerie sights at every turn.’

Me? I think that telling is just fine. I usually only "SHOW" when I find something I want the reader to  key in on specifically! Some enjoy purple prose everywhere. Like the old Rhapsody series books.But this article does bring up decent examples (FROM BOOKS) mind you. And questions:

5: How to show, not tell: Ask yourself about the purpose of each scene

Thing is: SCENE! It still prioritizes VISUAL MEDIUMS.

I'm a working stiff: I want to get through a good amount of story in say 20-30 mins before work. So sprinkle to make that story move at a lighting pace. (My PREFERENCE!)

Sprinkle description, dialog, action, thoughts of the character's about the pages. I do Telling in many of the Quotes that open each issue of Uplift Protocol. Or in short bursts of exposition in-between the dialog and action. I don't have tons of description in my books for the moment because my mindset is: 

Use a light brush and have the reader fill in the gaps. Use that imagination! 

Its why Ill skip over stuff like Wheel of Time level descriptions. I can imagine fantastical landscapes with fewer words. The WRITER's job, esp with books, is to give me (THE READER) a spring board onto a canvas I can fill in myself. I want to actively engage my imagination. Just give me the bare bones. Ill fill in the blanks. 

Its my preference. Its why this:

Works for me: CJ's narration is much faster. He only SHOWS when its supposed to move the plot forward. The 2nd example? The Showing MAKES the NARRATIVE move at a snail's pace to me.

The 2nd is trying to hard to be a movie. Imho. A whole lot of books cater towards the 2nd example by far. Since most readers want the physical sensations paramount. Sensory primary. When at their heart. Books are about TELLING stories. 

I got the framing stuff from AEON 14, I like how Cooper will set the stage with location. Rather than tons of description.

This lets me get into the  action faster! I like that a whole lot.

 

Links: Here

CJ's Eternal Journey:  Here

Aeon 14: Here

The Twitter Source: Here