Why Isn't That In Your Story?
Why Isn't That In Your Story?
Don't leave the good bits out
A funny thing happens sometimes in writing workshops. I’ve seen it time and time again, in the workshops I teach overseas, in private zoom classes, in my MFA workshops.
Picture this: writers are sitting around a table, laptops, tablets or printed pages before them, earnestly discussing a participant’s submitted piece. After the work is talked about, dissected and critiqued (with supportive and encouraging energy, one hopes), the writer starts talking about the piece she submitted.
And what comes out is different than what she sent off. As she talks, she adds details, relates things that happen in the story, discusses ideas. The rest of the writers look at her with mouths open until finally one of them says, “Put that on the page.” Another chimes in, “What you just said.” And yet another, maybe even the leader, asks, “Why isn’t that in the story?”
Somehow, the writer has managed to leave a lot of the good bits out.
Why does this happen?
Mainly because the writer is not letting her true voice out. In some cases, she might not yet have found her voice. But I’ve seen this happen with experienced writers, too. And I suspect that most often it is because the writer is being careful. Trying to sound “right” or “good.” And the cause of this is, yep, you guessed it, insecurity and its twin, our old friend fear. We fear that the work is boring, the details trivial, the ideas insignificant. We feel like we have to fancy it up to make it read more writerly. Once writers go pro, suddenly they have an audience in mind. Worrying about prettying up your writing for that audience is deadly.
Because really, what readers want is your own true voice.
So how do you get there?
One of the most important thing you can do is write often and write a lot. The more you write, the easier it is to put words on the page. The easier it is for you to put words on the page, the more you’ll sound like yourself. (But I never met a page that wouldn’t sound better with a rewrite.) But besides that, here are some more ideas:
Free-write/brain dump
Cheers for the good old-fashioned free writing session. Set a timer and write for however long you please. The idea is to keep your hand moving across the page, so that you’re dumping everything out of your brain. Really. Do this. Keep that hand moving! Or else it doesn’t count. I’ve seen too many writers in workshops stare our the window, pick up their phone, get up and wander around. No. The point is to write. Note: you probably want to use a prompt for this, so you have a starting point. The interwebs are teeming with prompt suggestions and I have a whole Tumblr full of them. Another version of this is morning pages, which I highly recommend. My friend Gini’s writing life has been transformed by doing them, and I’m a fan, too.
Make lists
Once, long ago, I went on vacation to Mexico with my family and our good friends. We went to an all-inclusive resort on the Mayan Riviera and it was hilarious. And there were so many new things. The lush jungle ready to swallow up man’s puny buildings in a hot second, the workers in the early morning spraying lord knows what chemicals to prevent that from happening, the terror of a wind-surfing ride, the blue of the Caribbean, Chichen Itza (when you could still climb on it). But I was too busy having fun to write much so instead I wrote lists. Simple lists of words and phrases of things I didn’t want to forget. This was so effective I came home and wrote a short story set there. And it’s a great way to get whatever is rousting about in your brain onto the page.
Talk it out
Because so often writers talk their stories out in workshop, I mention this option. It is not useful for me but I am not you and so it might work well as a tool for you. Try talking into your cell’s recording option, or even, gasp, as real tape recorder. (Back in the days when I did a lot of articles and ghost writing, I had a tiny one that worked well. But that was in the Jurassic era, so who knows now.) Or you might have a trusted writing friend with whom you can brainstorm, or a sympathetic spouse or other family member. (Note: do not feel guilty if your spouse is unsympathetic or disinterested in your work. I hear this from writers all the time.) There’s also speech-to-text software, but my intent here is more in the brainstorming wheelhouse. Fair warning: I’ve also spoken too much about a story and talked the life out of it.
Plump it up
My students and clients have learned to dread this notation from me on their manuscripts. They know it means there is not enough on the page—just as in the case of the workshop writer who adds to what is written with spoken details. A common view is that rewriting is about paring a draft back. Uh-uh. The opposite is more likely true. In all my vast years of book coaching and editing, I think I’ve run into one writer who need to trim, not add. A way to think about plumping up: concentrate on the micro. Work at the paragraph level. Does this description of character or setting really say what you see in your mind? Are you explaining enough of what’s going on to the reader? Does the scene convey your intent? Go wild and add in. Because: you can always pull it back out again. We have these things called computers to help.
Find support
At the risk of sounding self-promotional, hire a book/ writing coach. FYI, a coach works alongside you as you write your book, unlike a developmental editor who reads your entire manuscript after it is finished. I do both, but most of my work centers on book coaching. Neither option is cheap, but both will uplevel your writing career. And besides me, there are tons of coaches and editors out there. Find one you have a good rapport with and go to it. If you’re not ready for a coach, join together with other writers and form a critique group. Of find a crit partner. Many groups such as the Women’s Fiction Writer’s Association offer assistance in finding such groups and writers.
Okay, now go add those good bits into you story. Do you have a process for brainstorming or figuring out what you want to add to your writing?
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